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TLDR 21

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 21

Published: 2015-11-13 • 📧 Newsletter

In TL;DR I'm sharing things that happened during the week in literacy, technology, & education that I think you should know. Please feel free to share with others you believe would benefit. If you like what you see here, I recommend subscribing to get it hand-delivered to your inbox.

To send me feedback, questions, concerns...please email me at wiobyrne@gmail.com or reach out on Twitter. To review past issues please click here. Thanks again for the support. :)

This week I worked on the following:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

I've been diving deeper and deeper into philosophy over the past year. I'm regretting the lack of this content in my earlier education.

To get jump started, go listen to this interview with Alain de Botton. It's just under two hours. Go for a walk, do the dishes, paint a picture. Listen to this interview on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting app. You need to listen to this. :)

I'm also subscribing to The School of Life on YouTube after listening to Alain on the podcast.

📚 Read

Dear reader...IMHO that title for this blog post is terrible. Despite the title of the post...you should listen to this interview (Soundcloud, iTunes) with Salman Rushdie on The Moment Podcast.

The podcast is under an hour long. I think the beginning was excellent and the ending fantastic. To me the interview was more about writing, creativity, magic, evil, and pleasure.

For those of you that create, write, make, teach, or learn...this is another bit of insight that I believe you'll value.

Many of you enjoyed the Serial podcast. I talked with many people that loved listening and trying to solve the mystery online. I talked tons of teachers that listened to and discussed the podcast with their students.

If you like science, sci-fi, extraterrestrials, cypher/crypto...then you need to listen to The Message.

The post above is a discussion with the creator, Mac Rogers, and digs in to the "rules" of writing for the stage and serialized drama.

Now that I've given you a ton of things to go listen to...you might be wondering what else to do during that time.

This piece by Nick Ripatrazone on The Atlantic is about much more than writers running. To me it was about creativity, inspiration, and creating quiet in the mind to make that happen.

I've blogged in the past about my own 30 day challenge (that has become a habit) with meditation. I think we need to find opportunities to clear our heads out, calm the mind, and let the wonderous machine that is our brain do its work.

If you're looking at other opportunities to clear out your own head...I recommend checking out Laura Hilliger's post on structure and routine.

This Slate article by Jane McGonigal discusses the benefits of gaming, and specifically a "gameful" mindset as you approach daily challenges.

You can learn more by checking out the SuperBetter book and app. Or, as I learned from her interview on the Tim Ferriss podcast...install Tetris on your phone and play it for five minutes at the end of the night. I play Tetroid on Android as I've had troubles finding a good Tetris app that isn't junked up with ads and fluff.

While we're discussing the positive potential of games to heal...there is new research out looking at the opportunity to increase engagement and help students learn through challenging games.

Great piece by Clay Shirky in which he discusses the new normal...online education is a fundamental part of our experience in higher ed. The challenge is that it appears that we haven't put that much thought into what it could, or should be.

He states:

Given the lousy fit between institutional assumptions and the actual lives of most students, we should applaud their inventiveness in using digital options to make college work for them. But we should also recognize our complicity in creating a system that works so badly in the first place. Online classes are no longer surprising, or experimental, or rare. By adopting them, students are telling us what they need our institutions to become.

I agree with the points that he makes. I am concerned for what is happening in K-12 education.

This post by Mitch Resnick and David Siegel, students have tremendous opportunities to make and remake themselves as they learn to code. In the post they provide some framing for the 2015 Hour of Code that will be lunched by Code.org.

They discuss a need to understand the motivations and perspectives that promote this focus on coding and programming. They view it as more of a literacy as opposed to preparing workers for the future.

In the post they state:

As young people express themselves with Scratch, they begin to think of themselves differently, just as they do when they learn to write. The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire recognized that writing is more than just a practical skill. He led literacy campaigns in poor communities not simply to help people get jobs, but to help people learn that, in his words, "they can make and remake themselves."

🔨 Do

If you're interested in building up your own skill set in coding...or bringing it into your classroom, I recommend checking out this Star Wars themed coding program from Code.org.

Use drag and drop blocks to help Rey and BB-8 negotiate the backgrounds. Recommended for kids ages 11 and up, it's good exposure for coding...and the upcoming movie. :)

🤔 Consider

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next." — Abraham Lincoln

I've been diving deeper into philosophy, regretting the lack of this content in my earlier education. Alain de Botton's two-hour interview—go for a walk, do the dishes, paint a picture while listening. The School of Life on YouTube became a subscription after hearing Alain on the podcast.

Dear reader, IMHO that title is terrible. Despite the terrible title, Salman Rushdie's interview is about writing, creativity, magic, evil, pleasure. The beginning was excellent, the ending fantastic. For those who create, write, make, teach, or learn—this is insight you'll value.

The Message podcast follows Serial for those who like sci-fi, extraterrestrials, cypher/crypto. Mac Rogers discusses the "rules" of writing for stage and serialized drama. I talked with tons of teachers who listened to and discussed Serial with students. The Message offers similar opportunities.

Why writers run—about much more than running. Creativity, inspiration, creating quiet in the mind to make that happen. My 30-day meditation challenge became a habit. We need to find opportunities to clear our heads out, calm the mind, let the wondrous machine that is our brain do its work. Laura Hilliger's post on structure and routine offers other opportunities to clear out your head.

Jane McGonigal's gameful mindset applies to daily challenges. SuperBetter book and app, or as I learned from Tim Ferriss interview—install Tetris, play five minutes before bed. I play Tetroid on Android, having had troubles finding a good Tetris app that isn't junked up with ads and fluff. New research shows challenging games increase engagement, help students learn.

Clay Shirky: the digital revolution in higher ed already happened, no one noticed. Online education is fundamental to higher ed experience. Challenge is we haven't put much thought into what it could or should be. Given the lousy fit between institutional assumptions and actual student lives, we should applaud their inventiveness using digital options. But also recognize our complicity creating a system that works so badly. Students adopting online classes are telling us what they need our institutions to become. I agree with his points. I am concerned for what's happening in K-12.

Paulo Freire recognized writing is more than practical skill. He led literacy campaigns in poor communities not simply to help people get jobs, but to help people learn they can make and remake themselves. Coding as literacy, not just preparing workers for the future. As young people express themselves with Scratch, they begin to think of themselves differently, just as when they learn to write.

Lincoln's quote: the philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. What philosophies are we teaching now? Complicity in lousy systems? Or that people can make and remake themselves?

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