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TLDR 42

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 42

Published: 2016-04-22 • 📧 Newsletter

Hi all. Welcome to issue 42 of the TL;DR Newsletter. In TL;DR I'm synthesizing news and events from the past week in literacy, technology, and education. Thank you for the support.

This week we examine elements of moderation, emoji, & the default state.

I'm always tweaking TL;DR to better suit you. If you have feedback, questions, or concerns...please feel free to the "reply" button and send me a response. I'd love to hear from you.

This week I've been working on the following:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

Prince had a long documented battle with the Internet. He sued YouTube, kept his music off streaming services, and routinely claimed copyright infringement.

He originally fought to keep this video of a performance at Coachella off YouTube...and then reversed course in 2015 by tweeting out a link to the video and indicating that he was fine with its existence.

Thankfully this 8 minute clip is available for us all to enjoy.

📚 Read

This week two incredible pieces were posted online that fire another warning shot across the bow of publishers. The focus is on organizing researchers to find a better way to share and collaborate over their work.

The first is the link above from Ryan Merkley, the CEO at Creative Commons.

The second is titled "It's time to stand up to greedy academic publishers" and was published in The Guardian by Jonathan Gray and Stuart Lawson.

These two pieces continue the call for charting out a possible better path as we use these new digital spaces to connect and collaborate.

Last week in TL;DR we discussed some of the issues with moderation of comments and free speech on The Guardian.

This week we continue that look at exactly what might be happening as we moderate and shape behaviors and content online.

The Verge shares results from an investigation that was supported by The Investigative Fund. The result is a long read that is definitely worth reviewing.

That's right. You're part of the problem...and the solution. :)

Piece from Wired looking at literacy practices and adoption of emoji by web literate individuals.

Fully 92 percent of all people online use emoji now, and one-third of them do so daily.

Clive Thompson makes the point that we're really witnessing the birth of a new, global language.

In workshops and talks, I frequently talk about literacy practices and discuss how we read and write. In this discussion, I usually get some pushback when I suggest that coding is a form of writing. This pushback is lessening...slightly. I'll then proceed to indicate that emoji are another form of writing and communication. At that we usually engage in some lively discussion. ;)

For more thinking about emoji, I recommend this post about investigating the potential for miscommunication using emoji that I heard about on the TIDE Podcast.

This post from Daniel Levitin really resonated with me throughout the week. It contains specific, actionable guidance on the operations of the mind, and the various states in which we exist.

Specifically, I was interested in the look at multitasking and the need to let the brain return to rest, or the default state to allow for creativity.

Yes...you can focus on multiple tasks and get them done. But, if you want to truly do good work, drop everything else and give it your attention. Finally, your brain needs those breaks where you do nothing or goof off. That's when it cleans out the garbage, reaches breakthroughs, and gets those creative juices flowing.

Super cool idea. In the three minute thesis (3MT), students at Carnegie Mellon are given one powerpoint slide and three minutes to explain their work in an approachable manner.

I've been thinking about this following my discussion with Kurt Becker and the trends in engineering education. We need individuals that can not only "walk the walk" but they need to "talk the talk." We need scholars that can speak and make their thinking approachable.

In some of my classes I have students present an Ignite talk at the end of the course in which they detail their "story" over the semester. I'll mostly likely fold a variant of the 3MT into another course to have students explain a topic or theme from the course.

🔨 Do

Most of us have seen and used QR codes before. We've played with using them around our classroom or campus to share links for students. We've scanned the weird, pixelated squares that represent barcodes for looking up products or links to content online.

Internationally, QR codes are often used as a valuable connected between the digital and "real" worlds. for some reason, the uptake in the U.S. is a bit more stunted.

One possible opportunity for K-12 comes from the startup Clever. Their idea is to use QR codes as a form of identification and password to expedite logging in to computers.

Given the challenges we often have with passwords and security, I would welcome the use of a QR code affixed to my university ID. I could have the computer scan my ID, enter a short password and use this as a form of two-factor authentication.

🤔 Consider

"Saying the Internet makes librarians obsolete is like saying the plague makes doctors obsolete." — Cory Doctorow

This week: moderation, emoji, default state.

Prince fought copyright battles, then released his Coachella cover - thankfully available. Two warning shots at academic publishers - you pay to read research you fund. Moderation investigation - you're part of the problem and the solution. Emoji as a new global language - 92% use them, lively discussion ensues. Daniel Levitin on multitasking versus default state - your brain needs breaks to reach breakthroughs. 3MT challenges scholars to explain complex ideas in three minutes. QR codes for two-factor authentication.

Saying the Internet makes librarians obsolete is like saying the plague makes doctors obsolete.

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