Linking Assignment
Linking Assignment
Linking #1 Task #3
https://blogs.ubc.ca/janicer/2020/05/29/task-3-speech-to-text/
Janice’s experience converting speech to text was quite similar to mine, however from the output of her text, it is clear she used a much more proficient app to convert her speech to text. Janice’s results from using the Text Edit on her MacBook prompted me to try this tool as well, and although it was far from perfect, it did work a lot better than the speech to text app I originally used on my Samsung smartphone. While both apps were lacking punctuation, Janice’s story was much easier to follow and understand compared to mine which had numerous errors making the content hard to follow.
Janice mentioned how with oral storytelling you risk leaving details out, because once a story is told and participants leave, it is hard to edit what has already been told. With the affordance of digital technology we are able to not only edit text to clarify our thoughts but we can also send the edits and changes to a wide audience immediately. This reminds me of news articles published online and how they are able to add a note of correction after publication to ensure all future readers see what has been clarified.
A point that Janice highlighted, that I had not thought of, is how oral storytelling can be taken on by new authors and can, “take on a new life depending upon the person who is telling it” (Roper, 2020). I had not considered this in my own reflection, but it is a great point. There is a lot more consistency when a story is written down versus a new storyteller trying to remember the details from when they heard the story. The story is only as truthful as our memory serves us, which is also why written text became so popular. As outlined by Gnanadesikan (2011), writing solved the problem of information only existing if someone remembered it.
From Janice’s response, it is clear that in the future she would use a script rather than using speech to text to articulate her thoughts. I felt that Janice brought up a very good point in how a script would have helped her flow of ideas, rather than speaking orally where you cannot go back and edit or add content to what has already been said.
References
Gnanadesikan, A. E. (2011).“The First IT Revolution.” In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internetLinks to an external site. (Vol. 25). John Wiley & Sons (pp. 1-10).
Roper, J. (2020, May 29). Task 3 Speech to Text [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/janicer/2020/05/29/task-3-speech-to-text/
Linking #2 Task #4
https://blogs.ubc.ca/brianhametec54066b/2020/06/05/task-4-manual-scripts-option-1/
I found it interesting comparing my experience writing by hand to Brian’s as our regular mode for writing down notes is different. Brian commented on how he normally types everything out and how he found this writing exercise to be slow and inefficient. In contrast, I find when I write by hand, which is often, that I tend to produce more creative work than when I am typing. I find when I am making notes for myself or outlining how I want a paper or presentation to look, writing by hand is my preferred choice. While it is slower and often requires an extra step to than type up the content so it can be shared, I find the quality of my output is worth the additional time.
Brian highlighted a good point, outlining how if he were to do this task again he would have used different tools such as pencil so he could erase his mistakes or have white-out on hand so that even with mistakes the content would look more formal. I didn’t reflect on the tools being used, but it is worth thinking about as the tools used can have a great effect on the appearance of the output. Brian and I do share a similarity as he mentioned he uses more simplistic sentences when writing by hand whereas he creates stronger sentences using a word processor when word choices can be improved. While I am more creative developing a roadmap of what I want to say when writing by hand, I have to agree that my sentences are stronger when I type them. It is extremely helpful to use the tools available on a word processor such as checking available synonyms and having common spelling and grammatical errors checked for you.
I believe part of the difference in how Brian and I regard hand writing is that I feel most free and creative writing by hand when it is only seen by me. I feel revisions to my work are inevitable, and do not matter when the notes are only for my reference. However, Brian outlines how brainstorming or writing of any sort that needs to be shared can be accomplished more efficiently through typing as errors are easier to fix, which I do agree with. I can appreciate how Brian prefers to type over hand writing as it is more efficient and easier to share with others knowing that the work looks professional and is more likely to be error free.
Linking #3 Task #6
https://blogs.ubc.ca/shawnetec540/2020/06/17/task-6-an-emoji-story/
Shawn also struggled with this assignment in creating an emoji story, but I found Shawn was quite creative in his use of images and symbols to connect and create words. For instance, Shawn used a picture of a hot beverage and then used the “M” symbol to represent the word team. I found this approach interesting as I am more of a tea drinker so when I saw the hot beverage emoji I thought of tea right away and then could decipher that he was creating the word team by adding the “M” symbol. However, having read other comments, I realize that this could have been harder for people to decode who are coffee drinkers and would look at the hot beverage and first thing of coffee and would be trying to figure out what the “M” represents in connection with coffee.
It was beneficial to learn that the iPhone has a wider range of emojis than the online emoji keyboards in case I need to create a story using emojis or use emojis to supplement a story again in the future. I did run in to the same problem as Shawn as I would think about how to properly summarize the TV show I had recently watched, but then I would struggle to find the emojis to express the message I wanted to convey. From readings Shawn’s summary as well as some of my other classmates, I think many of us struggled to create this summary story that would be easy for others to comprehend. Depending on the context of the conversation, emojis can mean very different things. Even a happy face emoji depending on what was just said can mean more than someone simply being happy.
From Shawn’s comments and his struggle to create this story, I would assume that like myself he is not used to creating complete stories using emojis. While we both struggled, as did our classmates, it is evident that while entire stories can be created through the use of emojis, understanding the meaning can take a significant time to decode and is not a straightforward way to communicate.
