Technology is not the sum of the artefacts, of the wheels and gears, of the rails and electronic transmitters. Technology is a system. It entails far more than its individual material components. Technology involves organization, procedures, symbols, new words, equations, and, most of all, a mindset.
Watters explains that this includes many elements within schools and should not be merely reduced to ‘computers’. In a second post, she explains that:
âHardening schoolsâ is an education technology endeavor, whether or not we take seriously anyoneâs suggestions about giving teachers guns. For now, âhardening schoolsâ explicitly calls for hardware like those items listed by Governor Scott: metal detectors and bulletproof windows, as well as surveillance cameras and various sensors that can detect gunfire. It also implies software â social media monitoring and predictive analytics tools, for example, that claim they can identify students âat riskâ of violence or political extremism.
Coming at this problem from a different perspective, Genevieve Bell responded to questions of data and ‘neutrality’ in the Q&A associated with her Boyer Lectures. Given the example of the supposed innocence of a train timetable, she explained how Amazon use variables such as timetables to continually adjust the price of goods.
Discussing Game of Thrones, Zeynep Tufekci explains how technology is more than a story about a group of individuals:
Thatâs a story much bigger than Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Schmidt, Sandberg, Brin who-have-you. Itâs also a story of Wall Street and increasing financialization of the world; itâs a story of what people are calling neoliberalism that’s been underway for decades. It is also a technical story: of machine learning and data surveillance, and our current inability deal with the implications of the whole technological stack as it is composed: hardware firmware mostly manufactured in China. Software everywhere that Iâve previously compared to building skyscrapers on swampy land. Our fundamentally insecure designs. Perhaps, more importantly our lack of functioning, sustainable alternatives that respect us, rather than act as extensions of their true owners.source
Inspired by Neil Postman, David Truss argues that technology changes everything.
Technology doesnât just change our relationship to the tool, it changes the relationship to our environment.
Responding to the The Social Dilemma, Niall Docherty argues that we will never understand the problem until we understand technology as a set of relations.
it is necessary to re-frame social media as something more than a mere âtoolâ. Rather than simply leave it to former tech industry insiders to spell out the ills of social media in documentaries like The Social Dilemma, we must engage with thinkers from a diverse range of backgrounds to look to the historical conditions of social mediaâs origins, while always questioning the economics and cultural politics of its global dissemination. We must personally examine how our own thoughts and actions are subtly shaped by social mediaâs design, while taking time to listen to marginalized individuals and communities who are impacted the most by the violence produced through social media today. And by seeing technology as a relation, by sharing responsibility in this way, we lift the burden of fixing the problem from the individual user alone, and discard the moralizing discourses such a burden brings.
Yuk Hui suggests that rather than technology is a system that we are in a system which technology is a part of.
The unilateral globalization that has come to an end is being succeeded by the competition of technological acceleration and the allures of war, technological singularity, and transhumanist (pipe) dreams. The Anthropocene is a global axis of time and synchronization that is sustained by this view of technological progress towards the singularity. To reopen the question of technology is to refuse this homogeneous technological future that is presented to us as the only option.
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That’s spot on Aaron, totally agree with this:
Which reminds me of one my inspirations for my PhD, this quote by Catherine Beavis (Griffith Uni) , which leads to Kress.
Technology is not so much about the technology.
I have been thinking a bit about technology lately and how we define it. This short reflection is inspired in part by Audrey Watters, Marten Koomen and Ben Williamson. In the end, technology comes in many shapes and sizes.
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Background image via JustLego101
My Month of March
At work we took another step with the reporting solution that we have been working on. This involved setting up two schools. There was a bit of a rush to have all the testing and documentation completed beforehand. However, the relative smoothness made it all worthwhile.
In regards to the family, our eldest daughter was playing a game on the iPad recently and I said that maybe one day she might code her own such game. She said she could, but she had already decided that she was going to be a performer. I feel challenged everyday by my role as a parent. Do I step in and suggest that maybe she does not sound as good as Sia as she belts out her rendition of Chandelier or do I just support her in dreaming big? At the moment, it is the later. Our youngest on the other hand must have found my copy of A More Beautiful Question as she has taken to asking the Five Whys about absolutely everything. I answer and answer again. My wife says that I will lose, but I donât see it like that. It is about the conversation, right?
On a personal level, I find myself diving deeper into reflections these days, especially with my second blog providing a means of ongoing engagement. One of the side-effects has been my lack of engagement in spaces like Twitter. I still write extended responses when challenged, but I do not trawl through conversations or conference hashtags as much as I used to. I am left wondering what am I missing in my move more and more to RSS and curated feeds?
In regards to my writing, here was my month in posts:
Automation Generation â Although many talk about the power and potential of automation to aid us, sometimes we need to step back and ask ourselves what this means and where the limits lay.
Managing Content Through Canonical Links â One of the challenges with the web can be managing content across multiple sites, one answer, create canonical links and share from there.
Paying for the Privilege: The Collective Move to Patreon â With the move to platforms like Patreon, it leaves me wondering about the impact on the wider community.
Here then are some of the thoughts that have also left me thinking âŚ
Learning and Teaching
Image via âStormtroopers Training: Theoryâ by Pedro Vezini is licensed under CC BY-NC-SAQuote via Kath Murdoch ââ12 âLesson Hacksâ to Nurture Inquiryââ
12 âLesson Hacksâ to Nurture Inquiry â Kath Murdoch provides a number of simple changes to consider in every classroom. They include letting students try first before providing instruction, turning learning intentions into questions, co-constructing success criterias, standing up rather than sitting down and changING your position in the classroom. Steve Mouldey also shared some thoughts on supporting learners with being more engaged and active within the learning, while Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern shared ideas for how to create dynamic learning environments on the Ask the Tech Coach Podcast.
The Library of the Future â Deborah Netolicky reflects on her recent investigation into libraries. This include the history of libraries, as well as how they and those who work within them are defined. Her review of the literature found that libraries are: neutral and democratising; participatory and connected locally and globally; centred around learning, literacy, research, and knowledge; and, facilitators of interdisciplinarity. I have written about the future of libraries before, however Netolickyâs deep dive takes it a step further.
My Learning â It has been fascinating following Greg Millerâs thinking in regards to the construct of learning. There are many assumptions that go unquestioned in schools, I am finding that as I discuss reporting with more people. This move towards self-directed learning reminds me of the work going on at Geelong College and Templestowe College. My wonder is how we manage to marry these changes with various expectations, such as timetables.
How to Write an Edu-book â Alex Quigley discusses his six steps to writing a book. In addition to the reflections from Mary Myatt, Tom Sherrington and Ryan Holiday, they offer a useful insight into the writing process. It is interesting to compare these with the process often taught in schools. Students often get straight into writing without being given initial planning time.
Assessing Assessment for Digital Making â Oliver Quinlan discusses the challenges associated with Black and Wiliamâs work on feedback and digital technologies. In the absence of defined criteria, he suggests using comparative judgement where feedback is gained by comparing with a similar object.
Edtech
Image via âLego on Facebookâ by amarois is licensed under CC BY-NC-SAQuote via danah boyd
You Think You Want Media Literacy⌠Do You? â danah boyd discusses concerns about the weaponising of media literacy through denalism and says that there is a need for cognitive strengthening. Benjamin Doxtdator raises the concern that focusing on the individual. Instead he suggests considering the technical infrastructure. Maha Bali argues that we need aspects of both. In a response to the various criticisms, boyd admits that she is not completely sold on the solution, but we need to start somewhere.
Typing Tips: The How and Why of Teaching Students Keyboarding Skills â Kathleen Morris reflects on the place of typing in schools. She collects together a number of sites used to teach typing. It feels like we spend so much time debating handwriting sometimes that we forget about typing. Airelle Pardes suggests that the lack of a keyboard (and therefore typing) is one of the major reasons for the demise of the iPad in education. The discussion of typing also reminds me of a post from Catherine Gatt from a few years ago associated with assessing typing.
On the Need for Phone Free Classrooms â Pernille Ripp shares why her class will become phone free. A part of this problem is that the compulsive behaviour of social media and smart phones is by design. Douglas Rushkoffâs argues that other than teaching media, social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc) should never be used by schools. Mike Niehoffâs concern is what happens in the future when people have not learnt independance and moderation?
PressED â A WordPress and Education, Pedagogy and Research Conference on Twitter â This online conference involves 45 presenters across 12 hours posting 10 to 20 tweets each at a scheduled time. Although many have also shared posts corresponding with their presentations (Alan Levine, Tom Woodward, Jim Groom and John Johnston), you can also go back through the tweets. One of the things that stands out is the use of the different addordances, such as graphics and GIFs.
Dear IndieWeb, it may be time to start considering the user, not just the technical spec â Eli Mellen wonders if the answer to extending the #IndieWeb is in considering the user. I think that this is part of the challenge. Mark Pospesel discusses about reducing friction, while Cory Doctorow suggests that we need to reconsider which technologies we use. Whatever the particulars, it will take a collective response to move the #IndieWeb from the hipster-web to a âdemonstratably better webâ
Why the PDF Is Secretly the Worldâs Most Important File Format â Along with David Brockâs investigation into Powerpoint, this article is important in reminding us of two things, that things have not always been the way that they are and the way we got to now. Maybe we should demand better? Or maybe we need to spend more time reflecting on the past.
