Ugh! Broken Links

One of the most frustrating features of the Internet is its inability to maintain links to websites and platforms that no longer exist, or that have been updated, and now have a new address.

I often point to articles I created in the past, and before sharing them, I check to see if links are broken. If they are, I can sometimes find an updated link on the website where it was first published, or I can find a link in the Internet Archive.

Sometimes I create my own problems.  

For instance, I've been updating the PDF essays I've created since the 1990s to visualize ideas. I started posting these on Scribd.com in 2011 and Slideshare.com in 2012.  

I've been updating these and find that Scribd.com accepts updated PDFs without breaking links.  However, Slideshare.com requires a new post of the revised PDF, and deletion of the old one.  That breaks the link.

Below is a ROLE OF LEADERS presentation that I've pointed to often.  

Role of Business Leaders - Helping Kids From Poverty Areas Move to Careers from Daniel Bassill

If I had embedded the Scribd.com version in a blog article, the new version shows up when you look at the article.  However, if I embedded the Slideshare version, you get a blank screen.

If you find an article with a blank screen you can always go to my Slideshare.com/tutormentor page and find the updated article.  I don't think I'll ever be able to update all of the articles where I've used that version.

That's life with the Internet.  Expect more of the same in the future. 

Thanks for reading. 

Climate Crisis - Environmental Racism

I've been watching the Weather Channel videos showing the progress of Hurricane Matthew through the Caribbean up through Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. While there will be millions of dollars of property loss in the US, few lives will be lost. In Haiti the death toll already is over 800.

As I watched these Friday morning, I thought of past tragedies, going back to 9/11, and of how these natural and man-made disasters have had a negative impact on the Tutor/Mentor Connection's ability to build a system of support for inner-city kids.

I've written articles in the past, where I've shown how such events make it difficult to consistently build a strong organization, or a strong movement consisting of many organizations that focus on a common problem.  This graphic shows that progress is not steady growth. There are many dips in the road. Such negative impact is probably felt by thousands of organizations in the US and around the world ever time a tsunami, earthquake, flood, or hurricane strikes.  

I recalled a couple of videos I had seen that did a great job of showing the growth of the climate change movement, and the issues it focuses on, so I am repeating two of those here.  This first video was included in an article I wrote in 2014. You can view the video in this article.

It was in this video that speakers called the climate crisis "Environmental Racism" and said "climate disruptions are a social justice issue", saying that "who gets hurt the most are poor people who can't get out of the way."

The organizers of the 2013 climate march recognized that "in order to address the climate crisis we have to first address inequalities".

Thus, throughout this video you'll see efforts to reach out to minorities, the poor, and those who are  most disadvantaged.

This second video was created in 2009 and shows how movements in the 1960's lead to a wave of legislation in the 1970s. I included it in this article.



This video describes the process of mobilizing people as a "swarm" and suggests that with the Internet it's possible to create an on line hub that could support the growth of the climate change movement.

As you look at the strategy that's proposed, visit this presentation, which shows the strategy I've been following since creating the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993, and the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2011.

I did some web searching on Friday to see if I could find some graphics that showed the growth of the climate change network, or showed the different organizations who they have been connecting with.

350 0rg seems to be one of the lead intermediaries in the climate change movement.  Below is a screen shot of a map that shows different organizations working on climate change throughout the world.

I have been using GIS maps since 1993 to show where tutor/mentor programs are needed, and to show participation in conferences I've hosted in Chicago and to show participation in on-line events, like the Connected Learning #clmooc.  Maps force you to look at all the places where a problem needs to be solved, or that need to be represented in movement-building. Without a map you could fill a stadium with people who are active in solving a problem, but still be missing most of the places where the problem needs a constant flow of ideas, talent, dollars, technology, etc. to be solved.

Over the past 20 years I've also become interested in process and strategy. How does a tutor/mentor program help a youth move through school and into a job? How do we make well organized, long-term programs available in more places? How do climate change organizers map their own process toward goal? How is this being done in other sectors?

How do we visualize this?

I started creating concept maps to show strategy and to show organization's I'm connecting with, via events I attend, people I meet on line, or links in the Tutor/Mentor web library.  In many of these maps I include links, pointing visitors directly to additional maps, and/or the web sites of other organizations.

The map below is a collection of maps that focus on building networks, and creating maps to show who I'm reaching out to, and who is in my web library. 

In this map, which is a collection of several maps,  I'm trying to show that while supporting youth via non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs is my primary goal, it is not the primary goal of organizers who focus on different issues, such as climate change, public health, the environment, inequality, jobs, etc..  Poverty, climate change and other environmental issues are only a few of the issues included in the United Nations Sustainability goals.

