Jennifer L’s Mode-Bending

I chose to reflect on Jennifer L’s Mode-Bending task because she’s done an amazing job portraying what is in her bag in a way that is relatable to people who enjoy video games, and at the same time possibly even attracted those that never seen this game before but are intrigued by this adorable short video. Meanwhile, I liked how Jennifer chose to present herself through a creative video along with calm and soothing music in the background. My mode-bending task focused primarily on sound (ASMR) and video for support, so in a way, I see how soothing background music and interesting video like Jennifer’s can be quite captivating. Jennifer created a different way to present her bag using a popular game called Animal Crossing, which is very popular among teenagers and young adults. Even though there were some limitations to what she can use to represent the items in her bag, she was able to find materials that look close enough to replace the original items. Jennifer was able to verbally explain her reasoning and what she used to overcome these small hiccups. Both Jennifer and I have focused on the auditory and visual components of how we want to present our literacy. In my opinion, I believe since both of us are teachers, we chose to focus on these two sensors because these two sensors greatly help students build experience and memory. Studies have shown, “only certain parts of the brain activate during learning” (Learn Through Experience, 2018), this is why hands-on and experiential learning that incorporate different senses are an effective way to connect with young and diverse learners.

Learn Through Experience. (2018). The Power of Context: Learning Through Your Senses. Retrieved from http://learnthroughexperience.org/blog/power-of-context-learning-through-senses/

Peter J’s Click Bait and Advertising today

As I read Peter’s reflection on his experience with the User Inyerface, I can’t help but feel that we share the same frustration with just how we are drilled to navigate a website in a certain way that makes this site so infuriating to complete. Thinking back, I don’t think I have been taught how to navigate around a website, it is a skill that I’ve slowly acquired, through experience and random clicking, very similar to Peter’s idea of exploring intuitively, which I agree with. Web developers go above and beyond to make websites as easy to navigate as possible using symbols and colours that we automatically connect with. For example ‘x = no or close’ or ‘gree = click, go, or something is working’, etc. These are instilled in us since we were toddlers and our intuition kicks in when we are learning something new. I liked how Peter made the connection between his teenage son and his YouTube addiction because this showed how much we are deeply influenced by the media and what they use to catch our attention. It is working, but sometimes it is unfortunate that this wonderful algorithm is being used so effectively for advertising and not enough for areas that are more beneficial like making an immediate response to important life or death issues (Rainie & Anderson, 2017). Even though we are not ready to let the computer take over making life or death decisions for us, yet, but I think it is possible to delve deeper into this area for future possibilities.

Rainie, L. & Anderson, J. (February 8, 2017). Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithm Age. PEW Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/02/08/code-dependent-pros-and-cons-of-the-algorithm-age/

Jennifer R’s Twine Task

I really enjoyed Jennifer R’s Twine task. She must have put in a lot of thought and effort because this Twine was very well planned and the paths were connected seamlessly. I chose her Twine over other peers in this class because I felt that her Twine story was relatable to my own experience when I had worked in an office position in my early 20s. I didn’t think the job was suitable for me and I often felt like Siouxsie – nervous and anxious that I’m not doing well enough. Sometimes, I still feel that way even though I understand that self-doubt is normal and just part of the experience when going through a project or event. I liked how Jennifer R’s Twine ended with a positive note even though Siouxie went through a roller-coaster of events to get there. I think Jennifer R has put a lot of thought into what colour background and image to use to create a visual effect – visual anxiety. Comparing to my Twine, mine was quite simple and my ultimate goal was only to make sure the Twine worked and that it is partially educational. Therefore, lacking the visual and the experiential effect.

