Tag: ETEC 540

For my final assignment, I wanted to explore how technology has, is, and will continue to influence the way we communicate our abilities and competencies. From the first hand-written resume in the late 1400s to the current trend to go multi-modal, technology has influenced and altered not only how a resume looks but also how it functions, and they will continue to evolve together. Enjoy!

(For access to the PDF version, please go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I6mj-dRomsLbjrlMCxs5zIVPmJrcPFkc/view?usp=sharing).

ETEC540 Final Assignment: Resume by Melissa Santo

References

Abulencia, C. (2021, October 13). Why is education important and how does it affect one’s future? World Vision. https://www.worldvision.ca/stories/education/why-is-education-important

Apollo Technical. (2021, May 6). The history of the resume and its future. https://www.apollotechnical.com/history-of-the-resume-and-its-future/

Atkinson, R. (2019, June 22). 5 ways technology has changed recruitment. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-ways-technology-has-changed-recruitment-ryan-atkinson/

Black, D. (2021, August 13). The role of education in driving the future of work. Education Technology. https://edtechnology.co.uk/comments/role-education-driving-future-of-work/

Bogush, P. (2022, April 9). How has technology changed the hiring process. Business Tech Weekly. https://www.businesstechweekly.com/hr-and-recruitment/technology-hiring-process/

Decius, J., Schaper, N., & Seifert, A. (2019). Informal workplace learning: Development and validation of a measure. Human Resource Development Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21368

Eagle. (~2014). Tradition is dead: The evolution of the resume. https://www.eagleonline.com/blog/2014/06/tradition-is-dead-the-evolution-of-the-resume?source=google.com

Gruzd, A., Dubois, E., & Jacobson, J. (2020, July 8). Companies are increasingly turning to social media to screen potential employees. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/companies-are-increasingly-turning-to-social-media-to-screen-potential-employees-141926

Hernandez, J. (2013, July 9). How has resume writing changed in the last 10 years? Great Resumes Fast. https://greatresumesfast.com/blog/how-has-resume-writing-changed-in-the-last-10-years/

Hernandez, J. (2022, January 6). What your resume should look like in 2022. Great Resumes Fast. https://greatresumesfast.com/blog/what-your-resume-should-look-like-in-2022/

Indeed Editorial Team. (2022, June 19). Types of workplace training programs and their benefits. Indeed. https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/types-of-workplace-training

Johnson, J. (2021, November 22). 6 ways resumes have changed throughout the years. Association for Talent Development. https://www.td.org/blog/6-ways-resumes-have-changed-throughout-the-years

LinkedIn Learning. (2022). 2022 workplace learning report: The transformation of L&D. https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report#2 (full report available here: https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/en-us/pdfs/workplace-learning-report/LinkedIn-Learning_Workplace-Learning-Report-2022-EN.pdf)

Skillroads. (n.d.). The Evolution of a Resume (Infographic). Skillroads Blog. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://skillroads.com/blog/resume-evolution

Talent Intelligence. (2021, May 10). How tech is changing the hiring process in 2021 and beyond. https://www.talentintelligence.com/how-tech-is-changing-the-hiring-process-in-2021-and-beyond/

Tarpey, M. (2018, August 9). Not getting job offers? Your social media could be the reason. Career Builder. https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/not-getting-job-offers-your-social-media-could-be-the-reason

Zaphir, L. (2019, June 16). What’s the point of education? It’s no longer just about getting a job. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/whats-the-point-of-education-its-no-longer-just-about-getting-a-job-117897

 

 

Neuroscience, the scientific study of how our brains work, has shown us that our brains function and communicate with the rest of our body through neural connections, thus resulting in thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions (Psychology Today, n.d.). It has shown us that we are, quite literally, hard-wired to find connections with each other without needing extrinsic motivation to do so (Cook, 2013). I think this explains my initial reaction to viewing the above graph: the first thing I wanted to do was to see who had picked the same songs as me.

In a similar vein, this also explains most peoples’ reactions to search engine algorithms. Most people do not sit and wonder how their brain carries messages back and forth, considering how their fingers know which keystrokes to perform, just as most people don’t wonder how Google yields the search results it does. However, as we have seen throughout the course, the meaning of the connection is important, and yet it is often unknown (or unconfirmed) unless we actively pursue it.

