Speculative design can lead to a number of interesting possibilities.  One purpose can be to draw attention to “factors that may lead to undesirable futures” (Dunne & Raby, 2013, p.6).  For instance, modern technology clearly has limitless benefits, however there is mounting evidence that some affordances may have negative consequences for certain groups.  Algorithms are one example.  While they often have an intended purpose to improve society, they sometimes fail to meet this goal.  A fascinating example is provided by O’Neil (2017) where a program which was designed to use algorithms to reduce crime rates ended up reinforcing discriminatory police practices.  Another example of misused technology relates to AI technology.  In “Lessons from the AI Mirror” Shannon Vallor describes how AI can sometimes highlight issues surrounding existing ethical dilemmas.  One example would be safety concerns related to self-driving vehicles.  Rather than reject technology, however, she proposes that we “improve machines by improving ourselves.”  It was this insight that led me to my speculative design.  I decided to focus on technology that could be used for a very positive purpose but could also easily be misused and cross the lines into restricting rights and invading privacy. 

My speculative design focusses on the experience of dining out in the future.  I envision restaurants of the future being far more interactive, which is already happening now as menus are accessed through scanned bar codes.  This same technology could allow people to select menu items based on their specific nutritional goals, health circumstances, allergies, and preferences.  This could be a very beneficial use of technology, and I could see a private/public partnership as governments look to decrease the number of people relying on healthcare services by being more conscious of their eating habits.  Algorithms could be used effectively to predict the health outcomes of certain menu choices.   

This potential is seen in the first menu, where the focus is on providing customers with a safe and healthy experience.  Technology is used to ensure patrons are not ill.  The information guests provide is voluntary and is used to determine which menus will support their current health status.  In this speculative future technology assists customers but does not necessarily restrict their choices. 

Like most technology, however, the purpose it is designed for can come with possible negative side effects.  Encouraging consumers to select menu items based on health considerations could easily be manipulated.  Governments could legislate that individuals are only allowed to access certain items based on pre-existing conditions they reveal upon booking.  We are already providing phone numbers…is it that much of a stretch that a retinal scan could share personal health details.  Suddenly items would be restricted based on health history.  Even entry to the restaurant could be denied for a variety of reasons.  This would all happen under the guise of promoting health and protecting customers but could so easily cross the line to limiting personal freedoms.   

This potential is seen in the second menu, where a more rigorous test is given before customers are allowed entry.  The health profile does not lead to a suggested menu, but a required one.  The profile is more detailed and takes age into account.  As well, there are a series of restrictions based on personal history like alcohol or drug addiction.  In this restaurant of the future, a diabetic would not be allowed to order dessert, or an addict a drink.  While the goal would be to improve society, clearly there are major concerns related to privacy and personal freedom. 

The two designs are intentionally different in quite subtle ways.  This demonstrates that there is a fine line between how the very technology that is designed to benefit society can easily be manipulated for darker purposes.  Ultimately, the dining experience of the future described here is representative of Dunne & Raby (2013) description of speculative design as “tools to better understand the present and to discuss the kind of future people want, and, of course, ones people do not want” (p.2). 

References

Dunne, A., & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Cambridge: The MIT Press. muse.jhu.edu/book/28148.

O’Neil, C. (2017, April 6). Justice in the age of big data. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from ideas.ted.com website: https://ideas.ted.com/justice-in-the-age-of-big-data/

Vallor, S. (2018, November 6).  Lessons from the AI Mirror [Video file].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k&feature=emb_logo

I was very intrigued by Tristan Harris’ discussion of Humane Technology, so this compelled me to attempt the task for this week.  After playing this game I thought it was a fascinating example of Harris’ statement that technology is not neutral.  While Harris focused on social media, and its unethical manipulation of our attention, the game represents another aspect of unethical web design, which is to create what Brignall (2011) describes as “dark patterns.”  In the most extreme examples, these interfaces take advantage of customers, and use the wording of contracts and placement of features in a way that is definitely deceptive, but doesn’t necessarily cross the line to illegal activity.  Several examples of these “tricks of trade” are part of the User Inyerface activity.  While this site was an exaggeration of some of these strategies, it is a great example of the far from neutral, manipulative nature of technology.  Ironically, this very technology is what allows users and consumers to be more informed, and therefore have the ability to protect themselves from some of these negative marketing/business strategies.  Sites like Centre for Humane Technology are a powerful way to promote a more critical look at multimedia technology.   

