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TLDR 8

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 8

Published: 2015-08-15 • 📧 Newsletter

Thank you once again for being one of the first to sign up for this newsletter. In this weekly email, I curate content from the past week that you should check out. My goal is to keep you informed, without you having to stay connected to the firehouse of information online.

I finished up my last two classes with UNH this week. At the same time, I sent out a final note to the family and friends I met during my four years at UNH. If you're here following the TL;DR newsletter after reading that note...welcome, it's good to stay connected.

This week I got a lot of things completed behind the scenes...but didn't post a lot.

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

Ask a Tween: Could You Live Without Your Phone?

The "Ask a Tween" series from The Atlantic

This playlist of seven short videos focuses on a tween's guide to technology, social media, and popularity. The series of videos is either very insightful, or makes you glad you're not an adolescent anymore. :)

📚 Read

Intriguing piece from Paul Mason
in The Guardian

about our attention spans, reading on screens, and changing practices of writers. I agree & disagree with different aspects of the column. What do you think?

It shouldn't be a shocker...Facebook (and everyone else) is collecting all of our interactions online. They're tracking everything down to the specific words that you type. This bit of "research" by the Facebook research team

shows that the way that we express laughter online is evolving.

The key takeaway...stop using LOL. :)

This week Google made some news by reorganizing. They basically formed a parent company called Alphabet that will allow them to focus on areas other than just search . As a society, we're used to telling people to just "Google It", the truth is that there is much more to Google than just search . It will be interesting to see how this opens up room for the other spaces in Google (now Alphabet), it just depends on whether you trust Larry Page .

Big news for children's programming, and the money that HBO will dump into it. What effect will it have on children from economically-challenged areas that use the show to get ready for school

?

Good piece from Edudemic
on evaluation strategies for credibility and relevance of online information. The post is actually very good and contains info from Julie Coiro.

I'm usually cautious about posts like this and worry that they make it too simplistic of a process. I prefer to think more long term and build up a student's "healthy skepticism" as they read online.

For some of you, Blab.

may seem like a very bad idea that you will never use. :) I think it's terribly fascinating, and I'm trying to think of ways to use it in my work.

Recently, apps like Periscope and Meerkat

have made it possible to "livestream" events from mobile devices. The idea is that you can turn on your webcam, and broadcast live to the world. These apps also make it very easy to "tune in" and check out what people are broadcasting.

Blab.im takes that thinking...and makes it collaborative. Video chat, collaborate, and share with up to four people...and stream it out online. Very cool. :)

Excellent overview of pedagogical opportunities as you teach in online, or hybrid spaces. This post is primarily focused on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course). However, I believe the guidance is beneficial for anyone teaching or building online.

If you write online, or at a computer, you need to check out the Hemingway Editor . If you teach writing or have your students write in class, you need to check out how it can be used to help you analyze writing .

Hemingway is a free web app...there is a desktop app , but I don't use it. Hemingway provides feedback about your writing as you write. It's definitely not foolproof...but I think it's a good step in the writing process before students send their work to others for peer-review.

🔨 Do

Good idea from The Kitchn
detailing a hack for filling pancakes with Nutella. Their process involves freezing disks of Nutella, and then placing them in the wet batter as you cook the pancakes.

I think this process can be repeated using other butters, jellies, and preserves. It's time to head to the kitchen and experiment. :)

🤔 Consider

Finishing up at UNH this week brings reflection on transitions—ending one chapter while beginning another. The Open Badge Awareness badge represents more than credentials; it's about practicing what we preach, submitting work for review, and learning by doing.

The "Ask a Tween" series reminds us that adolescence in the digital age is both familiar and foreign territory. They're navigating the same social pressures we did, just with smartphones instead of passed notes. The question isn't whether screens are changing how we read and write (they are), but how we thoughtfully engage with that change.

Google's transformation into Alphabet raises questions about trust and power. When one company touches search, email, maps, phones, self-driving cars, and life extension research, does reorganization matter? It depends on whether you trust Larry Page's vision—or whether any single entity should have that much reach.

Sesame Street moving to HBO feels like a test case for public goods in private hands. Can quality educational content remain accessible when profit motives enter the equation? The answer matters for kids who need it most.

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