I use the pie chart to visualize leaders from many sectors focusing on each issue area, including the mission of my organization. I should be able to find blog articles, such as these that use systems thinking and concept maps to engage a network of stakeholders and show strategies for achieving long-term goals of climate change, public health, violence prevention, inequality, etc.   The hub and spoke design of the wheel shows that these issues are related to each other.  The climate march organizers in the first video recognized this, saying " "in order to address the climate crisis we have to first address inequalities".

My blog articles, strategy presentations, web library, concept maps, and GIS maps are examples that not only could be used by leaders who focus on  poverty and youth development throughout the world, but by leaders who understand that to solve their problem they also need to focus on inequalities in the world, and that they, too, could be using maps like I do to show their progress, their networks and how they are connecting people, organizations and resources.

As I write articles like this I seek three responses:

a) Are there people already writing articles and creating maps like this?  If you know them, post a link in the comment section of this blog

b) Are you a writer, illustrator, mapper, etc. who can communicate these ideas more effectively than I do? 

c) are you one of those who are contributing hundreds of million dollars to every election cycle and might want to devote a few million to fully developing the Tutor/Mentor Institute as a free standing organization, or on a college campus?

If you're any of the above,  I look forward to hearing from you.  

additional reading

Note: 2/2/2017 update - here's an ESRI storymap showing impact of climate change on migration throughout the world. The is valuable resource both for understanding climate crisis, and for understanding uses of storymaps. 

4-2-2017 update - This article on the Resiliance.org web site shows that liberal approaches to climate change are just as much of a problem as is conservative denial. 

4-2-2017 update - are we facing a global extension of the human race - this writer has a series of blog articles that show this possible future.

4-15-2017 update - An Unprecedented Four Famines Threaten the Planet. - read article

4-17-2017 update - take to the streets during April 2017 and other actions you can take  - read article

6-19-2017 update - Atlantis Rising: Why Floating Cities are the Next Frontier - see video

6-26-17 update - Deadly Heat Waves Likely to Get Worse - read article talking about affect of extreme heat.

7-9-17 update - analysis of economic impact of climate change in the US - read article

7-10-17 update - This article, titled The Uninhabitable Earth, describes coming climate disasters facing the world.

7-17-17 update - The Climate-Smart Cities program at the Trust for Public Land is helping cities overcome challenges to successful climate action. Read article.

8-30-17 update - The Texas Floods following Hurricane Havey have generated several new articles worth reading.  1) Public Service Media Warned of Texas Catastrophe. Still time to learn (article). This points to a 2016 series titled "Hell and High Water" ;  2) How catastrophe affects most vulnerable people most. article; and 3) library of ESRI story maps showing flooding in Texas and around world. A second page showing ESRI story maps - click here

11-11-17 update - Here's a group that draws attention to climate change with music. It's called The Climate Music Project. click here

11-13-17 update - #Decarbonize #Decolonize  describes itself as "worlds largest synthesis of youth research, recommended policy and action on climate change". Is mobilizing youth from across the planet.

2-27-18 update - Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration - Rolling Stone article. As some areas become unlivable the wealthy will move to more climate friendly cities, causing prices to rise, driving out the poor. Those without the money to move will suffer greatly.

5-16-2018 update - The Shape of Water - Chicago Magazine article forecasting a future for Chicago and the Great Lakes water basin. click here

6-21-2018 update - How Tackling Climate Change Could Tackle Inequality - read article

7-9-2018 update - Nicola Avery, from UK, posted blog article today with a collection of climate change links. Add to your reading list. click here

9-3-2018 update - Planetary Health Alliance - article with many links to additional resources - click here

10-12-18 update - Interactive map shows projected changes in rainfall and snow by 2050 in communities across the world.

10-17-18 update - Popular Science magazine article titled "The most important science policy issue in every state" - click here

11-16-18 update - List of natural disasters in the USA since 2000 - on Wikipedia. What's important to understand is that people in past disasters are probably still trying to rebuild their lives, even after many years. 

3-6-19 update - Project Drawdown claims to be "the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming".  The site includes a list of 100 most substantive, existing solutions to address climate change -   click here

3-6-19 update - WASH Funders by Candid - web resource focuses on water issues around world. Includes a funders map, too. click here

8-1-19 update - "Migration and the climate crisis: the UN’s search for solutions" - article 

10-25-19 update - Global Chaos Map Project - this project is building a map to help understand where in the world environmental and political stress is leading to violence.  Click here to read article.   Click here to the Chaos Map Project site. Click here to view the interactive map.

