Melissa’s ETEC 540 Tasks and Reflections

For the last few weeks, our readings for this course have discussed algorithms and the challenges that this form of artificial intelligence poses for society.  This week, I was introduced to the genre of “Speculative Narratives” which reminds me of a combination between science fiction and dystopian fiction.  In two of the required listening podcast episodes for this week, the suggestion is made that in the future AI may be in the form of everyone having their own customized personal assistants that reside in the cloud (Bruff, 2019; Greenspan, n.d.).  This actually reminded me of the novel Origin by Dan Brown (2017) that I read a few years ago and one of the main characters in the story, Winston.  Winston is the AI personal assistant to a tech billionaire, and Winston resides in “the cloud”.  In the book, Professor Langdon (the same character from The Da Vinci Code and The Inferno), sets off to save the day with the help of Winston.  While Winston is charming and helpful right from the beginning, as time goes on the book definitely begins to reveal some of the potential challenges posed by this type of technology when it comes to ethics.  In addition, the book is a commentary on the lengths that some people will go to hide scientific discoveries and truth when it does not fit their narrative or agenda (Brown, 2017).

All of this really had me thinking about the popularity of Siri, Google Home, and Alexa, as it really is not too far reaching to think about how these “personal assistants” may evolve and change over time as algorithms change and improve.  This scenario, in combination with the ongoing problem in our society with the growing availability of disinformation and conspiracy theories online, led me to think about how these AI personal assistants may be programmed to create bubbles that filter all the information that individuals do not want themselves or their families to see.  However, what are the consequences of applying too many filters?  I decided to write my Speculative Narratives based on these premises, but more specifically, on how this evolving technology might impact children.  My first speculative narrative is a story that I wrote and recorded about a 6 year old girl, Vista, on the day that she receives her custom AI personal assistant in the year 2041.  A special thanks to my own 6 year old daughter, Brynna, for playing the voice of Vista!  My second speculative narrative is much shorter and in the form of a paragraph with an accompanying visual, but it provides a continued speculation of how this technology might impact Vista 10 years later in the year 2051 when she is 16 years old.

Vista, Age 6, 2041: Part 1

Vista, Age 16, 2051: Part 2

The bell rings, it’s lunch time.  Vista jumps out of her seat and hurries out of the class to find her friends who are gathering under their favourite tree at the back of the school yard.  As usual, they all pull out their devices and echo similar commands, “Hey Nova, play my study music playlist,” says Vista before she wraps her device in a hoodie and stuffs it in her backpack.  Everyone else does the same.  They then toss their backpacks in a heap a few meters away to make sure that no AIs can hear them.  The group has determined that not all AIs are programmed with surveillance to report back to their parents, but some are and you can really never be too careful.  Typically, while the group eats lunch they work on the newspaper that they have been secretly been publishing on paper the old-fashioned way just for their friends.  They learned about newspapers in history class and decided that was the perfect medium to deliver the truth about what’s happening in the world to a wider audience of teenagers, as they have found that they all have access to slightly different information about what is going on the world and they can get a better picture if the piece it all together.  “It doesn’t seem to matter how much I search for information about art, or want to look at career opportunities for artists, Nova just keeps showing me information about the path to becoming a data analyst”, complains Vista.  “Just think of all the crypto you would make, if you became a data analyst though…” says her friend Kya before they both burst out laughing.  Vista was really good at math and coding so she felt Nova was always pushing her in that direction, but yet, her true love was art.  “I wish I had a ton of crypto now, and then I would just get Nova’s algorithm adjusted” says Vista.  All of a sudden their friend Jae arrives out of breath from running across the field.  “Look what I have” he says as he places a crumbled paper flyer in front of them.  “My cousin found it.  Do you all want to go with me?”  Everyone’s eyes widened as they read the poster and nodded enthusiastically.  They were the first generation that was growing up with the restrictions and censorship imposed by an algorithm designed by their parents.  They had heard rumours that there teenagers and young adults challenging the legalities, but to date, they had not been able to find any concrete proof.  “This is exactly what we have been waiting for,” says Vista.

For additional reflection on this assignment, please visit:

Linking Assignment #6 – Sandra V.

References

Brown, D. (2017, October 3). Origin. Doubleday.

Bruff, D. (Host). (2019, May 20). Episode 60: Future of digital literacies faculty panel [Audio podcast episode]. In Leading Lines. Vanderbilt University. https://soundcloud.com/leadinglines

Greenspan, S. (Host). (n.d.). 01_autopilot off [Audio podcast episode]. In Bellwether. https://soundcloud.com/thisisbellwether

Predictive Text Screenshot

Writing a micro-blog using a prompt and predictive text, reminded me of what it often looks like when young children are learning to write.  They may have lots they want to say, but when they go to write, they often limit their stories by only using simple words that are easy to write.  They often change their story as they go to substitute words that are simpler to write compared with the words they choose when storytelling.  In addition, they will often cut their story short when they get frustrated by abruptly ending it with a period.  I felt similarly constrained when writing based on my prompt “As a society, we are…”, as I was limited to the simple words that the messaging app suggested and I wanted to end my message early when I became frustrated and it became clear that what I wanted to say was going going to be articulated in this way.  The final product was the following:

As as society, we are still learning about technology and the community that we are all about and how it can help us with our activities.

