Dave and I don’t change our tools very often. Instead, we try to use as few of them as possible and continually work to learn new ways to leverage these systems and applications in our learning and work. However, in recent months, we both switched our Digital bookmarking service from Pinboard.in over to Raindrop.io.

Pinboard.in served us well for years. I had over 30,000 bookmarks stored since I joined in 2014. I moved over from the Del.icio.us bookmarking service, when it’s long-term future looked questionable. Pinboard.in is a simple way of collecting and categorizing bookmarks in one place. It had recently become rather slow when running in the browser, as well as not always reliably saving my bookmarks when I was on a mobile device and using a third-party app.

When I first looked at Raindrop.io, I was blown away by its gorgeous user interface. Instead of categorizing purely by applying tags to bookmarks (like Pinboard.in does), Raindrop.io also makes use of Collections, which are like folders. When I initially saw the organization by Collection, I thought that this would be a limitation for me, given that I save items that would apply across various categories. However, I soon discovered that searching can be done across all manner of filters, so I wasn’t going to lose the functionality I had grown so accustomed to when using Pinboard.in.

Getting Started

The first step for me in getting started with Raindrop.io was to experiment with it for a bit. I installed the Mac app and iOS app. They also have a Windows app and an app on Google Play. I created an account and signed in on the apps.

I set up a couple of Collections to see how that worked. I like how you can use their extensive collection of icons to visually distinguish your categories from one another. Even better, I appreciate how I can upload custom icons. Our university has some design elements that I instantly associate with that entity, which I used for my work-related Collections. I later added my Bitmoji for personal bookmarks.

The next step in getting started was to add the Raindrop.io extension to my browser, so I could easily add bookmarks when browsing the web. They have support for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge, and a Raindrop.io Bookmarklet that may be used for unsupported browsers.

Once I signed into the Raindrop.io extension, I was ready to start adding bookmarks. I instantly noticed how much faster Raindrop.io was, as well as offering more features to access within the single browser extension. I could select the Collection to place the bookmark within, as well as add any associated tags. It was very intuitive to use from the very beginning.

The last part of getting started was to connect Raindrop.io within my preferred RSS Reader – Unread. That way, while I was reading articles from all my various RSS feeds on Unread, I could quickly save items within a category and apply tags. I do this by long-pressing on the title of an article and accessing Raindrop.io via the share sheet. I could do it even faster by setting up the double-tap to automatically save to Raindrop.io, but it doesn’t appear to allow me to enter a tag as I’m saving it. I have found that if I don’t add the tags at the same time as I’m saving an item, I can get a serious backlog of bookmarks when I finally sit down to tag everything.

Collections

Another nice feature of Raindrop.io’s Collections is the ability to collaborate with others. I’ve set up a Collection for our Institute for Faculty Development. Now, whenever any of us comes across bookmarks related to our work, we can save them in one place and have others automatically have access to them, as well.

We are only getting started with this practice, so I don’t know yet how tags are going to work. I would assume that whatever tags my colleagues add here will then get added into mine. If we want to really be able to future-proof our bookmarking efforts, it is going to make sense to come up with some naming conventions for our tags.

If you don’t want to have someone to be able to add to your bookmarks, but want them to be able to view an entire Collection, there’s an option for that, as well. You can either invite specific individuals to view a Collection, or can create a shareable link.

I see on the Raindrop.io planned improvements that there are (as of 11/29/20) 493 upvotes to “Pin one bookmark into multiple collections,” which to me would be a great enhancement to Raindrop.io. I was the 493rd upvote. The developer is very responsive to user feedback and continually improves the service, from everything I can tell so far.

Tags

The power in really being able to organize information comes from tags, since they can carry across multiple categories and contexts. A single bookmark may belong in the following collections: Reference, technology, classes, teaching, and higher education. I wind up picking the most logical Collection and add in the tags that will help me find the item in the future.

This morning, I listened to an episode of The Productivity Show: 5 GTD Tips to Become a Power User and Get Things Done Consistently (TPS322).

Here are the tags I applied to it, along with the rationale for each one.

• #audio – When adding media to my bookmarks, I like to indicate the type of item I’m saving, whether it is audio content or video.
• #AsianEfficiency – They are the creators of this podcast and also have a great blog. I like to be able to search by the content creator, whether it be a person, or an organization.
• #GTD – Getting Things Done, a productivity system articulated by David Allen in the book by the same name
• #mgmt470 – I teach a management elective class called: Personal Leadership and Productivity. When I find items related to any class, I like to add a tag with the class name to help me be able to surface new content to add to the course over time.

