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TLDR 53

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 53

Published: 2016-07-09 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to issue 53 of the TL;DR Newsletter. TL;DR is officially a year old. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I'll have a post out this week identifying what I learned in this period.

This week we consider the existence of intelligence and emotion.

You can review archives of the newsletter. Alternatively you can also check out TL;DR on Medium.

This week I worked on the following:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

Another great video from the School of Life YouTube channel. This video defines what we mean by an "existential crisis."

I've been speaking lately about journeys of self-exploration as we create and curate our online identities. I think this video helps us think about the decisions we make in the process.

📚 Read

Great post from Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross in DML Central.

This post discusses recent guidelines about screen time. The authors share resources from their research on parenting, and preparing children for a digital future.

These discussions have an ebb and flow as we consider guidelines for individuals and our relationship with these technologies. My advice is to have a balanced approach and keep up to speed on the current research.

Book excerpt from Emotions, Learning, and the Brain, by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.

A reminder of the important elements of education that we often disregard.

She notes:

In short, learning is dynamic, social, and context dependent because emotions are, and emotions form a critical piece of how, what, when, and why people think, remember, and learn.

Post from NPR Ed sharing opportunities to empower students that we might often overlook in class.

I've been thinking a bit about the role of extroverts, introverts, and ambiverts. Previously in TL;DR I shared guidance about the "quiet power of introverts".

My interest is in finding opportunities to enable all learners in an environment with an opportunity to voice their opinions. In my own classes I try to build mechanisms that engage learners and a culture that makes them believe they are valued. My hope is that my students then bring these belief systems and pedagogical decisions to their classrooms.

This includes the possible use of online and hybrid spaces to build identity and discourse.

Intriguing post shared as a collaboration between the World Economic Forum (WEF) blog and Quartz. On the surface, I'm wondering why the WEF blog is sharing this. This type of content is very much germane for Quartz. If you dig deeper, it's interesting to see how the WEF blog chooses to title their post, while the Quartz version is less "click bait."

Nevertheless, this is another version of the "is Google making us dumber debate." There is a concern that all of this information and "fear of missing out" is making us more hyperactive, shallow thinkers, etc. IMHO, I don't think we'll really understand the real effect of this multitasking in an informational society for another decade or more.

I am interested in the recent pieces in TL;DR that I shared about recent brain research, and how our brains "take out the trash." In short, I think we need periods of down time to allow our brain to regroup and move toward stasis. We also need sleep to allow our brains to tidy up and prepare. Our brains may be muscles that can drain our energy reserves and build up new strengths. We sometimes still need rest and recuperation.

In the TILE-SIG presentation, an astute participant asked about the wealth of digital texts and tools that we all presented, and asked "where is the literacy in all of this?" I tried to quickly note the work in new, digital, and web literacy, but didn't have enough time. Furthermore, I wish I had time to give a quick commercial about the web literacy worked I helped develop over the last couple of years with the Mozilla Community.

For an interactive map of the latest version of the web literacy map, visit this page. You might also decide to visit the whitepaper that we wrote to frame the ideas in the framework.

This post gives a series of teaching activities from the Mozilla Learning Network. The activities provide a good way to start folding these web literacies into your instructional routine.

🔨 Do

This is a fun activity to get you (and your students) playing with editing HTML and CSS code.

First, on a piece of paper write down your name, and six words that define you. Six words...no more...no less.

Then click on the link for my six word bio. You can click the green button on the bottom right of the screen and remix my work to create your own six word bio.

Have fun. There's a tutorial hidden in there as well to help you. :)

🤔 Consider

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." — Confucius

This week: intelligence and emotion. TL;DR one year anniversary!

School of Life on existential crisis - I think this helps us think about decisions we make in self-exploration. Sonia Livingstone rethinking screen time - my advice is balanced approach and keep up with research. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang on emotions integral to learning - reminder of important elements we often disregard. Helping quiet kids tap superpowers - my hope is students bring these belief systems to classrooms. Multitasking exhausting brain - I don't think we'll really understand real effect for another decade. Web literacy activities from Mozilla - where is the literacy in all of this? Six word bio HTML/CSS remix - have fun, tutorial hidden inside.

By three methods we may learn wisdom.

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