I do feel this way (I think!), but that is definitely not how I would have articulated this sentiment outside of the confines of predictive text.

Thus, it was very interesting to learn a bit of the science behind the predictive text algorithms and how they are built upon the past 50 years of print journalism (McRaney, 2017).  It makes sense then as to why the majority of the words that are suggested when using predictive text, as simple words would largely make up the most commonly used words in the English language.  It does sort of bring to light the philosophical question as to whether or not the prevalent use of algorithms in our society are helping us or hurting us?

Prior to this week, I was oblivious to the proprietary nature of algorithms and the countless ways that algorithms have been used and abused. The Reply All podcast episodes of “The Crime Machine, Part I and II” (Vogt, 2018; Vogt, 2018) should be required listening for everyone to gain an understanding of how algorithms help to perpetuate systemic racism. Especially since according to Dr. Shannon Vallor, algorithms act as both an “accelerant” and a “mirror” for existing problems within society (Santa Clara University, 2018). This in combination with the “nefarious” uses for algorithms that Dr. Cathy O’Neil (2017; Talks at Google, 2016) describes by the way that algorithms shield and hide crimes, deceptions, and injustices due to the fact that often even the people using the algorithms have little understanding of how they operate. This is incredibly disturbing. It would be nice to see more government oversight, but yet on the other hand, politicians are slow to pass new policies and susceptible to the influence of rich lobby groups, particularly in the United States where the need for this type of regulatory framework would largely need to be developed to be implemented.  It is hard to believe or trust that this would be a solution. Earlier today, I happened to see this TikTok video by @washingtonpost which I think comically captures the sad realities of waiting for any governments to step-in and regulate the tech industry and their use of algorithms, when they really do not have the technical knowledge to fully understand what is happening.

@washingtonpostLawmakers are interrogating the CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter today on the role the companies have played in spreading misinformation.♬ original sound – Tara’s Mum and Dad

In the end, I think that transparency is going to have to be demanded by consumers perhaps similar to the environmental movement and facilitated by an NGO, but ultimately, their success will depend on education.  The public needs to become aware of the power of algorithms, gain a deeper understanding of how they work, and demand better to prevent algorithms from hurting people and society.

Linking Assignment #5 – Manize N.

References

McRaney, D. (Host). (2017, November 20). Machine bias (No. 115) [Audio podcast episode]. In You are not so smart. https://youarenotsosmart.com/2017/11/20/yanss-115-how-we-transferred-our-biases-into-our-machines-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/

O’Neil, C. (2017, July 16). How can we stop algorithms telling lies? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/16/how-can-we-stop-algorithms-telling-lies 

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

Talks at Google. (2016, November 2). Weapons of math destruction | Cathy O’Neil | Talks at Google [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHs8SA1qpk

Vogt, P.J. (Host). (2018, October 12). The crime machine, part I (No. 127) [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h967/127-the-crime-machine-part-i

Vogt, P.J. (Host). (2018, October 12). The crime machine, part II (No. 128) [Audio podcast episode]. In Reply all. Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/n8hwl7/128-the-crime-machine-part-ii#episode-player

Washington Post [@washingtonpost]. (2021, March 25). Lawmakers are interrogating the CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter today on the role the companies have played in spreading misinformation. https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/6943684534089092358?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v3&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6903017051725383173

User Inyerface, Mission Complete!

If you enjoy CAPTCHAs, creating passwords that fulfill a list of requirements, and spending time filling out forms with your personal information only to be met with errors, then you should definitely check out Bagaar’s User Inyerface.  “User Inyerface” brilliantly captures and amplifies many of the annoyances that we face when companies use the web to gather information about us by creating the most poorly designed interface possible for data collection.  However, interestingly enough, I could not help but reflect on how in many ways gone are the days where you had to register and fill-in a form with personal information.  Now, you accept that the site uses “cookies” and are usually asked to subscribe to their newsletter for savings. In addition, to login you are offered the option to use your existing Facebook or Google accounts, and we willingly oblige to sidestep the process of filling out yet another form requesting personal information.  However, what information about us are Facebook and Google providing to these partners?  I do not even know…because like most people, I do not read the terms and conditions.

Awhile ago, I actually had a look at the data that Google has gathered on me.  If you follow the instructions here you can have a look at the inferences that Google has made based on your user history and how it targets your advertisements.  Google knew a lot about me – my age range, education, estimated household salary, my marital status, the fact that I am a parent, and interests.  It was a little off in regards to my occupation which was interesting as I feel that I search for a lot of educational materials and resources.   However, it seemed to think that I might be in the medical field…maybe due to all the research that I have done on Covid-19?  Nonetheless, it is disturbing to realize how much information these tech giants are collecting on us, and how little we know about how it is being used.