Storytelling and Reflection
Image via âHappy Little Treesâ by nolnet is licensed under CC BY-NCQuote via Austin Kleon âHow to Keep Goingâ https://collect.readwriterespond.com/austin-kleon-bond-2018/
How to Keep Going â Austin Kleon reflects on the life of an artist and outlines ten things to consider in order to keep on going. Some of his suggestions include treating everyday like Groundhog day, building a bliss station and going for a walk to scar of the demons. Some other tips for staying focused include Jenny Macknessâ reflection that the last step does not matter, Jeff Hadenâs suggestions that planning for a holiday is more beneficial than the holiday or Seth Godinâs reminder that the goal is change, not credit.
Excellent teachers in an age of fads â Mark Esner suggests that many teachers will often make anything work to a degree. What is really needed is time for teachers to study how students learn, as well as time to reflect on their processes together. John Spencer describes this as a food truck mindset. Some similar approaches designed to support teachers with structures, rather than solutions, include Modern Learning Canvas, Agile Leadership and Disciplined Collaboration.
Metrics, Thy Name is Vanity â Harold Jarche reflects on turning Google Analytics off. He instead suggests that the metric that matters (for him) is how many books he sells and how many people sign up to his courses. He gives the example of a course that had hundreds of likes and reposts, yet only one person actually registered. This has me thinking about which metric matters to me and the way in which I engage with others. Maybe Doug Belshaw is right in creating a committed group of supporters?
TER #109 â How large-scale tests affect school management with Marten Koomen â 04 March 2018 â In this interview, Marten Koomen addresses the question of how Victoria went from a state that was a leader in content knowledge and democratic values to the launch of a content-free platform driven by the terror of performativity? (My attempt at notes here.) This continues a conversation started last year. For me, this touches on Audrey Watterâs point about technology as a system.
The male glance: how we fail to take womenâs stories seriously â podcast â Lili Loofbourow rewrites the wrong that has male art is epic, universal, and profoundly meaningful, while Womenâs creations as domestic, emotional and trivial. This critique has ramifications far beyond fiction.
FOCUS ON ⌠Cambridge Analytica
Image via âCIMG5200â by Phil LaCombe is licensed under CC BY-NC-SAQuote via Paul Ford https://collect.readwriterespond.com/how-to-fix-facebooks-data-breach/
This month saw the revelation of the ways in which Cambridge Analytica used and abused data scraped from Facebook to nudge voters in the 2016 election. It remains to be seen whether this is the start of a new era. In part this reminds me of the changes in the way people saw things after Snowden. Thinking about Doug Belshawâs web timeline, maybe this will mark a new era of informed consent. Here then is a collection of responses to the current crisis.
Background
âA grand illusionâ: seven days that shattered Facebookâs facade â Olivia Solon provides a timeline associated with the breaches stemming back to 2015. Solon suggests that privacy settings should be renamed publicity settings.
My Cow Game Extracted Your Facebook Data â Ian Bogust discusses his experience creating a game on Facebook and explains how the Pandoraâs box associated with external apps is one that they cannot be closed.
How Calls for Privacy May Upend Business for Facebook and Google â David Streitfeld, Natasha Singer and Steven Erlanger explore the history of privacy and data collection associated with Google and Facebook. They wonder what the impact will be of the European Unionâs General Data Protection Regulation.
The people owned the web, tech giants stole it. This is how we take it back â Jonathon Freeland argues that Cambridge Analytica represents an attempt to reverse the internetâs push for the decentralization of power, to instead restore the traditional imbalance. The concern though is this recentralising of power is being done in such a way as if it were âthe organic word of the crowd itself, spread virally from one person to another, with no traces or fingerprints left by those at the top.â
Spy Contractorâs Idea Helped Cambridge Analytica Harvest Facebook Data â Nicholas Confessore and Matthew Rosenber report on the revelation of the informal links between Cambridge Analytica and US spy agency, Palantir.
On The Obama Did The EXACT Same Thing Argument â Kin Lane explains that although Obamaâs use of data may have been technically similar to Trump, the topics discussed in 2012 (big government, 2nd amendment, healthcare etc) were different to those pushed in 2016 (Mexicans coming for their jobs, the Muslim people coming to kills us, the community college mass shooting down the street being false flag, how queers and drug dealers should die, and how the Jews running the deep state had rigged the election.)
Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones â Sean Gallagher reports on the way that Facebook has been collecting call data on Android phones after inadvertently being given access to contacts.
ICE Uses Facebook Data to Find and Track Suspects, Internal Emails Show â Lee Fang explains how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency uses backend Facebook data to locate and track suspects.
Hero to zero in Silicon Valley: Chips with Everything podcast â Jordan Erica Webber is joined by Brad Stone of Bloomberg and Dr Bianca Wright from the University of Coventry to look at the history of Silicon Valley giants and why weâre so slow to pull back from the tech companies we are most disgusted by.
We were warned about Cambridge Analytica. Why didnât we listen? â Nicole Kobie lists a raft of reports involving Facebook and shady uses of data, such as Obamaâs 2012 campaign and 2015 revolutions about Cambridge Analytica. She contends that this time is different as there are a number of whistleblowers who have come forward.
Roger McNamee: âI Think You Can Make a Legitimate Case that Facebook Has Become Parasiticâ â Roger McNamee shares his efforts to get Facebook to fix its business model, but has come to the realisation that the libertarian values prevent this from happening.
Growth At Any Cost: Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo â And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed â Ryan Mac reports that an internal memo sent by Andrew Bosworth in 2016 shared fears that Facebookâs quest for âgrowth at all costsâ could cost the lives of users through bullying or terrorism.
âUtterly horrifyingâ: ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine â Paul Lewis reports the concerns of Sandy Parakilas, the former platform operations manager at Facebook responsible for policing data breaches by third-party software developers. Parakilas says that his warnings associated with possible bad actors were ignored due to concerns around public relations.
Leaked: Cambridge Analyticaâs blueprint for Trump victory â Brittany Kaiser, the second former Cambridge Analytica employee to come out, discusses a presentation documenting the Trump campaign. This includes an insight into a number of strategies used.
Mozilla âpresses pauseâ on Facebook ads over data-mining claims â Alex Hern reports that Mozilla has paused its ads on Facebook due to concerns around the privacy of users.
Gold Coast council dumps plan to mine Facebook data from Commonwealth Games visitors using free wi-fi â Elise Kinsella reports that the Gold Coast Councils decided to dump a move to mine Facebook data gained by forcing visitors to sign in with Facebook to use the âfreeâ wifi.
Responses
Facebookâs Surveillance Machine â Zeynep Tufekei explains that what Cambridge Analytica did may not have been a breach, in the technical sense, but it was a breach of trust. Facebook failed to gain informed consent, leading to the exploitation of users and their data.
Fish that swim upstream & shipwrecks â Borrowing from the work of Paul Virilio, Benjamin Doxtdator explains that when we created social media, we also created the shipwreck that is Cambridge Analytica at the same time.
Facebookâs Cambridge Analytica problems are nothing compared to whatâs coming for all of online publishing â Doc Searls asks the question, âWhat will happen when the Times, the New Yorker and other pubs own up to the simple fact that they are just as guilty as Facebook of leaking its readersâ data to other parties, forâin many if not most casesâGod knows what purposes besides âinterest-basedâ advertising?â
Facebook: is it time we all deleted our accounts? â Arwa Mahdawl explains that the issues associated with Cambridge Analytica are only the tip of the iceberg, as Facebook is only one of many platforms engaged in surveillance capitalism. The alternative though is not necessarily clear.
Big data is watching you â and it wants your vote â Jamie Bartlett argues that blaming Nix and Cambridge Analytica is missing the point that every platform uses some form of A/B testing, micro-targeting, neural nudges and data analytics.
Why education is embracing Facebook-style personality profiling for schoolchildren â Ben Williamson explains that it is not only politics drifting to behavioural government, but education policy and practice too are beginning to embrace a behavioural science of algorithm-based triggers and nudges which are tuned to personality and mood. Whether it be through applications like ClassDojo or PISAâs move into psychometrics, education is mining beneath the surface to capture more and more details about personality, character and emotions.
Cambridge Analytica: the data analytics industry is already in full swing â David Beer says we need to realise that the analysis of data is deeply embedded in all the structures of our lives in which we live.
If Youâre Pissed About Facebookâs Privacy Abuses, You Should Be Four Times As Angry At The Broadband Industry â Karl Bode points out that if we are really worried about privacy and the misuse of data then our attention should be on the internet service providers who have been caught out on numerous occasions helping governments spy on customers, as well as selling records of websites clicked.
Cambridge Analytica is bad, but Palantir is fucking terrifying â Drew Millard uses a blueprint of a patent submitted by Palentir to provide insight into the sort of reach their surveillance solutions have.
Why I deleted Facebook â Derek Sivers explains why he has quit Facebook. There are a host of others recorded on the #IndieWeb wiki, including Elon Musk.
For Some Students, #DeleteFacebook Is Not Really an Option â Tina Nazerian discusses some of the challenges for students associated with deleting Facebook. In particular, she highlights the dependency developed as a consequence for using it as a learning space.