Dave thinks I may have gotten carried away with tags across my years of digital bookmarking. He may be onto something. As of today, I have 4,265 tags. In listening to another podcast episode this morning, one of the co-hosts said, “Tags don’t cost anything,” which helped me feel a bit more vindicated.

If I were starting over, again, though, I would be more purposeful in deciding on whether to use singular vs plural for tag naming conventions. In some cases, I have done that.

For example:

• #podcasts – are the actual shows I have saved
• #podcasting – is the creation of podcasts
• #podcast – is a hashtag I use on Twitter when sharing quotes from the Teaching in Higher Ed #podcast. I have it set up to automatically bookmark tweets that I like or retweet, so adding this to Raindrop.io happens automatically.

If you have gone down the path of sometimes tagging an item with a tag expressed in the singular, while other times adding a tag as a plural, you can combine the two tags together. I see on the Raindrop.io website that it is possible to merge tags, but I haven’t figured that piece out just yet.

Perfectionism and ongoing personal knowledge management don’t go together very well. I can always search a couple of ways to find what I’m looking for, until such a non-existent time when I clean everything up perfectly.

Next Steps

If you don’t already use a digital bookmarking system, I highly suggest you check out Raindrop.io. As stated on the Raindrop.io home page:

“Raindrop.io is the best place to keep all your favorite books, songs, articles or whatever else you come across while browsing.”

And if you would like to learn more about personal knowledge management, there's an entire section of my book devoted to it. Check out The Productive Online and Offline Professor on the Stylus Publishing website. Part Three explores finding, curating, and sharing knowledge and there's a chapter dedicated to Three Steps to Social Bookmarking. 

Also: Productivity Tools List on the Teaching in Higher Ed Website

This isn’t my first time to this rodeo (of trying to narrow down my favorite podcasts). I wrote up lists in 2018, 2017, 2014, and also published an article about podcasting in the University of Austin’s Flow Journal.

Each time I start a new, annual list, I avoid looking at the prior year’s lists. I want to avoid being influenced by prior year’s posts and start with fresh eyes. Here are the shows that came to mind for this year’s list, by category.

I still marvel at how amazing it is that we can have all these learning opportunities for free – on our smart devices – wherever we are. If you haven’t ever listened to a podcast, it is easy to do. Once you start, I suspect you won’t ever turn back…

Teaching and Higher Ed

Gettin’ Air with Terry Greene – Terry prepares for each interview with care and asks authentic questions about open education.

Teach Better – Doug and Edward bring on superb guests who help to challenge us to be better at teaching.

The Black Goat – These psychologists help others in their field to navigate higher education. Even though my discipline isn’t in psychology, I learn a lot from every episode.

Leading Lines – “…a podcast on educational technology in higher education” from the expert podcasters at Vanderbilt.

Tea for Teaching – “a series of informal discussions of innovative and effective practices in teaching and learning. Hosted by John and Rebecca, who run the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at the State University of New York at Oswego.”

EdSurge On Air – “A weekly podcast about the future of education, featuring insightful conversations with educators, tech innovators and scholars, hosted by EdSurge's Jeffrey R. Young and Sydney Johnson.”

News and Politics

Amicus, with Dalia Lithwick – smart conversation about the law.

The Gist, with Mike Pesca – Mike cracks me up on a regular basis and challenges my mind.

Skimm This – Concise, engaging overview of what’s happening in the news. Recommended by my students.

Pod Save America – “A no-bullshit conversation about politics hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor that breaks down the week’s news and helps people figure out what matters and how to help.”

Political Gabfest – Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the week’s politics in an entertaining and informative way.

The Daily – “Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by New York Times journalism.”

Pod Save the People – “Organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson explores news, culture, social justice, and politics through deep conversations with influencers and experts, and the weekly news with fellow activists Brittany Packnett and Sam Sinyangwe, and writer Clint Smith.”

On the Media – “WNYC’s weekly investigation into how the media shapes our worldview.”

Technology and Science

Automators – “Automation makes your life easier and everyone can do it. We tell you how.” (Mac-centric, though also covers web services that enable automation).

Mac Power Users – “L earn about getting the most from your Apple technology with focused topics and workflow guests. Creating Mac Power Users, one geek at a time since 2009.”

Reply All – “A podcast about the internet’ that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it.” – The Guardian

Radio Lab – “Radiolab, with Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, is a radio show and podcast weaving stories and science into sound and music-rich documentaries.”

