Tag: harder

Black Twitter’s Expected Demise Would Make It Harder To Publicize Police Brutality And Discuss Racism
POLITICS

Black Twitter’s Expected Demise Would Make It Harder To Publicize Police Brutality And Discuss Racism

Before the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile and Sandra Bland were propelled into the media spotlight, their names were Twitter #hashtags. In 2020, Twitter was essential to the spread of historic Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality across the world. But Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has thrown the future of Black Twitter into question. Social media users argue that the takeover has already had an impact on the Black social media community. For instance, not only do multiple sources report an almost immediate spike in the use of the N-word, but Musk has also allegedly mocked Black Lives Matter in general and the group’s apparel found at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, California. The impact of Musk’s takeover is so abundantly clear that...
Household Robot Servants Are A Lot Harder To Build Than Robotic Vacuums And Automated Warehouse Workers, Here’s Why
TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

Household Robot Servants Are A Lot Harder To Build Than Robotic Vacuums And Automated Warehouse Workers, Here’s Why

With recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics technology, there is growing interest in developing and marketing household robots capable of handling a variety of domestic chores. Tesla is building a humanoid robot, which, according to CEO Elon Musk, could be used for cooking meals and helping elderly people. Amazon recently acquired iRobot, a prominent robotic vacuum manufacturer, and has been investing heavily in the technology through the Amazon Robotics program to expand robotics technology to the consumer market. In May 2022, Dyson, a company renowned for its power vacuum cleaners, announced that it plans to build the U.K.’s largest robotics center devoted to developing household robots that carry out daily domestic tasks in residential spaces. Despite the growing inte...
Taking Care Of Kids Makes Balancing Work And Life Harder — Particularly For Moms, Poll Finds
SELF, WORK

Taking Care Of Kids Makes Balancing Work And Life Harder — Particularly For Moms, Poll Finds

At 4 a.m. each day, Pamela Hines wakes up to pack lunches for her two older sons, who are 9 and 7, and make sure their homework is in their backpacks. She gets breakfast for them and her youngest son, 2, as well as her husband. Kids in tow, she drives her husband to his workplace in Pennsylvania, 30 minutes from their home in Morgantown, W.Va., then takes the two older kids to school. Her husband lost his job at the start of the pandemic and is thrilled to be back at work now. He works from 5:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day, installing drainage systems and doing other manual work. After dropping the kids off, Hines cares for her 2-year-old while running the nonprofit she started to connect Americans who have extra travel miles with Ukrainian mothers and children who want to leave the countr...
Using Humor In Class Is Harder When Learning Is Remote, No Joke
EDUCATION

Using Humor In Class Is Harder When Learning Is Remote, No Joke

Most discussions about the drawbacks of online education focus on the negative effects it has on learning. Less obvious – but also quite important – is how remote instruction can affect the teacher’s use of humor. Scholars have formulated various explanations for why people use humor. As someone who has helped prepare and provide professional development for prospective and veteran teachers for more than 30 years, I am often asked whether humor is an effective way to teach. Decades of research has left little doubt: The answer is yes. Among other benefits, humor can create a positive learning environment, increase learning and make students more motivated to learn. No laughing matter The pandemic hasn’t eliminated the benefits of humor in the classroom. Instructors, however, have told me ...
Unless You Can Pick Up On Colleagues’ Nonverbal Cues – Zoom Work Relationships Are A Lot Harder To Build
IN OTHER NEWS, WORK

Unless You Can Pick Up On Colleagues’ Nonverbal Cues – Zoom Work Relationships Are A Lot Harder To Build

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Workers who communicate with their colleagues mainly through videoconferencing are far less effective at building relationships than when the communication is done face to face, according to a study we recently completed and just submitted for peer review. We also found two important ways employees can overcome the downside of video meetings. Workers in our study reported a sharp deterioration in their work relationships after more of their communications were done via videoconferencing during the pandemic, which our analysis suggested made the employees three times less effective at building relationships. Participants reported that it was harder to understand their coworkers’ nonverbal cues and to listen i...
Why safely reopening high school sports is going to be a lot harder than opening college and pro ball
IN OTHER NEWS, SPORTS

Why safely reopening high school sports is going to be a lot harder than opening college and pro ball

Along with the revival of professional sports comes the yearning for a return to amateur sports – high school, college and club. Governing officials are now offering guidance as to when and how to resume play. However, lost in the current conversation is how schools and club sports with limited resources can safely reopen. As an exercise scientist who studies athlete health and an emergency medicine physician who leads Michigan’s COVID-19 mobile testing unit, we wish to empower athletes, coaches and parents by sharing information related to the risks of returning to play without COVID-19 testing. This includes blood tests to see if athletes have already had COVID-19 plus nasal swabs to test for the active SARS-CoV-2 virus. Regular COVID-19 testing on all athletes may seem like overkill, ...
Online learning and the digital divide will make it even harder for some kids
COVID-19, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Online learning and the digital divide will make it even harder for some kids

More than 10,600 of the nation’s public and private schools were closing at least temporarily by March 12 as communities scrambled to protect themselves from the COVID-19 viral disease pandemic. With little or no time to prepare for this disruption, families from Seattle to the New York City suburbs are suddenly having to figure out how to help their kids learn at home. This is an unprecedented effort that so far involves at least 7 million children. The total is rising fast with closures in entire states like Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico and Kentucky. Indiana University, where I teach, recently announced that we’ll stop offering in-person classes and move all instruction online after spring break ends on March 22. On top of setting up live-streaming channels for the 250 ...