I did not think that I was completely oblivious to the fact that these tech giants are gathering information and making inferences about us.  However, it was not until I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix that like many, I became aware of how this information is being used to sell our attention and manipulate our emotions as well as our actions (Rhodes, 2020).  In the TedTalk “Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day”, Harris (2017) discusses the ethical problems and lack of oversight with how the algorithms are being used to influence us, and he also references how this is being done with kids.  As a mother and educator, I would like to hope that this is maybe where we would start making (or demanding) changes as a society.

Furthermore, after watching Zeynep Tufekci’s (2017) TedTalk “We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads”, I am now even more concerned about YouTube than I was previously.  A lot of media (and even political) attention recently seems to have focused on Facebook and how they influence users’ decisions.  However, considering that YouTube is where the majority of children get their “start” when it comes to using a platform that is actively selling their attention and has the power to manipulate their beliefs (Tufekci, 2017), maybe this is where the change needs to begin.  Tufekci (2017) describes how YouTube has the tendency to take you down a rabbit hole of introducing increasingly extreme views and the potential it has to radicalize an individual.  In terms of how susceptible our society has been of late to the spread of disinformation and hate where the roots can often be traced back to a viral YouTube video, we as parents and educators really need to be demanding more transparency and control in regards to the algorithms that are being used. 

The dangers unregulated algorithms pose to our children extends far beyond typical advertisements that may just have your child requesting they latest toy that they see in an unboxing (Tufekci, 2017), and writing me a note like my 6 year old daughter did recently asking for a “Scruffaluff” [Scruff-a-luv].  This now just seems like the tip of the iceberg.  The real danger is the fact that she would probably spend all day watching YouTube videos if I would let her as that’s how engaging it is (and the same goes for my 13 year old son), and it’s impossible to know the extent to which what they are watching is influencing their thoughts and opinions at such an impressionable time.  It is just hard to know how to mobilize society to work together to eliminate or reduce the underlying manipulations that are taking place when children use this streaming platform.  However, then I pause and wonder if I have just turned into my parents who probably felt the same way about TV and video games?  

References

Bagaar (n.d.). User inyerface. https://userinyerface.com/

Harris, T. (2017, April). Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_how_a_handful_of_tech_companies_control_billions_of_minds_every_day?language=en

Holmes, A. (2020, March 19). Clicking this link lets you see what Google thinks it knows about you based on your search history – and some of its predictions are eerily accurate. Business Insider.  https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-google-know-about-me-search-history-delete-2019-10#when-you-opt-to-turn-off-ad-personalization-youll-see-this-message-reminding-you-that-ads-will-still-appear-but-be-less-targeted-to-you-11

Rhodes, L. (Director). (2020). The social dilemma [Film]. Netflix. https://www.netflix.com

Tufekci, Z. (2017, September). Zeynep Tufekci: We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads?language=en

To borrow a saying from popular culture, “I was today years old” when I realized that the internet and the web do not hold the same meaning, yet I have been using them interchangeably…oops!   I am happy to report that I now know that the internet refers to the physical infrastructure, while the web is the network of information (Nat and Friends, 2016).  Reflecting on the web and how its success and efficiencies depend upon network connections makes me think of the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Game”, which theorizes that every actor in Hollywood is connected to the actor Kevin Bacon through at least six degrees of separation. 

Naturally, the actors that have been in movies with him have higher degrees of connectivity and know him personally, while those at the sixth degree may not even realize they are connected. A fun fact is that even someone like myself who is not a Hollywood actor is able to find connections that link me to Kevin Bacon, but the degree of connectivity is very weak.  I think that it goes to show that connections can be extremely obvious, but also very obscure or unexpected – which brings me to the results of the Golden Record Curation.

It was interesting to see the visual of the entire class’ “Golden Record” selections and the network of connections using Palladio.  I ended up in a facet group with three other students, and to analyze the connections, I attempted to make my own Adjacency Matrix, although I am not sure if I did it correctly.  I colour coded blue for my connections, pink were the null connections, and orange for the connections of my facet members that I was not a part of.  While I am not sure if I did this correctly, I felt that it helped me to analyze the connections.  Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly), the student that I shared the most connections with in this activity also shares the same first name as me, Melissa D.  Interestingly, our selection process was quite different, yet we had still managed to select six of the same songs, as Melissa D. focused more on her personal musical preferences (Drake, 2021).  On the other hand, Sarah H. and I had quite a similar selection process as we both had focused on the diversity on Earth to be represented, and we had five selections that were the same (Hain, n.d.).  Lyon T. and I only had three selections in common, but he had more connections in common with Melissa D. and Sarah H.  Lyon T. and Melissa D. appear to have shared a more similar selection process as they focused more on their personal musical preferences (Drake, 2021; Tsang, 2021). 

