Reading that looks interesting

On the design as journalism and how to navigate the spectrum between art and information.

"The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every 24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, fat, and flour—so, too, have we become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads, videos, status updates, and tweets.

We're all battling a storm of distractions, buffeted with notifications and tempted by tasty tidbits of information. And just as too much junk food can lead to obesity, too much junk information can lead to cluelessness. The Information Diet shows you how to thrive in this information glut—what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be selective. In the process, author Clay Johnson explains the role information has played throughout history, and why following his prescribed diet is essential for everyone who strives to be smart, productive, and sane."

"Social learning theory is the idea that people learn most effectively when they interact with other learners about a given topic. Educational psychologists refer to this as social constructivism. Recent credibility for this theory comes from a study by Dr. Richard J. Light (Harvard School of Education) that identify factors that lead to success for college students. According to Dr. Light, the strongest determinant of students’ success in college—even more than the details of their instructors’ teaching styles—is their ability to form or participate in small study groups. Students who studied in groups, even only once a week, were more engaged in their studies, were better prepared for class, and learned significantly more than students who worked on their own."

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Randy Finch: "As my students will tell you, I am keenly interested in the role "theme" will play in the New World of cross platform storytelling."

"This guide has been produced by the International Centre for Guidance Studies, and aims to provide the information needed to make an informed decision about using social media and select from the vast range of tools that are available."

As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefi...

WRITING DEVELOPMENT
Not surprisingly, these two basic approaches to conceptualizing writing have led to different views of writing development. For example, Graham (2006) argued that four catalysts spur writing development. These involve changes in writer's strategic or self-regulatory behaviors (e.g., becoming more sophisticated in planning), motivation (e.g., heightened sense of efficacy about one's writing capabilities), knowledge (e.g., increased knowledge about the attributes and structures of different types of writing), and skills (e.g., automatization of handwriting and spelling and proficiency in sentence construction). These catalysts all reside within the individual, and this approach to development is consistent with cognitive/ motivational theories of writing.

In contrast, Schultz and Fecho (2000) offer a different view of writing development—one that is consistent with sociocultural theories of writing. They argue that writing development reflects and contributes to the social, historical, political, and institutional contexts in which it occurs; varies across the school, home, and work contexts in which it is situated; is shaped by the curriculum and pedagogical decisions made by teachers and schools; tied to the social identity of the writer(s), and is greatly influenced by the social interactions surrounding writing.

These two approaches (and the theories underlying them) clearly privilege different aspects of writing and writing development. However, neither is complete, as cognitive/motivational views pay relatively little attention to context, and sociocultural views do not adequately address how individual factors shape writing development. ...

"http://informationdiet.com -- Introduction to the concepts behind The Information Diet, a new book by Clay Johnson. The Information Diet makes the case that it's time we started being as selective with the information we consume as we are the food that we eat, then describes what a healthy diet and healthy habits look like."