ETEC 540 Reflections

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I utilized the emoji search function on my mobile device to help communicate my idea through pictorial symbols. However, I discovered that it was challenging to find suitable emojis that could replace words exactly. In some cases, I had to use several emojis to convey my intended message. This necessitated me to consider my readers’ perspective and contemplate whether the emojis I chose could be interpreted differently.

Upon reviewing my work, I realized that unless my readers were familiar with the movie, they would only have a rudimentary comprehension of my composition. Names and specific ideas were condensed into their most elementary form, for instance, the name “Maverick” being represented by a male emoji. Fortunately, many of the characters in the film possessed nicknames, making them more readily translatable into emoji. For example, I used  for Hangman and   for Phoenix.

The growing usage of emojis on social media highlights the shift towards visual communication as a necessary component of language. Historically, various forms of writing have incorporated visual elements such as puns, symbols, and images, demonstrating the significance of imagery in language. These ideas resonate with Bolter’s (2001) observation that visual elements, including emojis, are increasingly being used to augment the communication of written language. Specifically, the popularity of emojis used in our daily conversations (Instagram, text, Messenger) illustrates how they can convey emotions, replace words, and enhance the strength of messages through visual elements.

Kress (2005) raises doubts about the potential impact of emerging textual forms on a reader’s imaginative interpretations. In my opinion, I think using emoticons in writing takes away the uniqueness and personality of the writing. I frequently answer others’ text with the thumbs-up emoji to save time and sometimes even with work emails to let others know that I read the email. Here’s an example of an email from my principal, asking if I can TOC for another teacher at my school.

References

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kress (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learningLinks to an external site.. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22.

Twine:

Elaine Lee_Twine Story (This should take you to a page where you need to click on the .zip file to download).

Overview of Elaine’s Twine Task

I have seen others use Twine in my other MET courses, yet I have never played with it.

I decided to write about a day in the life of a kindergarten teacher…and I went for it without a draft. After creating the story paths, I was determined to add images to this Twine as the example, The Temple of No provided in our task. I looked up YouTube tutorials and found one by John Fry (2017). I created a Bitmoji avatar, downloaded images to my laptop, and uploaded them to postimages.com to get a direct link for each of the photos. I felt tech-savvy typing <img src=(insert direct link here)> onto Twine and felt a sense of accomplishment as the images pop up in the dark background.

During the process of creating Twine, I was so worried to lose my creation. Even after downloading, I kept the browser open and didn’t turn my laptop off for three days! Once I have completed the story component, I proofread my work, organized the paths, and ran it 10 more times. I enjoyed this first attempt with Twine and can see the benefits of using Twine in a Language Arts classroom. It allows viewers to actively participate and engage in choosing their own adventure and feel a sense of authority as their decisions follow with direct outcomes. This related back to Bolter’s (2001) reading this week, “In following hypertextual links, the reader becomes conscious of the form or medium itself ” (p.43).

Interestingly, the most challenging part of this assignment was uploading it!? To be honest, I panicked a little when I see that the final project is downloaded as an HTML file. And, I was right – I searched on Google and watched numerous YouTube videos, and all attempts led to this…

Then I came to realize that there were a few options for story formats – next, I tried using Github to ‘package’ Twine and attempted posting it directly to WordPress. Nope…

Eventually, I decided to reach out to Ernesto and take a break to freshen up. I was ready to go through this again later in the evening. New progress, it was showing up as a . Zip file on WordPress! However, when I clicked on it, nothing happened. I figured I will play around with all the options under the attachment details and VOILA! Two learning curves in one week!

References

Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. New York, NY: Routledge.

Frank, A. (2016, June 20). Crows Crows Crows’ new game is the most fun 10 minutes you’ll have today Links to an external site.. Polygon.

Fry, J. (2017, March 27). Twine – Adding Pictures [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRETz9wnOkk

Task 4: Manual scripts and potato printing

Jamie provides a thoughtful reflection on the historical and cultural context of potato stamps, which originated in the early 1900s when North America was experiencing an influx of white European settlers. Indigenous peoples began to decorate their woven baskets using vegetable stamps made from potatoes and squash, as well as herbal dyes on ash splint baskets. These decorative techniques caught the attention of passing tourists, and thus, began the use of potato stamps as a form of communication and artistic expression.