As for the game, below are a few examples of some of the most obvious misuses of technology: 

The wording of the conditions statement is intentionally misleading, as the user has to uncheck the box to accept the terms and conditions.  The double negative is definitely confusing. 

The floating “How can we help” box is a constant distraction, making the experience both frustrating and annoying! 

The timer added to the anxiety of the experience.  Every time that popped up I could actually feel the physical symptoms of stress.  Even though I knew I could take as much time as I wanted, everything felt so urgent.  This is a familiar tactic on so many sites, where reservations or items in the cart can only be held for 5 min. etc... giving the consumer less time to think, making it more likely they will rush into a purchasing decision. 

Other annoying tactics were the ridiculous password parameters, the links that didn’t work when clicked, and of course the infamous Captcha exercises.  I fail miserably on these in the best of circumstances, so this was probably the most frustrating part of the whole experience.  After multiple failed attempts I basically started clicking almost at random, recognizing of course that the tiny dot that had to be selected was not in the logical place.  Fortunately, my stubbornness was rewarded, and I finally arrived at the end of the game! 

17:41 minutes of torture…but I did it! 

References 

Brignull, H. (2011).  Dark patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI design.  Retrieved from https://alistapart.com/article/dark-patterns-deception-vs-honesty-in-ui-design/ 

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 

It was intriguing to learn this week how technology can be used to represent complex historical data that would traditionally not lend itself to being represented in this manner.  The development of Palladio represents the future of merging the arts and technologies in innovative ways.  In saying that, I also found it extremely challenging to navigate the platform and understand what was being communicated by the data.  I did, however, make a few observations. 

While this platform can be used to represent historic data, it is definitely “incomplete in unpredictable ways” (Stanford Humanities & Design, n.d.).  The various facets could be used to examine commonalities, but the data doesn’t tell the story behind the choices.  For instance, Valerie and I had an astonishing number of common selections (7/10).  While this correlation is revealed by the data, the next step would be to unpack why this occurred, which requires further investigation and analysis.

  Palladio is able to track and represent an enormous amount of data and present it in a variety of ways.  Users can view results represented in a variety of forms.  Maps and charts can highlight certain connections, users can change the size of nodes, there are endless options users can select to display the information.  These features may reflect our desire to engage with text and technology in unique ways, and while one way of organizing the data may speak to one individual, it may not work for another.  This flexibility is one of the creative advantages of this application. 

Palladio is designed to show relationships, represented through communities of individuals who shared similar responses.  It was interesting to go through the different groups and see which tracks they had in common and which were outliers.  Even after spending a fair bit of time reviewing the groups and tracks, I still struggled to see exactly which criteria the program was using to make the groups.  I realize the main theme was was common selections, but there was a constant overlap of tracks selected by members of different groups.  I’m curious exactly how the program selected the members of each group, which may be obvious to those with a background in programming but seemed unclear to me. 

This task also reminded me of the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and that in the fields like education and humanities, research is often based on qualitative methods.  I feel like Palladio could be a valuable tool in a mixed-methods approach, sorting data gathered in quantitative fashion, and using qualitative methods to unpack the meaning. 

Finally I thought this exercise was an interesting analogy to the information provided this week on how the web is structured.  The nodes that connected our choices are not unlike the node connectivity that takes place on the web when we are browsing vast sources of information. Much like the popular tracks, the pages most visited are ranked higher, making these pages more significant, in terms of the traffic they will likely have due to increasing popularity.  Based on this analogy it would have been interesting if the creators of the Golden Record actually had access to this technology to help them decide which songs to include and which songs to leave out.   

Overall, I’m intrigued by this technology, and will be interested to see if it plays a significant role in research and becomes a “tool for reflective practice” (Stanford Humanities & Design, n.d.) as the creators intended. 