Linking #4 Task #7
https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540kang/2020/06/24/task-7-mode-bending/
Abe completed this entire task, including the reflection, using an audio recording. In creating an audio recording, Abe was able to appeal to learners who have visual impairments. While my video incorporated both audio and visual, my video was structured in a way that provided an advantage for those who are able to watch the video and see what I am describing and a disadvantage to those only able to listen to my commentary. I didn’t acknowledge this mistake until listening to Abe’s task and understanding how his mode appealed much more to the auditory learner. I feel that I should have considered those with visual impairments and provided more detail in my audio descriptions as well as providing text on screen to help those who rely on what they can see for their learning.
Comparing Abe’s mode-bending assignment versus his initial assignment where he provided a photo and text explanation of what is in his bag I see how depending on the delivery, the message can be completely different. In both assignments, the class is able to gain a better sense of who Abe is, but through the auditory delivery in the second assignment, there is a stronger connection hearing Abe’s voice and descriptions rather than just reading about him and the objects in his bag.
I really like how Abe both discussed the items as well as highlighted the sounds that each item makes, which allows the listener to envision what the object looks like. For instance, due to the zipper you hear, the listener knows his bag has a zipper versus having a velcro seal. While Abe’s audio recording appeals to those with visual impairments, he does not provide an option for those that are visual learners or those that have trouble hearing. These are important considerations when trying to appeal to a diverse range of learners and make content accessible. Creating an accessible video can take much more time than a video or audio recording that is not accessible, however the reach is far greater and therefore beneficial for the instructor to invest time into. While Abe and I both changed the mode of the initial task, we were able to appeal to a wider range of learners, but unfortunately not all learners.
Linking #5 Task #9
I enjoyed reading Rania’s task #9 and I found it beneficial to read about how others interpreted the data from Palladio. I agree with Rania that Palladio was not very user friendly as the site was not very intuitive and it did not provide much explanation for what the different selections would produce. I found I had to play around with the different selection options and review each one before deciding which selection made the most sense for the data I wanted to look at. In my opinion, a good system clearly outlines for you what each selection will produce so you instantly know which one is best suited for the results you would like to see.
Rania brought up a great point that I didn’t consider in that it would have been helpful to see colours utilized in the graph to help make distinctions between our classmates’ choices. I am a very visual person and from a young age we are taught how useful incorporating different colours are to highlight similarities and differences in graphs and charts, and yet this data was only available in black and white.
I appreciate how Rania admits to making assumptions regarding the choices made by her classmates because the data does not provide enough answers required to make any concrete statements. I completely agree with this as we can only assume why people made particular choices, and often I think when we assume we make conclusions similar to our own because that is a conclusion we understand. I think this is how social media sites like Facebook can make errors about the data they collect from their users in which they lump people into groups based on some similarities, but they do not consider the differences that also exist which is also important in understanding a group of people. This also reminds me of the online shopping experience where I choose to purchase one item and then suddenly I am receiving ads for similar items that other shoppers purchased after purchasing the initial item. This is an assumption the system is making that I too would want these products, but it is not necessarily accurate. For instance, I have bought baby items for my niece and then for weeks I would receive advertisements for additional baby items that I don’t need nor want.
Rania included a quote at the end of her reflection by E.T.A Hoffman who provided a description of the Fifth Symphony. Rania’s inclusion of this quote made me wonder how different our selections would have been if this task included a research component in which we had to actually dive in and discover more about the songs we were listening to. Sometimes, seeing how other people perceive something can influence our own perception.
Linking #6 Task #10
https://blogs.ubc.ca/emmapindera/2020/07/09/user-interface-is-important/
Emma was successful in completing this task, whereas I was not, and it took me significantly more time to navigate through this task than it took her. Emma highlights how this game made her realize how little she wants to read and how familiar she is with filling out forms. I agree with this perspective as many forms are built similarly and so many sites require a login and password and steps to protect your password and ensure the user is not a robot. Often I feel like a robot filling in these forms, not giving the forms much thought, but going through the common process of setting up an account. When trying a new app, I can whiz through the login pages quite quickly, but this site demonstrates how if websites and apps are not built properly then it can lead to a very frustrating experience for the user. From Emma’s response, it seems that this game did not frustrate her to the extent that it frustrated me. I attempted this game four times, hardly making it past the first page. I was finally able to get to the fourth page and then after several minutes, I surrendered and accepted a loss. Without knowing Emma, I have to assume that she has more patience than I have and took more time to read the instructions instead of letting her instincts direct her.
This game included many of the features the Dark Patterns article references such as burying facts within large paragraphs which the game included using the lengthy Terms of Agreement. The Dark Patterns article also mentions how there is some movement toward more regulation toward dark patterns which I think is very important. These dark pattern tactics could be especially hard for someone with a learning disability to navigate and sites should be set up so that all users are able to navigate successfully. As Emma mentioned, she tries to create instructions to make tasks clear and that should be the goal of any designer.
References
Brignull, H. (2011, November 1). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. A List Apart. Retrieved from https://alistapart.com/article/dark-patterns-deception-vs-honesty-in-ui-design/