Change is a state of mind
TL;DR #171- 10/26/2018

TL;DR is a weekly review of things that I think you should be reading. A primer of some of the cool things that happened…but you may have missed.

This week I created the following:

• Why people troll others online – I’ve been doing some deep reading and research around trolling and harmful behaviors online. This post unpacks what is meant by trolling in digital spaces.
• What is Digital Literacy: Documenting instructional technology use at the College of Charleston – I gave a talk on our recent research at meeting of the SC EdTech Conference 2018. We’re submitting the first paper on this in the coming week.
• How to write a clear, concise, research question – I was interviewed by Leigh Hall for her YouTube channel. Take a look if you’re interested.

The secret to leaving comments online

This video from The School of Life provides some commentary about leaving comments in digital spaces.

Digital Mindfulness, Can it exist?

This post from Aaron Davis documents some of the challenges and opportunities in our frenetic, highly connected lives. What is “digital mindfulness” and is it a possibility?

You can read my response to Aaron’s post here.

From entry-level to executive, today’s jobs demand digital literacy

To better understand the central role of digital literacy in the workplace, Education Week took a deep look at four occupations in the Christiana Care Health System.

“The ability to create digital content, consume it, act on it, communicate it, share it, find itall that is tied to patient care,” Jasani said. “Those skills are emphasized more as one rises up the career ladder.”

Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with a repudiation of the recommendations made this week by a coalition of civil rights and public interest groups. The recommendations suggest policies they believe Internet intermediaries should adopt to try to address hate online.

“…the Internet still represents & embodies an extraordinary idea: that anyone with a computing device can connect with the world, anonymously or not, to tell their story, organize, educate & learn”

Do we still believe that networked youth can change the world?

I’m currently reading Twitter and Tear Gas by Zeynep Tufekci. It’s a fascinating read that is making me question a lot of my thinking about these digital, social spaces.

While I was reading this text, an interesting publication on activism and social networks by Henry Jenkins, Esra’a Al Shafei, & James Gee popped into my stream. It is helping to add some context to what I’m reading and thinking about.

The full PDF is available here.

Sharpen the Saw

In my “to do” list I try to make room for a section I title “Sharpen the Saw.” This is a section in which I document “things I’d like to do at some point.” It’s a collection of ideas for blog posts, websites to check out, books to read, etc.

This post from Brett and Kate McKay dives into some of the guidance from Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 habits of Highly Effective People. They suggest that when it comes to our personal lives, we should focus on four domains: physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional.

How do you “sharpen your saw”?

The value of owning more books than you can read

I was an English major in my undergraduate studies. As a result, I have a large collection of books at home. As I’m writing this week’s newsletter, I’m inundated by a growing library in my office as well. Many of these books I haven’t read…but they’re still here…for some reason. 🙂

Apparently, many readers buy books with every intention of reading them only to let them linger on the shelf. Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb believes surrounding ourselves with unread books enriches our lives as they remind us of all we don’t know. The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits.

What do you think?

Confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone’s version of reality is not your reality.

Shannon L. Alder

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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