References 

Stanford Humanities & Design, (n.d.).  Palladio. Visualize complex historical data with ease.  Retrieved from http://hdlab.stanford.edu/palladio/about/ 

Golden Record Curation

I found it really challenging to select 10 tracks from the Golden Record, as I don’t have a musical background.  I don’t play any instruments and am familiar with a limited number of musical genres, so my criteria had to be based on what I do know.  Initially I realized that I tended to connect more to music I had been exposed to before.  This would have been very limiting, however, so I shifted my strategy and began thinking about the original purpose of the Golden Record, which was to include musical excerpts from around the world.  I therefore selected tracks based on two main criteria:

The selections evoked a strong emotional response.

The selections had to represent all corners of the globe.

Ultimately this exercise reminded me of this week’s topic regarding what to digitize.  It’s an interesting metaphor for the question that faces those tasked with deciding which texts to digitize and which can afford to be lost.

SONG SELECTIONS:

AFRICA

Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08

• I selected this track because the rhythm and voice reminded me of how music can be used for different purposes. I imagined this song could inspire emotion, reflection, or be used to tell a story.

LATIN AMERICA

Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14

• I selected this track because it immediately inspired an uplifting mood. The rhythm is engaging and captivating.

EUROPE

Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55

• I selected this track because it is an example of how music is a powerful form of communication. Even though I don’t speak the language of the speaker, I felt like I could feel what she was saying.  I also like the fact that a female voice provided this powerful and emotional performance.

Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35

• This track is all about emotion. It is clear the story is fraught with emotion – fear, suspense, tension – these are evident throughout.  No lyrics are needed to communicate these powerful emotions.  I also appreciated the wide range of instruments.

Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20

• While I confess to a limited musical background, I feel like this must be one of the most famous pieces of music ever composed. It’s evidence of the range of human emotion, and how music can speak these emotions.

AUSTRALIA

Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26

• I selected this track for its incredibly unique sounding instrument. Not only this, but the voice of the singer was captivating.  I was a spiritual sound that inspired reflection and contemplation.

NORTH AMERICA

Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57

• I wanted to include indigenous voices in my selection. This powerful chant reminded me of the strong spiritual beliefs of indigenous peoples.

Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05

• Not only was I trying to include songs from across the globe, but I also wanted to include songs from different cultural groups. This artist had a major impact on American music, and Jazz represents how African American contributions should be valued.

Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38

• How could I not include this…immediately I thought of BACK TO THE FUTURE! I say this somewhat sarcastically, as clearly Chuck Berry’s influence extends far beyond this movie, but it does speak to the influence of this rock and roll classic, and another timeless contribution from African American artists.

ASIA

India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30

• This track comes from the most populated country on earth, this alone is criteria for inclusion. I was also struck by the spiritual tone and use of multiple unique instruments.

For this week’s task I wanted to examine the impact of taking the What’s In Your Bag assignment and adding a variety of multimedia layers.  I included audio by screen casting my PowerPoint, describing the visuals and hyperlinks to share some insights about the items in my bag, and how they reflect who I am. 

Click on the link here to view my assignment.

Mode-bending

When comparing the original assignment, which was image and text based, with this version, which includes these multimedia components, it became apparent that technology can be used to support creativity in a variety of ways.  I also thought the various links support the idea that hypermedia “extends in significant ways our notions of textuality and literacy” (Dobson & Willinsky, 2009, p.5).   In some ways the various links and different modes of communication (visual, textual verbal) help to bring the content alive.  Even so I feel there was a fair bit of depth in the original text-based version.   This reminds me of Ernesto’s comments on my first version of this task… “it makes more sense to question the oral/written dichotomy than to try to fit out epistemological realities within one of these two.”  I didn’t really understand exactly what he was referring to at the time, but I now see how it connects to the notion of an essentialist argument and how it can limit one’s perception.  Rather than looking at the differences between modes of communication, it can be more revealing to analyze how they can build on each other.   

References: 

Dobson, T. and John Willinsky (2009). Digital literacy. In D. Olson and N. Torrance (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook on Literacy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 

Here is my emoji story.  I hope you enjoy it!

This was a fun assignment!  I tend to rely on a limited number of emojis, so it was fun to see all of the different possibilities!  I found it interesting that to complete this task I still started with a written summary of the key points I wanted to include in my emoji story.  I needed to see the words on the paper in order to have a clear vision of where to go with this task.   

