Month: July 2022

Task 10: Attention Economy

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For starters, I want to praise any of my colleagues who completed the game to its end. I am embarrassed to say I barely made it past a few stages of the game, despite dedicating a substantial amount of time, and repeated efforts in my attempts.

Here is where I ended up:

If one of my attempts to proceed in the game did not work, I would re-click what I knew progressed me prior and then my strategy became to click multiple locations on the page, and see what happened. Not that strategic, more desperate than anything. Frequently, I grew impatient (and I am a very patient person), exited the game, and started it again. I think my impatience stems from feeling so confident navigating web content, and using technology, that the expectation I placed on myself was too high. I am used to familiar patterns of locations and navigation language of hyperlinks, help chat tools, and scrolling. My familiarity with this comprehension is because I grew up shopping online, and researching on the web in high school and University with familiar web patterns. These skills and understandings are transferrable to new sites I visit.

I reflected on the stereotype that older adults have difficulties navigating the web, sometimes clicking buttons at random, and are unsure of how to comprehend how an app works. This is precisely how I felt in this activity. I wonder if this stereotype is prevalent due to their unfamiliarity with patterns of web design and navigation that are so engrained in someone like myself, who belongs to a generation consistently exposed to the web throughout our lifetime. When it comes to shopping or utilizing the web, Brignull’s (2011) term Homo Economicus seems not applicable. All customers are not the same, as they come to the online store with different capacities, and are impacted by their confidence as online shoppers, and prior experience in web navigation. I have recalled hearing older family members stating they gave up or will do it later, when online shopping because navigating was frustrating or difficult, which mimics a familiar feeling of what I had in this game. Maybe instead, the user design experience for an older adult was a VR experience of someone walking into the store, observing items and telling the assistant what they wanted to purchase. This would be in alignment with what an older adult is familiar with when it comes to shopping. This would reduce frustration, and the familiarity would enhance trust.

 One of the dark patterns of the activity was being asked for our email addresses without identifying why the email address and information are necessary to be collected. I made up an email address and felt cautious about entering any identifying information because I am unsure how they would use that information. Also throughout my time within the game, it felt as though the game was not trying to make the experience easier for me. It felt as though I was not welcome, and felt unsupported. Certainly, I felt defeated by the game and wanted to leave the site so many times. This is a great activity for new web developers, to understand that the easier and more transparent the site is for the customer, they will see an increase in positive user feedback, leading to more sales, profit, and positive reviews.

References

Brignull, H. (2011). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. Interaction Design, Usability, 338.

Task 9: Network Assignment

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Initially, taking a peek at the first file sent to us, I struggled to find my name, but was thankful to see my name in the other section’s file! As a result, I did analyze both graphs thoroughly. I analyzed Section A graph by following paths and walks of the graph (Systems Innovation, 2015). I found this was strategic when trying to interpret the data. Seeking meaning and connection amongst my colleagues, I noticed the following:

1) First, I recognized that I belonged to Community #2, alongside the following students: Emily MacDougall, Alexis Reeves, and Sophy Chu. The below screenshot is the isolation of just our community 2. One can observe my significance within this network when finding the node that is representative of my name.

2) Adjusting the facet filter, I observed the target totals and was able to view the nodes (track #’s) that were not significant in our group. These were tracks 17, 27, 8 and 10. Surprisingly, I did not select any of those. A question I am left wondering is, why others did not select those as well? In System Innovations (2015), they mention that connectivity significance is not always positive. This made me ponder that what if these unpopular choices that were made, were in fact better choices, that were not made by the rest of us? What if it is better to be an outlier in data?


In addition to that thought, I reflected on the learning we did this week on search algorithms. I considered that maybe there are fantastic websites that provide excellent information that is overlooked by algorithms, because of limited access. and unpopularity. Maybe the algorithm believes that a particular result is not relevant to me… but what if it is? What if we had some choice in what is relevant? For instance, I like when Facebook offers the option to see more of certain posts, or less of certain types of posts. I feel a bit slighted that I may be censored from information because of algorithms. That is where the political piece comes in. Yes, with machine learning, algorithms evolve independently, but there are still humans in charge of these algorithms with distinct political preferences, beliefs, and cultural perspectives. How (or can we) ensure that algorithms remain free from political agendas?