Parsing Science – “The unpublished stories behind the world’s most compelling science, as told by the researchers themselves.”

Mind-expanding Shows

Hidden Brain – “Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.” (Thanks for recommending it such a long time ago, Isabeau Iqbal.

Armchair Expert – “celebrates the messiness of being human.” Hosted by Dax Shepard. Recommended by John Warner on Teaching in Higher Ed episode 233 (he warned us, though…).

This American Life – “This American Life is a weekly public radio program and podcast. Each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme.” (One of the all-time greatest!)

On Being – “A Peabody Award-winning public radio show and podcast. What does it mean to be human? How do we want to live? And who will we be to each other? Each week a new discovery about the immensity of our lives. Hosted by Krista Tippett.”

Code Switch – “Code Switch is a race and culture outlet and a weekly podcast from American public radio network NPR.” Recommended by Rob Parke on Teaching in Higher Ed episode 126.

Business, Marketing, and Economics

Planet Money – “The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy.” Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.”

Marketplace – “…helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. ”

Akimbo – “A Podcast from Seth Godin. Akimbo is an ancient word, from the bend in the river or the bend in an archer's bow. … Akimbo's a podcast about our culture and about how we can change it. About seeing what's happening and choosing to do something.”

Coaching for Leaders – “Leaders Aren't Born, They're Made. It's a myth that leadership skills can't be learned. Almost nobody is a born leader. Most leaders I know learned how to lead through the school of hard knocks, good training, years of hard work, effective coaching, and great mentors.” (Hosted by this guy I know – who I happen to be married to – Dave Stachowiak.)

Work and Life

Radical Self Trust Podcast Channel from Katie Linder – “The Radical Self-Trust (RST) podcast channel is a collection of content dedicated to helping you seek self-knowledge, nurture your superpowers, playfully experiment, live your core values with intention, practice loving kindness toward yourself and others, and settle into your life's purpose.”

Women at Work – Produced by Harvard Business Review. It was on hiatus for a while – and is now back. Excellent interviews to helps us all fulfill our potential with excellence and joy!

Worklife, with Adam Grant – “Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. From learning how to love criticism to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again.”

GTD – “Our GTD podcasts are here to support you at every stage of your GTD practice. … The podcasts include personal and professional stories, as well as practical tips about GTD systems for desktop and mobile, using apps and paper. Start listening now and you'll be well on your way to stress-free productivity.”

Focused – Great productivity show, hosted by David Sparks and Mike Schmitz.

The Productivity Show – The team from Asian Efficiency helps us up our game on this practical podcast.

Look and Sound of Leadership with Tom Henshel – Tom is a former actor turned executive coach – and he gives us superb advice on how to be better leaders in this concise and thoughtful podcast.

Your Turn

What are your favorite podcasts lately and what makes them so good?

This column was originally posted on EdSurge. It is reposted here with permission. The following is the latest installment of the Toward Better Teaching advice column. You can pose a question for a future column here.

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Dear Bonni, My question is how to prepare yourself for a doctorate in leadership in higher ed, even when you are over 50! I am a former high-tech executive with an MBA, turned severe special needs elementary educator, mother of 7 (4 in college, 3 in high school) who is looking at that next step in my career. I am entering a doctorate in Leadership in Higher Ed program in the fall and am working hard at preparing myself. I have created what I’m calling my “prep syllabus” and hope to set a solid foundation for myself. I’ve filled my podcast app with 5 plus podcasts to learn about various challenges, trends and best practices. I would love to get your feedback on what should be in my “prep syllabus” and how to make that transition. Thanks so much!

—Maureen McLaughlin, returning student

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While this column typically is focused on teaching, it is great to get to have it shift to learning for this question. How wonderful that you are taking these steps to be ready for this big transition. Here is some guidance on how to approach this season of preparation.

Conduct a Tools Audit

When I teach a course to doctoral students, I begin by inviting them to perform an audit on their technical skills. This process helps them discern the most essential features within the various applications that will best help them through their coursework and completing a dissertation.

The document I created for the doctoral students specifically identifies those applications that they will use most in pursuing their doctorates with that institution. Download this sample tools audit and customize it to meet your needs. Below are some links to help strengthen your capabilities in some of the fundamental applications I mention in the tools audit:

• Master Microsoft Word using courses from Hoonuit or Lynda
• Format more effectively and efficiently using tips from LifeHacker
• Maximize the Capabilities of Zotero through these videos from Nicholas Cifuentes-Goodbody

If possible, correspond with someone at the institution where you will be attending to see if they have requirements about what word processor or references manager you need to use and be sure you maximize the time you spend learning those.