Once I had summarized the plot, I went through the list of emojis and just copied and pasted the ones I thought might be useful based on the plot events I had highlighted.  I then decided on the emojis for the title, since I felt this would be critical to understanding my story.  Without context I think it would be next to impossible to interpret this story!  The rest of the process was fairly easy, although I kept going back to replace emojis with ones I thought represented the message better.  I definitely picked a show I thought most people would be familiar with, as I recognized that trying to decode the plot summaries would be a challenging task. 

As I constructed my story, I found I didn’t rely on syllables, but instead selected symbols for key characters and plot events so I could provide a general summary rather than a literal translation.  To me this indicates that while digital images may remediate the way text is used, it cannot be completely replaced.  This reminded me of Bolter’s (2001) prediction that synchronous and asynchronous video would one day replace standard email, and as a result “verbal text will be further marginalized in the quest for immediacy” (p.74).  The majority of emails I compose and read are still primarily based in prose text, which is just one example of how different modes of representing ideas won’t necessarily lead to replacing all aspects of traditional communication.    

Using the emojis to tell this story also demonstrates that while the printed text continues to have an important role in communication, it exists in a remediated form in so many contexts. This trend is represented in Bolter’s (2001) discussion of how textbooks have evolved over the last several decades.  Current textbooks rely on multimedia – images, links, symbols, and a variety of other textual features to highlight key information.  This is in stark contrast to older textbooks that were primarily printed text with a minimum number of other features. 

Ultimately, this assignment showed me that while printed text is still a primary form of communication, the multimodal nature of text is incredibly influential.  Bolter (2001) emphasizes the need to engage with these new forms of media rather than be influenced by the perspective that these changes will lead to poor writing skills and weaker communication. Even so, it is unlikely that emojis and other forms of multimodal text will completely replace traditional writing.  Writing has withstood the test of time.   The printed text continues to drive communication even while existing in a remediated form in so many media contexts. 

References: 

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi:10.4324/9781410600110 

My process of completing this task reminded me of Bolter’s (2001) description of hypertext:

“A hypertext is like a printed book that the author has attacked with a pair of scissors and cut into convenient verbal sizes” (p.35).

Bolter (2001) describes how the electronic hypertext creates order out of this chaos, so slips of paper are linked to create meaning.

As I created my Twine story, more often than not I felt like I couldn’t piece the slips of paper back together.  Instead they were often scattered, disconnected, or misconnected.  Passages didn’t make sense once connected, or attempts at embedding coding to add different audio or visual features failed.

While challenging, some interesting observations came out of this process:

• Twine is a digital storytelling platform which encompasses so many features of hypertext – its elements are interconnected and layered, and it exists as a concrete visual in the design space.
• Twine represents how hypertext has become the “remediation of print” (Bolter, 2001, p.42), as you still need to use traditional storytelling elements to create an effective digital story.
• For a code to work it needs a clear path, which can be challenging if trying to embed more complex features.  This is much like the challenge of reading online, where hypertext has the potential to take the reader in so many different directions it can be difficult to capture the intent of the message.

So after reflecting on this process, I would have to say it was very worthwhile.  Having ZERO coding experience I decided (translation: to survive) to take a simple approach.  My Twine story is a game that could be played by high school students, possibly in a Careers class.  The purpose of the game is to have students think about the different choices they will have to make after high school, and where these choices will lead.  I hoped to show them that there are many different paths to success, but the common trait on all paths is the willingness to work hard to achieve goals.

I hope you enjoy my game!

Game of Life

References

Music for Twine story:  https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Images for Twine story: https://pixabay.com/

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

I approached this task reluctantly as I am definitely not the “crafty” type.  I don’t have a Pinterest account, and am convinced I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.  I was intrigued, however, by the prospect of what I might learn, so I decided to go ahead with the potato stamp adventure. 

I watched the DIY clip and was surprised at how easy it was to carve the letters into the potatoes.  After practicing for about 15 minutes, it took me about 5 minutes per letter.  Once I had my word completed, I proudly painted my first letter (the letter L), placed the stamp onto the paper, and then felt like I was part of a practical joke.  How could I not have realized the letters needed to be backwards??  I laughed out loud and considered myself fortunate that the E and A did not have to be redone.  I then spent another 15 minutes re-doing the other 3 letters.  So in total the process took about an hour.  I did have a fairly easy time reproducing the word twice, although the potato was very delicate.  When I think about how many words there are in the English language, and how long it took me to make 1 simple 5 letter word, it is astounding to think how painstaking it must have been to copy manuscripts by hand and work with some of these early text technologies. 

