📰 Read Write Respond #074 | Read Write Collect

Welcome back to another month of the new normal. This month feels like it has had a bit of everything. It started with a visit from my father, who I had not seen since for a few years. While it ended with COVID. In addition to a whole lot of prizes and freebies, my wife brought COVID home from a conference she attended. Somehow my daughters and I managed to escape by isolating, even if everyone suggested we all just get it together as it is inevitable. No thanks. I am sure my time will come, but not this day (or month).

On the work front, I finally finished end of year activities. I also found a whole heap of tasks and incidents that had become lost in triage. As the organisation grows and morphs, some old groups are merged and made obsolete. The problem is that changing a name does not magically change a habit meaning that these incidents remain unresolved and unaccounted for. The funniest thing I find about working with technology is the human variability. So much time is spent managing the product, making sure that everything is right and correct, but this can sometimes be at the expense of clear processes and procedures.

Personally, I finally got around to writing my reflection on my top albums from last year. I read John Hirst’s The Shortest History of Europe and Richard Glover’s memoir Flesh Wounds. I also binged quite a bit, including Altered Carbon, The Witcher, Don’t Look Up, ABC series What is Music.

Here then are some of the posts that have had me thinking:

Education

Key concepts for leading professional learning

Deborah Netolicky shares her thoughts on the key concepts associated with professional learning, including holonmy, a holding environment, meaningful collaboration and semantic space.

Belonging is inconvenient

Dave White unpacks the differences between independent, communal and networked learning, and how this is more than being face-to-face or online.

Waiting for Gonski with Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor

Cameron Malcher speaks with Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor about Australia’s long history of failed educational reform.

Rare Thoughts on Writing From Cormac McCarthy in This Unlikely Interview

Cormac McCarthy reflects upon the notion of inspiration when writing, as well as purpose of audience.

Google Magic

Ben Williamson pulls the curtain back on the magic associated with Google’s new Google Classroom feature ‘Practice Set’, which provides adaptive learning technology.

Technology

Are We Measuring Our Lives in All the Wrong Ways?

In an interview with Ezra Klein, C. Thi Nguyen discusses how Twitter gamifies communication.

“My Own Little Fiefdom”: Why Some Famous Novelists Are All About Substack

Adrienne Westenfeld discusses the way in which some novelists, such as George Saunders, Salman Rushdie and Chuck Palahniuk, have turned to Substack as a means of serializing fiction, teaching the craft of writing and generally engaging with readers.