Palladio Facet

Adjacency Matrix

What is particularly interesting is that in total, there were actually only two songs that all four of us had selected: Johnny B. Goode and the Senegal Percussion.  

Originally, I thought that maybe we all ended up in the same group because there was a high degree of connectivity with these two songs, but…if you look at the graph on Palladio with all the connections for the entire class, you can see that that overall, these two songs had a high degree of connectivity.  Therefore, it seemed unlikely that we were all in the same group just because of these two songs…

Palladio: Johnny B. Goode and Senegal Percussion Connections

In fact, there were actually at least five other students that had selected both of these songs who were not in our facet (Erin M., Carlo T., Megan S., Rayneet S., and Manize N.)…curious.  Therefore, it would appear that the algorithm put us all in the same facet because of the number of connections we had that were similar to one or more members of the group, and it is quite possible that the fact that we had six null choices in common factored into why we were not included in a different facet.  However, this is ultimately how network connections work on the web.  Web Pages may be linked in the algorithm not because they are identical, but because they share connections, or left out of the algorithm because of the absence of connections.   It explains why when you search for something on the internet, the top of the list almost always contains the information you are looking for, but as you move down the list (or even go to the second page) you start to wonder what Google was thinking, as the connections become less obvious and significant.  Yet, a simple change in wording in the search, or the use of a different search engine may yield different results or even those that are obscure or unexpected.

Oh, and for those who may be wondering about my connection to Kevin Bacon…here it is:

My paternal grandmother (1) grew up in Saskatchewan and was friends as a teenager with the Canadian actress Shirley Douglas (2) as their families had summer cottages at the same lake.  Shirley Douglas is the mother of the actor Kiefer Sutherland (3) who was in the movie “A Few Good Men” with Kevin Bacon (4).

Linking Assignment #4 – Kirsten M.

References

Drake, M. (2021, March 7). Task 8. UBC Blogs. blogs.ubc.ca/meldrake/2021/03/07/task-8

Hain, S. (n.d.). Task 8: Golden record curation. UBC Blogs. blogs.ubc.ca/shain/task-8-golden-record-curation 

Nat and Friends. (2016, December 16). A journey to the bottom of the internet [Video].  YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9R4tznCNB0

Tsang, L. (2021, March 6). Lyon’s golden picks from the golden record. UBC Blogs. blogs.ubc.ca/lyontsang

Before completing the research for this assignment, I did not know anything about NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.  I had definitely heard their names before but I did not realize that these are spacecraft are on a mission to explore deep space, nor the fact they contain a time capsule in the form of “Golden Record” on-board.  I love the fact that the scientists decided to include this account of life of Earth in the event that the Voyagers are found by extraterrestrial life forms.  It would have been a challenging task to curate the music that best represented Earth to put on the record.  For more information on “Golden Record”, please visit NASA’s website.  However, this task and the existence of the “Golden Record” definitely makes one consider whether or not all of the information we currently have recorded on Earth actually represents everyone on Earth equally, and the answer is definitely, no.  The people with the power are typically those that are recording our Earth’s history and deciding what perspectives to preserve based upon their preferences, values, and biases.

I would like to think that if this project was taking place now, the scientists and scholars would have actually asked for input from other countries and cultures, as to what music they would want included to represent their part of the world, but it is probably as unlikely now as it was 40 years ago. Thus, in the process of reducing the 27 tracks down to ten, I felt incredibly unqualified to make these judgments, and no one person would be fully qualified, as according to Rumsey (2017), we are all “creatures” of the environment and culture that we grow up in which is why we need to share the curation of our cultural memory (Brown University, 2017).

Nonetheless, I formed a criteria that I felt was somewhat “fair”, and yet it is still based upon my understanding of the world, perspectives, value judgements, and the little understanding that I hold in regards to the cultures of the world.  However,  my main criteria was that every continent where humans reside be represented. My secondary considerations to help me narrow it down were that I was looking to provide a variety in musical instruments or genres, represent different time periods, and hopefully include songs that represented certain unique aspects about the Earth itself (water, animals) and/or intimate details about the human condition.

References

Brown University. (2017, July 11). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital memory: What can we afford to lose?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrahqg9ZMc

When I read that the description for this task was to re-imagine the “What’s in your bag?” task, I knew that I wanted to make a TikTok video.  While I have watched a lot of TikTok videos, I have never actually made one.  However, when reflecting upon the concept of “Modebending” and “Multiliteracies”, I think that the popularity of social media apps like TikTok and Instagram stem largely from the way they incorporate multiliteracies and mode bending.  There are countless, creative content creators that are often reinventing the wheel and looking for new ways to communicate and express their thoughts and ideas.  Following in TikToks tradition of building on ideas that are initiated by other creators, the format for my TikTok video is inspired by the creator Caitlyn @Her.atlas who started the trend of “Random Things in my Japanese Home that Just Make Sense!” (Caitlyn, 2020) to showcase the unique things in her Japanese house that are not commonly found in North America.  When I was creating my video, I accidentally left the word “Random” out of my voiceover and text, but decided not to change it, as the reality is that the things in my bag are not random…but also, I learned the hard way that it’s actually impossible to edit a TikTok video after you publish it.   Creating this TikTok took a considerable amount of time and two takes. For the first take, I recorded, edited, added my voiceover, etc. to my first version, published it, and then realized that you could barely hear my voiceover.  Because I had recorded my videos directly in the TikTok app, they had not been saved.  Thus, I had to repeat the process to create a second take…a lengthy process for a video that is only 33 seconds long!

