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TLDR 76

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 76

Published: 2016-12-16 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to issue 76 of the TL;DR Newsletter. In TL;DR we typically discuss events of the week in education, technology, and literacy. In this issue we take a look at intervening in situations.

This week I spent time closing out grades for the semester and revising a chapter on how to be a digitally agile researcher. I also published this post about focusing on the granular elements when learning something new.

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🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

This video is from a new video series from Wired called "Argument Clinic."

In this video they indicate elements from the presumption of innocence to indicate that: Proof lies on he who asserts, not he who denies.

A very good reminder as we need to increasingly critical evaluate online content. I still think there is a need to make "facts louder than opinion" as we discussed last week in TL;DR.

📚 Read

Post from Heinemann Publishing detailing guidance for educators on teaching critical literacy in the classroom.

They indicate:

A students' ability to read critically is essential for them to write critically. If they can develop an understanding of how informational texts are constructed, those critical skills will deepen as they create their own arguments through their writing. This requires a shift from identifying elements of informational texts to building with them. Writing argument supplements students' reading of informational texts by illuminating the choices authors make surrounding audience, voice, genre, and the research used (or not used) to support their texts.

The post shares a series of three big questions originally shared by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst:

The U.S. Department of Education released the 2016 plan, titled, Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the role of technology in education.

The plan details a vision of "equity, active use, and collaborative leadership to make everywhere, all-the-time learning possible."

I'm still in the process of digesting this plan. The website does a good job of breaking down the report into specific sections. To access the full report (PDF) click here.

If you haven't seen it already, Yahoo was hacked (again). This is the second time in six months that they disclosed breaches of your data. The key thing to remember is that they knew about these hacks years ago. They only now are sharing this with the public.

In a related note, Evernote changed their terms of service and are building in opportunities for their employees to read your content (if needed). I'm in the process of changing my note taking system over to something new.

As we consider the products and platforms we use, we need to be more vigilant about our own privacy & security in online spaces. This primer from The Guardian gives a good overview of how to get started. I'll have a series of granular posts coming out as I implement these steps.

Should you intervene in a bias attack?

Increasingly we are seeing more violence in society. A lot of this violence is also happening in our schools and on college campuses.

In the past, I've discussed our need to be aware of situations in which an active shooter may be present. With this influx of "bias attacks" and "hate crimes" I think it is also important that we examine what to do when a situation like this arises. As with active shooters...I think the first step is being aware that these situations are a case of WHEN (not IF) they will happen. When they do occur...you can hopefully act and not freeze.

This post from Scientific American discusses the complex calculus that occurs as we are a bystander to these events. I recommend reading through their prompts in case they are needed.

One of my favorite tools to use in classes to have students read and collaborate. Imagine having students collaboratively read, annotate, and discuss using text on a website as opposed to each person reading on their own. Hypothesis allows you to collaboratively create an annotated layer on the internet.

You can read more about how I use Hypothesis here.

In this latest update, Hypothesis improves the search function allowing a better look at notes, tags, usernames, etc. I'm most excited by the improvements to the profiles pages in the system. Now I can annotate and markup online content for use in later research. I can also review the individual annotations by students as they read online.

I'll be spending a lot more time with Hypothesis in the future.

🔨 Do

How to take decent pictures of the sky at night

I've been spending more time working with my various photo and video cameras. One challenge that I've had recently is taking photos of the sky. We've had two "super moons" here over the past six months. We also recently had some incredible cloud structures at dusk that I wanted to capture. As big and beautiful as these things seemed...the photos never came out.

This post from Lifehacker goes through some of the specifics of making this happen.

The post shares a bit more info, but these elements should help us get out there and challenge ourselves to grab that great shot.

🤔 Consider

"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be." — Socrates

This week: intervening in situations.

Closing out grades for semester revising chapter on digitally agile researcher, published post on slow is smooth smooth is fast focusing on granular elements. Wired Argument Clinic presumption of innocence proof lies on he who asserts not he who denies - I still think there is a need to make facts louder than opinion as we discussed last week. Teachers disrupt fake news Heinemann Publishing critical literacy - students' ability to read critically is essential for them to write critically, Kylene Beers Bob Probst three big questions what surprised me what did author think I knew. National Education Technology Plan 2016 Future Ready Learning - equity active use collaborative leadership everywhere all-the-time learning, I'm still in the process of digesting this plan website does good job breaking down. Yahoo hacked again second time six months they knew years ago only now sharing - Evernote changed terms of service employees can read your content, I'm in the process of changing my note taking system to something new, we need to be more vigilant about privacy and security. Should you intervene in bias attack - I think the first step is being aware these situations are a case of WHEN not IF they will happen, Scientific American complex calculus as bystander I recommend reading through their prompts. Hypothesis updated search and profiles - one of my favorite tools to use in classes students read and collaborate, I'm most excited by improvements to profiles pages I'll be spending a lot more time with Hypothesis in future. Taking pictures of sky at night - I've been spending more time working with photo and video cameras one challenge taking photos of sky, Lifehacker post on specifics right equipment best environment pick right camera settings aperture shutter speed ISO.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

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