iTots-A digital learning future

As I research much needed education reform in the U.S. I’m discovering the multitude of people and organizations pushing for a new future–a digital learning future. This huffingtonpost.com article describes the need for our nation’s young people to prepare for life in a Jetson’s world, and let go of a Flintstones age. Just as we are told to limit our children’s time online, we just may find that digital learning, and a school system that supports it, could be the answer to a decades long decline in the effectiveness of our nation’s public schools.

Plain writing can save lives

Have you noticed your over-the-counter drug labels are easier to read? Here’s a “before and after” of a Food and Drug Administration over-the-counter standard drug label http://www.plainlanguage.gov/examples/before_after/overctrdrug.pdf. Adding a doses table, a larger font, a clearer layout, and using bullets instead of wordy sentences, make a huge difference in understanding. And, in this example, could save lives. More examples are on the site, and dates for upcoming meeting/seminars to learn more.

Obama signs “Plain Writing” into law–more cutting, no pasting

Our blog plans to search out companies, non-profits and NGOs that are doing a great job getting to the point, and taking the fluff and confusion out of their communications. Good timing because late last year Obama signed the Plain Writing Act into law. And, by October 13, 2011 government agencies must use plain language in any document that:

is necessary for obtaining any federal government benefit or service or filing taxes

provides information about a federal government benefit or service, or

explains to the public how to comply with a requirement that the federal government administers or enforces.

The government does have a sense of humor about the subject though, and even has a “Humor” link on the site. It offers this humorous example of how to make a sentence really blather on. They start with:

“Studies have found that more night jobs would keep youths off the streets.”

And after “9 easy steps”, including a little Latin, they get to this:

“There is no escaping the fact that it is considered very important to note that a number of various available applicable studies ipso facto have generally identified the fact that additional appropriate nocturnal employment could usually keep juvenile adolescents off thoroughfares during the night hours, including but not limited to the time prior to midnight on weeknights and/or 2 a.m. on weekends.”

Et tu Brute? What about your website and publications? Do they resemble the first or second sentence? Find us a sentence on a government website, in government document, or in one of your documents that needs some help and we’ll see what we can do. Did someone say healthcare bill?

Tags: explanatory videos, plain language