3) I found the graph was limited because I would have had to consult with my colleagues’ Task 8 blog posts, to view their reasoning for their selections. I was not able to decipher their reasoning using the Palladio graph alone. If we completed a google form as a section, then we offered a reason attached with our choice, then given access to the master google spreadsheet, we could then select a track title, and view the frequency of it, and view a short answer of their reasoning. That may have been a way of understanding the reasoning of the selected choices.
However, it could still be possible within this Palladio graph if there were other nodes that were included in the graph ie. for generic reasons, location etc., that would provide more edges to translate connections.

4) From a cultural perspective, maybe other students chose selections that they recognized or based on traditions of their cultures. It would be important that we had classmates that were from different parts of the world to offer their input on what we put on the Golden Record. There certainly is bias present if all participants are from North America or a certain section of Canada. We all are pursuing higher education and part of the same MET program, so that may produce a particular similar perspective in some respects.

References

Systems Innovation. (2015, April 19). Network Connections [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/2iViaEAytxw

Task 8: Golden Record Curation Assignment

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At first, when I was trying to determine my criteria for the assignment, I thought I probably will choose the songs based on my favourite pieces. I thought that other lifeforms may want to hear the most beautiful compositions from our earth. I was surprised how quickly my criteria changed while listening to the podcast episode and taking into account their input.
When listening to each song, I worked through various stereotypes and biases of the lifeform that would intercept this record. At first, I assumed they would have our intelligence or higher. I then thought they may not have evolved as we have so wondered what creatures the audience of this is.

When communicating, it is integral to consider your audience. I felt that I shifted my original focus from only wanting to select beautiful songs (which the only criteria would be if I enjoyed listening to them and wanted to hear more), to just wanting to make sure they could hear, interpret or comprehend the music that was delivered on the golden record. I wanted to make sure varied aspects of our civilization on earth had been covered. I wanted to showcase how humans live and interact with our planet. I also wanted to vary the type of musical formats to ensure there is a greater chance the recipients could receive the sound. I have listed my top ten choices below and have a brief reason for my selection.

10. Java, court gamelan, “Kinds of Flowers,” recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43
As the podcast host and guest  (Taylor, n.d) identify, this piece shares information about our earth through naming flowers and offers symbolism of spiritual and physical states. This piece fits my criteria in that it is sharing substantial information through songs about elements of nature and human connection on earth. I thought that this was one of the only songs that featured the inter-connected dynamics of our planet. 

9. Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
This song made the list because of the low sound that is made. Including this song is important if the recipients of the golden record can only understand this low vibrational tone.

8. Japan, shakuhachi, “Tsuru No Sugomori” (“Crane’s Nest,”) performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
I chose this song, as it is composed using a bamboo flute. I felt that if there is a chance that a flute made out of a similar plant like bamboo was made by another planet, then they may have produced similar sounds. Also, because it is made out of bamboo, they would be able to know more about our foliage on earth.

7. Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55
The vocals of this opera song show how sophisticated our music is. Also, it represents the talents of humans to use their voices in impressive ranges.

6. Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
Since the theme of this song is preparing for battle, it was important to include this song to feature an element of humans on earth- war. War and conflict have been common to civilizations on earth, and this is another identifier of our planet.

5. Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52
I liked this sound and wanted to include a song with drums and panpipes because it would be my assumption this may be an early musical instrument for another lifeform. Of course, this is an assumption made by comparing our evolution of music. Another assumption is that the lifeforms are not as sophisticated as ours. Regardless of the recipients recognizing the sounds, I felt drums also are iconic to many cultures around the world.

4. Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20 – This selection I chose for the high and low range of frequencies, considering another lifeform may not be able to hear a particular frequency, this song hosts high and low musical notes, encouraging communication being passed to the other lifeforms. I also included it as this is a common and familiar sound.

3. Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
The vocals on this song were the driving pull to this song. My thought is that if other life forms can make noises and have voice boxes like us, they may recognize some of the sounds. The theme of the song represents a familiar celebratory and ceremonial practice to humans i.e. a wedding, which is something to remember about the people on our planet.

2. India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30
This song I felt represents South Asian music and wanted to ensure that part of the world was represented. I also find the song so peaceful and inviting, and an important feeling to send to other lifeforms. 

1. “Dark Was the Night,” written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
The Voyager Golden Record hosts talk about how this piece reflects poverty. World Vision (2021) identifies that 689 million people around the world live in poverty. I think it is important for this musical piece to be included for other life forms to know that we have a lot of humans on our earth who suffer, and live in poor conditions. Although there is a golden record being sent to them, this shows a realistic perspective of how many people on earth live.

References

Peer, A. (2021, August 23). Global poverty: Facts, faqs, and how to help. World Vision. https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%2010.5,ability%20to%20meet%20basic%20needs

Taylor, Dallas, host. “Voyager Golden Record.” Twenty thousand hertz. N.d. https://www.20k.org/episodes/voyagergoldenrecord?rq=golden

Linking Assignment – Connections to my Classmates

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Connection #1 – Amanda (Task 1)

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/webspace/2022/05/29/whats-in-my-bag-2/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Amanda Me Similar or Different?
“help me function through my daily routines” “essentials I regularly ensure that are in my purse before leaving the house” Similar. We both discuss that the items in our bags are purposeful and necessary for our daily routines.
“I stay connected throughout the day” “My career as a teacher relies on an exceptional amount of planning, prepping and communicating outside the school day” Similar. We both feel the pressure to remain in touch, communication-wise with our school community as a teacher.
“My bag today looks very different than what it would have looked like 15 years ago.” “If I were to take a look at my bag 10 years ago…” Similar. We both described how different our bags would be 10-15 years ago, and identified particular items that would be different.

What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
Amanda used an iPhone to take a picture of her bag contents and uploaded it to her WordPress site.

How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?
Amanda’s website has a section that highlights recent comments on her posts, which is optimal to view our classmate’s interactions with her content. I also have this feature on my site. I actually noticed that I was not receiving comments after the second week. I quickly realized it was because I had published my tasks as pages, which do not offer options for comments. I redesigned the items within the menus on my site and reposted the pages into posts, which are now open for comments. 

What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?
Amanda described more in-depth a few items of interest, the guitar pick, blue token and air tag. Her reflection on traditions, suggests that cultural literacy proves to be a focus within her writing. She describes that the guitar pick is regularly in her backpack which speaks to the musicality in her life, and her talent for playing the guitar. I wonder where Amanda learned how to play guitar, and what experiences led her to continue her passion for playing, as she describes having guitar picks throughout the places she frequents. She also identifies that she has blue tokens as a reward for student behaviour. We know from Behaviourism theory, that using tokens to reinforce behaviour aligns with the token economy system in behaviour modification. Lastly, the apple air tag is a new trend in tracking the location of items, or friends/family. This would increase efficiency in locating critical items such as keys, or a backpack. Also, it highlights the current context, in that society needs a ‘stuff locator’ because we all have so much stuff.

I also speak about traditions in my task submission, when I describe my motivation for volunteering and compare how my dad carried memories with him as photographs. I reference Alexander Macdonald (2016) in my post demonstrating how traditions can be reinvented and reused over time, and this is relevant when examining the contents in our bag. When comparing what we have in our bags, people in the future will compare items that have in common/different, just as we compare to people in the past when trying to examine the context. Oral tradition was focused on by Macdonald (2016) and I wonder if teachers that taught Amanda, or teachers at her school taught her to use the blue tokens with one of her students, or if she observed this being done as a classmate.