Nathan B’s Manual Script and Potato Printing

Nathan chose to showcase his potato printing experience through a YouTube video which was the complete opposite of my choice for this activity. For this activity, I opted for the manual script and I wrote tirelessly for a page and a half. Surprisingly, both Nathan and my work used up using around the same amount of time. Printing was especially difficult for me as I don’t scribe much and I had to constantly take breaks in between writing to rest my fingers. That was why I’ve used up 30 minutes for this task. However, Nathan filmed his process, edited his video, and uploaded his work onto YouTube. Overall, I’m sure he must have taken more than 30 minutes to complete this task. Meanwhile, we both came to the same conclusion which was that it is unimaginable how much time and effort people put into printing beautiful prints that required so much labour (Harris, 2018). Nathan pointed out some of the trial and errors he had to do through the process, not realizing the prints come out backwards for example, and had to make many adjustments through the experience. For me, I had many internal thoughts going through my mind as I scripted manually. It was so much work for me to try and print neatly and I’ve been writing for decades, even though in the past decade I’ve relied heavily on computer typing. It must be very difficult and tiring for young learners, kindergarten to grade 2, to be limited to write using a pencil only. All the while they are still developing their fine motor skills.

Harris, B. (HOST). (2018, February 5). The Printed Book: Opening the Floodgates of Knowledge [Audio podcast episode]. How It Began: A History of The Modern World. Retrieved from https://howitbegan.com/episodes/the-printed-book/

Manize’s Algorithms of Predictive Text

Manize’s example of text algorithm to predict what she will say next is an interesting example of how we are aware of predictive text without fully understanding the algorithms behind the predictive text. The reason why I chose Manize’s task was that I’ve used this activity in my class when I talked to my students about the digital footprint, online safety, and how addictive the internet can be. Aside from talking about YouTube videos, which many teenagers could relate to easily since they noticed that they simply couldn’t stop watching video after video. One activity we used to showcase how computers collected data to find out what we’re interested in was through text typing. Most grade 6/7 have cellphones already and those who didn’t own a cellphone used the classroom iPads for this activity. The outcomes were quite interesting and the students that used the classroom iPads had unexpected outcomes. None of the sentences the students created was what they had hoped to present, similar to Manize’s experience. The majority of the class ended up looping the same group of texts over and over again. Meanwhile, the students that used the classroom iPad had a more interesting outcome and we assumed that with more people using the iPad for various uses, the iPad had saved a wider range of vocabulary for text prompt. Aside from Manize’s examples of text algorithm, she also included many useful information from the weekly videos and reading materials. Her task was a reflection of an interesting activity with information and her own opinion regarding this topic.

Jasmeet’s Emoji Story

When I saw the emoji title that Jasmeet used for her emoji story, I immediately thought of one of the most iconic plays Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare. Jasmeet made an effort not to showcase the answer and even created a separate page for those that would like to double-check their guesses. I think the give away by Jasmeet was in the title of the page: An Emoji Love Story. Pairing this information along with the mask emoji for the theatrical play, I think the rest is given. Similar to Jasmeet, we both had questioned whether our emoji stories were clear enough to the viewers. The stories made sense in our minds but were it limited to only our mind because we were the creators of this emoji story. Jasmeet wrote, “Kress (2005) discusses, when reading media, we are involved in the reading of design, which explores many different aspects of the design illustrated (p. 19-20).” I believe I’ve used a similar phrase in my own blog. In this modern world, the information does not come to us in text form only. There is a wide array of exposure to global knowledge through videos, websites, magazine, newspapers, billboards, etc., and all of these now combine the use of text and image to strengthen their message. Using my classroom, for example, my students are now more attracted to reading graphic novels over chapter books without any images. It is not because they can’t read or they get bored by reading the text alone. But, it is because images to go along with texts make the story more appealing. We simply can’t be limited to one mode of expression anymore unless it is for a specific reason or purpose.

Kress, G. (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22.

