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TLDR 20

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 20

Published: 2015-11-06 • 📧 Newsletter

Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. Please feel free to share with others you believe would benefit. In TL;DR I'm sharing things that happened during the week in literacy, technology, and education that I think you should know.

Thanks again for the support. :)

This week I worked on the following:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

The video shared above is a mirror upload of a video that was shared by Essena O'Neill on November 2nd. Essena has been setting the Internet on fire this week after she quit Instagram and declared war on social media. There has been discussion about whether or not it's a publicity hoax or just evidence of one person growing up online.

I think it raises broader questions about identity, gender, values, and our relationship with online/social media. My own thinking has gone back and forth about this piece. I recommend reading up and searching online for more insight before watching the video above.

Even though she quit social media...you can follow her current work on her blog and her Vimeo channel.

📚 Read

In the Post-Snowden era, we're increasingly concerned/aware of our privacy and security in online and hybrid spaces. The Ranking Digital Rights 2015 Corporate Accountability Index examines corporate practices and how they affect freedom of expression and privacy.

In the rankings Google scored best among Internet companies while Facebook lagged behind. In this work, it is important to determine and routinely question the values we hold dear in online spaces...and whether or not companies have these same belief systems.

Great post from Joanna Murphy at Hybrid Pedagogy looking at the role of power, authority, and truth as we consider age in teaching and learning. Many times we focus on gender or race in examinations of literacy and technology use in teaching. Rarely in my experience do we consider the permutations of ageism and paying attention to power dynamics in and out of the classroom.

Joanna indicates that one of the first steps is examining our own beliefs and notions about these factors.

In our positions of power, we have the ability to shift discourses surrounding our young(er) students and become more aware of how we speak about them and what "isms" we might be enacting with and outside of our classrooms.

In a report by Common Sense Media they indicate that only one-fourth of teenagers in houses with less than $35,000 in annual income say that they had their own laptops as compared to 62 percent in households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more.

This news is even more disconcerting when compared to research conducted by the New Lit Lab that indicated that in our schools students that need literacy and technology instruction might not be receiving it.

Put simply, these web literacies are fundamental human rights that all of our students need. It seems that the ones that might need it the most, aren't accessing it at home or school.

In this piece by Doug Belshaw on DML Central he discusses possibilities for developing an individual's digital literacies through deliberate practice. In this we embed opportunities to practice and build up facility with digital literacies over time with learners. By focusing on granular skills, we have the opportunity to turn these discrete skills into habits.

I definitely agree with Doug's thinking in this post. I think it's also something (as he indicates) in the post that we need to start at an early age. I spend time with students in Pre-K through three working on LED hacks, and might think about coding clubs as he has indicated. In this I not only bring awareness and instruction to tiny tykes...but also build up my own skillset.

Intriguing overview on emergent learning in organizations, but I think this post contains guidance on enabling and empowering learners in all areas. The focus on a "growth mindset" has been in fashion for the last year or so following Carol Dweck's book.

This post identifies six key elements:

  1. Shift from networks to communities
  2. Give up hierarchical, command and control mindset
  3. Make employees (learner) engagement an outcome, not the goal
  4. Make the purpose bigger than shareholder value creation
  5. Stop viewing individuals as replaceable resources
  6. Celebrate diversity in all aspects - cognitive and otherwise

MozFest remote learning activities

As I type up and send this newsletter out MozFest is running full speed ahead just outside of London. I'm looking forward to this year as they're launching Version 2.0 of the Web Literacy work. I'll have more on the launch of this in the upcoming weeks.

I recommend checking out the projects they shared on the "remote participation" page to engage people not in attendance. In the middle of the page you'll find a series of great projects that will get you hacking, coding, and remixing. Definitely get in there and start playing.

You may not have been following the life and times of Sociality Barbie. If you haven't been in the loop...you've missed out. This Instagram account satirizes the "great millennial adventurer trend in photography."

This week a Portland woman named Darby Cisneros stepped out from the shadows and let everyone know that she was the mind behind the creation. She indicated that she wanted to poke fun at social media, and that it wasn't meant to be a "long term project."

🔨 Do

In my house we have several tablets, old phones, and computers from family members, or old purchases that we've moved on from. Most of these are used as gaming devices for my son, quick cameras for classroom use and demos...or waiting to get hacked into something new that we'll use.

One such device is an old Nexus 7 that I've been searching for a new purpose. My initial thought was to use it as an alarm clock that I would use in the guest bedroom. This would be helpful for family/friends that stay over as it would be loaded with maps, apps for the house, and the remote to operate the TV. I'm thinking instead that we'll build this "smart mirror" using the Nexus and the directions from Adafruit. It'll be a fun project that I can work on with my son as we both learn how to hack new things from old.

🤔 Consider

"In the jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity." — Erik Erikson

Essena O'Neill quits Instagram and sets the Internet on fire. Hoax or just growing up online? My own thinking went back and forth. The piece raises broader questions about identity, gender, values, our relationship with social media. In the jungle of human existence, Erikson said there's no feeling alive without identity. What happens when identity becomes performance for metrics?

Ranking Digital Rights examines corporate practices affecting freedom of expression and privacy. Google scores best, Facebook lags. Important to determine and routinely question the values we hold dear in online spaces, and whether companies share these belief systems. Post-Snowden, we're increasingly aware privacy and security aren't guaranteed.

Joanna Murphy's piece on ageism cuts at something rarely examined. We focus on gender or race in literacy and technology teaching. Rarely in my experience do we consider ageism and power dynamics in classrooms. In our positions of power, we can shift discourses surrounding younger students, become aware of what "isms" we're enacting.

The digital disparities facing lower-income teenagers reveal uncomfortable truths. Only 25% of teens in households under $35K have laptops, compared to 62% in households over $100K. New Lit Lab research shows students needing literacy and technology instruction might not receive it. Put simply: these web literacies are fundamental human rights that all our students need. It seems the ones needing it most aren't accessing it at home or school.

Doug Belshaw's deliberate practice framework resonates. Embed opportunities to practice digital literacies over time, focusing on granular skills turning into habits. I spend time with students in Pre-K through three working on LED hacks, might think about coding clubs. In this I not only bring awareness to tiny tykes, I build up my own skillset.

As I type this newsletter, MozFest runs full speed ahead outside London, launching Web Literacy 2.0. Remote participation projects get people hacking, coding, remixing. Definitely get in there and start playing.

Sociality Barbie quits, satirizing the great millennial adventurer trend in photography. If you haven't been in the loop, you've missed out. Darby Cisneros stepped from shadows revealing she was the mind behind creation. Not meant to be long term project—just poking fun at social media.

The smart mirror project using old Nexus 7—it'll be fun working with my son as we both learn how to hack new things from old. Old devices waiting to get hacked into something new we'll use. Guest bedroom alarm clock becomes smart mirror with maps, apps, TV remote. Learning together matters more than the final product.

Identity in the jungle of human existence. Essena O'Neill, Sociality Barbie, Instagram performances, digital disparities, ageism, PreK LED hacks, hacking old devices new. All questions about who we are, who we're becoming, what fundamental rights look like in digital spaces.

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