TLDR 81

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 81

Published: 2017-01-20 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to the 81st issue of the TL;DR Newsletter.

The intersection between education and technology can sometimes be hard to understand. My goal each week in TL;DR is to make it easier for you to understand the larger themes. The end result is to make you the expert.

In this issue we learn how to dream.

This week I worked on the following:

Private online research & discussion using Hypothesis - I'm using Hypothesis a lot more in my classes this semester. This post shares exactly how to set this up and allow your students to read and annotate one text together in class.
Developing & maintaining learning connections online in a networked learning project - One of the first things I do with my students as we start learning about education, literacy, and technology is to break down assumptions about learning. Many of my students believe that the learning has to come from a textbook, the answers are in the back, and the teacher or textbook always knows everything. In the networked learning project, you identify a topic of self-interest, and only use the Internet to learn a new skill or ability. Document your learning overtime...and display what you've learned at the end. Let me know if you try this project with your students.

If you haven't already, please subscribe to this newsletter. Subscribing let's me know that you care. And...caring is sharing.

You can review archives of the newsletter. Check out TL;DR on Medium. Connect with me on Instagram and Snapchat.

🔖 Key Takeaways

I'm Also Sharing This: We watched in awe as the rocket took off, deployed the upper section & satellites, and then land on a barge in the ocean. I'm also sharing this because we can learn from the professionalism and information shared in the video.
I Think Moe Is Dead On: Moe tackles the "fake news" and information literacy debates by suggesting that our larger educational systems have failed. I think Moe is dead on in this assessment.
I'm Interested and Invested: I noticed that they pulled in some of the web literacy work I helped with in the past. I am leery about the "open" nature of this work, and also wondering how long the initiative will be continued. For now...I'm interested and invested.
One Strategy That I Employ: This is one of the challenges that I've often heard from students as they read on devices of various sizes. One strategy that I employ to address this is through the use of Hypothesis.
We Need to Be Considerate: We need to be considerate of the messages and signals we're sending children, and the ultimate effect this has on their perspectives.
We Don't Need to Change Everything: We don't need to change everything now, but we do need to start forgetting the assumptions that we have made. The future is more uncertain than ever, but we need to make our kids as balanced, agile, and as self-reliant as ever.

📺 Watch

Iridium-1 Hosted Webcast

This past week, my son and I watched this YouTube broadcast from the SpaceX of the launch of the Iridium-1 rocket. We watched in awe as the rocket took off, deployed the upper section & satellites, and then land on a barge in the ocean. The entire video is 1:39:19. I cued it up to the point in the mission where the bottom portion of the rocket descends and lands on the barge. The video is available for the entire descent. It's incredible.

I'm also sharing this because we can learn from the professionalism and information shared in the video. Throughout the video the hosts are available to explain everything that is happening, and let you geek out on all of the details. They make the materials approachable for all learners. I think we all can learn a lot about making our fields and expertise more approachable to others.

Please do share this with young learners. Simply showing a child that this is possible might be the step needed to inspire future events.

📚 Read

All I know is what's on the internet

Excellent piece by Rolin Moe in the Real Life Magazine. Moe tackles the "fake news" and information literacy debates by suggesting that our larger educational systems have failed. I think Moe is dead on in this assessment.

Pointedly, he indicates the following:

Fake news is squatting in one building in an entire landscape of neglect and corruption; evicting them will make no difference to the blight.

I believe it would be easy to point at "fake news" or echo chambers and suggest that this is the reason for recent events in the U.S. presidential election. I also see this phenomenon reverberating around the globe. This is a larger systemic problem that needs to be addressed. We'll keep unpacking the layers here in TL;DR.

Calling all citizens of the Internet

Mozilla made a lot of news this past week for their update to the logo and iconography. I thought this piece, and the link to the included Internet Health Report was much more interesting.