Narrative 1 – ‘Physical’ Virtual classrooms

Combining the popular virtual Bitmoji classroom now with the popular trilogy, The Matrix, and the surrogate idea from a 2009 science fiction movie called Surrogates (humanoid remote-controlled robots), the future of learning can take place in the comfort of your own home. All you need to do is plug yourself in and fully emerge yourself online. By laying in our specially designed bed that automatically connects sensors onto your body, you will feel as if you are physically in the virtual classroom with your teacher and classmates. Now, with the added features, you can choose to style yourself however you want to present yourself to the virtual world.

Johnny lays on the bed and puts on his VR goggle as the sensors connect his body to the bed. Johnny sees ‘Surrogate Online’ means his other self is connected to the virtual world. Johnny enters his classroom and sees his teacher, Ms. Tai, sitting in front of the whiteboard.

Ms. Tai          “You’re late, Johnny.”

Johnny        “My bed needed to update before I can make the connection.”

Ms. Tai          “We’ve finished our morning routine already. Jump into the whiteboard to see

what you’ve missed.”

Johnny walks by his friend, Bob, as they give each other a high five. Johnny can feel the hard slap by Bob as his arm twitches slightly on the bed.

Johnny walks toward the whiteboard and gives it a tap. He sits down while a video file pops up and pixels begin to surround him. Johnny taps on the ‘speed 2x’ button and the pixels around him shows his classmates working through the morning routine with Ms. Tai as if Johnny is part the class. As the video file is near the end, Johnny jumps backwards and he’s out of the whiteboard.

Johnny        “I’m done. What do I do now?”

Ms. Tai          “Shhh … go to the bookshelf and grab your book. We’re on chapter 18 now.”

Johnny looks around the classroom. He sees his friends all sitting at their desk reading their book. Johnny taps on ‘Private Chat’ and selects the name ‘Bob’.

Johnny        “Hey Bob! What book are we reading?”

Bob                “What do you mean what book? We’ve been reading this book for 2 weeks already!”

Narrative 2 – A.I. Study Buddy

An extension of the Twine and the Algorithms unit – A.I. Study Buddy

The reasoning behind this Twine activity is an extension of what we have learned about computer algorithm and how it pre-determines what viewers might be interested in. Even though this activity offers choices for you to decide if you want to learn and review History or Geography, it is really looping you back to how Indigenous people in the early 19th century were colonized and the effects of colonization; simply because this section may contain more information that might interest you over learning about Canadian geography. Will A.I. (artificial intelligence) Study Buddy take over how we study in the near future? This will be hard to determine since everyone studies differently with different strategies. As Vallor explained that our current AI is also known as Narrow AI, which means that it is meant to be used for simple task-specific operations so it has an issue “solving problems that are complex and unpredictable where goals aren’t simple and clear” (Santa Clara University, 2018). If AI decides for us what it deems as important knowledge, then what happens if the infinite loop happens like this Twine example and students end up learning more about colonization rather than Canadian geography thus unintentionally creating a learning gap. Maybe in 30 years, we will be one step closer to reaching A.G.I (artificial general intelligence). Then, we might be able to have a more flexible AI that is able to determine what we need to better prepare for what the future students need to thrive in their field of study.

References

Facing History and Ourselves. (2021). Dispossession, Destruction, and the Reserves. Retrieved from https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/dispossession-destruction-and-reserves

Government of Canada (2021). Origin of the name “Canada”. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/origin-name-canada.html

Hannah. S, (August 14, 2020). Educators Turn to Bitmoji to Build Community and Engagement. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/educators-turn-bitmoji-build-community-and-engagement

Santa Clara University. (November 6, 2018). Lessons from the AI Mirror Shannon Vallor [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k&t=212s

UKFilmFactory. (May 18, 2009). Surrogates Official Movie Trailer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5TrKNIDHQ

Initially, I didn’t know if I’ve reached the end of the “game”, but I stopped here (see image above) as I’ve spent too much time trying to figure out how to get to the next step. After the meeting on Collaboration Ultra, I realized that I am not at the end until I see the Carlton dance. So, I went back and I was able to get to the end in under 4 minutes!

