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TLDR 63

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 63

Published: 2016-09-16 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to issue 63 of the TL;DR Newsletter. In TL;DR I'm synthesizing what I read and learned this week in literacy, technology, and education. If this is your first time here...welcome. :)

Last week I sent out a Twitter poll to see if I should change the name of this newsletter. Thank you to everyone that submitted responses. It seems like...for the most part...TL;DR is a good title. One thing that I might work in to the title is my name and a bit more "branding." I didn't see this...but many of you brought it up...and you may be correct. Thanks again.

This week is all about nature and nurture.

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

We added the Nvidia Shield TV to our living room and as a result we watch a lot more YouTube (along with listening to music and gaming) as a family. One of the nice things is that YouTube will suggest videos that I might like based on my watching history...and hot new channels online.

This video was submitted to me this past week and I subscribed to the You Suck at Cooking channel.

For me, this video hits multiple points. I love cooking, and improving that skillset. I love stop-motion...and there is a ton embedded in these videos. Finally, there is a good sense of humor across the videos.

Enjoy...and let's see what you cook up. :)

📚 Read

Insight shared from a new book titled Do Parents Matter? from Robert LeVine, an anthropologist and professor at Harvard University and his wife Sarah. The subtitle of the book is Why Japanese Babies Sleep Soundly, Mexican Siblings Don't Fight, and American Families Should Just Relax.

The basic morale of the story...Parents really don't matter as much as they think they do. As a parent, this is a bit disconcerting and reassuring. As a teacher of teachers...it is also a bit disconcerting. In my current class on language and literacy, we're discussing the role of parents, and the need for interaction with children as they develop their literacy practices. Perhaps we need to re-investigate or question who provides that interaction.

We've talked a great deal recently here on TL;DR about developing a domain of your own. This is increasingly a big topic in the blogosphere, and for good reason. I'll have many more posts and hopefully some interviews over the coming months.

This post by Doug Belshaw details much of his thinking about the intersection of these topics, and his reflections about the recent discussions. The post provides a comprehensive overview of the future direction that I see as we we identify the future of ePortoflios, digital identity, and the ways in which we prepare learners for the future.

The key challenge, as Doug states:

We already know that this is reason enough to curate our own sources of information, but it's actually more important than that: our identities are at stake.

Through most my work processes, and most of my product...I'm a big believer in "open." I have several blog posts, chapters, and interviews where I (try to) make sense of what open means to me.

This post by Maha Bali is a response to a series of other posts currently online discussing the role and availability of open in scholarship, funding, and research. She begins the post by indicating that this post is a result of several other posts that she cannot help but think about...and now I'm bitten by the post that she has shared.

There are several points that will stick with me over the coming months and I'll leave them here without any commentary to see how they resonate with you.

Do we forget that open pedagogy and OERs are already funded by institutions? Which adjunct faculty member member unaffiliated person has resources to give away their labor for free to others? (Alan Levine notwithstanding). Which overworked teacher has time to create materials and share them in ways that are particularly remixable?

A quote from Sava Singh:

open is not good for everyone, and tends to bias those in already privileged positions — race, class, gender. The hype around open, while well-intentioned, is also unintentionally putting many people in harm's way and they in turn end up having to endure so much. The people calling for open are often in positions of privilege, or have reaped the benefits of being open early on — when the platform wasn't as easily used for abuse, and when we were privileged to create the kinds of networks that included others like us.

A post form the PsyBlog detailing some of the psychological and physical benefits of reading. In each of the benefits, the post links off to research illustrating the points made.

The proposed benefits are:

In each of my classes...especially the tech classes...I teach my students how to create screencaptures and screencasts. I think all educators should have these tools and skills in their tool belt. In just the same way that we can start up a word doc, or a powerpoint deck...we should all be able to create and utilize screencaptures and screencasts.

This post provides a good series of tools to use across the web, Chromebooks, iPad, and Android. I typically use Screencast-o-matic, Skitch, Explain Everything...but I'm always looking for new tools.

🔨 Do

Tired of cold brew? Start treating your coffee like a cocktail

Cold brewing of drinks...most of all coffee...comes up regularly here in TL;DR. I always have a mason jar of cold brew coffee and tea in my fridge at home.

If you grow tired of the regular iced coffee, or want to switch things up...perhaps you can put together some drinks using the cold brewed coffee as a mixer.

I'm intrigued by the modified Arnold Palmer (lemonade and tea) using coffee that they mention in the post. At first it sounded disgusting...but this is the third post I've seen over the last month indicating that it might not be that weird to mix some lemonade or citrus in with the cold brew coffee.

🤔 Consider

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and strength." — Maya Angelou

This week: nature and nurture.

Digitally Literate Courses launches leaks and tribes, possibly writing a book. You Suck at Cooking breakfast burrito - for me this video hits multiple points, love cooking and stop-motion. Robert LeVine on do parents matter - as a parent this is bit disconcerting and reassuring, perhaps question who provides interaction. Doug Belshaw domain of one's own - I'll have many more posts and interviews, our identities are at stake. Maha Bali sustainability of open - I'm a big believer in open, Sava Singh on privilege bias race class gender. Seven mental benefits of reading empathy flexibility creativity. Screencasts tools - I think all educators should have these skills in their tool belt. Cold brew coffee cocktails - I'm intrigued by modified Arnold Palmer with lemonade.

In diversity there is beauty and strength.

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