In the post, Mark Surman details the statement of the problem in which we need to discuss and understand the "health of the Internet." To build consensus and address these concerns, they announce an open source project called the Internet Health Report. The report is an informative resource that pulls in reports from multiple sources to help us document and explain what is happening in the space.

I noticed that they pulled in some of the web literacy work I helped with in the past. I am leery about the "open" nature of this work, and also wondering how long the initiative will be continued. For now...I'm interested and invested. I'll dig in more and report on what I find. Please tell me what you think.

Strategies to help students "go deep" when reading digitally

Katrina Schwartz in MindShift sharing strategies to help students (and ourselves) dig in a bit deeper while reading on a screen. This is one of the challenges that I've often heard from students as they read on devices of various sizes. They would much rather print out texts to marking up and annotating.

Schwartz suggests using Google Docs and highlighting key words in the document. The outline tool in Google Docs is also an option to help organize thoughts as you read. My favorite suggestion was the highlight tool that can be used in the platform.

One strategy that I employ to address this is through the use of Hypothesis...as detailed earlier in this issue.

This piece from Scientific American shares insight from an upcoming paper in Psychological Science. The research observed four- and five-year-old children as they observed adults display negative nonverbal signals (scowling & using an unfriendly tone of voice) to one person. The children then watched the adults displaying positive nonverbal signals to another person. The children then showed bias in the same direction after witnessing the events. That is to say that they favored the person who received the positive nonverbal signals.

We need to be considerate of the messages and signals we're sending children, and the ultimate effect this has on their perspectives. I also recommend checking out this post from Scientific American on How to overcome unconscious bias.

We need to teach our children how to dream

Excellent post from Tom Goodwin in GQ UK about the focus of education in our current sociopolitical climate.

Goodwin indicates that we don't need to focus on teaching our students to code, or identifying one aspect of knowledge as being more "worthy" than another. Instead, we should focus on five attributes:

Relationships
Curiosity
Agility
Creativity
Empathy

Goodwin closes with the following:

We don't need to change everything now, but we do need to start forgetting the assumptions that we have made. The future is more uncertain than ever, but we need to make our kids as balanced, agile, and as self-reliant as ever in order to thrive in it.

🔨 Do

Check out this free online news literacy course

If you're trying to identify ways to build up your critical lens for online information (or bring this to others), you might want to check out this Coursera class titled Making sense of the news: News literacy lessons for digital citizens. The course was created by faculty from The University of Hong Kong and The State University of New York.

The course begins on February 6th. If you haven't dropped out of the MOOC in awhile...this could be fun for you. Better yet...you can audit the course for free, and use the materials over time as you need them.

🤔 Consider

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." — Alexander Hamilton

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🌱 Connected Concepts:

SpaceX — Iridium-1 rocket launch my son and I watched in awe, I'm also sharing because we can learn from professionalism hosts make materials approachable.
Rolin Moe — Fake news Real Life Magazine larger educational systems have failed, fake news squatting in one building in entire landscape of neglect larger systemic problem.
Fake News — Rolin Moe larger educational systems have failed I think Moe is dead on, easy to point at fake news or echo chambers we'll keep unpacking layers.
Mozilla Internet Health — Calling all citizens open source project Internet Health Report, I'm interested and invested I'll dig in more and report on what I find.
Hypothesis — Private online research discussion I'm using a lot more in classes, one strategy I employ to address digital reading challenges students read annotate one text together.
Social Biases — How kids catch our social biases Scientific American research, we need to be considerate of messages and signals we're sending children ultimate effect on perspectives.
News Literacy — Free online course Coursera Making sense of the news, begins February 6th can audit for free use materials over time as you need them.
Networked Learning Project — Developing maintaining learning connections online identify topic of self-interest, only use Internet to learn new skill document your learning let me know if you try this.
Tom Goodwin — Teach our children how to dream GQ UK focus of education, relationships curiosity agility creativity empathy make kids balanced agile self-reliant.

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