It is worth noting that the use of potato stamps in Indigenous cultures was deeply rooted in the importance of oral storytelling. The practice of weaving and designing baskets emphasized the telling of stories, traditions, and cultural practices, which were often passed down through generations. Therefore, the use of potato stamps can be viewed as an extension of this tradition, as they allowed Indigenous peoples to communicate their stories and cultural practices to a wider audience.

In her reflection, Jamie describes the process of creating potato stamps and the challenges she encountered while making them. She notes that the curves of certain letters were particularly difficult and that she had ultra-light markings to guide her cuts. While she found the process to be fun and almost meditative, she acknowledges that her stamps did not turn out as well as she had hoped.

Despite the limitations of potato stamps as a printing technology, it is important to recognize their historical significance as a low-cost and accessible means of communication. In the absence of more advanced printing methods, potato stamps offered an efficient and practical way to produce repeated patterns or messages. However, as technology advanced, printing methods evolved to include more sophisticated forms of communication, such as the letterpress technology that Jamie mentions.

In conclusion, Jamie’s reflection on potato stamps highlights the historical and cultural significance of this printing method. While it may not be as efficient or sophisticated as modern printing technologies, it remains an important part of the history of communication and printing. Furthermore, Jamie’s experience of creating potato stamps provides insight into the practical challenges of using this technique and the importance of creativity, motor skills, and artistic expression in learning and education.

Reflection

What a fun task! I was glad I had a choice between printing potatoes and writing manually. I have always preferred typing over writing manually as I can quickly ‘fix’ and edit mistakes or add ideas and make changes as I proofread my work. I am literate in print media. Back in university, I took several courses on printmaking and during my CFE (Community Field Experience) at UBC, my peers and I hosted outdoor learning for a Day Care and one of the activities was potato printing (see below). This activity should be straight-forward – carve, paint, and stamp.

The first thing I did was to list out a few five-letter words. Once I decided to carve the word ‘relax,’ I wrote it in a mirrored fashion on the sticky note (luckily, the letters E, A, and X are replicated). The most challenging aspect of this process was drawing the outline on the flesh of the potatoes and keeping the letters the same size. I did not follow my tracing completely as the marker tracing was quite thin so I purposely left more space around my outline. Once I had my stamps, I packed them in a paper bag for them to dry and waited to continue the stamping process the next day during my prep (I had left the acrylic paint at school). Stamping was tricky, after my first attempt: RE – for ‘REDO’. I needed to apply more paint to get all the corners before applying pressure consistently from left to right.

Time and Mechanization of Writing

The entire process took about 30 minutes. The letters E, L, and X were much easier than R and A. Letters with curved lines and counters were more labor-intensive than ones with straight lines. It generally takes me hours to produce text on paper – perfecting my penmanship. Writing, to me, is very personal. Below is an example of my notes from a Chemistry course. I tend to highlight to organize my writing and include visuals to help with comprehension.

After this activity, I certainly appreciate the convenience of mechanized writing. If it took me 30 minutes to carve 5 letters, it would take approximately 156 minutes (2.6 hours) just to cut 26 letters of the alphabet.

Transcribed text (Google Voice-to-Text January 26, 2023)

Have you ever lost a student during dismissal whether you have or not you can imagine how nerve-racking it is hi everyone I am going to share with you what happened last week with my teaching partner to give you a bit of context I apply for Ed leave this year so I am job sharing with another teacher I work for 3 days and she works for two my teaching partner has been away for a bit though as her children were sick should we turn last week and was trying to get back to the routines last Wednesday at around 2:45 I received a text from her asking me to message a student’s mom on seesaw which is a platform we use to connect with families as she could reach her life This parent usually picks up another student who’s also in this in our class For the purpose of the story I will name the students Johnny and Emma so on Wednesday my teaching partner released Johnny with whom she thought was Emma’s Grandma moments later we have Johnny’s Grandma at the door hoping to pick up Johnny so we inform the office and had our secretary call Emma’s grandma and it turned out that Emma’s grandma lives in New Brunswick and she was very concerned receiving the call Then our secretary contacted unless other grandma and she  also was clueless about this whole situation Johnny’s mom Was then contacted and she rushed to school the police was called the and Men was not notified After about an hour Johnny’s mom received a call from Her own mother asking her when it would be the best time for her to drop off Johnny So you turned out that they have mistaken the schedule for pickup.Johnny was safe. It took my teaching partner a few days to recover from this before we scheduled a meeting to discuss  and reflect on what should be in place so this doesn’t happen again One of the dismissal tips was to release students if you had a Time preventing and all at once stampede Let them get their backpacks ready by their table groups and when students are released they must point at the adults and tell us who they are we Just remember go slow to go fast later

How does the text deviate from conventions of written English? What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”?

