- The first link is to Ben’s page for the writing activity
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15f19HZA_MnKtKQFwjl_hxS4KxEL18R164JWdFR4osYw/edi
The post resonated with me as I had a very similar thought/experience – handwriting is used more for jotting notes, mapping things out, etc. Ben pointed out that he had kept his students in mind while writing this piece. That got me thinking about my students. I have exams coming up this week and part of the process is to “time test” those exams. That involves me taking the exam as a student would to see how long it will take. Exams are all handwritten and I found myself taking the time to complete calculation questions but glossing over the written questions. I really didn’t want to take the time to handwrite out the response even though I knew the answer having created the question! I have a better appreciation for the difficulty of organizing thoughts and that is without the pressures of time or an exam setting. I think (hope!) I will be more sympathetic to this when marking student responses.
Update edit: I have been deliberately paying attention to students’ habits in class with respect to handwriting notes, and have had a few quick chats with them about it. I have, indeed, had more empathy for them too in their exams, particularly on the qualitative questions requiring written responses (vs. calculations)
2. My second link is to Chris’ page for the grouping activity.
https://chrissmithmet540.weebly.com/task-9
“Ultimately these choices, or lack thereof, curate the choice of preservation more so than the curators themselves.” I liked Chris’ choice of video games to expand on his idea. The reasons certain games are (or are not) available may be due to a variety of reasons unknown to the ultimate end user. The reasons certain games have not been selected may be just as relevant as those for the ones that are. I thought it was a good analogy of the comments from Abby Smith Rumsey’s comments that librarians used to consider what we can afford to keep. Now in the digital age, it’s what can we afford to lose, and what might the impact of that information loss be to future generations?
Although there is ZERO connection between video games and the Bible, Chris’ example twigged me to think about the curation of the books in the Bible. Although being involved with a church for most of my life, it wasn’t until somewhat recently – maybe 8 years ago – that I learned there have been books included in the Bible historically, that have since been removed. It’s difficult to fully comprehend the impact of the choices that were made regarding which books to include and which to exclude. How might history be different if Christians had had different ‘guidance’ of teachings than they had?
This also has impact in textbooks, and course curriculums. Who decides what goes into a course and what stays out? I could go on, but to summarize, I’m more fully aware of the impact of the decisions all around regarding what stays and what doesn’t. Something about Chris’ post got me thinking more fully about it.
3. My third link is to Charles’ on the speculative futures.
https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540charlescurrie/
I liked the use of the electronic voice and I agree with Charles that it was a good choice. I thought it added to the futuristic slant the post was intended to portray. It reminded me of the impact different media makes, and how it influences how we perceive something, how we feel about it. When GPS systems first became available for cars, I remember many of us were amused by the choice of voices. We particularly enjoyed the British female voice sounding somewhat exasperated when we missed a turn and she had to “recalculate”. It seemed less aggressive than other voice choices. Charles’ choice of voice was spot on for the purpose of the task.
4. Link to Evan’s page on the voice to text task
https://sites.google.com/view/etec-540rodger/task-1/task-3
First, I appreciated Evan’s comments around the differences between oral storytelling and written, and the traditions of First Nations. I thought it was a well-written summary of the topic. I particularly appreciated Evan’s observation that, “Comparatively, with written language, intonation, expression, and stage presence are absent. Authors may use a variety of different fonts or italics to emphasize the same message, however, the impact may not be the same.” It is interesting how we have added elements into the written word to try to emulate body language and facial expressions as we would if speaking to another. We recognize ALL CAPS is seen as shouting, bold has us say the word(s) in our head a bit louder than the others, etc. The introduction of emoticons and emojis was a big step in trying to convey the intent behind the words. Yet, we have all experienced the miscommunication that can occur with these enhancements of our written words. We may be trying to convey one thing, but the receiver interprets it as something else. Oral communication is certainly not immune to misinterpretation but it seems that we can do a better job of broadly communicating using more than just the words. All this gets me thinking about the trend, or pressure, to move away from lecturing in university. While our students are capable of reading (we hope!), I believe there can be tremendous value still in lecturing on the material. Having the ability to use storytelling, body language, emphasis on particular issues, can better communicate the concept for longer term retention. There is definitely strengths and weaknesses to both oral and written storytelling and we might do well to use them both to capitalize on the best of both worlds.
5. Link to Eva’s site – Emoji story
https://metstudent.wixsite.com/etec540/copy-of-task-1-2
First of all, I’m not sure of the movie Eva was discussing, but based on her hint that the main actor had his own emoji, my guess is that David Bowie was in it, or it was about him (I think that’s who the emoji is for….??). And I completely agree with Eva that getting one’s own emoji is a feat to strive for!
This was the part of the post that resonated with me, “Another concern was the meaning of the emojis. It feels that each emoji can mean many things. How would the reader know which way you meant the emoji to be interpreted… as a feeling, an action, or a part of a sound combination. This became really clear when I realized that I was using one emoji in two different ways in different parts of the story. That must be quite confusing to the ‘reader’. ”
Throughout the course, we have contemplated oral and written communications, and in thinking about the similarities and differences between them, I have concluded both are subject to miscommunication. Writing in pictures vs. words is no different. I wonder how this task would have worked out if we had had a wider variety of emojis to pick from. Eva noted that it is possible to create emojis and it would be an interesting exercise to try to tell the story with specifically created emojis. Would we have been more successful in telling our stories or would it all have been just as confusing? When we create new “words” to communicate, how do others learn the meaning of those words, and what happens when the speaker and receiver have different ideas about that? I had not considered that the emoji exercise could extend into lessons about our everyday language, but thanks to Eva’s post, I have thought about this task in a different way.
6. I could not pass on linking to Nikki’s page, overall:
https://sites.google.com/learn.sd23.bc.ca/krastel-etec540/home
The design of the page with bitmojis, I thought, was brilliant. I found it interesting how much I wanted to engage with Nikki’s content because of the set up. This is not to say that the content wasn’t great, because there were many great observations and ideas in her content. The interface was straight forward and easy to use but it was the design that was highly appealing and drew me in. Most weeks, I found myself checking Nikki’s page to see what she had added. It reminds me of the importance of design and the user experience, just as User Inyerface did, but in a much, much more pleasant and appreciated way. I am a fan of recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses, and creativity and design is definitely one of my weaknesses (I have hired someone to just tell me what colors to use for painting my walls). I’m kind of a get to the point, what’s the substance kind of person, and often skip over the design aspects of things. My husband teaches marketing and I am reminded of my weakness when I compare my classroom powerpoints slides to his. His are full of pictures, charts, diagrams. Mine are full of words and numbers. It will be nothing for him to spend an hour on one slide. I just don’t have the patience. However, I have been inspired to try a little harder and have “upgraded” some of my slides this year. Nikki’s page serves as one more reminder that when something is appealing, people want to connect and engage. That’s an important step to having your voice heard.