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TLDR 122

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 122

Published: 2017-11-03 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to Issue 122. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

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:

Feel free to keep in touch by sending me a note at hello@wiobyrne.com or on the socials at wiobyrne.

This week I had some thoughtful discussions with Jamie Allen, Terry Atkinson, and Aaron Davis. Each of these discussion really pushed my thinking, and I'm appreciative for that.

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

This video was shared by a student in one of my classes this week to spark some dialogue. I was surprised that I've never seen this and immediately bookmarked it.

It's a good example of remix and commentary using a video clip. It provided a lot of room for dialogue on a number of issues.

Enjoy.

📚 Read

This strategic brief was released from the New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Project. This study examines how digital literacy training in higher ed helps prepare learners for their careers. Specifically, this is digital literacy in action as learners enter the workforce. Are colleges and universities preparing them for when they get there?

Study participants included over 700 recent graduates from 36 universities. The findings complement the recent definitions and frameworks on digital literacy that NMC released earlier in the year. This brief is very helpful as you consider the needs of students as you develop and refine programs.

Funding for this project was provided by Adobe. I should also indicate that I served on the Editorial Board for this report.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked in TL;DR whether or not there should be a "terms of use" for freedoms of speech online. This is in line with a series of news items week after week in which we examine the role of hate speech, trolling, and discrimination online.

This report from the Cato Institute helps make sense of the challenge by providing us some data about attitudes of the public. I think it is important that we consider data as we think through these instances. Perhaps our considerations of freedoms and fundamental human rights are changing as the Internet changes other aspects of our lives.

The results are terribly intriguing, and I urge you to review the overview linked above. Some of the points that stuck out to me:

There is a lot of really interesting results that applies to diverse individuals and they view these events. I need more time to unpack those. For the most part, it feels like these findings suggest that there are important discussions our society needs to have...for better or worse.

Welcome to the audience participation part of TL;DR.

This week I shared out the post above from the NY Times. Friend of the Internet, Robin DeRosa immediately commented that we needed to have a public discussion about the guidance from these 9 "experts." We ultimately decided on a "slow read" and discussion of the post using Hypothesis.

If you have not used Hypothesis, check out this post, or this video. This link will bring you right to the post...already loaded in Hypothesis.

Come on in. Read the comments. Leave your own feedback. I'll see you in the document. Send me a message if you get stuck.

I really enjoy the work by Ben Thompson on his blog, Stratechery. His content is usually very deep thinking, and he identifies where things will ultimately end up two or three steps from now.

This post shares insight from the big tech firms (Google, Facebook, Twitter) testifying before the U.S. Senate this week. The post linked above is a valuable resource to think through the testimony, complete with video embeds.

Thompson's take on these events is notable. We cannot place all of the blame on tech companies and ignore larger systemic problems. The U.S. lawmakers were SHOCKED to learn how powerful Facebook and Google are in our lives. The companies were not very forthright when it comes to how they'll police these texts, stories, ads, and bots in the future. Ultimately, the tech companies are in a struggle to address these challenges, while also not wanting to mess with net neutrality, or serving as editor/evaluator of people's content.

My takeaway from this story is that I believe the people behind the tech giants were shocked that their tools and platforms were used in this way. I think they got fooled and didn't know what to do.

While we're on the subject, make sure you check out the ads that Russians wanted us to see while online. Sadly, it's not even good enough to include in a class discussion about critical evaluation of online info.

One final data point as we wrap up issue #122. This report is from a Mozilla survey of nearly 190,000 people from around the globe. The survey focused on devices, connectivity, and fears of these platforms. The responses are as follows:

🔨 Do

Trying to learn something new? Trying to embed a new practice into your daily actions? Guiding others to help them learn and remember something new?

This post from Steve Brophy shares insight from Steve Glaveski about the "generation effect."

Put simply, we remember best through active learning. One strategy to make this happen is "see one, do one, teach one."

🤔 Consider

"Maybe stories are just data with a soul." — Brené Brown

As we examine surveys about free speech, connectivity, and digital literacy—all filtered through quantitative lenses—this quote reminds us that behind every data point is a human story. The 22 million net neutrality comments, the PISA collaborative problem-solving scores, and Mozilla's 190,000 survey responses all represent real people navigating real struggles with technology, power, and connection.

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