TLDR 117

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 117

Published: 2017-09-30 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to issue 117 of TL;DR. Truth is temperance, happiness warns.

Feel free to share with someone that you believe would benefit. If you haven't already, please subscribe to make sure this comes to your inbox each week. You can review archives of the newsletter or on Medium.

This week I posted the following:

• Confronting harmful discourses in the classroom - This is my latest post on ILA's Literacy Daily blog. I was motivated to write this as I've seen students immersed in some of the hateful and harmful rhetoric as I'm out conducting observations in schools. I wanted to try and provide some helpful advice as to how we might address this in our classrooms.
• Video: Using Google Keep on Android to save digital sticky notes
• Video: Using Google Keep on your iPhone and iPad to save digital sticky notes
• Video: Using Trello on Android devices to get things done
• Video: Use Trello on iPhone and iPad to get things done

Feel free to keep in touch by sending me a note at hello@wiobyrne.com or on the socials at wiobyrne. I got a really nice note from Kevin Hodgson this past week. His blog is one of the reasons why I first started thinking about how I could write and share online. It was really great to take a second to connect.

I'm also testing the use of video to provide a "behind the scenes" for my newsletter. I'm sharing this content on my YouTube channel. Here is last week's overview.

🔖 Key Takeaways

• Take Two Minutes: An animated short from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot monologue. Take two minutes to watch and reflect.
• Current Events Make Meaningful: Clint Smith indicates that he begins each school year by reading and reflecting on Baldwin's essay. Current events make this year's reflection much more meaningful. Please take some time to read, reflect, and respond in your own way.
• Acutely Aware of Harms: Findings suggest these populations are acutely aware of the harms that come from privacy and security online. However, they suggest that it is difficult to access the tools and strategies necessary to do anything about it.
• Platforms Are Lying: As we investigate these events, it appears that these digital and social platforms are lying to the public about the scope and reach of these initiatives. Shaffer identifies these responses as misleading, short-sighted, and inadequate.
• We Have to Ask: What is happening with teacher shortages and adjunct professor poverty?
• The Essence Is You: It is easy to assume that the essence of technology is technology itself, but that is wrong. The essence is you and me. It's about how we are altered by the technology we employ.

📺 Watch

A pale blue dot

An animated short from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot monologue. Take two minutes to watch and reflect.

Thanks to Brain Pickings for the link.

📚 Read

James Baldwin's lesson for teachers in a time of turmoil

Clint Smith in The New Yorker reflecting on Baldwin's "A talk to teachers" from October, 1963. Smith indicates that he begins each school year by reading and reflecting on Baldwin's essay. Current events make this year's reflection much more meaningful.

Please take some time to read, reflect, and respond in your own way.

Privacy, Security, and Digital Inequality

An important research report from Mary Madden at the Data & Society research institute. The report examines the privacy and security experiences of low-socioeconomic populations in the U.S.

Findings suggest these populations are acutely aware of the harms that come from privacy and security online. However, they suggest that it is difficult to access the tools and strategies necessary to do anything about it.

As noted in the recent news that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans on collecting social media information and search history from a variety of immigrant groups, this report is especially relevant.

Twitter is lying to you

Throughout the last couple of months in TL;DR, we've been slowly unpacking the narrative around the recent U.S. political scene and the weaponization of social media platforms. Ads and pages on social media were used to spread disinformation and propaganda to targeted members of the population that it would most meaningfully impact. Algorithms in these social networks double and triple down on your clicks and likes to magnify these messages in your feed and make it more viral. Citizens don't critically examine these messages in their feed, or care to look outside of their stream to diversify what they're learning. This is a trend (IMHO) on a global scale.

As we investigate these events, it appears that these digital and social platforms are lying to the public about the scope and reach of these initiatives. Facebook was the first group to start answering questions about their platform. This week Twitter started responding to their role. Google is the next in line.

As Kris Shaffer begins this important blog post, he identifies these responses as misleading, short-sighted, and inadequate. Shaffer is targeting Twitter in this post, but I believe the blame will fit all of these companies. Kris ends his piece by detailing his strategy to address and combat these challenges.

I recommend taking some time to read his post.

South Carolina's public schools look overseas to fill hundreds of teaching jobs

Over the past couple of weeks, I've hinted at the fact that I attended a symposium on the critical teacher shortage here in South Carolina. This post from the local newspaper shares a snapshot of the current situation. My Dean is quoted at the end of the piece.

This post set off a firestorm of debate on my Facebook feed. Many people were absolutely shocked that this was occurring. Still even more colleagues in teacher education programs came back to indicate that this is happening more broadly than is given credit.

What is interesting in this article is that the teacher they focus on is apparently a well received teacher by the students and faculty. I know many other teachers that are struggling mightily as they transition into the classroom...and the country.

I also recommend reading this piece on the poverty experienced by some adjunct professors in America.

We have to ask ourselves what is happening?

The power of silence in the smartphone age

An extract from the book, Silence: In the age of noise by Erling Kagge.

It is easy to assume that the essence of technology is technology itself, but that is wrong. The essence is you and me. It's about how we are altered by the technology we employ, what we hope to learn, our relationship with nature, those we love, the time we spend, the energy that is consumed, and how much freedom we relinquish to technology.

🔨 Do

Live like a Stoic for a week

Stoicism has been quite trendy over the last year. Each morning after I meditate and work out, I read something before journaling. Stoic related pieces often form a good way to begin my day.

If you're trying to figure out exactly what is involved in all of this Stoicism buzz...definitely check out Stoic Week 2017 this year. It is free of charge, begins on October 16th, and lasts seven days.

Enroll now and you'll have daily readings, reflections, writing assignments, and a support community. This year they're test driving this all in Teachable. I'll be interested to get a better look at Teachable, and hopefully find more balance in my life. In these current times...that is definitely a need.

🤔 Consider

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." — Viktor E. Frankl

🔗 Navigation

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🌱 Connected Concepts:

• Critical Pedagogy in Crisis — Clint Smith reflects on James Baldwin's "A talk to teachers" (1963) in post-Charlottesville context, with current events making Baldwin's lessons about educators' power to form youth lives and responsibility to confront racism more meaningful, requiring teachers to read, reflect, and respond to turmoil.
• Digital Inequality — Data & Society research reveals low-socioeconomic populations acutely aware of privacy and security harms online but lack access to tools and strategies to protect themselves, especially urgent as DHS plans collecting social media information and search history from immigrant groups.
• Platform Accountability — Months of unpacking weaponization of social media reveals platforms lying to public about scope and reach of disinformation campaigns, with Facebook and Twitter responses identified as misleading, short-sighted, and inadequate as they slowly acknowledge Russian interference while minimizing their role.
• Teacher Shortage Crisis — South Carolina symposium exposed critical shortage forcing overseas recruiting, sparking firestorm debate with many shocked this occurring while some well-received international teachers succeed, others struggle mightily transitioning into classroom and country, paralleling adjunct professor poverty crisis requiring fundamental questions about education profession.
• Digital Wellbeing — Erling Kagge argues essence of technology isn't technology itself but how we're altered by it, affecting what we hope to learn, relationships with nature and loved ones, time spent, energy consumed, and freedom relinquished, requiring intentional practice of silence in smartphone age.

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