I HAVE BEEN COMPLICIT in the decline of long form reading at this level and this year I want to correct the process. I will start with a collaborative essential reading list.
Like many of my friends, I have become lazy by reading the Twit Notes of topics. Like the Cliff Notes of my university days, Twit Notes can give readers artificial comfort. You think you know the idea because Jason tweeted it. You know you have the source of the meme because Sean saved the link. But you've read nothing from top to bottom. That's like saying you comprehend the euro crisis because you've glanced at a Daily Mail headline.
I want to reward long form reading beyond offering academic credit for essays. I want to moderate e-crits where students engage with friends and guests. As the summer evolves into another rainy season, I am spending extended periods looking at where talented creative multimedia students go to teach themselves. By November, I will have an annotated link list of Places Where We Learn. By December, we will have an eBook with testimonials from creatives who have learned to learn.
If you've thoughts about essential watering holes on the Internet, I'd like to read about them in the comments where this blog post appears on Typepad and on Google Plus.
Bernie Goldbach curates links on learning.
