ETEC 540 Momina Abid

I wanted to use the opportunity of this final project to research eBooks and eReaders because personally, I have felt that they have changed my life. It is really easy to carry a lightweight kindle around, be able to read any book I want, not worry about losing my progress, having a record of all the books I’ve read, and many other reasons. But I also know some people prefer traditional books and feel that eBooks and eReaders can never take their place. But I do not think it’s about replacing books, but increasing access. 

Let’s first have a quick look at the evolution of eBooks and eReaders:

The development of eBooks and eReaders goes hand in hand, however eBooks can be accessed through many digital devices such as a computer, laptop, iPad, smartphone etc, and not just a specific eReader. The benefit of eReaders though is that their technology makes you feel like you are reading on paper, and does not strain your eyes. 

In a post COVID-19 world, screens have become very common. Students take online classes, people work remotely, and many daily chores are now digitized so screens have become unavoidable. So in a world full of screens, are eBooks detrimental and reducing our attention spans or are they increasing access and having a positive impact on literacy?

As a mother as well, I was curious to learn if eBooks would be a good resource for my child’s early literacy skills. Turns out, there is evidence that eBooks might be better at improving vocabulary and phonological awareness than even traditional books (López-Escribano et al., 2021).

But I wonder if eBooks have the same effect when they are accessed on a smartphone or laptop instead of an eReader? Because smartphones and laptops now have multiple distractions, readers may be tempted to do other things than read on these devices. And does owning an eReader even guarantee it will be used frequently or build the habit of reading? One study investigated whether access to eReaders or electronic devices increased reading frequency in children. There was no significant evidence suggesting that merely owning an eReader ensured reading, however other electronic devices such as mobile phones did suggest decreased reading frequency (Merga & Roni, 2017). Basically, if you wanted to read, you would do so regardless of the device, and if you did not want to read, you would find a distraction.

While a convenient option for reading books, eReaders are still not a commonplace thing especially in third world countries, where even mainstream digital devices such as smartphones and laptops are hard to find. While eBooks play a huge role in increasing access to education and texts, the devices compatible to their use remain unattainable, and an impossible option for those who may need them the most. 

Which makes me think, are eBooks and eReaders really making a dent in literacy rates around the world? Or just making the lives of the already privileged even more convenient?

References:

A very short history of ebooks – Digital Publishing 101. (2024, October 21). Digital Publishing 101. https://digitalpublishing101.com/digital-publishing-101/digital-publishing-basics/a-very-short-history/

Kasdorf, B. (2022, April 19). The past 25 years of e-books. PublishersWeekly.com. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/89005-the-past-25-years-of-e-books.html

López-Escribano, C., & Montesino, S., & García-Ortega, V. (2021, June). The Impact of E-Book Reading on Young Children’s Emergent Literacy Skills: An Analytical Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126510

Malone, E. (n.d.). Ángela Ruiz Robles – Women of Interaction Design. https://womenofixd.com/stories/angela-ruiz-robles

Merga, M. K., Roni, S., M. (2017, June). The Influence of Access to eReaders, Computers and Mobile Phones on Children’s Book Reading Frequency. Computers & Education, Vol (109), 187-196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2017.02.016.

TheBookScouterTeam. (2025, April 25). A brief history of eBooks – BookScouter blog. BookScouter Blog. https://bookscouter.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-ebooks/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540jskiba/

Task 6: An Emoji Story by Jodee Skiba

The emoji story by Jodee Skiba is simple and based on key words and ideas from the plot. I chose Jodee Skiba’s emoji task for several reasons. The author found this task easier to do than expected, which was the complete opposite for me. And the movie they picked was so simple and yet I struggled with guessing it. It made me think that maybe we all interpret emojis in a different way. 

Just like the point raised by the author in their post, do emojis carry a different meaning for different cultures? Or more specifically, does interpretation of emojis vary from person to person? I asked my husband to guess the movie as he really likes this one, but he was taking the emojis too literally instead of linking them with ideas. In the end, he got it but I realized his choice of emojis would be completely different for this movie than the author. 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jduecketec540/task-5/

Task 5: Twine Game by Jonathan Deuck

The twine game made by Jonathan Deuck takes the player through the morning routine of a student before heading off to school. The goal is to make it in time to catch the bus. Every scenario has a bunch of options with the time they take and the student has to decide which one they would prioritize in order to get to school on time. 