Facebooked, Googled And Recovering Imagination â Sherri Spelic returns to two books written about Google and Facebook, highlighting that many of the current concerns around regulation were identified then. In response, Spelic calls more more imagination, look up, pay attention and pause.
Facebook â to delete, or not to delete? â The Luddbrarian suggests that what makes the current #DeleteFacebook campaign different is that the data breaches allowed Trump to win. The problem with this is that it overlooks the problem at the base of such automated solutions. What we need is to widen our technological imagination and consider how Facebook could be better.
Donât Delete Facebook. Do Something About It â Siva Vaidhyanathan suggests that it will take more than a few users leaving to impact Facebook, instead we need to turn our attention to activism and supporting collective groups, such as scientific organizations, universities, libraries, museums, newspapers and civic organizations.
Silicon Valley Has Failed to Protect Our Data. Hereâs How to Fix It â Paul Ford proposes the creation of a Digital Protection Agency to clean up the toxic data spill. This touches on what Mike Caulfield calls Info-Environmentalism.
Itâs Time to Regulate the Internet â Franklin Foer says that the time has arrived for the United States to create its own regulatory infrastructure, designed to accord with our own values and traditions.
Why have we given up our privacy to Facebook and other sites so willingly? â Alex Hern suggests that we are not always aware with social media what we are giving up. He argues that where change is needed is around informed consent.
OAuth Has Many Flaws But It is The Best We Have At The Moment â Kin Lane argues that there is nothing stopping businesses from providing informed consent associated with OAuth, referring to Slack as an example, rather it is a choice. Therefore the answer is policy and regulation.
Facebook Is Screwed, And Itâs Taking Us With It â Anthony Caruana contends that like Microsoft in the early 2000âs, Facebook needs to stop worrying about features and instead focus on securing personal data.
Donât waste the Cambridge Analytica scandal: itâs a chance to take control of our data â Scott Ludlam argues that we are at a crossroads, with one path leading to data sovereignty and the other extending the grip of surveillance capitalism.
The Cambridge Analytica-Facebook Debacle: A Legal Primer â Andrew Woods provides a legal breakdown as to how Cambridge Analytica maybe prosecuted. One of the interesting points is that although they may have broken developer policies, it did so through the front door.
Platform Literacy in a Time of Mass Gaslighting â Or â That Time I Asked Cambridge Analytica for My Data â Autumn Caines documents the steps she took to try and get an insight into the data held by Cambridge Analytica.
Personality Tests and the Downfall of Democracy â Ben Werdmuller explains how the use of personality quizzes on Facebook have been used to develop detailed profiles of users. The problem is that this is how the platform was designed.
Facebookâs about-face and what it means for the future of news â Antony Funnell speaks with Mathew Ingram, Gabriele Boland and Gautum Mishra about the recent changes to Facebookâs algorithms to deprioritse the sharing of serious news to prioritise the personal.
Alternative Solutions
The Best Alternative For Every Facebook Feature â Mai Schotz cobbles together a group of apps and services to replace those provided by Facebook, such as Nuzzel, Signal and Nextdoor. Sadly, no mention of the #IndieWeb.
Can Social Media Be Saved? â Kevin Roose provides three possible interventions to rescue social media: give power to the users, create a federated network and put expiration dates on social graphs.
Freeing Myself from Facebook â Jonathon Lacour documents how he reclaimed his Facebook (and Instagram) data on his own site before deleting his account.
All the URLs you need to block to actually stop using Facebook â Nikhil Sonnad provides a long list of entries to add to your host file in order to completely block Facebook.
Back to the Blog â Dan Cohen suggests it is psychological gravity, not technical inertia, that is the bigger antagonist of the open web. His answer is to write more under our own banner as a model for those who are to come.
Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you â Dylan Curran shows how much of your information platforms likes of Facebook and Google store about you without you even realising it, as well as some ways to take action.
Beware the smart toaster: 18 tips for surviving the surveillance age â Alex Hern and Arwa Mahdawi provide a number of tips to survive in a world of surveillance. They include securing old accounts, turning off notifications and retraining the brain to focus.
READ WRITE RESPOND #027
So that is March for me, how about you? As always, interested to hear.
Also, feel free to forward this on to others if you found anything of interest or maybe you want to subscribe? Otherwise, archives can be found here.
Cover image via JustLego101.
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Thomas Baekdal argues that current issues associated with Facebook are far more systemic. He provides three points of change:
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My Month of May
This month I realised the limitations to using a priority matrix to organise my work. It was not capturing the different facets of my work, such as reporting, online portal, attendance and timetable. I am still organising my work around priorities, I have just taken to representing this in a spreadsheet, therefore allowing me to filter it in various ways. I still am not quite settled on this, but it will do for now
In regards to other aspects of work I was lucky enough to attend a presentation by Hilary Hollingsworth on ACERâs work on reporting. I have also been helping some schools with the implementation of various administrative applications focusing on interviews and excursions. The more I do the more I realise how much of what is âtransformativeâ is built upon a raft of invisible parts that build to make the complex systems, which we so easily take for granted.
On the family front, my girls have taken to belting out duets together, even in the middle of the shops. Although the youngest one cannot keep up with every word of every line, she gives it a go. In general, it is fascinating watching them learn together.
Personally, I have found myself spending more time bookmarking and collecting my thoughts, rather than crafting long forms. It was interesting to read Doug Belshaw reflect upon this with his own writing. I think that Ian OâByrne captures this best when he explains the interrelated nature of the different spaces.
In regards to my writing, here was my month in posts:
Finding the Tools to Sing â A Reflection on Big B Blogging: I started writing this post a few months ago in response to Tom Critchlowâs post, but did not get around to finishing it, subsequently my initial notes have lay waiting. I was reminded of it by recent posts from Jim Groom and Alan Levine reflecting on the purpose of blogging. Here then is my contribution to the conversation.
Sharing Data is Easy with QUERY: There are many challenges to sharing specific data in Google Sheets, some of these can be overcome using the QUERY formula.
Here then are some of the thoughts and ideas that have also left me thinking:
Learning and Teaching
21 simple design elements that will make any School Assessment Task sheet accessible: Haley Tancredi, Jill Willis, Kelli McGraw and Linda Graham reflect on the assessment task sheet so common in the secondary classroom. Responding to the challenge of accessibility, they collect together a number of elements to support all students. This list is organised around visuals, clarity and directions.
Civix Releases New Online Media Literacy Videos: Mike Caulfield shares a series of videos summarising his work on Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers. Although it only touches on the basics, it still provides a useful introduction to the âFour Movesâ approach. Caulfield has also started a project associated with local newspapers that is worth checking out.
When words wonât suffice: behavior as communication: Benjamin Doxtdator unpacks behaviour in the classroom. He touches on knowing your child, student choices and systemic inequalities. This is a useful post to read and critically reflect upon various practices and pedagogies. I think that it all starts with the language that we choose. Chris Friend also considers the influence of language in regards to learning management systems and assessment. In regards to behaviour, Riss Leung compares dog training with her classroom experiences.
Learning for learningâs sake: Austin Kleon responds to the challenge associated with âlearning for learningâs sakeâ. He suggests that we need to invest in hobbies and curiosity, just as much as we focus on âreturn on investmentâ. This reminds me of Amy Burvallâs point that âin order to connect dots, one must first have the dotsâ. Thinking about luck, Janice Kaplan discusses the importance of engaging with curiosity. Diane Kashen suggests we need more messy play.
Forget the checkout: what about the plastic clogging supermarket aisles?: Nicola Heath reports on the current plastic crisis in Australia. Although every state has agreed to ban single use bags, the real problem that needs to be addressed is in the aisles and aisles of pre-packaged food. Although the impact of plastics on our ocean has been well reported, it seems that there is a significant impact on our fresh water lakes too. Studies have found microplastics in drinking water, beer and honey. I wonder if the solution starts with school and education?
The Brick Wall: When I taught robotics I would show my students a video involving the use of a simple Lego kit in a science laboratory as a point of inspiration. The Brick Wall takes these possibilities to a whole new level, providing a collection of videos useful for thinking about what is possible in regards to programming, Lego and robotics. Some other series and collections that I have stumbled upon lately include the New York Timesâ podcast Caliphate, which explores the world of ISIS, as well as Amy Burvallâs creativity vlogs as a part of the #LDvid30 project.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5lpZWDfjEM?rel=0&w=560&h=315%5D
Edtech
Better visions of ourselves: Human futures, user data, & The Selfish Ledger: Ian OâByrne reflects on the internal video produced by Google Project X focusing on speculative design the notion of a ledger that does not actually belong to the user, but managed by some grand AI. Although this was designed as a case of âwhat ifâ, it is a reminder of what could happen. It therefore provides a useful provocation, especially in light of Cambridge Analytica and GDPR. OâByrne suggests that this is an opportunity to take ownership of our ledger, something in part captured by the #IndieWeb movement. Not sure what this means for our digitally proficient three year olds. Douglas Rushkoff makes the case for including less on the ledger, not more.
How an Algorithmic World Can Be Undermined: danah boyd continues her investigation of algorithms and the way in which our data is being manipulated. She did this at re:publica 2018. This is very much a wicked problem with no clear answer. The Data & Society Research Institute have also published a primer on the topic. I wonder if it starts by being aware of the systemic nature of it all? Alternatively, Jamie Williams and Lena Gunn provide five questions to consider when using algorithms. Om Malik highlights the focus of algorithms focus on most over best. Jim Groom also presented at re:publica 2018 on Domain of Oneâs Own and Edupunk.