References

TEDxTalks. (2016, February 26). Oral tradition in the age of smartphones | Alexander Macdonald | Tedxfulbrightdublin  [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egO_46P894k


Connection #2 – Trista (Task 6)

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540trista/2022/06/25/task-6-a-emoji-story/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Trista Me Similar/Different
“almost felt impossible to find a picture for some words that are general and vague” “For instance, with the word create, I tried to find another word that would connect to an emoji, but was unable to do so.” Similar. We both felt as though it was difficult searching for an emoji image to represent words to project our meaning to the audience.
“As an educator, it makes me question whether my literacy teaching practice is preparing my students for this multimodal representation that they will face in the future.” No contribution on this subject. Different. After Trista reflected on her process she questioned if as teachers are we preparing students for the multi-modal world of representation. Not only to respond/view/read but also to create? This is a valuable reflection item.
“Depiction of pictures largely depends on the viewer” “I considered my audience” Similar. We both considered the audience of our published works. This was interesting, as sometimes when I write I often just think about my own clarity of the text I write. However, I was hyper-focused on this task to ensure that the audience would be able to make meaning of what I wrote.

What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work? How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?
Trista used WordPress, and what I liked about her site is that it is bright white and simple. My site is a themed template, and is colourful and may look vibrant, but may be too visually stimulating or busy for some users. The text font is easy to read, and it is simple to navigate, as you can progress to the last or next post at the bottom. I do not offer that feature, but instead, have a menu on the left-hand side for users to navigate. Also, she has comments enabled, allowing for an interactive interface.

What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?
Trista highlights her experiences in writing influencing this emoji activity. We are used to writing events in chronological order, especially when recalling events, or summarizing something we viewed, listened to or read. She identifies that she naturally wrote her story in chronological order. That intrigued me because when using text, we naturally expect when hearing or reading or listening to a summary that the recall will state the order of events, interactions with characters, or influential moments. This is the general understanding amongst our literacy teachings and understandings. When creating multimodal, do we have the same expectations to understand things in order, or are there different rules or understanding in multimodal representations?

My post focused on how it was difficult to select emojis that conveyed the explicit meaning of the words I used in my summarising paragraph. I described that it was difficult to convert every word into an emoji and instead the emoji had to be symbolic of an event or idea. Most of the emojis represented proper nouns, and it was hard to find verbs, let alone adjectives to create simple sentences with emojis.

The similarity between our posts is that we engaged with the idea that the rules for text communication are ingrained in us, and it is hard to be confident with how we communicate without experience or a set of rules to follow.

Connection #3 – Alexis (Task 7)

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicationjunction/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Alexis Me Similar/Different?
“Completely embrace multiliteracy” “Redesigned the activity” Similar in that we both exhibited creativity, however, Alexis utilized multimodal pathways to re-express her Task 1 posting. I redesigned the activity focusing on sound and audio
“allow for those that learn better in a more kinaesthetic way” “The sounds that you choose may lead to more insight than we may be aware of. “ Different. Whereas I created/redesigned an activity for classmates to do that asked the audience to tell us more about themselves, Alexis diversified all her content to reach an extended audience immediately. Alexis did a great job at ensuring she was inclusive in her post.
“I therefore included opportunies in the remixed content to comment, contribute and co-author and ‘like’ comments or material that the audience could relate to or saw as relevant to them.” “Did you feel an urge to want to shut it off?” and “Classmates, I would love to hear about your preferred sound notifications!” Similar. Both of our postings included encouragement of our audience to interact with our posts. For Alexis, they could comment and contribute, and for me, I was deliberate in creating a prompting question for my audience.

What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
Alexis had an entry that captivated my interest, in their choice to use a multimodal presentation of their work, with the platform ‘milanote’.I have never seen or heard of this platform before, so I took some time throughout the week to explore it. Milanote (https://milanote.com/) is a visual board that embeds, notes, videos, links, drawings, images etc. in a digital board, akin to an interactive bulletin board. The platform is collaborative. I appreciate that they used this collaborative board, especially since this week we focused on multi-modal representations and this is a significant example of a multimodal representation. Precisely including the elements of the assignment, audio and images, and interactive. She included a link in which we can use to go directly to the site, and en embed an image that I was not able to view due to my computer settings, but I can tell is there.