Develop Your Knowledge of Structures, Research and Writing Styles

In a doctoral program, the structures of your written work will be similar. You will develop many literature reviews and will regularly need to create similar structures for research papers. I have found the following people and organizations essential to growing my research writing skills over the years.

Purdue Online Writing Lab: this website is one I keep open on a regular basis when writing in a formal, academic style. It features guidance on various citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, and more) and on how to list references properly. There are also exercises to practice the art of the academic citation. This video (by Nicholas Cifuentes-Goodbody) on developing outlines for larger writing projects is another great way to prepare for the kind of writing you will be doing.

Raul Pacheco-Vega’s website: This assistant professor in the Public Administration Division of the Center for Economic Teaching and Research in Mexico has written extensively on his website about academic writing. I suggest exploring the entire resources section here, including the advice on writing literature reviews, guidance for graduate students, and approaches for writing a research paper, book chapter or dissertation.

Oregon State University Research in Action podcast: one to consider adding to your queue, if it is not already there. Katie Linder, the host, has gathered together scholars who share about all different types of research methods, as well as how to deal with common challenges that occur (such as writer’s block, choosing a dissertation topic, setting research goals, and keeping yourself organized).

Acquire a ‘Good Enough’ Mindset

I used to travel to instruct in the doctoral program I teach in a couple of times a year. Once, I did not set boundaries well enough and found myself in a conversation with a doctoral student about her final paper, at the same time as I was supposed to be returning to the airport to fly back home that evening. I had told the class that I would not be able to stay after class, but that I would be available to answer any questions they had, once I returned home. But I did not stick to my word, and 45 minutes later, was frustrated at what had happened.

The student was unhappy with her grade and kept flipping through all the pages she had printed out with her highlights marking the discrepancies between my perceptions and her own. Flying home, without having had enough time to grab lunch on my way to the airport, I was angry with myself for not having left after the class was over.

Once I was back in our house and able to access wifi, I took a look at her situation. It turned out that the small number of points she was missing from the assignment had absolutely zero impact on her overall grade. She was still at well over the range of what was required to earn an A in the course. This was already evident to her through the grade book. The entire time we had been talking, I was assuming her goal was to earn a higher grade in the class. Instead, it was regarding a single paper and her wanting to have earned 100 percent in the class. To be clear, this fact would never have shown up on her transcripts or anywhere outside the LMS.

That example is a bit more extreme than what I typically witness. However, we can all struggle with knowing what is “good enough” on something and knowing when we should move on to other priorities. As harsh as it may sound, there are times when we need to do that with our families and friends. Being fully present for our loved ones is essential, but during this season of your life, it may be more helpful to think in terms of quality over quantity.

I came into my doctoral program thinking I was going to read every word that was assigned (I didn’t). While I did maintain my desired GPA, I had to think more transactionally than I would have liked to about finishing papers and working collaboratively with other students.

One of my doctoral professors used to tell us that he wanted us to be “famous by Friday,” in reference to writing our dissertations. His use of the word ‘famous’ was delivered dripping with sarcasm. Most people’s dissertations won’t wind up being highly cited. Once we finish them, however, we are freed up to have the time to do the work that may be more meaningful to us and potentially be more visible. The goal is not to try to change the world with our research. The aim is to be done.

As you prepare to begin this journey, equip yourself with the tools you’ll need to support you in the process, re-orient yourself with the kinds of writing you will be doing and be ready for good enough to be good enough.

Sara asked on the Teaching in Higher Ed Facebook group:

“What’s on your summer reading list?”

At first, it felt like she was asking just me, but I realized that she was probably asking everyone in the group. I think I got overly excited, initially, for two reasons:

1. It has been a while since I felt giddy about writing a blog post and writing about the books I have been reading inspired me.
2. I have always loved summer reading programs and posts and thought it would be fun to contribute to conversations like that.

When I was a kid, I used to sign up for every reading group I had access to in the summers. At the Carlsbad library, I remember we got to have some sort of paper creatures (fish, animals, etc.) that would appear with our names on them each time we read a book and shared it with the library. It was so fun for me to see evidence of the stories that had so captured my imagination during that season in such a visible and colorful way.

In this post, I’ll share some recent books that I think should be on your summer list. Finally, I will let you know what I am hoping to read this summer.

Recent Reads

I have enjoyed many of the books I have read recently. Any of these would make for great summer reading for those in higher education.