However, while I was creating this video, I definitely developed a new appreciation for the amount of efforts that goes into creating content for these apps.  In addition, the process of making the video through to embedding it on my blog required multiple literacies and skills beyond reading and writing.  I thought that it would be interesting to list the knowledge and skills required here:

1. Open basic apps on an Smartphone (in my case, iPhone).
2. Navigating TikTok, initiating a post, and playing with the different editing functions, like snipping videos and adding text.
3. Planning my voiceover.
4. The ability to add audio in the form of music and recording a voiceover for the TikTok video.
5. When I ran into difficulty, I was able to access the internet on a computer by typing and using a mouse.
6. Searching YouTube videos on the internet and viewing them to help me troubleshoot.
7. Recording videos using my camera function and uploading them to an app.
8. Air Dropping my TikTok video from my phone to my computer.
9. Knowing how to upload videos from my computer to my blog,
10. When the blog indicated that the video file was too big, I had the knowledge to know their were solutions like compressing or embedding the video into the blog.
11. Choosing an online video editor, Vimeo, and uploading my TikTok video.
12. Copying an embed code from Vimeo to use for my blog.
13. Successfully embedding the code from the TikTok video (now on Vimeo) to my blog.

While I was reflecting on the process, I could not help but think about that even though the process was slow the first time around, it would be significantly faster for me to do it a second time now that I have taught myself.  In fact, I could even scaffold the process and teach someone else to do it, including my 6 year old daughter if I walked her through the steps.  While her basic reading and writings skills are still developing, she is engaged and familiar enough with technology that I do not think that it would be that difficult for her.  This is very different from if my daughter had to write a detailed description of the contents of my bag that allowed the reader to see the same level of detail as the video.  Beyond a couple of sentences, a task that involved that much writing would be frustrating for her.  It would be out of reach and inaccessible.  Whereas, the TikTok video would be engaging and she would be willing to learn the process.

Not surprisingly, the importance in re-thinking literacy pedagogy to encompass multi-literacies is incredibly important to me and one of my main motivations for enrolling in the MET program.  The New London Group (1996) describes how literacy pedagogy has typically focused on reading and writing page-bound print, which “has been a carefully restricted project – restricted to formalised, monolingual, monocultural, and rule-governed forms of language” (p. 9).  Nowhere do I think that this is often more apparent than in K to 3 primary classrooms.  I mentioned it briefly in my last post here, but that writing is viewed as a process of pencil on paper, and children are often afforded little other opportunities to express their thoughts.  The New London Group (1996) identifies the six components of multiliteracy as entailing the following modes of meaning: “Linguistic Design, Visual Design, Audio Design, Gestural Design, Spatial Design and Multimodal Design” (p. 25).  The New England Group (1996) describe Multimodal design as being how people create and innovate, as they incorporate different modes of design to create new ways to represent their understanding, which is a form of hybridity.  In addition, Multimodal Design incorporates intertextuality where the creation builds on and “transforms” previous work.  To me, TikTok is a great example of “Multimodal Design” in the way the way that creators combine design elements while also putting their own spin on the design of others, or borrow components like audio to combine with their own work in ways that connect but completely alter the meaning.   The reality is that as educators, we need to be aware of the multiliteracies that exist in the world around us and allow students to develop the skills they will need to be able to understand, appreciate, and create multimodal designs.

References

Caitlyn [@her.atlas]. (2020, April 6). PART 1. #hometour #lifeabroad #japanthings [Video]. TikTok. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMejyHbS5/

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

I recently finished a novel, which was an enjoyable read as it is a thriller so it is outside of the genres that I am typically drawn to.  However, I am glad that I read it though, as the description of the plot makes for an exciting “Emoji Story”.  I began with the title and tried to convey some of the main events that happened in the story, but describing actual scenes was too complicated.  One of the main difficulties that I had when writing this story had to do with not being able to find an emoji that accurately depicted the word that I wanted to write, especially the verbs.  I was also aware that many of the emojis have double meanings, which makes it even more difficult.  For example, when I used the ☠️ emoji, I was using it to mean “killed”, but it could also be danger or poison, yet I also know that youth today are using it to mean extremely funny.  I actually asked my teenage son about this, and he told me that he only uses it sparingly to refer to something that is really, really funny.  In his words, “it’s so funny that you died laughing”.  It is interesting how the “etymology of emojis” which are still relatively new is already evolving and that so many are becoming homonyms, not unlike so many of the words in the English language.