It is clear that these connections between selected songs and curators do not explain their motivation or reasoning for why they did (or didn’t) select a track. And yet, the connection that I feel when I see that several others also selected Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria from The Magic Flute does not need to be correct for me to feel it, or create it in my mind: we made the same selection, therefore the weight of our link between us as human nodes increases, ever so slightly. And since our brains are wired to seek out these social links (Cook, 2013), we then project the internet as a social being and assign the links as a way of feeling connected with others. This can clearly turn sour, not just in what we are steered to see by algorithms (seeing the same or similar things over…and over…and over again) but also in the biases contained in the algorithms themselves (Vallor, 2018).

As much as we think this graph tells us, it is also evident by the line of questioning in the assignment description that there is a lot that it does not tell us:

• Is the visualization able to capture the reasons behind the choices? No
• Does it reflect the choices we did not make? No
• Do the connections and communities exist due to profound similarities in political views, occupation, or preferred social activities? No, it only exists because people clicked on the same response on the quiz.

This assignment reminded me that a) we automatically seek connections, as social beings; b) those connections sometimes don’t matter beyond a sense or feeling of similarity, and c) knowing about a and b can make us more alert to consider the connections the web presents to us and whether we actually see the connections we think we are seeing.

References

Cooke, G. (2013, October 22). Why we are wired to connect. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-we-are-wired-to-connect/

Course Notes, Module 9.1 page. https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/96891/pages/9-dot-1-what-is-the-web-and-what-is-not?module_item_id=4377874

Psychology Today. (n.d.). What is neuroscience? Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/neuroscience

Santa Clara University. (2018). Lessons from the AI Mirror Shannon Vallor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k

The purpose of this task was to consider the implications and consequences of AI-informed decision-making. Through the Detain/Release simulation, I was tasked with assuming the role of juror to decide whether defendants pending trial would be detained or released. The following information was available to aid my decisions:

• an assessment, resulting in low/medium/high ratings, on each defendant on their likelihood to:
  • fail to appear,
  • commit a crime,
  • commit a violent crime;
• a recommendation from the prosecution;
• a statement from the defendant.

After undertaking this simulation twice, I ‘failed’ both times. Either the jail capacity was reached or the community fear, triggered by additional crimes supposedly committed by those released, surpassed a threshold and created mass panic. And both times, I, as the juror making the decisions, took the blame.

Dr. O’Neil (2016) explains that algorithms are based on two main things (and lots of little things:

• the data used to train the algorithm;
• the definition of success.

In the Detain/Release simulation, it was unclear to me what the data that trained the algorithm was and how the algorithm was concluding with its low, medium and high-risk assessments. Despite this, I did notice myself using it to guide my decisions, particularly because they seemed to align with the prosecutor’s recommendation of whether to detain (medium/high risks) or release (low risks). It also felt bad when I’d made the ‘wrong’ decision, as evidenced when reoffences occurred. Here, it seems as though ‘success’ was defined as: detain as many people as possible without overfilling the jail to prevent repeat offences. While that logically sort of makes sense, it is also an indication that this is a ‘Weapon of Math Destruction,’ or WMD (O’Neil, 2016).

O’Neil (2016) goes on to explain that a WMD is particularly nefarious when three characteristics exist:

• it is widespread, meaning it impacts a large group of people;
• it is mysterious, meaning one cannot see or understand the algorithm (and thus hiding the biases ingrained);
• it is destructive, meaning it unfairly ruins peoples’ lives and often makes the problem it set out to solve worse.

Based on the above, the AI algorithm used in the Detain/Release simulation seems to adhere to all three characteristics.