This assignment also made me think about the limitations of the earliest versions of the printing press.   I intentionally selected a word with only one circular letter (R), because I knew it would be easier to carve straight lines (although I also thought the word LEARN was appropriate for the assignment).   I can imagine that this also challenged the earliest technicians creating letters out of wood, and how this would likely have been far less of an issue when wood was replaced by the metal molds used in moveable type.  As well, like wood, I can tell the potato would not be very durable. 

The evidence is clear that the printing press did indeed “change the pattern of literacy,” (Harris, 2017) and this assignment really brings that concept to life.  When printed materials became more available an entire world was unlocked.  The length of time it took to make the potato stamps to record a single word reflects how this historic change required the invention of a technology to increase the speed at which information could be produced and shared.  I also thought about David Hume’s observation that new printing technologies didn’t just make knowledge more accessible, they made it easier to improve and correct work (Harris, 2017).   When I realized I had made a mistake with my letters, it required carving out new letters, which is time consuming and frankly, annoying.  The advent of the printing press allowed documents to be changed and adapted so much more easily, with future editions reflecting new opinions and discoveries.  This encouraged authors of these early works to strive to include the most up to date knowledge, to the benefit of society. 

Overall this was a thought-provoking experiment which helped me “LEARN” more about text and technology! 

References

Harris, Bradford. (2017). The printed book: opening the floodgates of knowledge [Audio podcast episode]. In How It Began: History of the Modern World . Retrieved from https://howitbegan.com/episodes/the-printed-book/ 

Translated Story: Relighting an Old Flame               

For Task 3 I told the story of how my husband and I met.  I did not rehearse my story, so the transcript is a first and only draft.  I did this intentionally as I felt this would be the most authentic way to analyze the features of oral and written text, along with the specific qualities of the speech to text translator.

TRANSLATION

For this assignment I decided to tell the story of how I met my husband since it’s a pretty interesting story first of all I actually went to high school with my husband and we were quite good friends and by grade 11 and 12 we became very good friends and spent quite a bit of time together I wouldn’t say we were officially dating but we definitely were close after high school remember this was quite a while ago we lost touch which was he easy to do before there were cell phones and social media years went by Twenty Years actually and I had pretty much lost touch with everyone I graduated with and it happened to be our 20-year reunions are the year of our 20-year so because I wasn’t really active on social media or Facebook I had a private profile making it difficult for anyone to really find me being a teacher I thought this would be a good idea I hadn’t really made contact with any of my classmates leading up to our 20-year anniversary high School graduation anniversary so the get together without me even knowing about it to be honest I wasn’t invited because no one could get a hold of me and I missed that get together well as it turns out literally a week later I happened to be pumping gas right around the corner from my house which is in Langley and keep in mind I went to high school in east Vancouver so this is nowhere near where I went to high school and it was a dark knight a cold night it was raining I had a to con I’m pumping gas and all of a sudden I hear a voice saying Helen is that you and I looked up and it was someone that I graduated with a girl named Julian so she quickly let me know that I just missed the 20-year review because our circles you know don’t really interact although interesting lie when I did meet up with him I realized that he was living literally 1 minute 1 minute. From where I was teaching at the time in Surrey and so that was quite interesting to find out that for for 10 years I had I’ve been teaching just a stone’s throw away from where he was living so anyways to story and I now have this amazing blended family my husband had a child very early actually just after grade 12 and so that shy daughter is and then we have teenagers and then that I have from a previous marriage and then my six-year-old. We’ve had together and we are so blessed and have so much fun together and thank goodness that I have to run into Julian from high school at a gas station in Langley on a stormy Dark Knight and she happen to recognize 

In reflecting on the translation, 4 different topics emerged.