This was such a fun game to play! It had all the moments we all go through in the morning, the little decisions that we make in our head such as should I check my phone or go to the bathroom first? The attention to detail was fantastic and made the game even more enjoyable to play. I played it many times and tried to alternate my choices so I end up with a different outcome every time.  

Another small detail I really liked from this game was when you went to the bathroom and decided to brush your hair, it would bring you back to the bathroom and say ‘your hair is done’ so you can go to the next task. 

I think this is a fantastic example of how intertwined human actions and decisions are, and how they can be portrayed via hyperlinks. 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/manomet/2025/10/25/golden-record-curation-task-8/

Task 8: Golden Record Curation by Manouchehr

In his post, Manouchehr first divided all of the 27 tracks on the Golden Record by geographical origin, and then realized that they were disproportionate to the population size of the regions which makes them lack proper representation. He also recognized that many artists who did not have access to international platforms for their craft could not be included in this record. After narrowing down the song choices based on geography and population size, he selected those that sounded nice to him. And then went on to include a short reason for why it was his top choice. 

I really enjoyed the methodical approach that he took while selecting the songs. His selection, like many others, was based on geography and cultural representation. However, he emphasized on population sizes which is a really important point. If there are more songs included in a language spoken by a fairly large group of people on Earth, only then can we ensure their proper representation in outer space. 

I really valued his take that not all artists, especially from that time period, had access to global exposure for their music which is why their songs could not be included and it is totally unfair. But I wonder if the Golden Record was made in today’s day and age, would it be any different? 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/iceetec540/2025/09/21/task-3-voice-to-text-task/

Task 3: Voice to Text by Ice

The author details an account of a crazy morning they had while going to work. The day began by their car not starting when they were already late, then the bus being late and full! Been there, done that and it’s not a good feeling. And then their phone flying off in an already crowded bus. It would have been so stressful at the time, but reading it was kind of nice and relatable. 

It was almost like the author was speaking to me and I think that’s why I chose this particular post.

The mistakes in the transcript of the voice note were very similar to what I experienced with mine. Long sentences, punctuation and grammar errors, as well as misspelled words and fillers. I completely agree with the author that if this story was pre-scripted, it would totally lose its charm, and might even be boring to read. The ‘authentic rhythm’ of it as mentioned by the author is what makes it so fun to read. 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/contrabot/2025/09/28/potato-movable-type/

Task 2: Potato Printing by Kyle Hunter

I really wanted to do this task myself but because of lack of time, I could not do so. When I was reading about Kyle’s experience, it was very enlightening and also entertaining so I chose it for my linking assignment. 

It did seem like a very technical and time consuming task just like he mentioned but it was a lot of fun to go through his process, especially the way he also recorded his mistakes and then how he corrected them. I think this task gives us an important reflection into how far printing has come and how we take it for granted. The precision and manual labor it must have taken to print even the simplest of things!

This task also reminded me of block printing done on clothes and textiles by artisans. It is a popular practice in Pakistan to make and wear clothes with block prints on them. Even though I’ve seen people work on it, I never paid attention to the amount of effort that goes into making those beautiful designs. 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jduecketec540/task-7/

Task 7: Mode-Bending by Jonathan Dueck

I found his submission to be a very interesting and creative take on the task. By using the sounds of each of the items in his bag, he successfully conveyed what these items are. There was the subtle tick of the clock as background music, sound of the zip opening up, laptop being pulled out and placed on the table, charger being plugged in etc. I was almost convinced to do this with the contents of my own bag as well, just to hear what they sound like.

I chose to reflect on this because this was an idea I did not think of when redesigning my task 1, and I was intrigued by its uniqueness. I think it did a great job of transforming the semiotic mode of the content perfectly. His analysis and reflection of the task, especially how it became an opportunity to pique his students’ curiosity, made me realize that learning indeed does not have to be visual or textual as we are used to. 

The last line he mentions rung especially true:

“In rethinking literacy this way, mode-bending becomes both a creative and critical act—one that reaffirms the learner as an active designer of meaning rather than a passive consumer of information.”

