Category: Read

👓 Tech For Teaching Domain | Extend Activity Bank

Read Tech For Teaching Domain by jesslyndwjesslyndw (Extend Activity Bank)

There is no fancy story for my domain TBH! Tech For Teaching is the way I brand the tech-related coaching I offer faculty here at the school (ed tech is confusing here – do you mean the AV dept? or our LMS? or something entirely different??)  So I just want a flexible way to post new information to support faculty, and want to stretch my skills a bit to try something new.

I’m working with a bit of a static web page, or a yucky non-blog tool, and needed a more flexible solution for my own work.  I was pretty sure I could figure out this whole domain thing, if I tried!  And I’m lucky that I’m on my way – thanks to Alan for making this happen at the perfect time for us all

👓 Week 1: Meeting Cpanel, Landing Pages, Files | Domains of Our Own

Read Week 1: Meeting Cpanel, Landing Pages, Files by Alan Levine (Domains of Our Own)
The first week of Domain Camp includes sharing domain name stories, meeting cpanel, creating a simple landing page with Site Builder, and using the File Manager to upload and modify content in your domain.

👓 Blogging As An Act Of Defiance In An Age Of Social Media Manipulation | Steve Lawson

Read Blogging As An Act Of Defiance In An Age Of Social Media Manipulation by Steve Lawson (stevelawson.net)
So this website finally had an 11 year overdue overhaul. Total redesign and optimisation. If you need yours sorting out, talk to Thatch, who did this one – he did such a great job. Have a rummage around to behold the goodness and read all of the words. There’s a bit of me that feels like announc...

👓 A Perfect Cup of Tea | jonbeckett.blog

Read A Perfect Cup of Tea by Jon BeckettJon Beckett (jonbeckett.blog)
A long time reader of my blog has asked if I might describe how I make a cup of tea. Apparently being English introduces some kind of hoodoo into the process – some magic or other that the wi…
Naturally they naturally put their pants on one leg at a time–just like everyone else. The bit about cracking porcelain was a nice tidbit though.

👓 Entitled and Aloof | jonbeckett.blog

Read Entitled and Aloof by Jon BeckettJon Beckett (jonbeckett.blog)
While walking back from town earlier with groceries I turned a corner and came across a man in his mid-thirties walking his dog. The dog was attached to him via an extending lead. Both he and the d…

👓 Feedless is an iOS content blocker that takes the media out of social media | The Verge

Read Feedless is an iOS content blocker that takes the media out of social media by Casey Newton (The Verge)
It’s the News Feed, minus the news

👓 TWP Action Plan | Desert of My Real Life

Read TWP Action Plan by Cathie LeBlanc (cathieleblanc.com/)
At the June 4 meeting of the Tackling a Wicked Problem instructors group, we were asked to develop an action plan to lay out things we need to learn about and/or do between now and our next meeting on July 30. Here is my action plan.

👓 Rocketman | Desert of My Real Life

Read Rocketman by Cathie LeBlanc (cathieleblanc.com)
I first saw a trailer for this movie over a year ago and I was kind of skeptical at the idea of a biopic that billed itself as a “true fantasy.” But as I saw the trailer over and over, the idea grew on me. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I see exactly why it needed to be called a true fantasy. The best thing about the movie is the music, of course, but a close second is the performance by Taron Edgerton. There are times when you would swear you were watching Elton John on the screen. I also love the fact that the movie doesn’t fall into the trap of most biopics–presenting almost a checklist of “Important Moments” in the life of the famous person. Instead, this movie presents what I imagine is an essence of Elton John’s life. There are reenactments of important moments in his life but the fantasy elements typically come into play during those moments and I think that breathes life into them in a way that is missing in the standard biopic. Rami Malek won an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury last year. Edgerton is even better as John so I expect he will be a contender for an Oscar this year.
I’ll have to bump this up my list. I was already half sold with Taron Edgerton’s role as “Johnnie” in the animated movie Sing.
Read May Movies by Cathie LeBlanc (Desert of My Real Life)
I have to be better about posting my movie “reviews” more quickly. I get overwhelmed thinking that I need to write something about the movie when really the whole point of me doing these reviews is just to record what movies I’ve seen. So this month, I’m writing very little about each of these viewings.
Read Digital Citizenship, Again, Always by Chris Lott (fncll.org)

Summer is here and, with it, I again have the privilege of teaching a grad class with the (mouthful of) a title “Digital Citizenship, Intellectual Property, and Internet Legal Issues” AKA “Nousion” because…shorter titles FTW. It’s a small class (12-weeks, a half-dozen students) about big ideas. Any one of the clauses in the title could be a semester-long class, a PhD dissertation, or a book!

But we start with digital citizenship because, as problematic as the concept is, I think it works to have everything else in the course be part, or a function of, it. And the questions there are perennial:

  • What does the word “digital” mean and do here?
  • What is citizenship?
  • How do we live and work online, individually and together?
  • Where does digital literacy fit?
  • What about identity?
  • What about privacy?
  • Whose data?

You get the idea. I love exploring this topic every summer with a cohort of engaged students even if by the end of each term the most important lesson I’ve learned is just how much more I don’t know and if the only answers to those questions are more questions.

Read 10 Things That Scare Me by Chris Lott (Chris Lott)

One of my favorite new podcasts is WNYC’s 10 Things That Scare Me, a “tiny podcast about our biggest fears.” The premise is simple: someone (the guests, sometimes famous, often anonymous, are unidentified until the end of the show) shares—directly into the mic—ten things that scare them, each with little bit of narrative.

Sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing, mostly brutally honest…there’s just something beautiful in the simplicity of this direct sharing of fears. To get a taste, here’s a random sample of fears from recent episodes:

  • climate change
  • the marionette in my mom’s bedroom
  • my Google search history being made public
  • becoming irrelevant
  • hospitals
  • breathing tubes
  • being shot by law enforcement.

Also, the relatively lo-fi (but very much intentionally so) format and editing fit the idea perfectly.

Best listened to without looking at the title of the show which, unfortunately, gives away the guest’s identity.