Therefore, it was interesting then to reflect upon what Kress (2005) says about the limitation of words, and how “if there is no word, then the possibility of representation and communication is ruled out.  Only that which is worded can enter into communication; or else, that which is to be represented gets squeezed into the ill-fitting semantic shape of the existing world” (p. 15).  I would suspect this is one of the reasons that we have so many homonyms in English, which can be incredibly confusing to individuals who are just learning to speak a language, or those who are not as familiar with popular culture.   Thus, it really is through the combination of text and images that we are able to communicate in richer detail, which then helps to explain the widespread appeal of the internet, and incorporating emojis into casual text has become so popular.  It is why even though I have always loved to read books, I have found myself over the past 20 years, spending way more time reading the internet than books.  Sadly, it is actually unusual for me to have recently read a novel, as most of the reading that I do currently is either academic, or on the internet.  I have often felt guilty about infrequently I read books compared to in my childhood and youth.  However, as Bolter (2001) describes that with the internet’s combination of text and visuals “it becomes hard to imagine how traditional prose could successfully compete with the dynamic and heterogeneous visual experience that the Web now offers” (p. 70).  Text plus visuals helps us to communicate more effectively and it is more engaging.  If we include the emoji in this, then we can see it as being more than just a casual piece of pop culture.

I think that the fact that text in combination with visuals is something that is really important for teachers to reflect upon, especially in the context of teaching children how to write.  It is easy to get stuck in a mindset of viewing learning to write as something that young children NEED to ALWAYS do with paper and pen/pencil.  Inevitably, many students struggle with writing and show little engagement in the process.  I recently saw a post in a group that I am in where someone was asking what to do with their students in a primary grade that were struggling with writing, as they were distracting the class during their writing block each day and refused to write.  The teacher felt that she was providing appropriate scaffolding with sentence starters, or offering to scribe, but none of this was working.  I could not help but feel that while these students probably needed more scaffolding or the task was too hard, they probably also needed to be engaged in writing again and see it as a valuable means of communication.  This “Emoji Story” task that I am being asked to do actually sprang to mind, as something that would be fun to do with K-12 students.  Fully incorporating the text and literacies that the students see everyday in the world around them is engaging, but also critical in developing the literacy skills they need for the 21st century.

P.S.  In retrospect, I wish that I had chosen a book or show that was more familiar to everyone to make it easier to guess! However, here is a link to the book for anyone that is curious:  click to follow the link for the answer.

Linking Assignment #3 – Jasmeet H.

References

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

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

This is the link to my Twine story “Brynna Loves Dogs”:

Brynna.html_

When I was a child, I really enjoyed the “choose your own adventure” books.  Therefore, this Twine task really appealed to me, as I thought that it would be fun to create my own version online.  I wrote this story with my six-year old daughter in mind, as she really loves dogs and drawing.

I have to confess that this task was WAY more difficult than I thought it would be.  Not only did I have to write a fictional story (and I had to do this linearly, as this is the only way I have been taught to write a story), but I had to learn how to use a new program Twine.  Then, I had to plan out the different slides for my story, how they would connect through hyperlinks, and how to do some very basic formatting.  From what I understand, Twine combines JavaScript, CSS, and HTML into one language, Harlowe, to code the story or game, which makes it more readily accessible to non-programmers.  I definitely appreciate this, as while I have done a few very basic tutorials on JavaScript, it is definitely not enough to be able to do anything with it yet.  And yet, even with a simplified version way to create hypertext through an application that does most of the coding for you, I still felt like “programming” and formatting this story for the internet was difficult.

Ultimately, I would have loved to add additional elements to my story like more than one picture and/or more sound effects, but there ended up being so many aspects that made these additions complicated.  The one picture that I did add of the pug ended up being way too big, and I have no idea how to size down.  When I went to add some audio of the song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to my shooting star slide, the code did not copy and paste properly and because the audio file code was so incredibly long, I gave up on editing it to make it work.

In the end, I am left with something that I feel is not at all finished, but yet, I’m still quite proud of it. I realize that I was a bit preoccupied with the “how” of connecting my slides, that I did not always put the hyperlink on the most appropriate word – just the final word.  However, this is my first attempt at using this program, and I could definitely see using it again and gradually adding complexity to my stories (or games).  I could even see coming back to this story and adding more, as I know my daughter would appreciate more pictures and audio. It really was not until closer to the end of creating the story that I was able to think up more ways that I could have added hyperlinks for additional information.

