TLDR 114

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 114

Published: 2017-09-09 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to issue 114 of TLDR. Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.

This week my interview about the blockchain was sent out in the latest issue of the CONNECT!ONS Newsletter from the Consortium for Media Literacy. The theme of this issue is "trust through technology?" I recommend checking it out.

🔖 Key Takeaways

Words Keep Evolving: There are over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. Yet every year, about a thousand new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Forgotten Why We Need Educators: Perhaps the root of this problem is that we've forgotten why we actually need educators. The denigration of our public schools, and a growing neglect of their role as an incubator of citizens.
Social Media Evolution Question: I think we individually and collectively need to understand these digital, social spaces, and determine our own best practices. There are days that I wonder if we're seeing some form of "addiction" that needs to be regulated. Or is this an evolution of social behaviors?
All Need Healthy Skeptics: For me, the key is that we all need to be "healthy skeptics" when we encounter information.
Voices From Around Globe: I prefer a model in which voices from around the globe can be involved at little or no expense. I also think there is a need for transparency so individuals not in the field, can pay attention, get involved, and see the value in this work.
Socratic Seminars Powerful: Socratic Seminars provide opportunities for critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

📺 Watch

Where do new words come from?

There are over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. Yet every year, about a thousand new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Examine the origins of new (or old) words in our lexicon from the TED-Ed channel.

The lesson plan for this episode is available here. Also check out the Mysteries of Vernacular series on TED-Ed.

📚 Read

Americans have given up on public schools. That's a mistake.

Last week I attended a symposium that brought together educational leaders from all over the state of South Carolina. The assembled group included politicians, Deans and faculty from schools of education, school administrators, teachers, and support personnel. The focus of the think tank was on the teacher shortage crisis in the state, and nationally. We were to identify ways to address these challenges and make sure our students have the leaders they will need, now and in the future.

This post from Erika Christakis in The Atlantic discusses the current debate about public education. Christakis indicates that perhaps the root of this problem is that we've forgotten why we actually need educators. Specifically, she describes this debate as "the denigration of our public schools, and a growing neglect of their role as an incubator of citizens."

This was a common response in our discussions at the symposium. Perhaps we can help elevate teacher pay, and find reasons to keep good educators in the classroom. But, we need to find a way to counteract this false notion that there is no hope or future for public education.

This piece by Matt Haig spurred a lot of discussion this week...strangely in my social media circles.

Haig discusses the harm that can be caused by social media, as well as Internet addiction and "filter bubbles." Stephen Downes effectively discusses the challenges in these areas, as well as the challenges with the writing of this specific post.

I think we individually and collectively need to understand these digital, social spaces, and determine our own best practices. There are days that I wonder if we're seeing some form of "addiction" that needs to be regulated. Or is this an evolution of social behaviors?

For now, the "answer" might be to sit down with a Sherry Turkle book to find some balance in these discussions.

"These are all fake news," said the honor student. He was wrong.

Sometimes I come across a story and it sticks out to me because it's not really a story. I also need to remind myself in these instances that I've seen a lot of things in my research that others have not. I also need to spend more time blogging about these experiences.

The current example is from this post that discusses events with a group of students that are label themselves as "super smart" from a high school in northern Virginia. The students are critically evaluating news stories and in their review, they gleefully identify all of the pieces as "fake news." The post goes on to indicate that all of the stories were in fact true, and the students were fooled.

This is a counter to some of the research in which students believe news that is false, simple because they do not spend the time thoughtfully critically evaluating the sources.

As I've discussed in previous issues of TL;DR..there's no easy answers here. That's what gets us in trouble. We also need to remember that it's not just the "kids"...it's adults that also display these behaviors. For me, the key is that we all need to be "healthy skeptics" when we encounter information. But...that's a future blog post.

Expensive academic conferences give us old ideas and no new faces

There has been a steady drumbeat over the past year in discussions about the rising costs of academic conferences and the shrinking support given to attend these events. I serve as the Chair of the Research & Professional Development Committee in my department, and one of my responsibilities is to support my colleagues as they travel to present their work. Travel is an important piece of the tenure and promotion process...if you don't present or publish, you can lose your job. The problem is that the funds are usually enough to attend one conference per year. This means that individuals usually pay for their travel.

These conferences also have other costs. They make it difficult, or impossible for international scholars to attend and make their voices heard as well.

This post from The Guardian takes the point of view that this is giving us an ecosystem in which old ideas and faces tend to proliferate. I think it's more than just that. I prefer a model in which voices from around the globe can be involved at little or no expense. I also think there is a need for transparency so individuals not in the field, can pay attention, get involved, and see the value in this work.

A good example of this is the work from the Virtually Connecting team.

How to promote critical thinking with Socratic Seminars

Socratic Seminars have come up a lot in the last couple of weeks in my world. As described in this post, a Socratic Seminar is a student-led discussion where part of the class is in an inner circle speaking, and the other part of the class is in an outer circle observing.

This post does an excellent job of detailing how to make Socratic Seminars happen in your classroom, and how to connect this to important 21st Century Skills. Mari Venturino provides granular advice on how to make this happen, while focusing on the "4C's" of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

🔨 Do

The Sandwich Effect: Starting and ending the day to be your best self

Take 30 days and conduct this experiment. I'll join with you...and we can blog about our experiences. Sandwich your day with a few minutes at the beginning and a at the end of the day to be reflective, restorative, and mindful. This post shares a couple examples on how to make this happen.

Starting your day:

Take a couple of minutes before you get out of bed to think about who you want to be that day. What qualities do you want to exhibit?
Before you grab those electronic devices, go get some nature. Look outside the window. Go look at trees and listen to the birds wake up.
Take a couple minutes to look inside. See what feelings you have percolating inside as your brain gets started.

Ending your day:

Reflect on your day and think about what you learned that day. Did you help anyone that day? Did anyone help you?
Take time away from electronics before you get into bed and do some mindfulness meditation. This may be the form of just being quiet and listening to your breath for a couple of minutes. Alternatively, listen to some soothing music, or some aromatherapy to calm you.

Let me know what you think after 30 days. I'll do the same.

🤔 Consider

"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager." — Susan Sontag

Previous: TLDR 113 • Next: TLDR 115 • Archive: 📧 Newsletter

🌱 Connected Concepts:

Public Education Crisis — Teacher shortage symposium reveals root problem: forgotten purpose of educators and denigration of public schools as citizen incubators, with need to counteract false notion there's no hope for public education while elevating teacher pay and retention.
Social Media Wellbeing — Debate about social media as force for good or harm raises questions about addiction requiring regulation versus evolution of social behaviors, with need to individually and collectively understand digital social spaces and determine best practices balancing Sherry Turkle's concerns.
Information Literacy in Practice — Northern Virginia honor students gleefully mislabeling true news as "fake" reveals complexity beyond students believing false news: all ages struggle with critical evaluation, requiring everyone become "healthy skeptics" rather than searching for easy answers that get us in trouble.
Academic Conference Equity — Rising costs and shrinking support create ecosystem where old ideas and faces proliferate while excluding international scholars, with need for models enabling global voices at little/no expense and transparency for field outsiders, exemplified by Virtually Connecting.
Reflective Practice — Socratic seminars provide student-led discussion opportunities for 4C's (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity) paired with Sandwich Effect: bookending days with minutes of reflection, nature connection, and mindfulness to be restorative and intentional about who you want to be.

Part of the 📧 Newsletter archive documenting digital literacy and technology.