Truth in an age of truthiness: when bot-fueled PsyOps meet internet spam: Kris Shaffer continues his work in regards to bots, unpacking the way in which our attention is hijacked through attempts to influence and advertise. It is important to appreciate the mechanics behind these things for they are the same mechanics that those on social media engage with each and every day. One of the points that Shaffer (and Mike Caulfield) make is that whether something is true or not, continual viewing will make such ideas more familiar and strangely closer to the truth.
Email Is Dangerous: Quinn Norton takes a dive into the mechanics of email. She continues to remind us how everything is broken, Norton gives a history of email and many of its inherent flaws. This comes on the back of the latest discovery of bugs associated with supposed encrypted email.
Programming with Scratch â An educator guide: Anthony Speranza provides an introduction to Scratch. An often underrated application, Scratch provides an insight into some of the ways that the web works, particularly in regards to âblocksâ. Sometimes it feels as if you are not really coding unless you are working with some form of language. The problem is that this is not how the world works. More often than not it is about building on the ideas (and snippets) of others. Look at WordPressâ move to Gutenberg. In addition to this, we interact with âblocksâ each and everyday in the applications and sites that we use. One only needs to use something like Mozillaâs X-Ray Goggles to start realising that inherent complexity within the web. For more insight into Scratch, listen to Gary Stager on the Modern Learners podcast.
The platform patrons: How Facebook and Google became two of the biggest funders of journalism in the world: Mathew Ingram reports on the increasing influence of platforms on the news industry. Google has been really pushing into journalism lately, with the further investment of News Lab and the Digital News Initiative, as well as the ability to subscribe using your Google account. This in part seems to be in response to Facebookâs problems. It is interesting considering this alongside discussions of the history of news and the long association with advertising.
Storytelling and Reflection
What We Talk About When We Talk About Digital Capabilities: In a keynote at the UCISA Digital Capabilities event at Warwick University, Donna Lanclos unpacks the effect of analytics and the problems of profiling when trying to identify improvements. A skills approach is an issue when decisions get made on your behalf based on the results of a preconceived checklist. Lanclos suggests that we need to go beyond the inherent judgments of contained within metaphors and deficit models, and instead start with context.
Citizen of Apple, State of Lego: Julian Stodd explores the evolving idea of âcitizenshipâ. Whereas it was defined by geography and culture in the past, Stodd wonders if in the future it will be subscription based. Rather than depending on the state and taxes to provide societies infrastructures, we now rely on the various multi-national platforms, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook and Google. This reminds me of the conversation that was had recently around being a citizen of the #IndieWeb. If states lose their sway, I wonder if this opens up other alternatives? This is something Aral Balkan touches upon. I wonder what this means for rituals or habits.
School is One Spoke in the Wheel of Learning & Why This is a Critical Insight for the Future of Education: Bernard Bull reflects on what people need to stay current in a job, shift to a similar job, develop skills that transfer to work environments, move into leadership within oneâs field, or make a full career shift. To support this, he provides a series of questions to consider. I wonder where the second wave of MOOCs sits within all of this?
The risks of treating âacademic innovationâ as a discipline: Rolin Moe argues that we need to recognise the often negative history associated with âinnovationâ in the way that we use it. If we donât do this we risk the word being simply an emotive tool. This touches upon Audrey Watters message to respect history, rather than live in the ever present that so many try to perpetuate.
12 tips for great speaking: Steve Wheeler provides some useful tips and reflections on the art of the keynote. They include use humour, minimal text, engage with your audience, donât speak too quickly, repeat key points and only stick to three of them. In part, this reminds me of Presentation Zen and the idea of a minimalist slidedeck, while Emma Cottier also wrote an interesting post share a range of tips and tricks associated with Google Slides. Although not necessarily about âkeynotesâ, Andrew Denton recently shared some tips for a better conversation that I think relate to this conversation, including be respectful and empathise with the interviewee (or audience).
Burden of Proof: Malcolm Gladwell wonders how much âproofâ we need in order to do something about CTE, a neurodegenerative disease found in people who have had multiple head injuries. Gladwellâs focuses on Owen Thomas and his suicide in 2010. In regards to the question of breaking point, there was no reference of Aaron Hernandez, whose case involves murder and suicide. I wonder how long until this becomes a case in AFL?
Gonski review reveals another grand plan to overhaul education: but do we really need it?: Glenn Savage has written, recorded and been interviewed about the new Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. He raises a number of questions, including whether the new report addresses the question of inequality, is âpersonalised teachingâ worth the money and investment, is the educational sector exhausted by continual reform agendas and do the recommendations really address what is happening in the classroom? In other spaces, both Andrea Stringer and Deborah Netolicky have highlighted the potential in providing more time for teachers to collaborate. Greg Miller argues that we need to wrestle with how to assess the capabilities, rather than continue to work where the next silver bullet for literacy and numeracy is. Peter Hutton shares concerns about testing the capabilities. Gabrielle Stroud sees it as the industrial model of accountability rebadged, where a teacherâs relationship with their students is trumped by a test. Netolicky also raises concern about the lack of trust for teachers. Darcy Moore describes the whole affair as a never-ending rebuilding of The Windmill. Ann Caro rues the missed opportunity associated with equitable funding of education in Australia with this clear change in direction.
tâs time to be honest with parents about NAPLAN: your childâs report is misleading, hereâs how: It was that time of year again, when the whole nation stops for NAPLAN. There has been a range of posts shared. One that stood out was from Nicole Mockler She summarises Margaret Wuâs work around the limitations to NAPLAN in regards to statistical testing. Moving forward, Mockler suggests that NAPLAN should become a sample based test (like PISA) and is better suited as a tool for system wide analysis. To me, there is a strange balance, for on the one hand many agree that NAPLAN is flawed, yet again and again we return to it as a source of âtruthâ.
FOCUS ON ⌠GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). Adopted on 14 April 2016, it became enforceable on 25 May 2018. Here then is a collection of posts exploring what it all means. Although not exhaustive, it provides a starting point:
What is the GDPR Privacy Law and Why Should You Care?: Harry Guinness summarises the eight rules associated with GDPR and what they mean for those outside of the EU.
LA Times among US-based news sites blocking EU users due to GDPR: Alex Hern on the threat that GDPR could âBalkiniseâ the web, with a range of sites closing off access to EU visitors.
Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed: Alex Hern reports on Noybâs test of the new regulations. The case being tested is whether the processing of data for targeted advertising can be argued to be necessary for the fulfilment of a contract to provide services such as social networking or instant messaging.
The Ultimate Guide to WordPress and GDPR Compliance â Everything You Need to Know â The team at WPBeginner provide a guide for making WordPress compliant, including plugins that store or process data like contact forms, analytics, email marketing, online store and membership sites.
No oneâs ready for GDPR: Sarah Jeong explains why nobody is actually ready. Part of the problem is how companies are set up, and part of it is that âpersonal informationâ is a wishy-washy category.
Can we PLEASE talk about privacy, not GDPR, now?: Sebastian Gregor explains that GDPR is no deadline, it is a process. Now that it is here, lets engage in ever broadening debates on how to treat the personal data of human beings
Privacy: David Shanske reflects on privacy, the IndieWeb and webmentions. He also added an extended response to a WordPress forum on GDPR.
13 things to know about the GDPR: M.J. Kelly breaks down the rights associated with GDPR with a focus on what this all means for Mozilla.
Good enough, the EUâs data protection regulation and what CryptoKitties can tell us about the future of art:Angela Daly discusses what GDPR might mean for Australia with Antony Funnell on the Future Tense podcast.
Doctor, I think I have GDPR fatigue:Jordan Erica Webber, Alex Hern and Dr Rachel Birch explore GDPR and its consequences for the health sector.
GDPR and the marketerâs dilemma: Seth Godin argues that GDPR will create an actual market, where getting permission to send messages to a user requires that marketers make a compelling proposition.
GDPR will pop the adtech bubble: Doc Searls discusses what he sees as the eminent demise of âadtechâ and what will be left afterwards.
Comments on ClassDojo controversy: Ben Williamson addresses a number of questions leveled at Class Dojo, especially in light of the current concern around data. One of the points that he makes that really stuck out was the notion of âsensitive dataâ. Often this is defined by privacy, however as Williamson explains the collection of data over time actually has the potential to turn the seemingly arbitrary into sensitive data.
Notes from Understanding the General Data Protection Regulation course: Doug Belshaw shares a series of reflections based on his participation in an online course designed to unpack GDPR.
There Will be Blood â GDPR and EdTech: Eylan Ezekiel discusses GDPR, making the comparison between data and oil.
I am a data factory (and so are you): Nicholas Carr reflects on the metaphors that we use and demonstrates some of the flaws, particularly when they are used against us inadvertently. Although not explicitly about GDPR, it has ramifications for the way we talk about it.
READ WRITE RESPOND #029
So that is May for me, how about you? As always, interested to hear.
Also, feel free to forward this on to others if you found anything of interest or maybe you want to subscribe? Otherwise, for those concerned about privacy and sharing thier email address, archives can be found here.
Cover image via JustLego101.
A reflection on changing positions within a complex system.