1. Differences between the text as a scripted story and the translation.

As I have already mentioned, I did not rehearse telling this story at all.  I wanted to be able to fully appreciate the differences between this version and a scripted story.  I found the differences to be quite revealing.  First, I was a bit disappointed in my storytelling!  Without a chance to write a script I wasn’t able to fully capture the emotions I associate with this story.  I actually missed the whole part of the story where after running into Jillian (not Julian) I added myself to my high school facebook group and this is how I reconnected with my husband.  If I had more time to create a script, I would have provided a more detailed story and added more descriptive language in order to create a more compelling description of how we reconnected.  In reflecting on this, however, I’m not sure if this is due to my own lack of practice in storytelling or a difference between speech (as represented by the transcript) and text.  When I think of cultures where storytelling is an important tradition, they use their craft to communicate in a descriptive way that can incite strong emotions in the listener.   In this example my poor storytelling is possibly an example of the cultural impacts on speech.  Since storytelling is not something I’m used to there is likely a much greater difference between my translation and scripted text.  The other thought I had is that perhaps the story becomes more authentic since I didn’t rehearse or script the resulting text.  For instance, some of the narrative comment I likely wouldn’t have included in a polished, scripted story.  So while not overly descriptive, my translation is an authentic telling of the story of how my husband and I met (again).

2. Specific differences in the translation when compared to what was said. 

I was fairly impressed by the overall accuracy of the speech to text software.  I used Speechnotes to translate my story into text.  There were only a few errors, if an error is defined as an actual mistake where the intended meaning is not communicated properly.  For instance, the word toque was translated as to, that’s my as that’s shy and interestingly as interesting lie.  Overall, however, there were a limited number of these types of mistakes.

What I did find was an enormous deviation from the conventions of written English.  Since I did not dictate punctuation, the transcript is basically one long run-on sentence, with a couple of periods thrown in likely when I paused.  Interestingly, I realize this might reveal why run-on sentences are one of the most common errors in students writing.  Students seem to put thoughts on paper much like a story they would tell, rather than a carefully crafted written document.  As a result, their written work often resembles my transcript…filled with run-on sentences!  I think it would be a great exercise to have students complete this task as an activity in class as way of highlighting the difference between the text in their mind and the grammatical conventions of written English.  I also noticed that at times the lack of punctuation makes parts of the story difficult to understand.  Without the pauses and gestures that are afforded storytellers, ideas in the translated text seem to run into each other.

I also noticed the translation failed to capture the narrative comments that are common to storytelling.  It reminded me of reading one of Shakespeare’s soliloquies (rather than watching a performance) without the written notation that indicates which comments are an aside and being directed at the audience and not the character on the stage.  For instance, in my transcript I have comments like “remember this was quite a while ago” or, “being a teacher I thought this would be a good idea.”  In these narrations I deviate from the story to talk directly to an audience that doesn’t even exist, which I found interesting but also difficult to for the translation to properly capture.

3. The materiality of written language. 

In taking my story and using technology to create a text version I was reminded of the notion of the materiality of written language (Hass, 1996).  By creating a permanent record of the story of how my husband and I met, I have added a record to our family history.  This is an important distinction between oral and written language.  While oral language can clearly be used to pass down history, it is dependent on others to continue to pass down as an oral tradition. While this exists as a difference between speech and text, the readings this week made it clear that it is impractical to view speech and text as dichotomous.  The transcript of my oral telling is evidence that supports Scibner and Cole’s (1981) assertion that writing is not just decontextualized speech, a concept discussed in detail in the Hass (1996) selection.  A written version of this story would have similarities and differences from the translated story (an example of speech), but would be inextricably linked as they are both means of communication.  Their differences are an opportunity to study the unique features of text and speech.

4. Implications for considering the impact of technology. 

Finally, recognizing the contextualized nature of speech and text is key to avoiding an “instrumental view of technology” (Hass, 1996, p.21).  By acknowledging that context matters, one is also accepting that technology matters, as it may provide the context for creating and communicating speech or text.  With this comes a recognition that technology is absolutely not just a tool, and is influenced by multiple factors like culture, values, audience, and purpose.  This could apply to the content of my story, for instance I might not be so willing to share this story in a society less accepting of blended families.  It is also evident in the translation itself, for instance the capitalization of Dark Knight due to this being a popular film.  These cultural constructs influence both speech and text and are thus important to consider.

Overall I found this an intriguing activity, as a simple translation of the story of how I met my husband revealed a variety of interesting qualities of text and speech.

References

Haas, C. (1996). Writing Technology.  New York: Routledge.

Scribner, S. & Cole M. (1981).  The Psychology of Literacy.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

What’s In Your Bag?