References:

Dueck, J. (2025). Task 7: Mode-Bending. ETEC 540. https://blogs.ubc.ca/jduecketec540/task-7/

 

For this last task, I wanted to push my imagination and create something completely new based on one of the prompts provided in the excel sheet. It turned out to be a very fun brain exercise.

This was the prompt I used: Describe or narrate a scenario about a device found two generations into a future in which society as we know it has come apart. Your description should address issues related to climate and elicit feelings of amusement.

It is the year 2075. Everyone is walking around with a mask on their faces. This mask serves many different purposes. Firstly, it purifies the air inhaled by the person wearing it. The air quality has hit a new low ever since the climate of the Earth reached a new high. The mask covers the entire face, and looks like a black screen when turned off. But once it’s turned on, it basically works like a smartphone. The display can be set by the person wearing it, which can range from an emoji about how they are feeling to a picture they want the world to see. The screen on the inside of the mask, visible only by the user, can be used to make calls, translate what other people are saying, send messages, and even record videos and capture photos.

People now identify each other with the display on the screen rather than actual faces. There is a new mask released every year with slightly better features and everyone races to get their hands on it. Once you own a mask, it keeps track of your location and all your personal information. It is almost like getting a new face and a new phone. You are recognized by your user ID on the mask rather than your own name.

I then entered the following prompt into Microsoft Copilot to generate an image of the mask and got the following result:

Design a futuristic face mask with a screen that displays emojis and images, and also works as an air purifier. It should cover the entire human face.

Even though this was a fun exercise, it did make me a little scared of where I imagine we are all heading.

It was very interesting to visualize the patterns of our different music choices via Palladio. The interconnectedness of our names to the music choices kind of reflects how we are connected in the world. I think all of us were divided into four different communities based on how similar our song choices were.

Just by looking at the pattern, I could not tell why people chose a specific song. However, I did expect there to be some popular choices such as, Track 2: Kinds of Flowers, and Track 13: Panpies and Drum (Peru) that I knew most people would opt for just based on popularity or sound. The size of nodes for each track varied based on how many people picked it which was really helpful in determining which song was more popular. I think the most popular track in my community was Track 24: Flowing Streams.

Similarly, there were some less popular choices in the overall network of everyone who did the quiz. These include Track 9: Crane’s Nest and Track 16: Rite of Spring. 

I could not tell the reasons behind other peoples’ choices in the overall network or my community until I looked through their blog posts. For some, it felt like geographical and cultural representation mattered more, and for some the choices completely relied upon how good they sounded. But overall, I think it mattered more to everyone that aliens get a holistic picture of our world rather than something that only encapsulates one culture, region, or area.

 

This was a really fun task and sort of eerie too! I kept imagining aliens listening to these sounds at the same time as me. It was even more challenging trying to pick out 10 musical pieces that represent all of humanity on Earth. 

I picked the following pieces:

1. Senegal: percussion recorded by Charles Duvelle
2. United States: “Johnny B. Goode” written and performed by Chuck Berry
3. Japan: shakuhachi, “Tsuru No Sugomori” (“Crane’s Nest,”) performed by Goro Yamaguchi
4. Austria: Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14 by Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor 
5. Peru: panpipes and drum collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima
6. Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes recorded by Radio Moscow
7. Germany: Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano 
8. Germany: Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor
9. India: raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar
10. Java: court gamelan, “Kinds of Flowers” recorded by Robert Brown

I tried to include most geographical locations. However, I also chose some that I think would be useful in communicating with extra-terrestrial life if it exists out there, such as Bach, as mentioned by Tim Ferris in Twenty thousand hertz podcast. I chose some classical music by Mozart. Some sounds I included sounded soothing, welcoming, and yet mysterious such as the Peru and Azerbaijan Bagpipes. I included Beethoven because of the varying pitch and frequencies of music. As a South Asian myself, Jaat Kahan Ho felt like a natural choice and made me feel represented. 

References:

Music from Earth. (n.d.). NASA.

Taylor, D. (Host). (2019, April). Voyager golden record [Audio podcast episode]. In Twenty thousand hertz. Defacto Sound. 