12-18-19 update - America After Climate Change Mapped - click here

2-3-2021 update - Now's the Time interactive map shows oil, natural gas, coal, wind and other energy production and distribution resources from around the world.  For those advocating for movement away from carbon based energies this site should be a useful tool.  This is website with overview. 

2-3-2021 update - Climate Justice Alliance - Here's description from website: "Climate Justice Alliance is amplifying the leadership of the original Our Power Communities while expanding to 70 communities in seven regions that are home to key grassroots groups. These groups organize to end the era of extreme energy and implement a Just Transition that promotes local control of resources (including energy, land, water, and food systems)." 

2-3-2021 update - Extinction Rebellion Chicago (XRC) - a growing group of activists formed in 2019 to demand, through creative and non-violent direct action, t hat the government act now to stop climate catastrophe.

2-4-2021 update - Mapping Environmental Justice in the Biden-Harris Administration - click here ;  Mentioned in the article is the CalEnviroScreen. This link points to a Disadvantaged Communities Map (California). 

2-24-2021 update - Is your house going to flood because of climate change? These maps will tell you. - read article 

3-6-2021 update - Mapping Project Explores Links Between Historic Redlining And Future Climate Vulnerability - click here

Annotation. A New Learning and Collaboration Tool

How many times have you read a book, or an article, and used your yellow high-lighter to mark up important passages, or used sticky notes to post comments? Or even written notes in the margins? I'm sure many of us have done this to support our learning and prepare for tests.

A few weeks ago Terry Elliott, who I met through the Making Learning Connected cMOOC (#CLMOOC) introduced me to on-line annotation, and a tool called diigo.com

Today I spent an hour listening to Terry and a few others talk about another annotation tool, called hypothes.is. Below is the video of Google Hangout is below.



As a result of listening to the Hangout, I followed a path of learning, to several other web sites:

First I went to the Vialogue page where participants were holding a live chat while the Hangout was taking place.

That pointed me to Joe Dillon's "learn, teach, repeat" blog article.  Joe was the moderator of the Hangout.

In addition, the Vialogue pointed me to this article on a blog titled "Keven's Meandering Mind" which I've been following for several months.

Kevin's article encouraged readers (and me) to read this New York Times article about annotation, which provides many strategies for applying this process in classroom learning, and real world collaboration and problem solving.

The Hangout took place the day prior to the 2016 State of the Union Address, and it's goal was to encourage people to participate in a group annotation of the SOTU speach, using Hypothes.is.  Many did, and here's the link.

Terry, Kevin, Joe and the other Hangout participants, as well as the people I've met in the Making Learning Connected cMOOC, are all educators. I understand how they see this as a powerful tool for motivating students to dig deeper and engaged with what they are reading, line by line, and word by word.

I've participated in a few MOOCS like the #CLMOOC since 2013, and sadly, very few educators from Chicago and other big cities seem to be participating.

However, my focus is expanding the network of adults who help kids succeed in school and in life, beyond the adults the meet in a classroom, or their immediate family.  Thus, while I see very few educators in these on-line learning communities, I see even fewer people who are leaders, volunteers, donors and/or board members with the various tutoring and/or mentoring programs operating in Chicago and other cities.

I wrote an article about Hospitals as anchor organizations a few weeks ago and showed how Terry was annotating articles I've written.

@tutormentorteam Just did a quick annotation of your article: https://t.co/dCWqIEDESI

— Terry Elliott (@telliowkuwp) December 14, 2015

Using hypothes.is and diigo.com to do annotation is one way to learn and collaborate.  In another article by Terry Elliott I found this screencast, in which he was highlighting information on a blog article by Bryan Alexander which is a mega-list of different podcasting platforms.  What a fantastic way to share what one person is reading and learning with thousands of others.

My goal in sharing these articles, and this information, is that others will take time to read my articles and share them with others.  Imagine if a volunteer, or a student, from every non-school tutoring, mentoring and after school club in Chicago, or other cities, were reading this article, annotating it, digging into the links I point to, and sharing all of this with others at his/her location.

Perhaps hundreds of volunteers would begin to draw students into newspapers, blog articles, text books, etc. to support their own habits of deeper learning, collaboration and idea sharing., Imagine if those students began to take those habits into their schools and classrooms, demonstrating their greater learning to teachers and peers, and sharing the tools they were using to learning, and pointing to this blog, and the sites I point to, as their reference material.

Imagine how many lives we might transform. 

Note: One of the reasons I wrote this article was to create a single reference point for me to include in this section of the Tutor/Mentor Web library. Since first writing this I have added links to new sites focusing on annotation,  using the comments box of this article. Feel free to add links that you're aware of using the comments, or using an annotation platform.

7-9-2018 update: Here's a guide to using Hypothes.is posted by New York City Hive network. click here