However, being able to create this type of digital text, requires a lot of skill but also a shift in thinking from writing just a typical story.  One of the main things that I noticed while beginning this task was how illiterate I actually felt trying to complete something that involves very basic knowledge of a computer code.  After I finished my story, I started to think about my experience as a Reading Recovery teacher is that when we are teaching young children how to read books, we assess and teach “Concepts About Print”.   These are some of the basic concepts that children need to master in order to be able to decode a book, such as the orientation of the book, reading the left page and then the right page, reading top to bottom, basic punctuation, etc.  However, many of these concepts go out the window when you are reading and creating on the Internet.

In the 21st century, being able to learn to read a book is no longer the apex of literacy, but what are the “Concepts About Hypertext” that children should be learning?  Many of the basic concepts about print no longer apply on the Internet, and the existence of hypertext if one of these conceptual features that deserves more attention.  Bolter (2001) states that “the supporters of hypertext may even argue that hypertext reflects the nature of the human mind itself – that because we think associatively, not linearly, hypertext allows us to write as we think” (p.42).  Yet in schools, we are still teaching a very printed-text based, linear approach to reading and writing, which is not necessarily serving our students of the 21 century very well.

Finally, learning about Hypertext, made me think about a video on Tik Tok that I saw by the creator @yaaahurdddd who does Wikipedia “speed runs”.  He follows the hyperlinks to find the connection from one prompt, such as “Pikachu” to the final destination “King Tut” in less than 30 seconds.  If you have TikTok, I would recommend checking out his videos, as it is pretty impressive.

Linking Assignment #2 – Lori J.

References

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

It is amazing to think of the history of print and how humans were able to not only invent alphabets as a means of recording ideas and information, but also innovate to mechanize the process of printing to allow for wide spread dissemination of information.  Creating my potato stamps was a humbling experience, and I am almost embarrassed to admit that it was not until my fourth letter that I realized that I was carving my letters the wrong way.  In order to create stamps the letters need to be backwards.  Therefore, I had to redo my letter “P” and “L”.  In my collage I show that the comparison between my two “Ps”, as I definitely found the backwards letters difficult to carve.  “N” was particularly challenging.  It took me about 40 minutes to complete this activity, and I did get better at carving out my letters with practice.  However, I had thought that maybe I would do a sixth stamp and make a leaf, but by the time I finished my letters I was finished and did not want to make another stamp.

For the stamping, I decided to spread out the paint on a surface first and then place my potato stamp on it to pick up the paint before stamping.  This was quite effective in distributing the paint somewhat evenly.  I adopted this method based upon what I have seen in videos about printing presses.  The hardest part about stamping my word was aligning the letters so that they were straight and to press down with right amount of pressure so that the paint was as light/dark as the other letters.  As you can see, my two words are similar in orientation, but my “A” is very crooked in the second “plant” and a bit messy.  The thickness of the paint on each letter completely varies.

Completing this activity definitely game me time to reflect not only on how important the invention of the Gutenberg’s printing press was in regards to paving the way for the mass production of print, but also the intricacies that were involved in creating this invention.  From creating each individual die cast letter, the plates to assemble the letters to replicate the document backwards, and then the machine itself that allowed full pages to be stamped quickly and evenly.  A remarkable invention!

Linking Assignment #1 – Adriana S.

Hello!  This was a fun task, as this weekend was a milestone birthday for me, so it is an interesting time for me to do some self-reflection.  I am not sure that my contents reveal my age, but feel free to guess in the comments below!   My choice of items are somewhat curated, as they are what would be in my bag if I were to leave the house for more than a quick errand or walk right now.

To start with, the obvious things that I think the contents of my bag reveal:

• I live in the northern hemisphere, and it’s winter right now (toque, Yeti mug).
• I am a mom (pony stickers, little case for my first aid kit, granola bar, huge wallet – but no diapers, so the kids are not babies anymore).
• I really like coffee and/or tea (giant Yeti mug).
• I am trying to reduce my use of single use plastic items (reusable bag, Yeti mug, Starbucks reuseable cup).
• I wear glasses, but mostly just for reading which is why they are in their case and not on my face.
• I like technology and use it a lot (iPad, iphone, Apple pen, wireless ear buds), but I have not converted to technology 100% for reading and writing (book, bullet journal).
• I am a little bit artistic (bullet journal, flair pens).
• I do not wear much makeup unless it is a special occasion, but lip balm is a must in our dry climate.
• I like certain homeopathic remedies (Sage essential oil roller ball), but ultimately I follow science and medical experts (face mask, alcohol based hand sanitizer, Advil).
• I really like Homesense/Marshall’s/Winner’s – but I have not been in a long time due to the pandemic which is why I still have an unused gift card in my bag!
• I do love sushi (sushi on my mask).
• I care about Indigenous people and I am trying to expand my knowledge of Indigenous world views, listen and learn (Braiding Sweetgrass).

