Identifying your piece in the puzzle
TL;DR #160 – 7/28/2018

This week I posted the following:

• Employing digital spaces to resist harmful discourses: Intersections of learning, technology, & politics showing up in the lowcountry – I’ve shared a lot of parts of this research project, but it has finally been published. The full manuscript should be available above. If not…send me an email.
• Encountering harmful discourses in the classroom – This post is a supplement of the work published above. This is for the educator that is trying to figure out how to address bullying, harassment, and hate speech in their classroom.

Starting on Friday, August 3rd, I’m taking two weeks off from the Internet and enjoying some time with family and friends. I’ll be doing some playing online so you may see some stuff from me bubble up…but I hope not. TL;DR will start back up with #161 on August 17th. 🙂

How ASMR became an Internet phenomenon

I have to admit that I’ve been listening to a lot of ASMR over the last couple of weeks. I’m teaching a couple of classes online, and doing a lot of writing/research. I’ve found that having an ASMR video playing in the background on my headphones works a lot better than white noise or music. It’s an ambient buzz that helps me focus.

Please note, you need to find something that works for you. Many of the videos/channels contain some role-playing and interesting visuals that I don’t bother with. Some of the audio triggers may annoy you. You need to experiment.

To get started, check this video from Gibi. One of my recent favorites is this video from the ASMRctica ASMR channel.

Truth, Disrupted

Sinan Aral in the Harvard Business Review posits that false news spreads online faster, farther, and deeper than truth does — but it can be contained. This post identifies a lot of interesting data points on how truth moves about online.

HBR also shares supplementary posts on what do we know about false news, and how we all can fight misinformation.

Hey Mom, did you see this? Camps are using facial recognition, latest use of controversial tech

More than 100 summer camps are using facial recognition technology to help parents catch a glimpse of their kids when they’re away at camp, a convenience that also raises privacy concerns over the increasing reach of surveillance in society.

Apps/tools like this sound incredible. Parents and participants love quickly seeing photos of themselves show up days later in their email or text messages. But, what are the larger privacy or security implications?

How mental health apps are messing with our heads

I’ve blogged quite a bit about my meditation habit, and how the Headspace app helped me start this practice. This post from Lisa Parker at the University of Sydney. Parker researched 61 apps and published this work in a [recent study (http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/4/338.full#ref-10). The research suggests questions that we should be asking about what these apps are doing with our data, and potential threats to privacy and security in digital spaces.

One of the key takeaways from the research is also the indication that the therapy that you desire from these apps/tools should be connected to therapy and social supports from human beings in your life.

Social media is tearing Indians apart but it can also bring them closer

I spend a lot of time researching and teaching others about digital spaces, and the ways in which we use these tools to read, write, socialize, and connect. At some point in this work, I indicate that there are positives and negatives that come with our use of these texts, tools, and spaces.

This post from Quartz synthesizes these challenges in one easy to read piece. I also appreciate how this focuses on the culture and individuals in one country that may seem foreign to students and colleagues. That makes it a bit easier to separate ourselves from the discussion and critique our use of tech.

The Dissect Podcast

I’m always looking for a new podcast, and definitely enjoy podcasts about music, or creative works. Lastly, I’ve been spending more time collecting content for my class on slam poetry, hip-hop, and rap.

A good friend, Mike Manderino recommended the Dissect Podcast. The podcast is motivated by the “swipe culture” in which we hurriedly rush from content to content to content. As a potential antidote, host Cole Cuchna focuses each season on one album, and each episode analyzes one song, measure by measure, word by word.

I just finished the first season, which focused on the early work of Kendrick Lamar, and one of of albums, “To Pimp a Butterfly.” I’m thoroughly enjoying the deep dive into content…and the background info he provides about creativity and inspiration in the work of the artists.

Subcribe to Dissect now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Repurpose your talks on social media

Over the last two years, I’ve been working to my my research and teaching materials more approachable and accessible for people. As an example…take a look at the publication and blog post that I started this week’s newsletter with. The publication gives me credit at my institution, whereas I also want to take what I learned in the research and present it in a way that teachers, parents, and the general individual can use in their daily lives.

This Twitter thread from Dan Quintana shares guidance on a couple of extra steps that you can take to repurpose your talks for sharing on social media. I found a couple of actionable steps that I’ll add to my repertoire. I’m also thinking about putting out a post in which I share how I repurpose my work.

I also see opportunities for teachers to repurpose their teaching & learning materials from their classrooms.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

TL;DR is a summary of all the great stuff from the Internet this week in technology, education, & literacy. Please subscribe to make sure this comes to your inbox each week. You can review archives of the newsletter here.

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