Computer Programming and Literacy: An Annotated Bibliography » Nettework

Annette Vee posted a very helpful resource on code studies. With the recent uptick in the “everyone should code” movement, it seems that everyone’s now talking about computer programming as a new form of literacy. The terms by which people refer to the concept vary, but the central idea is shared: computational literacy; computational thinking;…

Programming Is the New Literacy

Will the need for a separate scribe tribe of programmers continue through the twenty-first century, or will the skill set of an educated person soon include programming fluency? I think that as programming becomes increasingly easy (which it will) and as the need to show rather than explain becomes important (which it will) and as…

Abridged too Far

Similar:Timescape (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 25) Time bubble aliens lay eggs in Ro…  Rewatching ST:TNG Picard, D…AcademiaShirley Temple Black, Screen Darling, Dies at 85 Shirley Temple Black, who as a dimpled,…CultureThe Ongoing Obsession with Shakespeare’s True IdentityI’ve never been all too keen on Shakespe…AcademiaA Robotic Dog’s MortalityFascinating video journalism from the Ne…CultureHow 'A…

We Only Think We Know the Truth About Salt

WHY have we been told that salt is so deadly? Well, the advice has always sounded reasonable. It has what nutritionists like to call “biological plausibility.” Eat more salt and your body retains water to maintain a stable concentration of sodium in your blood. This is why eating salty food tends to make us thirsty:…

LinkedIn: now officially the most annoying of all social media

I’m generally ambivalent about the whole “LinkedIn experience,” but if it wants to inspire confidence, the company should devote the same amount of attention it currently places on badgering its members on tightening its security. —LinkedIn: now officially the most annoying of all social media | Loren Steffy | a Chron.com blog. Similar:Amazing McDonald's "Maestro…

It Evolved Into Birds: Ten Science-Fictional Thinkers On the Past and Future of Cyberpunk

Interesting collection of reflections on the status of cyberpunk, that branch of science fiction devoted to the exploration of dystopian networks and augmentations and hacking and  information, rather than galactic empires, huge space objects, aliens among us, etc. It Evolved Into Birds: Ten Science-Fictional Thinkers On the Past and Future of Cyberpunk Similar:I Made Cheerful…

MLA Journals Adopt New Open-Access-Friendly Author Agreements

And there was much rejoicing. The journals of the Modern Language Association, including PMLA, Profession, and the ADE and ADFL bulletins, have adopted new open-access-friendly author agreements, which will go into use with their next full issues. The revised agreements leave copyright with the authors and explicitly permit authors to deposit in open-access repositories and…

Maker Faire and Science Education: American kids should be building rockets and robots, not taking standardized tests.

I was at a “serious games” conference several years ago. During a crowded seminar, where I found myself seated on the floor because there were no open seats, one of the industry types was frowning because an educator kept speaking critically of testing. “If you don’t test,” asked the pragmatic businessperson, “how can you assess?”…

We’re Creating a Culture of Distraction

I’d argue that what’s happening is that we’re becoming like the mal-formed weight lifter who trains only their upper body and has tiny little legs. We’re radically over-developing the parts of quick thinking, distractable brain and letting the long-form-thinking, creative, contemplative, solitude-seeking, thought-consolidating pieces of our brain atrophy by not using them. And, to me,…

My Parents (ages 72 and 78) Learn a Polka Step from my iPad

  Similar:The Speech Eisenhower Never Gave On The Normandy InvasionA fascinating text from an alternate his…CultureEclipse!PersonalWe celebrate the good life of my father, George Joseph Jerz “Be straight like a board!”   …EmpathyHappy ice cream turkey cake day. AestheticsCritical Thinking Rhetoric  The IdealistAcademiaFather copes with toddler son's cancer by creating 'empathy' gameGreen and Larson both…

Stage Right’s Alice in Wonderland

My daughter shared the role of Alice this weekend (she played “Small Alice”). On one night, she also doubled as the mouse, for a different Alice. Similar:Scientists thought only male birds sang – until women joined the researchFor more than 150 years, scientists have…AcademiaSondra's Garden: Butterfly Release Honors Dr. Lettrich (Seton Hill University)”Every good lesson…

Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Depends on who you ask. – The Washington Post

I love the obscure Prufrock reference win this Washington Post story: So as the motorcades come and go, are they talking of Marco Rubio? via Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Similar:Robots Are Coming for Our PoemsThe robots are quickly and surely coming…AestheticsNew York fails Common Core testsJust 23…

Redshirt (fan video for Jonathan Coulton song)

Similar:‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammarThe construction is more versatile than …AmusingJourney's End (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 20) Picard must relocate a North … Rewatching ST:TNG An obviously tr…CultureThe daughter (giving the piggyback ride in pic 2) doing a thing that starts tomorrow. Tribune ReviewAmusingRare find discovered amid town's Old West kitschInstead…