I have a confession to make. I am not the #EdTech coach who you think I am. Let me rephrase that, I am not the #EdTech coach I imagine others to be. The title associated with my current position was ‘eLearn Implementation Coach’. The job description was littered with mentions of technological change and transformation, I was sold.
As is often the case, the reality on the ground is vastly different to the stories we are told. The transformation I felt I was a part of was that of my role. I went from supporting schools through a change management process to learning a whole new set of applications and becoming a proverbial ‘fixer’.
Things will change again. My work is progressively realigning to being more reactive, but these things take time. The question in this situation is how one responds.
I came into the position believing I would be supporting schools with technological transformation and innovation. Instead, it has become focused on responding to policies and implementing transactional processes associated with as enterprised system. This has me rolling out student reports, booking programs and pastoral applications.
It is a very niche roll in education. Although it is a part of schools, it does not necessarily involve students or teaching. It certainly does not feel what my own education prepared me for. Yet it has highlighted to me how technology is a system with many parts, people and processes at play.
Some days I wish I was still in the classroom, especially when I attend regional meetings. Other days I envy those explicitly leading technological change within schools, especially when I listen to the Design and Play podcast. However, when I stop and consider the worth of the work I am doing I feel it is purposeful and does have an impact.
The further I dive into my current work, the more I appreciate the ground that change is built upon. It would be nicer if it were someone else testing, documenting and working everything out, sadly though I am yet to meet this someone else is. So for now it is me.
It is not the ideal of the #EdTech coach that I had envisioned. However, maybe this is the reality of the #EdTech leader, always doing many things? As always comment and webmentions welcome.
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About Latest Posts
Aaron
I am an Australian educator supporting the integration of technology and innovation. I have an interest in how collectively we can work to creating a better tomorrow.
Latest posts by Aaron (see all)
<a href="https://readwriterespond.com/2018/06/technology-transformation-and-a-complex-system/">Technology, Transformation and a Complex System</a> - June 9, 2018 <a href="https://readwriterespond.com/2018/06/is-sharing-caring-a-reflection-on-comments-and-social-media/">Is Sharing Caring? – A Reflection on Comments and Social Media</a> - June 8, 2018 <a href="https://readwriterespond.com/2018/06/being-analogue/">Being Analogue</a> - June 7, 2018
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Technology, Transformation and a Complex System by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
James Bridle’s book shines a light into the New Dark Age
Have you ever been to a movie that surprised you? Having seen the trailer and watched past movies from the same producer, you assumed that you knew what was going to happen. That is the experience I had with James Bridle’s new book New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future
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When I read the title, I expected a book describing the coming collapse of Western civilisation. The problem is that this crash is already upon us. Whether it be the breakdown of infrastructure, Eroom’s Law, the unreliability of images and the rise of machine learning algorithms, the darkness is already here.
This book is less about the actual technologies at play and more about their impact on society. It is what Ursula Franklin describes as ‘technology as a system.’ Bridle’s focus is on new ways of thinking about, through and with technology.
In light of the recent revelations around Cambridge Analytica and GDPR, I recently reflected upon the importance of informed consent. I argued that we have a responsibility to:
Critically reflect and ask questions
Learn from and through others
Engage in new challenges
Bridle’s book starts this journey by actively informing us. He then puts forward the challenge of what next.
Although the book offers more questions than answers, it does it in a way that left me feeling somehow hopeful. Whether you are coming from the perspective of culture, education or politics, this book is a must read for anyone feeling at all dissatisfied with the current state of the world today.
For a different introduction, listen to an interview with Bridle on The Guardian:
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If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
About Latest Posts
Aaron
I am an Australian educator supporting the integration of technology and innovation. I have an interest in how collectively we can work to creating a better tomorrow.
Latest posts by Aaron (see all)
My Life in Black and White – July 18, 2018 REVIEW: New Dark Age – Technology and the End of the Future – July 4, 2018 Read Write Interview – Telling the Story of My Domain – June 11, 2018
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REVIEW: New Dark Age – Technology and the End of the Future by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Douglas Rushkoff reflections on the desire of some in technology to escape the world. This touches on the notion of technology as a system. In closing he suggests that the answer is stop worrying about how you might inoculate yourself against tomorrow, but start building relationships today in part so tomorrow does not occur.
I really liked the way that you break down the use of technology. Although I still find Belshaw’s digital literacies as a useful starting point for a deeper conversation. However, your differentiation between learning and teaching is a useful way of talking about context. I think it is also a reminder that technology is a system.
In the past I have used the Modern Learners Canvas to break down the various parts of learning and classroom.
“Modern Learning Canvas – Instructional Model” by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA
Technology has a part to play, but it is never in isolation.
Lately, my take on educational technology has taken another twist. My focus lately has been on policy and the implication this has for technology and ‘efficency’. Whether it be reporting, timetables or attendance, what I am coming to realise is how much of this is assumed when it comes to instruction.
Would love your thoughts? I wonder if in ten years we will have more agile systems, that combine the rigour with the flexibility called for in today’s day and age?
In this talk to design students from Georgetown University, Audrey Watters unpacks a history of educational technology often overlooked. Too often when we talk about EdTech we rush to talk about the computer. The problem with this is that it overlooks so many developments and decisions that led to that point. To explain her point, she discusses the origin of the blackboard. What I found interesting were the pedagogical practices associated with its beginnings. A reminder of how technology is a system. I think that too often we choose narrative and convenience over complexity within such conversations.
For the past few years I have written both a December newsletter, as well as a summary of the whole year (see 2016 and 2017). As Decemeberâs highlights are included within the summary, I decided to just do one.
Your list of books is a reminder of what is required to make sense of the technological system we are all a part of.
Thank you Doug for the shout-out. As someone who has:
Listened to every episode of TIDE (usually at x1.7 to be honest)
Followed your work for quite a few years, including reading your excellent book and backing your work on productivity.
Wrote my own chapter, that almost constitutes âfan (non) fictionâ?
I think that I would probably describe myself as a non-financial supporter?
On other matters, I am always intrigues by your conversations about time and enjoyed the post about âsocial jetlagâ. It reminds me of Audrey Wattersâ point about technology is a system.
I think that it is fair to say that the new school year brings fear for those inside and out of education. I have been flat chat in getting everything in place for the schools we support. This feels strangely different to the rush of being in a school. I think what makes it hard is that structural aspects like timetables and attendance are often the last consideration in schools. However, what I am learning is that in an age of systems and technology things quickly breakdown when these aspects are not in place. Must admit, definitely have some work to do to make this process more seamless and streamlined as we scale up.
On the family front, I have been making the most of the nice weather with the girls. Getting out and about, including visits to IKEA, the aquarium and Lillydale Lake. My wife has also started her Masters in Educational Leadership.
Personally, I read Cory Doctorowâs novel Walkaway. A part of my attempt to read more fiction. Watched Season 1 and 2 of The Handmaidâs Tale, as well as A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody. I wrote a post on On the Challenges of Being Typecast. I listened to Maggie Rogers, G Flip, The Killers and Missy Higgins.
Associated with my new word for 2019, I started some new habits, including writing regular quick thoughts (although I think I might move them to my main blog) and eating in a âtwelve hour windowâ. This second habit was inspired by David Truss.
Here are some links that have supported my learning this month âŚ
Learning and Teaching
Letter Grades are the Enemy of Authentic & Humane Learning: Bernard Bull discusses how grades work against authentic and self-determined learning. Although they are ingrained in education, he recommends considering the aspects of life free from grades and having these conversations with others. What is interesting is this is only one post being shared at the moment. Bill Ferriter shared his concerns about the association between standard grades and fixed mindset, while Will Richardson argues that grades only matter because we choose to let them matter.This continues some of the points discussed in Clive Roseâs book The End of Average and Jesse Stommellâs presentation on grades and the LMS. It is also something that Templestowe College has touched in the development of alternative pathways to higher education.
What future Antarctica?: Antony Funnell leads an investigation of the future of Antarctica, including the positioning of different countries in relation to 2048 when the current treaty to protect the continent expires. The feature investigates the geopolitics associated with military, research and resources. This also includes the place of the surrounding nations as launching points for this activity. I remember teaching about the resources associated with Antarctica in Geography, but what I feel was missed in hindsight was why it matters, especially as the world progressively warms up. Discussing the Arctic, Dahr Jamail explains how the degredation of such spaces impact us all. This is also something James Bridle discusses in his book the New Dark Age.
A New Approach for Listening: Maha Bali reflects on the different approaches to listening, including widely, deeply, openly, repeatedly, outside, inside, to silence, between the lines and to take action. On the flip side, Bali warns about lip service listening.
If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader first: Austin Kleon provides a collection of quotes outlining the importance of reading before writing. It is interesting to think about this in regards to J. Hillis Millerâs argument that reading itself is an act of writing.
What the earliest fragments of English reveal: This collection of historical artefacts is insightful both from the perspective of language, as well as the origins associated with each. It seems that every piece involves some element of luck as to how it survived that it makes you wonder the texts that have been lost over time and how this may impact our appreciation of the past.