How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface? What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?
One of the modes Alexis used to convey their meaning, is ‘Mimix’ (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mimix-sign-language-translator/id1156035569) a sign language translator app, that uses a 3D avatar to communicate in ASL. This is so incredible, I have never come across this before. I wish for my project that I considered inclusion because although I did create a transcript for my audio, including a sign language translation offers an extension in inclusion to those who utilize ASL to communicate. My post was not as interactive as Alexis’. Mine was creative in that I maintained the same goal of the task, which was to get to know my classmates, but I chose another way in which my classmates could share more about them. This engagement is telling more about you by taking a look at your habits, or personal settings/belongings is more interesting than just writing an introduction summary on oneself stating generic statements about your life. I was creative in my idea of how to redesign the mode of the task I believe. I also think Alexis exhibited substantial creativity in this weekly task.

Connection #4 – Sophy (Task 10)

Link- https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540thc/2022/07/23/task-10-attention-economy/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?
One of the most evident differences in Task 10, the Attention Economy task, is that Sophy was able to make it to the end. We both acknowledged our frustrations with the task, but they were able to complete the task in a decent amount of time! Impressive! The screenshots that are included on their webpage are frames of the congratulatory message reaching the end, acknowledging the success they had in the game. I was so surprised to see their observation of the Cyrillic character that was optional in the password. I did not observe that small specific aspect.

A similarity in both our task reflections was the expectation that we have for any experience interacting with webpages, we have this unconscious expectation it will be familiar with what we have come to experience before.

How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?
I see they included a Genially slideshow of images, and I have not tried that yet in my postings. If the situation permits, I hope to try it in the future. Inserting those slides makes the post more dynamic.

What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?
Harris (2017) states that technology is not neutral, and then in week 12, listening to episode 60 of Leading Lines from Vanderbilt University, one of the speakers also put forward, that technology is neither good nor bad, but it is not neutral either. I found this theme present this week, as Harris (2017) describes the “race for our attention”. This game certainly shows that technology can be deceiving, but favours those who pay close attention, therefore not neutral.

When I was listening to Tufekci (2017), it was intriguing when she explored how we would have no idea if people were being shown the same information when it comes to sites that host algorithms. Also, the speaker mentions that at some point, there are algorithms that can only be understood at a basic level. What I started to imagine, is it would be to our benefit, if instead of, or in addition to the ‘privacy’ button that resides on most websites also had a link to a video, in basic language explaining how data is being collected, storage information of it, and if it is contributing to an algorithm, or if you are being shown limited content. In Task 10, I certainly had difficulty, and wondered too, is my game experience different than someone else’s? We would assume it is the same, but what if it is randomized to truly infuriate 1/10 people, with having no solutions for moving forward, and that person was me? It is unlikely, but it connects with Tufekci’s (2017) point on how we know if the information is being withheld from us, or if we are provided with a different experience in online services because of algorithm bias.

In our Task 10, I was hesitant early on, because it requested our email address, and nowhere on the site did it describe why they needed our email address, and what would be done with it. Whereas, Sophy clearly went past this page, and was able to decide to provide this information in a quick manner, due to the time at end of 6:23. This is a current dark pattern that is so prevalent today. Privacy buttons are accessible, however, they are often at the very bottom of a website home page, and include jargon that is not comprehensible to the average person. There is still not enough specific information that is being shared. Tufekci (2017), also states, “imagine what a state can do with the immense amount of data”. The speaker goes on to explain how politicians and people of technological and financial power can manipulate and persuade us, without us knowing it. A solution for this would be increasing education of the general population- with my idea of increasing education on algorithms, data, and technology, with providing clear and simple videos for people that describe exactly what the goals of the site are ie. data collection, where they are selling it to, algorithms etc.

References

Harris, T. (2017). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day. [Video]. TEDx. https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention?language=en

Tufekci, Z. (2017). We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads. [Video]. TEDx. https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads?language=en

Connection #5– Liana (Task 8)

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/540ranallo/2022/07/17/golden-record-curation/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?
Liana identified three main foci of how they would come to a decision for the song list, which included: country, emotional response, and musical instruments. I thought this was a unique approach to maintaining three distinct criteria when deciding on each song. Although I was not as specific as Liana in my overall motives, we did show similarities in our choices. I selected the song ‘Jaat Kahan Ho’, and identified that I wanted this part of the world to be included in the music. Here I considered that a multitude of geographical areas should be represented as Liana felt. Next, I selected ‘Peru, panpipes and drum’ based on the drum as a musical instrument. Liana listed instruments that were integral to include, however, I was intentional in varying some of the instruments to ensure at least one song was recognizable.

