Weekly Reader

Why #NetNeutrality Matters to Higher Ed
"If you work in the digital humanities–or for that matter, in higher education–net neutrality is an issue that calls for a concerted response from all of us now. if you’re still getting caught up, check out Adeline’s post on this from last week, Alexis Madrigal’s guide to the history of Net Neutrality, and Colorlines on why people of color need to care about this." -- Adeline Koh, ProfHacker / The Chronicle, 4/29/14

Google Disables Scanning of Student Emails for Advertising Purposes
"Under pressure from privacy advocates, Google announced on Wednesday that it had permanently removed all ads from its Apps for Education, including its email service, so the company can no longer harvest students’ information for advertising purposes." -- Steve Kolowich, Wired Campus,  4/30/14

Do You Want to, or Have to, Give that Speech?
"When I created my popular checklist for the whole speaker a few years ago, I started the list with questions about your intentions as a speaker, mainly to help you consider whether you're approaching the talk or presentation with your audience in mind. Since then, however, I've met some speakers for whom intent isn't always part of the picture." -- Denise Graveline, The Eloquant Woman, 4/30/14

Snapchat: A New Breed of Network
"Social media continues to evolve at a furious pace, and Snapchat sits at the intersection of an ongoing debate about the nature of social. Must networks be long-term repositories of messages and media, or can some be vehicles for sharing information for a short time?" -- Derek Smith, Social Media Today, 4/30/13

Students Push for More Access to Course Evaluation Data
"For decades, faculty members and administrators have erected walls around the data collected from students’ course evaluations, concerned about how the fickle tastes of undergraduates might affect promotion prospects. Now, though, students are increasingly accustomed to browsing consumer reviews to make informed choices. As they bear the weight of rising tuition, many students are growing frustrated by their colleges’ secrecy and are pushing to dismantle those barriers." -- Benjamin Mueller, The Chronicle / Faculty, 4/28/14