- How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?
James had a very intriguing approach to redesigning the “What’s in your bag
Activity.” He titled his activity, “What’s on my phone?” and decided to use his device as a map of his digital fingerprint. He wrote in his reflection,“I figured that as an educator in today’s world of new media, it would be worthwhile to show the ways in which I’ve personally been able to navigate the digital world. The biggest revelation in doing so is the realization that I’ve situated myself within many different subcultures” (James Seaton). In his YouTube video, I appreciate his vulnerability as he navigated the various apps and personal blogs on his phone to highlight the different subcultures he is a part of. His interpretation of this activity gives more of an overview of who he is. In addition to his social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, James also points out the Desmos app on his phone. This would lead one to conclude that he is interested in math or that math is part of his profession. Another app, Merlin, highlights his interest in bird watching and, Map My Run, highlights an interest in his health.
My redesign of this same activity focuses more on my day to day activities rather than an overview. I used sound to represent activities I regularly perform. The listener has to decipher a sound and connect it to an activity in my everyday life. As educators, we need to feel comfortable and confident in engaging in non dominant literacies. “As designers of meaning, we are designers of social futures, workplace futures, public futures, and community futures” (p.65). If different literacies are incorporated regularly in education, then we are empowering diversity and reaching all learners.
James and I have commented on each other’s blog discussing our interpretations of “What’s in your bag” and how we appreciate our different remodels of the same activity.
- What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?
James chose a UBC Blog.
- How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authouring and end-user interface?
On his blog, James has a space for leaving comments under each post and on the sidebar has quick links to find past posts.
- What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?
One formatting difference between our two blogs is that his recent posts are visible on a sidebar and his “home” button returns the user to his latest post. I like that his recent posts are easily accessed for referencing.
- What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?
At first I wasn’t too keen on the “home” button returning me to the latest post James uploaded. However, when I reflect on my own blog’s format, my home page doesn’t ever update to provide new information. It is a static page.
- How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?
Dobson and Willinsky (2009) talk of the ability for digital technologies to facilitate intercultural exchange and I believe that James has really taken his activity to highlight his connections beyond this blog. I mentioned in my comment on his post that I love that he highlighted the number of users from different countries who have visited his food blog! It’s so amazing how international his reach is without even realizing it! James connected with people all over the world without ever communicating with them on a synchronous level. Such a relevant example of how our digital world unites us!
References:
Dobson, T., & Willinsky, J. (2009). Digital literacy. The Cambridge handbook of literacy, 286-312.
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.