 

I turned my submission for Task 1 into an interactive game that you can access through this link:

https://arcade.makecode.com/S40247-06221-41179-50822

Initially, I was unsure how to redesign it in a way that was unique but still carried significance. I had many ideas, like designing an augmented or virtual reality scenario, or even making a twine game again. But in the end I went with Makecode Arcade as a tool to build my game. There were several reasons for this. I could design the items of my bag myself, adding a visual layer to the game, I could add fun sounds to each action or item, and most of all, I found it easy to use.

This task combined with the second reading of the week made me think deeply about the benefits of mode-bending. The many examples mentioned by The New London Group (1996) including the example of spoken language being a matter of not only audio but also linguistic design made me understand how multimodality works.

References:

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

This task seemed easy at first but turned out to be a challenge. I just chose the last movie that I saw. Initially I thought it would not be too hard since the premise of the movie was simple enough. I started off with the title but learned soon enough that it’s going to be hard with all movies. I began by focusing on all the words, then ended up going for the common nouns, then tried to use emojis for ideas. However, even with a plethora of emojis available to choose from, I was still struggling to come up with appropriate ones to describe the movie. For instance, I wanted to include a ‘road’ emoji but could not find it. It made me realize how we’ve gotten used to the availability of so many emojis that describe almost every experience we feel when not so long ago, we only had a handful of emojis available to choose from. And even though I do use emojis often to communicate and express how I feel, it can be hard to use them for things such as movie plots. When Bolter (2001) said, 

“Words no longer seem to carry conviction without the reappearance as a picture of the imagery that was latent in them”(p. 51).

It made me reflect on my own emoji use in my daily life and it was obvious that if I wanted to say something that I thought might offend someone, I would include a silly emoji to show it’s not that serious. I started conveying emotion through emojis or hiding what I actually meant to say.

References:

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

Gamenight Murder.html

I have used twine once before to create a sort of choose your own adventure game. That was over a year ago so using twine again required a bit of practice once again. I went back to find my old project to see how I had incorporated images and linked different things to each other. I also had to do some additional research to find out how to center align images. But I used this task to explore my creativity. I always wanted to design an escape room / murder mystery type of scenario in a game so I tried achieving that with this twine task, however once I began doing it, it felt like I had bit off more than I can chew as the time for this task was limited and I had to do the readings for this week as well. 

However, I still enjoyed the process. My game is still a work in progress but as I have worked on it throughout the week, I have used my creativity muscle which I hadn’t in a very long time. And as I kept using it, more and more ideas opened up in my mind. And just like a tree spreading its roots or branches to make connections, that is exactly what it felt like designing and thinking whilst using twine. And when I read the required reading for this week, it stuck in my head that tree diagrams have been used for many, many years to do exactly what we are doing in twine (Bolter, 2001). Using twine to make so many connections and links felt like I was building a canopy of tree branches linking together to tell a story.

References:

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

This task was harder than I thought! I started off thinking how hard would it really be to write down a few words but I had no idea writing five hundred words by hand would take me this long, and make me think so hard. I wrote a page thinking this may be five hundred words but it was only a hundred! I use my diary to occasionally write down my feelings, make plans, track goals etc but writing something creative after so long turned out to be a challenge. At this point in life, I am more used to typing although back when I used to be in school, writing by hand was the norm and not a challenge at all. 

When I made a mistake, I either just went along with the mistake, disregarding it, or cut out the word to write what I wanted. While writing by hand, I realized I care less about the mistakes than when I am typing. I also tend to reread my typed sentences for grammar or spelling mistakes, or they are automatically highlighted so I am more aware of them. While writing, I did not bother rereading what I’d written and just went along with it. 

Also after writing for a while, my handwriting automatically became sloppier than when I had started and it almost looked like I changed fonts. But I did not care as I realized I am immersed in the process. Much more so than when I am typing. 

I definitely used to think typing and writing by hand were interchangeable ways of jotting down words but I was wrong. Typing on digital devices has literally changed the way we think on a very deep level. At least for me, it no longer requires the same attention span or focus. 

I think I prefer both ways for different reasons and contexts and would not want to lose the ability to write with my hand ever. 