The less obvious things about me that this bag does not reveal:

• I live in northern Alberta.
• I have a daughter who is 6, and a son that is 13.
• I will have been married to my husband for 15 years, as of this March.
• I collect children’s books.
• I love to travel, but my last trip was 1.5 years ago to Alaska because of the pandemic.
• I like to camp, hike, and bike.
• I am pretty close with my parents and sisters; I have a niece and a nephew.
• I am an Elementary school teacher who has primarily specialized in literacy instruction and learning support, but I am not teaching this year due to the pandemic.
• I am a student in the MET program.
• I am beginning to become more politically active, as I care a lot about politics especially on the provincial level.  My first degree was a BA degree with a major in Political Science from UBC.

When I was reflecting on how my bag has changed over the years, one of the things that jumped out at me was the difference in the technology from when I completed my first B.A. (1999-2003), my B.Ed. (2010-2011), and now I am a student in the MET program (2021).  I can definitely see how my technological competencies have improved and the way the way that the use of technology and text have evolved for me from the start of adulthood until now.  I have outlined a little bit of this evolution.

2000 – 2003

When I completed my B.A., the only technology that I carried with me around campus would perhaps have been my disc-man for listening to music on CDs.  I brought a binder, notebook, or a clipboard to class and wrote my notes out by hand.  I had a desktop computer in my dorm room, and UBC was my first experience with high speed internet.  I had to purchase a pile of textbooks at the bookstore, went to the library frequently to sign out books, and I did not read any books digitally just the occasional journal article.  I remember writing all of my essays out by hand first before typing them onto the computer.  When I needed to communicate with friends and family, I would use a landline telephone, e-mail, or MSN messenger.  All of my classes were in person with the exception of one English course that I took by distance online, but there were no interactions with my classmates, and only emails with my instructor.  I do not have a lot of photos from this time, as I did not have a cellphone or a digital camera.  I had cable and movies were watched on DVDs. I did not have any social media.

2010-2011

By 2010, I had an iPhone, a laptop computer (not Apple), and I’m pretty sure that I also had a Kindle e-reader.  My competencies with technology had improved from quite a few years in an office job, and so I was able to complete assignments and essays directly on the computer without writing them out by hand first.  However, my notes were still written out by hand.  I still purchased some physical copies of textbooks, but I was also using an e-reader mainly for fiction.  My practicums and about 1/2 of my education courses were in person, but the other 1/2 were by distance on-line.  I also distinctly remember this was around the first time that I video chatted, as I went to Mexico for a month for one of my education courses and so I would use Skype to talk to my husband and son.  When I was in Mexico, I took all of my photos with a digital camera.  TV was satellite, and most of the movies we watched were pay per view. The only social media I had was Facebook.

2021

Now, I have an iPhone, iPad, and an Apple desktop computer (plus my son has a Chrome book, and my husband has a laptop).  Most of my reading for school is done on my iPad, and I highlight and make notes with my Apple pen, or typed on the computer in Evernote where they are saved in the cloud.  All of my classes for the MET program are online, and I interact with my instructor and classmates using online discussions, chats, or email.  I have not had to buy a textbook yet, as I have been able to access all of the articles and books I need online through the library.  Both of my children are learning by distance right now, too.  Our household frequently uses Teams, Zoom, or Facetime for their video chat capabilities.  For my mom’s birthday, we recently had a murder mystery party over Zoom.  I have an Echelon spin bike and I can stream live or on demand workouts from my basement.   We do not have a landline telephone.  My digital camera is collecting dust, as I always use my phone for photos.  We do not have satellite or cable TV.  We stream all of our entertainment through Spotify, YouTube, Netflix, Prime, NHL Centre Ice, and Disney+.  We download games for our Playstation and Nintendo Switch.  Despite my very large and extensive personal library of children’s books, I am teaching my 6 year old daughter to read with a digital subscription for online levelled books.  I frequently use the following social media applications: Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok; and I also play a lot of Words with Friends (except I mostly play with strangers from all over the world).

Final Thoughts

Wow!  Writing it all down, it becomes clear that in 20 years that while text has played an important part in my education and life, digital technologies have gone from being a footnote in my life to a starring role.  My everyday life and education centre around the use of text and digital technologies, as I’m sure there are even things I have missed.  Like I just realized, I do not make grocery lists anymore as I order my groceries online through an app from home.  From my bag though, you can still see little snippets of the non-digital text that I hold onto and have not let go of yet.  My bullet journal is an example of how despite how hard I have tried when it comes to planning my life and making lists, I really do prefer do that with pen and paper, and periodically I like to use my flair pens to practice some hand lettering.  Also, if given the choice, I do prefer to read non-fiction as a hardcover or softcover book rather than on the iPad or e-reader.  I realize I should have included a children’s book in my photo, as I do love children’s books and still buy physical copies for my own children and would share them with my students when I was teaching.  However, with how much text and technology have evolved over the past 20 years and how rapidly it is changing, it does leave me to wonder what text and technology will look like down the road for today’s children when they become adults?  At any rate, I do not think that it will be many years before this photo will look rather ancient to an archaeologist, and that they will undoubtedly be able to pinpoint that it was the belongings of a Xennial female mother from Canada during the great pandemic of 2020-21.