For this task I decided to focus on my work bag, which contains items that I take back and forth from work to home on a daily basis.  You will notice that I included a picture of my empty bag, as the current situation has meant I am now working from home and no longer need this bag.  Reflecting on this led me to some interesting perspectives, which I will discuss later.  The contents of my bag when I was using it reveal quite a bit about who I am.  As a teacher it is rare that I leave the building without some marking, which is the stack of papers in the photo.  Working from home is something I am used to, although the current situation clearly provides a whole other layer of complexity!  The red jacket, toque, and socks are my essential gear for running.  I always have these in my bag so if the weather doesn’t cooperate, I can still fit in my run after school.  I don’t run every day, but if I commit to running it’s usually with a couple of colleagues, and we run rain or shine!   While I’m usually wearing the Apple watch, I use it for tracking the pace and distance of my runs, and for music, and if it’s not on me it’s in my bag.  The headphones allow me to escape and focus, and come in very handy if I’m running alone, or trying to concentrate while marking.  The last items are the two marbles, which I found in the bottom of my bag.  These likely fell out of my purse and were part of a tic-tac-toe game that I have on-hand to entertain my youngest when we are out for dinner or enjoying a local brewery!  When I think about these items, they show that my life revolves around family, fitness, and work. 

The items also connect to many ideas related to text and technology.  One of the comments this week that I connected to was the idea that language becomes a technology in that it is an invitation to facilitate communication (Postman, 1992).  In this sense the stack of marking is both text and technology.  For this assignment students are asked to make connections between a selection of short stories.  They are required to use text to explain their thinking but are encouraged to select creative visuals to represent their interpretations.  The selection of images can be digitally produced, cut out of magazines, or hand-drawn, but they do “facilitate communication” and thus become a form of technology.  Students must find a way to use both text and images to communicate their understanding. 

The Apple watch is the most obvious example of technology in my bag.  It has a seemingly endless number of functions designed to make communication easier and allow one to access all sorts of information instantly.  What is revealing to me is that I find very little use for most of these functions!  My husband gave this to me as a gift so I could run without my phone, and that is by far the function I use most frequently.  My limited use of my watch may in part be because I’m reluctant to become too committed to technology that is so easily accessible.  I am an example of the “extreme reactions” that are often linked to advancements in technology.  I definitely can relate to feeling overwhelmed by the affordances of my Apple watch and want to maintain the ability to disconnect!  As technology has increased the ability to interact with texts quickly and in such a wide variety of forms there have been both positive and negative impacts.  How does language and communication through text fit into this discussion?  One way is to think about how text is more than written language and has its roots in oral traditions.  I loved the description of text as “woven words,” (1.5 Thinking About Technology) which is represented by how I can speak into my Apple watch, and it will take those words and transform them into text.  Here is a true mingling of text and technology.  So while I’m reluctant to get too committed to my watch, I do appreciate some of these benefits.

The headphones also led me to reflect on another aspect of advancements in technology and how they relate to text.  Bluetooth technology has changed how we interact with our technology.  Once restricted by wires or signals that constantly drop, this technology has advanced to a place where devices are connected at the touch of a button, just as we are all connected thorough the internet, social media etc.  We are a society of instant gratification, which is reflected in how our technologies have evolved to meet these demands.  As a result of the desire to connect and access information instantly, have we lost the ability to engage in deep conversations, to take the time to truly listen to each other?  Does an emphasis on written over oral language, texting instead of talking, place limits on how we communicate? In some cases, I would say this is true.  However, when I look at the empty bag, and reflect on the new learning landscape that is emerging amidst a pandemic, I am reminded how much we rely on communication technologies, and how adaptable we are to communicating in a variety of environments.  For instance, I now use a Chat function on Microsoft Teams to regularly message students to check in with them, remind them about assignments, and answer questions. This is where text and technologies merge, and I find it interesting maintaining a somewhat formal tone in such an informal Chat environment.  Even the word Chat elicits a different response than thinking about composing an email.  I also consider the endless virtual meetings on Teams or think about my own children attending virtual lessons on a variety of platforms.  This new world may lead to us reconnecting to our oral language in a new way.  Whether it’s oral or written, the innovative ways people are using text to communicate, and the undeniable influence of technology, are certain to have lasting impacts on education and likely society in general.