Technology
The Rise and Demise of RSS: Sinclair Target unpacks the history associated with RSS, including the parts played by those like Dave Winer and Aaron Swartz. This includes the forking to ATOM. Having come to RSS during the demise I was not aware of the background, especially in regards to ATOM, associated with the standard. (Although Cory Doctorow argues that Target focuses too much on the micro rather than macro.) It is interesting to consider that its demise is associated with the rise of social media. Ironically, I came to RSS dissatisfied with social media. Also, I wonder what happens if social medias promise fails? A return to RSS or is there something else again in the development of the web?
Teachers and Technology â Time to Get Serious: Neil Selwyn provides seven brief bits of advice for any teacher wanting to make sense of technology. They include: be clear what you want to achieve, set appropriate expectations, aim for small-scale change, pay attention to the âbigger pictureâ, think about unintended consequences, consider collective concerns and beware of over-confident âexpertsâ. This all reminds me of my call for pedagogical coaching when it comes to technology. Also another post to add to my list of research associated with technology.
Steve Jobs Never Wanted Us to Use Our iPhones Like This: Cal Newport argues that the Steve Jobsâ initial vision for the iPhone was never meant to be a new form of existence where the digital encroached upon the analogue. He therefore calls for a return to the early minimalist days from early on. This is similar to Jake Knappâs efforts to regain his attention by removing apps and notifications from his smartphone. I still have concerns about the analogue and digital divide and what that actually means. I also think the request for responsibility ignores the systematic concerns associated with smartphones. This is something Grafton Tanner picks up on in regards to Simon Sinek and ClassDojo.
12 Tips For Maintaining Momentum With Blogging: Closing off the 28 day blogging challenge, Kathleen Morris provides a list of strategies for maintaining momentum. On the flip side, Aaron Hogan provides a list of blogging rules that you do not have to follow. These include the idea that blogs need to look a certain way or be perfect. Shawn Wang says it is just about learning in public, while Bill Ferriter argues that we need to actively be someone elseâs conversational followers.
âThe goal is to automate usâ: welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism: In an interview with John Naughton, Shoshana Zuboff touches on the feeling of âinformed bewildermentâ that marks that current transformation associated with platform capitalism. This includes the many aspects which feed into the surveillance economy, such as smartphones and digital assistants. Zuboff argues that the goal is to automate us. Rather than reviewing what should and should not be collected, the question that needs addressing is why is it collected at all.
Reflections
Book Launch: A Live Team Human Conversation with Douglas Rushkoff and Seth Godin (Team Human Ep. 117): Seth Godin and Douglas Rushkoff discuss why âteam humanâ. They address how we got to now, the challenges faced in being human, the hope for the future and whether it matters that âNPRâ does not care. I purchased the book and corresponding audiobook. I loved Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus and Programming or be Programmed. I have also enjoyed the podcast. I also enjoy listening to Rushkoff read his own work.
Fables of School Reform: Audrey Watters brings together a tangled narrative of innovation associated with educational technology. She explains how in search of the mercurial solution, computers and coding are brought in with the only clear outcome being privitisation. This is all built on the back of networking between the same names for the last thirty years. This is a useful read alongside Ben Williamsonâs Big Data in Education.
Why Are Pregnant Black Women Viewed as Incompetent?: In an extract from Tressie McMillan Cottomâs new book Thick, she unpacks the politics and biases associated with being being a black women. She reflects on the feeling of incompetence she was made to feel when she was pregnant. This a harrowing story made even sadder by the grim reality of the statistics. This makes me wonder about the realities of Australiaâs indigenous people and and systemic inequality in Australiaâs society.
Playable Lego Piano: I recently stumbled upon the Lego Ideas series. The intent is for creators to share their custom creations, with some going through the process of being put into production. There are some fantastic creations, but the one that stood out to me was the working piano. What stood out for me was the way in which pieces were appropriated for different purposes.
Focus on ⌠Flanerie
For a couple of years now, I have been focusing on one word, rather than goals or resolutions. This was inspired by Kath Murdoch. My word this year is flanerie. Here then is a list of readings and resources associated with the topic:
Suis-je flâneur?: Ian Guest puts flesh on the matter as a basis for investigating data associated with Twitter.
Increasing your âserendipity surfaceâ: Doug Belshaw discusses extending your opportunities by continually exploring new possibilities.
#rawthought: On Ditching the (Dangerous) Dichotomy Between Content Knowledge and Creativity: Amy Burvall argues that in order to connect dots, one must first have the dots.
3 quick thoughts about walking: Austin Kleon highlights some of the benefits of walking and the âwalkshedâ. This is something he also touches in his talk on how to keep going.
Will Self | Talks at Google: Will Self discusses walking around urban spaces to capture a different perspective.
Thick Description â Toward an Interpretative Theory of Culture: Clifford Geertz argues that we are always a part of the situation really guided me and my thinking. This is one of those pieces that has really stuck with me since my university days.
Are there any other texts that you would add to my list to guide my personal inquiry this year?
Read Write Respond #036
So that is January for me, how about you? As always, happy to hear.
Also, I am interested if anyone has any feedback on the style and structure of this newsletter. I would love to know if there are things that people like or if there are things that you would change? I am looking to change things up in the new year.
Cover image via JustLego101.
Zeynep Tufekci elaborates on her post explaining the problems with Game of Thrones. She explains how technology extends the human. In this sense, technology is a system.
Welcome to another month of Read Write Respond, a newsletter of ideas and information associated with all things in and out of education, mined and curated for me and shared with you.
On the family front, my daughters continue to amaze me. Whether it be Ms. 8 and her rock climbing or Ms 3 sitting in her sisterâs class during open morning. Also, I have been taking my âholidaysâ on Fridayâs â I donât get school holidays anymore â to stay at home with the children. This is because my wife has gone back full-time based on a change of circumstances. Iâm wondering, is that a âfour-day week?â Or is parenting just another form of âworking?â
At work, I have received another new title, however I continue to simply do the work that needs to be done. It was at least nice to receive some recognition from my team leader that I have been doing five different roles and that it was not ideal. What is interesting is that many of these roles are often assumed in schools or simply go unseen. It is a continual reminder of how technology is a system.
Personally, I have been listening to new music from Carly Rae Jepsen and The National. I also watched Mike Millsâ short film associated with The Nationalâs album, as well as the Whitney Houston documentary. Like so many others, I too was left disappointed by the ending of Game of Thrones. I also saw the last instalment of the The Avengers series. I have been reading Ruined By Design as a part of the IndieWeb Book Club. Other than a few lengthy replies to Greg Miller and Cal Newport I have not written any longer reflections.
Here then are some links that have supported my learning this month âŚ
Learning and Teaching
Oz Lit Teacher
Narissa Leung shares a new project which involves sharing possible mentor texts. The concern is that although educators like Pernille Ripp share various suggestions, using them can overlook the local context. Some other useful sites to support searching for books and resources include Kim Yeomansâ Wild About Books and Bianca Hewesâ Jimmy Reads Books.
Was Shakespeare a Woman?
Elizabeth Winkler explores the authorship behind the work of William Shakespeare. She puts forward the case for Emilia Bassano. This lengthy piece provides an insight into challenges associated with exploring the past and why history is always interpretative.
Let them play! Kids need freedom from play restrictions to develop
Brendon Hyndman highlights the benefits of âplayâ in and out of school. One suggestion is providing children spaces with loose play equipment. This is something Narissa Leung, Adrian Camm and John Johnston have touched upon, through the use of objects, such as old bricks and crates. Sometimes the biggest challenge is getting out of the way.
Detractors from Afar
Greg Miller provides a reflection on the journey that you have started at St Lukeâs. It fits with the idea of change through encouragement, rather than revolution. This is also a good reminder that teaching is not a research-based profession.
Bruce Pascoe teaches Australians about the rich Indigenous history of their country
The ABC has produced a new digibook with Bruce Pascoe to support students in learning about the history of Aboriginal agriculture and technology and celebrate the ingenuity of the First Australians. Pascoe is also releasing a childrenâs version of his award winning book Dark Emu. Another useful resource on the topic of including indigenous perspective in the classroom is the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curricula Project.
Technology
The luxury of opting out of digital noise
Vicki Boykis reflects on the privilege associated with being able to unplug. This continues on from an earlier post on fixing the internet. Like Boykis, I wonder about the relief and ostracism associated with leaving the social web. This reminds me of Venkatesh Raoâs pushback on Waldenponding. It is interesting reading this alongside Cal Newportâs recent post on the IndieWeb as the solution to social mediaâs ills. I wonder if one strategy is managing your feeds through a form of social media jujitsu or simply writing the web we want as captured by the #ProSocialWeb movement.
Itâs Time to Break Up Facebook
As a part of the New York Times series on privacy, Chris Hughes puts forward the case for Facebook to be split up and regulated. He recounts his experience during the early days and the problem that the platform has in regards to the question, âhow big is big enough?â Hughes discusses the spectre of antitrust that haunts the major platforms. In a separate piece, Adi Robertson argues that we need to do more than create guidelines in order to fix Facebook. There has also been some criticism the wider privacy series.
Learning from Surveillance Capitalism
Ben Williamson discusses the implication of Shoshana Zuboffâs The Age of Surveillance Capitalism on education. He suggests three possible inquires stemming from the book: cultures of computational learning, human-machine learning confluences and programmable policies.
Introducing SIFT, a Four Moves Acronym
Mike Caulfield continues his development of the âFour Movesâ associated with fake news and web literacy. He has introduced an acronym that can be used to remember the moves: SIFT.
