For week’s task, I was inspired to recreate Task 1: What’s in your bag, by removing the visual element that we are typically dependent on and replacing it with audio cues that hint at what it truly is. As I did not include any photo or visual answer key, please see below for the answers:

Full list of items according to object #:

1. Computer
2. Book
3. Asthma inhaler
4. Calculator
5. Assessments (to be marked)
6. Pencil case
7. Hand sanitizer
8. Medicine

In this re-design process, a recurring thought throughout this week’s task was that I am the author and thus the sole authority over the content of this mini-video. As its author, I select the audio clips that I am biased in believing that the object represents. In the testing phase of presenting this to my wife, even she struggled with a few of the items; but why did she not perceive all of them (despite knowing me for so many years)? Perhaps it is precisely that the connection between audio form and its object is subjective; individuals may have different connections with the same object and thus may not see (or hear) the context in the same lens as I do. It would be more interesting in hearing another student who replicated their bag in the same form as I did, and having the opportunity to offer answers to each other to test the accuracy. It is likely that our bags may be similar as we may be contextually similar; either as educators, living in BC, or studying this ETEC540 course. An international comparison would be most interesting; perhaps their items are vastly different though relevant and important to them, less or more, or maybe the same (New London Group, 1996)! I found that the re-designing of this task in relying solely on the audio clips of the objects relied more on the listener’s imagination and past experience; instead of visually seeing what the object is and receiving information from its text or non-verbal communication, the listener relies much more on the action and/or functionality of the object itself.

There were several challenges as I was constructing this task. For one, I scoured the sound clip repository “Freesound” for audio clips that I felt best representative of the items in my bag, and I typically checked several pages of multiple clips before deciding on one that I agreed with the most. Even when I agreed with a sound that I felt best represented an object, there were limitations in the length and style of the audio clip; some had background noise, and others were too long or too short. It was pain-staking considering the amount of time that was dedicated to the research for the right audio clip. Another challenge considered how some items were difficult to find on the repository as it did not have a relatable sound. An example of this would be my spare medical mask that I have as an emergency; what precisely could be its relatable sound? I attempted to use an audio clip of full mask breathing (it sounds like Darth Vader to be honest), but felt that it would suggest that I have a full hazmat style mask in my bag instead of my actual small medical mask. In the end, I decided to avoid including it at all as I was unable to find a suitable audio clue that gave enough hints to its function and/or action. A final challenge that was slightly humourous was the decision to include the “Windows shutdown” sound. I realized that not everyone may be familiar with Windows (a listener may be pure devotees to Apple), or not everyone grew up with that system of Windows (it is certainly from an older Windows version). This was clearly an experiential audio clip, but I felt that it was easily recognizable given the assumption that most of us would have experienced at some point.

The potential benefits of redesigning this task this way includes the transcendence across cultural context, and the use of the imagination. As several of these objects are used for their function around the world, its audio clips may be the same while the visuals may be incongruent. For instance, the calculator. Depending on accessibility, calculators may range from the simple to the expensive, either in small or large form. However, the use of the calculator is likely identical for all users, rapid pressing of its keys to find the right answer. This would be the transcendence across language by focusing on its action and/or functionality. This simplification also works extremely well with my object #2: book. Book covers and content may be different and written in another language, but we may all agree that the rifling through its pages is purely descriptive of what a book it is. Finally, the benefit of relying on the imagination was stimulating as a listener answers by looking through their experiences, rather than already seeing the information. A relatable experience that matches this closely is the adaptation of the Harry Potter series from the book to the movie; in the book, I utilized my full imagination to interpret and paint the storyline of the plot. Whereas in the movie, I was given what event and character looked like; I no longer had control. By adapting this resource to focus on a different form of literacy, the same task is interpreted differently and crosses more lines of diversity, globality, and modes than our schools typically accommodate (New London Group, 1996).

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