• Educated, a Memoir – by Tara Westover
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century – by Timothy Snyder
• The Hate U Give – by Angie Thomas
• The College Classroom Assessment Compendium – by Jay Parkes and Dawn Zimaro
• Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved – by Kate Bowler
• iPhone Field Guide (only on Apple iBooks or via PDF) – by David Sparks

The books listed above are all excellent and are highly recommended. There was only really one book that I read recently that left me wanting more. The Year of Less really fits more into the memoir category and doesn’t really provide any practical advice to someone wanting to live with less. I suppose it could be said that I don’t have as much in common with her and therefore couldn’t find ways to take her experience and make it fit my own aspirations.

Summer Reads

I didn’t realize this until just now when writing this post, but all of these books are already in my Kindle app and just waiting for me to read or finish them.

Agile Faculty: Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching – by Robecca Pope-Ruark – I have already started reading this one and am starting to get my head around ways we might take inspiration from the programming world’s practices and use them to make progress on multiple goals at once and with complex projects.

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness – by Austin Channing Brown – I began reading this book a few days ago and am already captivated. Channing puts into words her experience of growing up as a black child in predominantly white schools and churches and then navigating the changes when spending summers in a mostly-black community. Her stories of transitioning into the workplace are full of stark reminders of the ways we make it challenging for people of color to thrive and have a voice in our white-dominated schools, churches, and workplaces.

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy – by Ta-Nehisi Coates – I’m realizing as I type this how many of my summer reads I have already started. I love reading Coates’ writing, yet this one isn’t grabbing me as much. I find I would rather read present-Coates’ versus the articles he wrote during those eight years. It is still a wonderful book; I am just feeling even more captivated by some of the other books I have started and more of his recent articles and find I am not opening this book up as much.

Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play – by Mitchel Resnick – I think I saw someone mention this on Twitter and it looks wonderful. The more I see how our young kids’ teachers approach learning, the more I wish these techniques could carry across to teaching college and beyond.

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism – by Safiya Umoia Noble – George Woodbury regularly comes through with great Teaching in Higher Ed podcast guest recommendations, including his idea to invite Safiya Umoia Noble onto the show to talk about her book. I left a message on her website a couple of months ago and haven’t heard back. Maybe I will try other methods to see if I can reach her and get her interested in coming on to talk about this important work.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City – by Matthew Desmon – I bought this book for my Mom for Christmas last year and she said it was very powerful. I have seen many news stories where Desmon is cited, but haven’t taken the plunge yet on his book. My understanding is that he tells stories of specific individuals who are in poverty to help us confront our misinformed beliefs about what it means to be poor in America.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel – by Mark Sullivan – I don’t remember how I came across this book suggestion, but maybe because I had liked Unbroken and All the Light We Cannot See. From Amazon: “Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.”

The End of Violence: A Novel – by Tom Drury – This one was recommended by John Warner on episode #172. From Amazon: “Welcome to Grouse County — a fictional Midwest that is at once familiar and amusingly eccentric — where a thief vacuums the church before stealing the chalice, a lonely woman paints her toenails in a drafty farmhouse, and a sleepless man watches his restless bride scatter their bills beneath the stars. At the heart of The End of Vandalism is an unforgettable love triangle set off by a crime: Sheriff Dan Norman arrests Tiny Darling for vandalizing an anti–vandalism dance and then marries the culprit's ex-wife Louise. So Tiny loses Louise, Louise loses her sense of self, and the three find themselves on an epic journey.”

I will also be doing a bunch of reading this summer to support my partnership with West Virginia University Press’ Teaching and Learning in Higher Education book series.

As you may recall, they provided financial support for the first 200 episodes’ transcripts of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. In exchange, I get the opportunity to talk with many of the authors of the series and read their books. Pretty fortunate, aren’t I? It’s like sending me straight into the briar patch.

How Humans Learn – by Joshua R. Eyler

Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education – by Thomas J. Tobin and Kiesten T. Behling

Teaching the Literature Survey Course – Edited by Gwynn Dujardin, James M. Lang, and John A. Staunton

I had already read and truly enjoyed Sarah Rose Cavanagh’s The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion. Watch for a forthcoming blog post about it and check out the two episodes that Sarah has done with me about this book:

• Episode 135: The Spark of Learning with Sarah Rose Cavanaugh
• Episode 204: The Spark of Learning Reprise with Sarah Rose Cavanaugh

All of these authors are superb educators and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from all of them and pass as much as I can on to the Teaching in Higher Ed community.

Your Turn

What are you planning on reading this summer? Any recommendations for those looking for something good to read?