(S)TOP
(I)nvestigate the Source
(F)ind better coverage
(T)race claims, quotes, and media back to the original context
Caulfield sums up this change as âDonât CRAAP, SIFT.â
Newsletter Development
Warren Ellis shares a series reflecting on the development of his newsletter. He touches on the technology that allows him to produce a small magazine that connects a community of minds. This is interesting reading alongside other posts from Craig Mod, Paul Jun and Simon Owens.
Reflections
Low marks for performance reviews
Chris Woolston dives into the problematic world of performance reviews. He speaks with a number of experts in the area, including Herman Aguinis, who explain that the process is in many respects broken. The answer is not to remove reviews, by instead make them more regular, therefore making the feedback more meaningful. This is another post which captures some of the problems with feedback and the challenges of self-determined learning in a world ruled by numbers. It is also interesting to read it alongside Andrea Stringerâs reflection on the problem with killing two birds with one stone. It also touches on the problem of grades too.
Conquering Mount Everest: High hopes and broken dreams
Inga Ting, Alex Palmer, Stephen Hutcheon and Siobhan Heanue provide an insight into what is involved in climbing Mount Everest. They discuss the route, what is involved, the statistics of fatalities on the mountain, the changes over time and the small window of opportunity available each year. Interestingly, Everest is actually considered a lot safer than some of the other mountains in the Himalayas. This makes me want to re-watch Everest to make sense of what happened and where.
âJust add waterâ: Lake Eyre is filling in a way not seen for 45 years
Dominique Schwartz reports on the water filling Lake Eyre. What is unique about this is that it is all just nature. Although locals fought an attempt in 1995 to introduce large-scale irrigated cotton farming on the Cooper, there has not been any other attempts. It makes me wonder about rewilding and letting things take their cause, rather than store excess flows as Gina Rinehart is pushing to do.
Turning Points in my Understanding of Virtually Connecting
Maha Bali samples some of the points in the journey associated with VConnecting. This included the beginnings, the way it has changed, some of the positives shared, some of the negatives and when things sometimes fail. This is interesting reading, both in regards to the reflective nature of the post, as well as appreciating how VConnecting has evolved. Ian OâByrne and Naomi Barnes provide some other posts involving auto-ethnography.
First You Make the Maps
Elizabeth Della Zazzera documents the developments in mapping that made long sea voyages possible. It is easy to pick up a modern map and assume that this is the way it always was, even worse to open up Google Maps in the browser. Della Zazzera breaks down the various developments, providing examples to support her discussions.
Read Write Respond #041
So that is May for me, how about you? As always, happy to hear.
Cover Image via JustLego101
Technology offers many opportunities. The challenge is sometimes how to make the most of these. Thinking of things from a system perspective, the desire to scale is often in contrast the reality of each school context.
Todd Rose opens his book, End of Average, with a discussion of the early fighter jets and the design of the cockpit around the âaverageâ pilot. He tells the story of Gilbert Daniels, a researcher who explored this problem in the 1950âs. Daniels measured ten dimensions, including height, chest and sleeve length. What he found, once he had averaged out all the measurements, was that an average pilot does not exist.
Roseâs book unpacks this further, but again and again he comes back to the principal;
Lately, my work has been focused on supporting schools with reporting and assessment. The application I support is very flexible, utilising Crystal Reports to produce the final product. Usually it is set up on a school-by-school basis, however we are deploying a multi-tenanted environment. With this comes the opportunity to create a solution that can be used for each of our schools, without having to go through the rigmarole of development from scratch each time.
My work has focused on creating a template that acts as a starting template of subjects and assessment items that feeds into the Crystal Reports. This was built on-top of the standardised configuration. The thought was that this would save users time in setting up their reports. It was easier to start with something, rather than build from scratch. However, the learning that has stemmed from setting up a number of schools is that no one has used this average starting point. There is nothing wrong with the underlying configuration, but it is often easier and quicker to build from the various solutions from scratch.
My first response to this was to create a second starting point that was dependent on the style of reporting that particular school was after. Although this alleviated the challenges associated with some of the differences, this still required somebody to add and delete various elements.
This all reminded me of Nassim Nicholas Talebâs discussion of anchoring in his book Black Swans. Anchoring is a bias used for working around unknown possibilities. It involves reducing complexity by focusing on a particular object:
In my case, this object was the initial setup. We have since started exploring a different approach, which instead focuses on users working with the various dimensions. The hope is to provide some constraint, but also flexibility within this, rather than assuming that all schools are alike.
This all has me thinking. Too often the conversation around technology is around efficiency â replacing work and saving time. However, my experience with supporting schools with setting up reports, timetables and attendance, and technology in general, has me feeling it often changes things. This touches on the reality that technology is a system. In saving in once spot, it often adds to another. As always, comments welcomes.
If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
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The End of Average Technology â A Reflection on the Challenges of Scaling Change by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Technology offers many opportunities. The challenge is sometimes how to make the most of these. Thinking of things from a system perspective, the desire to scale is often in contrast the reality of each school context.
Todd Rose opens his book, End of Average, with a discussion of the early fighter jets and the design of the cockpit around the âaverageâ pilot. He tells the story of Gilbert Daniels, a researcher who explored this problem in the 1950âs. Daniels measured ten dimensions, including height, chest and sleeve length. What he found, once he had averaged out all the measurements, was that an average pilot does not exist.
Roseâs book unpacks this further, but again and again he comes back to the principal;
Lately, my work has been focused on supporting schools with reporting and assessment. The application I support is very flexible, utilising Crystal Reports to produce the final product. Usually it is set up on a school-by-school basis, however we are deploying a multi-tenanted environment. With this comes the opportunity to create a solution that can be used for each of our schools, without having to go through the rigmarole of development from scratch each time.
My work has focused on creating a template that acts as a starting template of subjects and assessment items that feeds into the Crystal Reports. This was built on-top of the standardised configuration. The thought was that this would save users time in setting up their reports. It was easier to start with something, rather than build from scratch. However, the learning that has stemmed from setting up a number of schools is that no one has used this average starting point. There is nothing wrong with the underlying configuration, but it is often easier and quicker to build from the various solutions from scratch.
My first response to this was to create a second starting point that was dependent on the style of reporting that particular school was after. Although this alleviated the challenges associated with some of the differences, this still required somebody to add and delete various elements.
This all reminded me of Nassim Nicholas Talebâs discussion of anchoring in his book Black Swans. Anchoring is a bias used for working around unknown possibilities. It involves reducing complexity by focusing on a particular object:
In my case, this object was the initial setup. We have since started exploring a different approach, which instead focuses on users working with the various dimensions. The hope is to provide some constraint, but also flexibility within this, rather than assuming that all schools are alike.
This all has me thinking. Too often the conversation around technology is around efficiency â replacing work and saving time. However, my experience with supporting schools with setting up reports, timetables and attendance, and technology in general, has me feeling it often changes things. This touches on the reality that technology is a system. In saving in once spot, it often adds to another. As always, comments welcomes.
If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
Technology offers many opportunities. The challenge is sometimes how to make the most of these. Thinking of things from a system perspective, the desire to scale is often in contrast the reality of each school context.
Todd Rose opens his book, End of Average, with a discussion of the early fighter jets and the design of the cockpit around the âaverageâ pilot. He tells the story of Gilbert Daniels, a researcher who explored this problem in the 1950âs. Daniels measured ten dimensions, including height, chest and sleeve length. What he found, once he had averaged out all the measurements, was that an average pilot does not exist.
Roseâs book unpacks this further, but again and again he comes back to the principal;
Lately, my work has been focused on supporting schools with reporting and assessment. The application I support is very flexible, utilising Crystal Reports to produce the final product. Usually it is set up on a school-by-school basis, however we are deploying a multi-tenanted environment. With this comes the opportunity to create a solution that can be used for each of our schools, without having to go through the rigmarole of development from scratch each time.
My work has focused on creating a template that acts as a starting template of subjects and assessment items that feeds into the Crystal Reports. This was built on-top of the standardised configuration. The thought was that this would save users time in setting up their reports. It was easier to start with something, rather than build from scratch. However, the learning that has stemmed from setting up a number of schools is that no one has used this average starting point. There is nothing wrong with the underlying configuration, but it is often easier and quicker to build from the various solutions from scratch.
My first response to this was to create a second starting point that was dependent on the style of reporting that particular school was after. Although this alleviated the challenges associated with some of the differences, this still required somebody to add and delete various elements.
This all reminded me of Nassim Nicholas Talebâs discussion of anchoring in his book Black Swans. Anchoring is a bias used for working around unknown possibilities. It involves reducing complexity by focusing on a particular object:
In my case, this object was the initial setup. We have since started exploring a different approach, which instead focuses on users working with the various dimensions. The hope is to provide some constraint, but also flexibility within this, rather than assuming that all schools are alike.
This all has me thinking. Too often the conversation around technology is around efficiency â replacing work and saving time. However, my experience with supporting schools with setting up reports, timetables and attendance, and technology in general, has me feeling it often changes things. This touches on the reality that technology is a system. In saving in once spot, it often adds to another. As always, comments welcomes.
If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
Technology offers many opportunities. The challenge is sometimes how to make the most of these. Thinking of things from a system perspective, the desire to scale is often in contrast the reality of each school context.