When observing this text generated by Google’s voice-to-text feature, there are several distinct features that render it deviant from the conventions of written English. These include grammar and spelling mistakes, lack of punctuation, and run-on sentences. I had no idea that you had to verbalize punctuation! It did not pick up my voice correctly. For example, at one point I said “She returned last week”, but it registered “Should we turn last week”. It registered “could reach her life”, instead of “couldn’t reach her phone”. “The and Men was not notified” instead of “the admin was notified”. And, “if you had a Time” instead of “a few at a time”. I would estimate that about 65% of the content was transcribed correctly. A notable observation is that most of the proper nouns (For example, Johnny/Emma/Wednesday) were properly capitalized. Additionally, the numerical values I dictated were correctly interpreted, such as “3 days” and “2:45”.

What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”? What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?

Overall, voice-to-text can consist of numerous errors. It was pretty difficult to watch how my speech translated incorrectly on the screen. I purposely waited and paused my speech to avoid the ums and ahs. However, I noticed a few times I used “so” as a filler. When used excessively, this filler word may reduce my credibility and authority as a speaker. I felt rushed as the red microphone symbol stared at me, waiting for more words to come out of my mouth. As a teacher (and an introvert), I always let families know the best way to reach me is via email. Not only does it allow me to obtain a digital record of our communication, but it also provides me with more time to ponder the questions asked.

Additionally, I did not say “comma” or “period”, which resulted in run-on sentences in my text. If I could script the story beforehand, I would have approached it from a written perspective. There would be a clear beginning, middle, and end. Ong (2002) discussed the differences between written and spoken language. Can we perceive emotions accurately through texts? Look at this example below. Try emphasizing a different word in this sentence each time you say it.

He isn’t flying to Toronto tomorrow.

• Emphasizing the word, ‘he’ implies that it is someone else that is flying to Toronto.
• Emphasizing the word, ‘isn’t’ implies that he is not doing this anymore.
• Emphasizing the word, ‘flying’ implies that he is not flying, and may be traveling using other transportation.
• Emphasizing the word, ‘to’ implies that he is flying by or from Toronto and not to.
• Emphasizing the word, ‘Toronto’ implies that he might be traveling to another location.
• Emphasizing the word, ‘tomorrow’ implies that it is not tomorrow, but a different date.

As you can see, emphasizing a different word in the same sentence can completely change its meaning.

Reference

Ong, W.J. (2002). Chapter 1: The orality of language. In Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word (pp. 5-16). Routledge. (Original work published 1982).

Oral Nonsense

Hi Nicole,

Thank you for sharing your experience with voice-to-text technology and your insights on how it can affect individuals with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Your personal connection to the topic and your dedication to improving opportunities for neurodiverse learners is inspiring.

I appreciate your honesty about the challenges you faced with the Notes app and the frustrations caused by the inaccuracies in punctuation and sentence structure. As you pointed out, this raises questions about the effectiveness of voice-to-text technology and how it can be improved to better support individuals with learning disabilities. Your reflection on the importance of visual aids and the need to see words on paper or screen to develop a story highlights the diverse ways in which individuals process information. It also raises interesting questions about the effectiveness of oral storytelling and the characteristics that make oral storytellers effective.

Nicole’s writing shares many similarities with my own analysis of the text generated by Google’s voice-to-text feature. We both note the frequent errors that can occur. We also both acknowledge the importance of using proper grammar and punctuation to ensure clear communication. However, there are also some differences between our writings. For example, while Nicole focuses on the challenges of using voice-to-text software and the importance of scripting, I also delve into the differences between spoken and written language, as well as the potential impact of emphasizing different words in a sentence.

Based on our analyses of voice-to-text software, an important question to consider is how technology can be improved to better accommodate the nuances of spoken language while still maintaining clarity and accuracy in written form.