Unscripted Story

“Last year, I think this was, actually, this was December, 2023. Um, and my husband and I and a few of our friends decided to travel to Pakistan together. So we all booked the same flight and got our seats together, and then, um, we flew to Pakistan. This was really exciting because we were taking such a long international flight together for the 1st time. And We were really excited, looking forward to it because usually, uh, during long haul flights, um, You’re really lost as to what to do, especially with this airline because, um, the airline that we flew, uh, did not have any in-flight entertainment. Um, and so we were like, okay, we’ll have each other and each other’s company. So we packed a few board games in our carry-on so we could play during the flight and it was really fun. We could also talk to each other easily. Um, And yeah, it was a really pleasant flight and then when we reached Pakistan, we um, had so many weddings to attend. Um, One of my friends who flew with us, he also had his wedding. Um, so it was a really packed trip. Um, I remember we had to attend this one day we had to attend 3 weddings at the same uh, during the same day. 2 of which were also in the same time slot. 
Um, and so I I wanted to spend more time with my family, so I told my husband, I can’t do this. Um, especially because it was, um, weddings were of his friends. And so I said, I’m not going to attend. 
I instead spend time with my family and you can go ahead. And, you know, attend for the both of us. And so then what he did was he, um, drove to the 1st wedding of the people who knew, um, who he knew would start their, um, Pentagon time, and then he drove to the 2nd one and he changed his clothes in the car, and then he attended the 2nd wedding, and then at night he ended 3rd, and by the end of the day, he was so exhausted. 
And I was glad that I didn’t do that. Um, and then there were a lot more, um, weddings and we got to socialize with so many people. December and January is usually the time when all immigrants are usually visiting back home, Pakistan, and so we’re all able to sort of get together from different parts of the world. 
And um, yeah, just talk about life and it’s, it’s a very nice break. It’s also a very nice break from Um, the really, really cold Canadian winters. Um, because over here we usually feel the absence of family more during winters. 
Um, with the days being really short and um, People just preferring to, you know, stay at home, um, do their own thing, and then with like, um, during winters, the energy is also really like low and people are just, um, generally not up for making plans. Um, So yeah, um, this year I am looking forward to winters because now I have a baby and his uh, birthday falls uh, in January. And I’m also like determined to make this winter a lot of fun. 
Maybe plan a trip or do more activities and it’s also a lot of fun to plan the day with my kid because it’s lovely to see the world from his eyes. Um, And the way that he’s experiencing things for the 1st time. really makes me happy and excited to do things with him. Um, and he’s just so entertaining. 
So I really enjoy his company. So yeah, that’s my plan for the winter.”

My Observations

This was a very interesting task. I was unsure how I would speak unscripted into a microphone for five minutes but once I got going, I started linking things together and made it to the end. After I was done and I saw the written text, I was pleasantly surprised by the small number of errors. I used the voice memo application on my phone. Usually when I receive a voicemail which is converted into text, it is almost completely incorrect, so I was expecting something similar. But this was different. It was not 100% correct but it got pretty close. I have been an English speaker since the very beginning so I think that plays a critical role in this. I believe my accent is also not too heavy. I have been around English speakers for forever and living in a country where it is spoken daily so naturally I have a lot of practice. 

The written text however does have some deviations from a text that may be typed out. There are random capitalizations of words, numbers are mentioned numerically instead of in words, some words are repeated, all the things that make it easy to identify that it was not typed out thoughtfully. I know these things because as a student who has studied in English all her life, I have been made to follow very specific grammatical guidelines for the submission and acceptability of my work. So it is easy for me to identify when it deviates from the norm I have been taught. 

The text also reflects the mistakes I made while speaking and then how I corrected them. It also shows the many ‘um’ and ‘uh’ I say while speaking. In a way, reading back my mistakes and their correction looks like it may be helpful in some cases where I need to look back at my thought process. But the repetition of some words and unnecessary pauses as well as ‘ums’ would affect my reading speed and overcrowd the text. 

I think if the story was scripted, or I had done a few takes of the same story, or even was reading off of something, the errors would almost be non-existent. There may be some words that may be incorrect such as spend may be spelt as ‘spent’ or vice versa.