TLDR 126

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 126

Published: 2017-12-02 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to Issue #126. A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.

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This week I didn't post much online. I wrapped up classes for the semester and headed to Tampa, FL for the Literacy Research Association conference. It was good to see many of you...and think about some big ideas.

Say HI with a note at hello@wiobyrne.com or on the socials at wiobyrne.

🔖 Key Takeaways

I'll Continue to Try: One of the themes that popped up leading into and from the LRA Conference was the area of intersectionality. I'll continue to try and wrap my head around this space.
I Recommend Reading: I recommend reading Dynarski's piece to make up your own mind.
Ian Bogost Concludes: It's time to stop treating the internet as a flawless treasure whose honor must be protected from desecration. It hasn't been such for a long time, if indeed it ever was.
Bear Argues: Bear argues that neuroscience is using the wrong metaphors to understand learning and cognition.
This Week While: This week while at LRA, I felt a common thread of the sessions I attended focused on social justice, critical literacy, and technology in instruction.
These Wondering and Questioning: These wondering and questioning moments make learning so magical.

📺 Watch

Intersectionality 101

One of the themes that popped up leading into and from the LRA Conference was the area of intersectionality. I'll continue to try and wrap my head around this space.

This video from the Teaching Tolerance YouTube channel is a good start.

📚 Read

Laptops are great. But not during a lecture or a meeting

This post by Susan Dynarski stirred up a ton of debate and discussion over the past week. Dynarski is a professor of education, public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. The piece details much of the research on the subject, and makes the argument for eliminating it from certain spaces.

I recommend reading Dynarski's piece to make up your own mind.

You should also read some of the responses from Seth Godin:

Network Neutrality can't fix the Internet

We talked quite a bit about the latest fight for net neutrality in issue #125 of TL;DR. That fight is still very real...and we need to continue to be active in advocating for these rights.

You should know that over the last seven days, the FCC and Commissioner Pai have doubled down on their defense of their repeal of these regulations. They did this by providing you with incorrect definitions of how the Internet works. Pai has also been out attacking everyone from Twitter to Cher in these efforts.

This post from The Atlantic helps provide a bit more understanding about the challenges of these online spaces, and the best possible future for users. Ian Bogost concludes:

If the internet is to remain a public utility, it must also become a public utility worth using, and one that doesn't dismantle the society that would use it through neglect and deceit and malice. It's time to stop treating the internet as a flawless treasure whose honor must be protected from desecration. It hasn't been such for a long time, if indeed it ever was.

How machine learning is helping neuroscientists understand the brain

This piece by Daniel Bear on Massive explains what we're learning about the brain through our work with machine learning. Bear argues that neuroscience is using the wrong metaphors to understand learning and cognition.

Specifically, Bear suggests that we're using incorrect metaphors to describe the entire field, basing our understanding of the brain on comparisons to communications fields, like signal processing and information theory. Instead, we should be using machine learning as a way to describe or understand the brain. Specifically, this suggests that the brain operates by taking in stimuli, deciding on actions, and determining outputs or actions based on algorithms.

Any theory we use to model the brain must follow computational principles, just not the ones of signal processing.

Education isn't about delivering facts - it's about the joy of not knowing, and then what to do about it

This week while at LRA, I felt a common thread of the sessions I attended focused on social justice, critical literacy, and technology in instruction. In my last session, a comment was made about the need for epistemic innocence in our classrooms. This means that we need to identify times to create spaces where our students learn and perhaps are uncomfortable (cognitively) as they learn. Students also need to be able to hold two different ideas in their head at the same time (cognitive dissonance).

This piece by Andy Hargreaves suggests that in our schools, we should celebrate the moment of ignorance that precedes and then succeeds knowledge. These wondering and questioning moments make learning so magical.

This is your brain on exercise: Why physical exercise (not mental games) might be the best way to keep your mind sharp

We've often heard the guidance that taking a brisk walk is good for clearing the mind and preparing for work. Steve Jobs was famous for holding regular walking meetings to boost happiness, productivity, and creativity.

This post from Open Culture shares some research that suggests that physical exercise, as opposed to mental exercises might be helpful in improving the cognitive ability of individuals.

If you're lucky enough to have others to play with...check out this list of 30 classic outdoor games for kids.

🔨 Do

Six steps to build a makerspace with elementary students

Great overview on how a bunch of third graders built up a makerspace for their school. They planned it, were funded...and built it.

Here's their six steps to an engaging makerspace:

Guide and facilitate
When a great idea surfaces, run with it
Incorporate curriculum
Guide students to overcome challenges
Plan and present
Build

🤔 Consider

"We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things that are not seen are eternal." — Madeleine L'Engle

In a week exploring epistemic innocence, curiosity, and the joy of not knowing, L'Engle reminds us that the invisible—questions, wonder, cognitive dissonance, the discomfort of learning—matters more than visible outputs. The temporal things we can measure (test scores, productivity metrics) distract from eternal things: curiosity, critical thinking, and the courage to hold uncertainty.

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🌱 Connected Concepts:

Intersectionality — LRA Conference highlighted intersectionality as emerging theme in literacy research, with Teaching Tolerance video providing introduction to understanding how overlapping identities (race, gender, class, ability) create unique experiences of oppression and privilege, requiring educators to move beyond single-axis thinking in addressing equity.
Classroom Technology Debate — Susan Dynarski's laptop ban argument sparked intense debate between research showing distraction effects and responses highlighting accessibility concerns for disabled students, with Seth Godin and others arguing that bans address symptoms rather than root pedagogical problems of lecture-based passive learning models.
Internet as Public Utility — Ian Bogost argues net neutrality can't fix fundamentally broken internet, concluding it's time to stop treating internet as "flawless treasure" and instead demand it become public utility worth using that doesn't dismantle society through neglect, deceit, and malice.
Learning Science Metaphors — Daniel Bear argues neuroscience uses wrong metaphors for learning, basing understanding on signal processing and information theory when machine learning offers better framework: brain takes in stimuli, decides actions, and determines outputs through algorithms—computational principles beyond simple communications models.
Epistemic Innocence — Andy Hargreaves argues education should celebrate moment of ignorance that precedes and succeeds knowledge, requiring creation of classroom spaces where students experience cognitive discomfort, hold contradictory ideas simultaneously, and embrace wondering and questioning moments that make learning magical.

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