What is interesting is that my partner is currently learning about design and programming, so to him, this task was quite difficult. He took a much longer time to complete as he didn’t know that this website was purposely flawed, and I purposely left out this information. So, from his experience and his understanding of website layout, he was completely baffled about why anyone would design a website like this until I told him that this was done on purpose.

I think it is also important to note how this site had worked diligently to distract, confuse, and get our attention. For example, the flashing light that goes from 1-4 repeatedly, the clock pop-up, the large red banner on the top of the screen, etc. Similar to what Harris noted, “The goal is the race for our attention” (2017), and this site did a great job at getting our attention, but in the utmost annoying way possible.

As I watch Tufekci explain the exponential growth of the algorithm for targeting advertisement, which is quite frightening and interesting at the same time, I wonder what better way can we utilize this technology. One of her examples was how the computer is able to figure out who is most likely dealing with or have underlying bipolar conditions and are the best target for selling Vegas ticket is unreal (Tufekci, 2017). With technology like this being used for advertisement is wasteful because think of what we can do with this to help detect other mental illness that people might not know like depression, having suicidal thoughts, schizophrenia, etc. On the other hand, I also understand the privacy concern over having computers analyzing and categorizing people under certain categories, such as having a mental illness, without professional psychiatric assessment.

Reference

Harris, T. (2017). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day. Retrieved from 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. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads?language=en

This is my first time opening a file using the Palladio app. I have seen one instructor use something similar to this app a couple of semesters prior. This instructor used a program to show us how instructors see participants’ activities throughout the semester and who the participants interact with the most, and which participants are more engaging throughout the discussion. I find the Palladio app quite interesting and my initial glance at the results reminded me of the 6 degrees of separation which was created by the social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s. Stanly Milgram wanted to show that the world is quite small and that most people are only 6 connections away from knowing one another. However, there are still many debates and research on the theory of the 6 degrees of separation. I digress, back to the Palladio app. The reason why I said that the Palladio app reminded me of the 6 degrees of separation theory is because when I analyze the results, I could not find any results with fewer than 3 links. The image below is the least amount of connectivity I could find:

The image above showed the result of numerous adjacency matric where there is only one connecting node (Systems Innovation, 2015). For example, the connection between Peter and Megan for Track 7. There is also a couple of walk path. For example the connection between Judy and Peter from Track 20 to Track 26 then ending at Track 17.

The degree of connectivity is quite high for the next image, partially I believe it is because we are only to choose 10 musical pieces out of the 27 that are available. The higher the node, the more information we can get, both clearer or more complex, from this experiment (Systems Innovation, 2015). Take the image below for an example, there is a relativity high degree of connective among 4 participants with a wide range of music pieces varying from instrumental to traditional indigenous piece.

Lastly, the image below is quite interesting. There is high connectivity among the 5 participants, yet, there are also many musical pieces that are completely out of the loop:

Reference

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

10 musical choice from the Golden Record:

1. Greetings from Earth
2. Wedding song – Peru
3. Mozart – Queen of the night – Eda Moser
4. Panpipes and drum song – Peru
5. Bach – Gavotte en Rondo – A Grumiaux
6. Beethoven 5th, part 1, Otto Klemperer
7. Cranes in their nest – Japan (Shakuhachi)
8. Navajo Night Chant – America
9. Melancholy Blues – L Armstrong & His Hot Seven
10. Voyager Golden Record

I chose these based on the variety of musical instrument used as well as the tone and melody created. There is a mixture of instrument created using drums, pipes, piano, flute, voice, etc. I also purposely organized it in this order because I feel that a greeting from Earth should present a nice introduction rather than beginning from various musical points. Since we are unaware of whether there are other intelligent beings out there in the vast universe, we are also unaware if they understand music as we do. If anything, verbal language might be easier to decipher than music, especially music without lyrics. So, a greeting message that encompasses various language, codes, numerical equations might help whoever receiving this message better understand human before trying to understand music.