Todd Rose opens his book, End of Average, with a discussion of the early fighter jets and the design of the cockpit around the âaverageâ pilot. He tells the story of Gilbert Daniels, a researcher who explored this problem in the 1950âs. Daniels measured ten dimensions, including height, chest and sleeve length. What he found, once he had averaged out all the measurements, was that an average pilot does not exist.
Roseâs book unpacks this further, but again and again he comes back to the principal;
Lately, my work has been focused on supporting schools with reporting and assessment. The application I support is very flexible, utilising Crystal Reports to produce the final product. Usually it is set up on a school-by-school basis, however we are deploying a multi-tenanted environment. With this comes the opportunity to create a solution that can be used for each of our schools, without having to go through the rigmarole of development from scratch each time.
My work has focused on creating a template that acts as a starting template of subjects and assessment items that feeds into the Crystal Reports. This was built on-top of the standardised configuration. The thought was that this would save users time in setting up their reports. It was easier to start with something, rather than build from scratch. However, the learning that has stemmed from setting up a number of schools is that no one has used this average starting point. There is nothing wrong with the underlying configuration, but it is often easier and quicker to build from the various solutions from scratch.
My first response to this was to create a second starting point that was dependent on the style of reporting that particular school was after. Although this alleviated the challenges associated with some of the differences, this still required somebody to add and delete various elements.
This all reminded me of Nassim Nicholas Talebâs discussion of anchoring in his book Black Swans. Anchoring is a bias used for working around unknown possibilities. It involves reducing complexity by focusing on a particular object:
In my case, this object was the initial setup. We have since started exploring a different approach, which instead focuses on users working with the various dimensions. The hope is to provide some constraint, but also flexibility within this, rather than assuming that all schools are alike.
This all has me thinking. Too often the conversation around technology is around efficiency â replacing work and saving time. However, my experience with supporting schools with setting up reports, timetables and attendance, and technology in general, has me feeling it often changes things. This touches on the reality that technology is a system. In saving in once spot, it often adds to another. As always, comments welcomes.
If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
Another month has flown on by. My family and I have just gotten back from some time away in Vanuatu. I think it is fair to say that Google and Uber have some work to do there in regards to implementing self-driving cars. It felt like there are two maps, one plotting where to go, the other documenting the multitude of pot-holes. I must admit it was nice to stop.
In regards to work, there are always changes going on. The focus though continues to be automating the process for on-boarding schools. I wrote a longer reflection about that here. My biggest takeaway is that:
At the same time we are also grappling with how to best support schools already on. This is especially challenging when it comes to tasks like setting up a timetable that schools may only do once a year.
Personally, I have continued reading Why We Canât Write. I also worked on my site. This included improving the search thanks to some help from John Johnston, as well as fix up the header images. In regards to my listening, I have been really getting into Lana Del Ray, Montaigne, Charli XCX, M83 and G Flip, as well as diving into the Switched on Pop podcast. I also watched the Chernobyl miniseries.
Learning and Teaching
Childrenâs books are tackling dark and taboo topics. Morris Gleitzman says thatâs nothing to be afraid of
Morris Gleitzman and Jo Lampert spoke as part of a panel discussing the place of literature to tackle complex topics.
Why the Periodic Table of Elements Is More Important Than Ever
Bloomberg collects together a number of essays exploring the various elements of the periodic table.
Re-imagining Education for Democracy with Stewart Riddle
Stewart Riddle discusses the issue of democracy in education in an interview with Cameron Malcher on the TER Podcast.
Learning Science: The Problem With Data, And How You Can Measure Anything
Julian Stodd provides a useful introduction to quantitative and qualitative data.
One for the books: the unlikely renaissance of libraries in the digital age
Often the discussion around the future of libraries focuses on technology and spaces, however Jane Cadzowâs deep dive uncovers the more human side of libraries throughout Australia.
Technology
The Perfect User
Cherie Lacey, Catherine Caudwell and Alex Beattie discuss the ironic templated sense of identity perpetuated by the humane technology movement.
Privacy matters because it empowers us all
Carissa VĂŠliz pushes back on the idea that anyone can say they have ânothing to hideâ. Whether it be attention, money, reputation or identity, she argues that we all have something worth getting at.
EdTech Resistance
Ben Williamson provides a broad survey of the different ways that people have been critically engaging with technology in education.
Apps Script Pulse
Martin Hawksey has created a site to collate different Google App Script projects.
The Psychology of Silicon Valley
Antony Funnell speaks with Katy Cook on the RN Future Tense podcast about the many influences on Silicon Valley.
Reflection
Media Accounting 101: Appholes and Contracts
Craig Mod explores the agreements we make that we may not always be aware that we are making.
Misogyny, male rage and the words men use to describe Greta Thunberg
Camilla Nelson and Meg Vertigan survey the way in which males have responded to Greta Thunberg.
Kate OâHalloran made a mistake on Twitter. But admitting it wasnât enough for trolls
Kate OâHalloran reflections on her experience of being trolled online after a mistake made on Twitter.
The Cost of Next-Day Delivery: How Amazon Escapes The Blame For Its Deadly Last Mile
Caroline OâDonovan and Ken Bensinger provide a picture of what is involved in having things delivered the next day.
Malcolm Gladwell Reaches His Tipping Point
In a review of Malcolm Gladwellâs new book Talking to Strangers, Andrew Ferguson unpacks Gladwellâs pivot from rules and biases to unanswered questions.
Focus on ⌠MIT and Jeffrey Epstein
Image via âBrickForge Animalsâ by Dunechaser https://flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/1431005928 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Justin Peters maps the history associated with MIT, the birth of the Media Lab and the choice to soil its specialness, rather than support activists like Aaron Swartz. Evgeny Morozov labels it as moral bankruptcy. Audrey Watters calls it a plutocratic horror show. James Bridle questions the ethics of the Media Lab and their history in building products to improve peopleâs lives, only to then pivot into market gains. Ronan Farrow reports on the steps Joi Ito and others took to conceal Epsteinâs involvement with the Media Lab. Siva Vaidhyanathan argues that Epsteinâs intent in donating was not whitewashing, but rather to gain access to powerful men. Anand Giridharadas outlines why he resigned as a juror for MITâs Disobedience Award. Heather Gold reflects on the problem of gender and power. danah boyd discusses the great reckoning ahead, where we are faced with the challenge of building rather than breaking the web.
Read Write Respond #045
So that was September for me, how about you? As always, happy to hear.
Cover Image via JustLego101
Audrey Watters unpacks her workflow. As always, she takes the conversation around technology beyond the mere software or hardware to the technology as a system.
A colleague recently said to me, âYou just go and do your magic.â It was intended as a compliment, however it left me wondering about what it means for people to think about work as âmagicâ.
Wikipedia defines magical thinking as follows:
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.jsGrowing up, I remember being wowed watching magicians on television. However, what interested me more were the shows that unpacked the various tricks and illusions. More than slight of hand, I was interested in the steps that made such acts possible.
I guess it is often easier to wed yourself with the mystery, rather than do the heavy lifting. This is something Cory Doctorow captures in discussion of Kirbyâs film Trump, QAnon and The Return of Magic:
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
For many, technology is full of magic and wonder. However, often such perceptions are produced by our willingness to give ourselves over to the narrative. As Doctorow explains in his response to Shoshana Zuboffâs book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
Rather than handing myself over to a world of magic and mentalists, I am more interested in trying to be more informed. For me this come by asking questions, learning with others and continuing to challenge myself. As Clive Thompson touches on in regards to coding, this often involves repetitive work done over time.
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
This repetition is not only about understanding simple processes, but also building on this to join the pieces together to how they maybe interconnected. One way of appreciating this is using the SOLO Taxonomy, a learning model that focuses on quality over quantity. It involves a progression of understanding from the task at hand to more generalised leanings.
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
Doug Belshaw talks about levels of understanding in regards to moving from competencies to literacies.
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
This is something I tried to get capture in my presentation at K-12 Digital Classroom Practice Conference a few years ago where I explored ways in which different Google Apps can be combined in different way to create a customised ongoing reporting solution. It was not just about Docs or Classroom, but about the activity of curating, creating, distributing and publishing.
John Philpin approaches this problem from a different angle. Responding to the question as to whether we should all learn to code, he suggests that appreciating how technology works is actually an important part of any business. This does not mean you need to have written all the code, but it does mean you have an awareness of how things work.
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.js
This touches on Douglas Rushkoffâs point about programming or being programmed.
Coming back to my work, I feel appreciating these pieces is not only helpful in understanding the ways in which technology is a system, but also the way strategic risks can be taken when approaching something new. In Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb talks about measured risks:
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Blogger-Peer-Review/quotebacks@1/quoteback.jsFor me this means taking risks based on prior learnings and experience. I may not have all the answers, but I think I am good at capturing particular problems at hand and with that drawing on past practice to come up with possible solutions. I am going to assume this is why people come to me with such diverse questions and quandaries.
I am not saying all this because I feel that I know and understand everything. However, I cannot help but feel that references to âmagicâ are often attempts to cover up the hard work, sacrifice and opportunity that produce such moments. As always, comments welcome.
If you enjoy what you read here, feel free to sign up for my monthly newsletter to catch up on all things learning, edtech and storytelling.
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Work and Magic â On the Wonder of Technology by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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