However, I did not choose a song based solely on its emotional response, although I was tempted to initially. I describe in my reflection how I wanted to choose which ones were my favourite, based solely on how I felt when listening, but I decided to ensure I had a reason for each. Liana identifies that “music is emotional rather than a logical experience”. For this assignment, I went entirely the logical route and solely considered how to connect our world features to the lifeforms accepting the music.

What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
Liana used the WordPress site, and I liked the style and design of their website. It is easy to navigate, with hyperlinks to other tasks along the top, whereas mine can be found along the side. 

Connection #6 – Thomas (Task 12)

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/thomasw/task-12-speculative-futures/

How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?
In my assignment, I created a utopian and dystopian narrative in a video format, where the viewers were able to imagine what both worlds would be like. Thomas uniquely combined both worlds in a GIF which I thought was imaginative! I am also intrigued that his final project will be in a documentary format. I also thought it was unique in his description that he described that even the person in power was “plugged in” to someone else’s ideas, shaping their every move. Sometimes people who are in positions of power, are in fact powerless and are held hostage by others’ desires, and vision.

What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
Thomas utilized photoshop to create a GIF to describe a speculative future. I am so impressed with how he created this! I have never attempted this before and would like to take time to dabble with it at some point. The GIF was simple but quite representative of how people in power can have an incredible impact on us, reminding me of our week 8 module. Also, the fact that the politician revealed themselves as a robot was quite awesome!

What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your colleague’s textual architecture and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?
Thomas references Dr. Shannon Vallor’s (2018) “Lessons from the AI Mirror”, and when she describes how people are often afraid of AI, he compares it to what people around him think. I often view in media and videos, or in conversations with friends what Thomas encounters. We both hear the fear in people’s voices, or uncertainty of the world is going to be taken over by robots.
I was quite reflective when listening to Vallor’s (2018) lecture after I heard that AI only accelerates problems we already have created as humans. Often we think that AI is this powerful force. People think that our devices are listening to us in our homes, placing power in inanimate objects. When the truth is- there are people behind gathering data and surveillance on us. The ego of the human and the desire for wealth is the driving force for wanting to know more about each person. Humans are able to protect other humans from harm or invasiveness from AI.

References

Santaclaraweb. (2018, November 6). Lessons from the ai mirror Shannon Vallor. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k&feature=emb_imp_woyt

A handful of other interactions & comments:

June 12th, 2022
https://blogs.ubc.ca/jpresta/2022/05/25/whats-in-your-bag/

Jessica, it was so interesting to learn more about you! Something that resonated with me was when you mentioned that 10 years ago you would have had papers in your purse, and now there are no papers to be found. At the beginning of my teaching career, I had to manage and organize an exceptional amount of documents, while teaching 8th grade. Now, using Google Classroom, most student work is stored on that platform and is organized and accessible. It makes me curious about the changes ten years from now!

June 18th, 2022
https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicationjunction/2022/05/21/whats-in-your-bag/
Thanks for sharing some insight into who you are, through the contents of your bag! One thing I noted was how you mentioned that the headphones may receive some harsh criticism from archaeologists. That was so insightful, in that you are right, the technology for listening to music is going to be beyond what we can imagine moving into the future. For instance, I have included a link to a video that shows new technology for music, where the user does not need headphones, in fact, a sound bubble is created around the user. Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zHxwUJR8dQ&feature=emb_logo. If we have this type of technology sometime in the future, headphones will one day become obsolete, and useless. This supports how you described the archaeologists as less than impressed with your headphones, or any headphones for that matter

