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Pausing in stride
TL;DR #162 – 8/24/2018

Welcome to the end of a busy week. Let’s get started.

Here’s some of what I posted this week:

• Assistive Technology – I’m compiling some research and resources on present and future uses of technology to support and enable individuals with disabilities.
• The Screentime Debate – I started up a research project with Kristen Turner, and we’d like for you to get involved. We’re trying to start up a discussion across a number of groups on the topic of “screentime.” What is it? What are the challenges? How do others deal with it. You can read more at our website. We’re using Flipgrid for this research, so you can go directly there if you’d prefer.

Sleeping in School

Classes are getting started up in K-12 and higher education. As we make the transition into the school it’s fun to see students starting to snooze in class.

This video from sWooZie is a funny talking point for you and your students.

Call for ideas: What should be in the Internet Health Report?

The Internet Health Report team from Mozilla launched a call for ideas this week. As a regular reader of TL;DR, your insight is valued…and necessary.

I’ve reported on this in the past, but the Internet Health Report is a check up on the internet. It includes research and stories from people all over the world on how the internet is working for good–or bad–in their lives.

They’re inviting everyone to submit ideas before September 14. They’re looking for research, articles, and inspiring initiatives to make the internet healthier, but also suggestions about issues people don’t hear enough about.

We need to hear from all voices to fight for a healthier Internet.

Do you trust your students?

A great post from Amy Hasinoff in Hybrid Pedagogy examining the challenges in critical digital pedagogy and trust in your classroom.

I’ve written about this in the past as we have students work with digital texts and tools. There has to be a certain amount of responsibility and respect for the instructor and the students. There also needs to be respect for the transitory nature of these online spaces. Put simply, all members of the learning environment need to be patient and flexible as we understand the challenges as we connect in these spaces.

I’d also like to share this text on learning spaces and critical digital pedagogy that was brought to my attention this week by Verena Roberts. The book is open source, and examines youth in remote indigenous Australia.

The Mindset Mindset: Passion and Grit as Emotional Labour

Benjamin Doxtdator with an important post examining the connections between grit, passion, & innovation. Doxtdator frames this by looking at the narratives we’ve created about educators that they need to be “passionate” and always willing to expend energy to excite learners and keep them involved. The challenge is that educators are also humans (or are supposed to be) and life gets in the way. They get sick, tired, and disenfranchised.

I felt this way at the end of the last semester where you begin to question some of the choices I’ve made, and energy expended on different tasks. Part of this is learning how to say no. Part of this has to do with respecting individuals that you go to for support and innovation/inspiration.

Good teachers use the N-word

This post from Andre Perry in The Hechinger Report was very much needed in my world this week.

Perry concludes the post with the following:

There is no escaping the fact that teachers must use the N-word. But how they use it makes all the difference. Pretending the word doesn’t exist because it makes you uncomfortable is like believing that Trump isn’t racist: an act of delusion

My slam poetry class is starting up this week and I’m busy reading The Hate U Give and White Fragility to get prepared. I’ll share more about the content and materials for the course soon. But, I know that our discussions will soon include the N-word, and discussions about social/political landscapes. I’ve traveled these paths before, but I can always do a better job understanding.

Now You Can Read Entire Books on Instagram Thanks to the New York Public Library’s ‘InstaNovels’

This story was very scary and exciting for me when it popped up this week. This is the sort of story that sparks discussion, and instantly polarizes people and their views about tech/literacy. I love using this in classroom discussions.

The WSJ reports that the library is, somewhat bizarrely, turning the Instagram app into an ebook reader.

The new service, dubbed “Insta Novels,” will be available to all Instagram users starting Wednesday, regardless of whether they have a NYPL card or live in New York City […]
The technology works in such a way that when readers are on the Instagram app, they hold the page of a book by resting their thumb on the screen, library officials said. They turn the page by lifting their thumb.
The experience is “unmistakably like reading a paperback novel,” Corinna Falusi, Mother in New York’s partner and chief creative officer, said in a statement.

What to do when your classroom tech fails

I spend a lot (most) of my time helping students, faculty, family, & others use technology for a variety of purposes. For educators, there is a general reticence to use tech for the fear of it failing.

My first piece of advice is that technology is going to fail…or at least you should plan on it failing, and have a pedagogical backup.

Richard Byrne takes this to the next step as he gives you a quick checklist of what to do when things don’t go as planned.

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If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.

Banksy

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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