June 18th, 2022
https://blogs.ubc.ca/katherineetec540/2022/06/11/task-4-manual-scripts/#comment-6
Katherine, your written manuscript is so wonderful. As a teacher myself, I have also come to realize how you mentioned, is important to keep our awareness of the influence and impact we have at the forefront of our minds, when coming in to work. How special it is when our students and their families recognize the care, dedication and compassion that we have by acknowledging us in some way. That is such a good feeling, and so motivating. I considered your testament while writing, that you wanted to erase some of your work, but because you were handwriting, you had to really think about the words, before you even wrote them down. This made me connect when selecting between texting or a phone call, I may choose texting/email if the conversation is difficult, or I really need to be mindful of the words I am using. I think the most vulnerable communication method is oral communication because you cannot take back what you say, as the person you are talking with processes what you say as soon as you release your words. The next would be hand-writing a card or a formal letter because again you have to commit to the words you choose or need to use white-out or throw out the paper entirely. Lastly would be text or email, because you can pace when you respond, and revise your work without the recipient being aware of your edits or mistakes in writing. Interesting how the pressure to be correct in our communication impacts our choice of media used when communicating with another person or group.

June 19th, 2022
https://blogs.ubc.ca/jpresta/2022/06/13/task-5-twine-task/
Your Twine was so well done and incredibly educational. The sound effects, visuals and text were exceptional!

 

Task 7: Mode Bending

Standard

Redesign of Activity 1 – Tell us more about yourself by sharing the sound notifications you use on your mobile device!

 

 

View the transcript below:

When considering how to introduce oneself and one’s interactions with sounds, I considered a few options; sharing the last 5 songs you listened to, 5 of your favourite songs that correspond with a memory or thought about deciphering our shared understanding of sound effects.

Instead of sharing with our peers what is inside our bags, instead, I have redesigned the activity to tell us more about you through your sound notifications! The majority of us use our phones to alert us of important events, times of the day, or reminders. The sounds that you choose may lead to more insight than we may be aware of. The redesign of the task gets inspiration from the meaning-making of audio meaning from The New London Group (1996, p.65)

An alarm in the morning needs to be annoying, and enough of a nuisance to want me to shut it off so it no longer irritates me. Here is the sound of choice for me [play sound]. This sound is called Presto. Even in the lowest setting, it is so loud and deliberate. Did you feel an urge to want to shut it off? I did. Although I prefer this sound, someone may wish to have a peaceful sound in the morning, so perhaps their day begins calm and peaceful.

My ring tone. I mostly have my phone on silent. Perhaps this is because I regularly am doing something that should not be interrupted by a phone alert. In tandem, I have my phone nearby and check notifications to see if they are emergent. I suppose this means I prefer communication to be through writing, and no voice. When my ring tone is not on silent, it is something that is subtle and not too intense or disruptive:

Other alarms are set to a default sound, which is the Super Mario sound [play sound]. Typically other alarms will be for when I am cooking, or timers for my children to go to bed. I choose a consistent alarm, so I know that when I hear it, even when I have a group over, or in a gathering, I know it is an alarm I have set, that needs attention. Particularly, for my children to recognize the noise as a timer alarm.

I considered my ring tones in the past. As a teenager, it was my favourite song that was my ring tone. Having a song as a ring tone to me feels juvenile but also humorous, possibly because it reminds me of my youth. Reading Dobson and Willinsky (2009), was intriguing in that I considered the transformations of the internet over time. My own reflection included a memory of when there was a time you would purchase a particular song for a ring tone. Now it is so seamless to select a song from your music library. Dobson and Willinsky (2009) also brought attention to the digital divide, which may impact my proposed alternate activity. Meaning, that the use of mobile devices to provide audio notifications, may not affect everyone, and is dependent on their access to both mobile devices and wifi/cellular data.

 I also considered that there are some people who use default timers, and to them, it may be unimportant or meaningless to select a sound other than the default sound. This in itself, may be telling about a person in that they are easy-going and they may have no emotional attachment to sounds and being reminded.

Classmates, I would love to hear about your preferred sound notifications!

References

Dobson, T., & Willinsky, J. (2009). Digital Literacy. In D. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 286-312). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


The New London Group.  (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.

Audio Sounds used included: Super Mario, Presto, and Illuminate from Apple IOS 15.5.