So what are the implications and complications of AI-informed decision-making? As Dr. Vallor (2018) explains, AI algorithms can serve as accelerants to amplify risks already existing within our society. Many of the defendants had statements citing their innocence, lack of evidence, their need to work and/or be with their family, or the financial limitations inflicted through detainment that would directly impact their ability to defend themselves. Of course, a judge cannot assume that every defendant is telling the truth, or that their truth is the reason why they will not commit another crime, and thus the decision must be made on the combination of factors, and there is a sense of relief when one can claim they are relying on ‘data.’ But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the pain and harm inflicted on these people, or their victims, or society. We can acknowledge that AI in this case serves as a mirror reflecting human bias (Vallor, 2018), and the systems reliant on those biased choices, like a judge deciding who gets detained or released) are broken. AI-informed decision-making should not be seen as a perfect or ideal solution. However, it is promising that there are researchers, like O’Neil (2017) and Vallor (2018), who do recognize that AI, when used for good and monitored for unintentional (and intentional) problems, can be used to help make our society better.

References

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 Dr. Shannon Vallor [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k

Talks at Google. (2016, November 2). Weapons of math destruction: Cathy O’Neil [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHs8SA1qpk&list=PLUp6-eX_3Y4iHYSm8GV0LgmN0-SldT4U8

 

In this challenge, we have been tasked with reviewing the 27 tracks included on the Golden Record (sent to space on the Voyager) and curate it down to just 10 tracks.

Given the flexibility to determine the parameters and criteria used to select the 10 tracks, my approach was to “read the same map in a different way” (course notes, module 8.1). I do not feel qualified to speak on behalf of others, or global society as a whole, and identify which 10 are the most representative of Earth. However, as one person living on Earth, and being an expert of myself, I decided to compile the 10 songs that I found to be most meaningful; the songs that managed to evoke a memory, feeling, or aspect that I believe is critical to my experiences of being human. Another way of saying it would be that these tracks relate to my own ‘long-term value’ (Smith Rumsey, 1999) of keeping these memories and feelings close as I continue through my own personal human existence.

1. Wedding Song – Peru: a beautiful, simple piece with a single voice reminded me that one voice can be so impactful given its use and timing.
2. Ugam – Azerbaijan bagpipes: there is a constant, unwavering undertone that adds stability and depth to the music, grounding the moving notes and exploring various intervals being played in the higher register. To me, this also evokes a sense of sadness but also knowing that the sadness will eventually pass, and I find both beauty and comfort in that.
3. Mozart – Queen of the Night (from The Magic Flute) – Eda Moser: The first opera my parents took me to was The Magic Flute. From that moment on, I spent my operatic adventures wondering why none of the others could be as engaging as The Magic Flute. To me, this is the most recognizable song from the opera, and I recall playing it over and over again trying to hit the notes just like the singer did on the track (whether it was Eda Moser or another talented singer, I can’t recall). This song now has an added layer of joy as The Magic Flute was the first opera that my parents took my own children to see…and when they get control over our music selection, this is one of their go-tos.
4. Melancholy Blue – Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven: I used to play in a jazz band in high school and love the Fitzgerald & Armstrong era. Also, thanks to a History of Jazz class I took in undergrad, I know how influential Armstrong’s work was to the jazz and blues scenes.
5. Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry: this is just such a happy and upbeat song that I can’t help but want to move, tap my toes (or jump/jive if I’m feeling particularly zesty), and sing along.
6. Jaat Kahan Ho – India – Surshri: wow, although this was my first time listening to this song specifically, I love the feeling of ‘tension and release’ that this piece evokes with its tones, slides, and creative use of sound vs space.
7. Iziel je Delvo Hagdutin – Bulgaria: This song reminded me of an album (Bulgarian folk/field singers) that quickly became a favourite in my childhood/adolescence. similar to the Azerbijan bagpipes it has an unwavering anchoring tone, and then those vocals come in and just blast the sound; there is something amazing about the interplay of these tones that is just so powerful, both physically and emotionally.
8. Dark Was the Night – Blind Willie Johnson: this is a solid blues/gospel-blues track that is in no rush, evidence that it can sometimes take time to convey that kind of emotion through music.
9. Bach – Brandenburg no.2: there is something about this song that reminds me of the carefree feeling I had as a young child in ballet class!
10. Cranes in their Nest – Japan: to be honest, this one surprised me, but I appreciated how it made me stop, listen, and pay attention to really hear what was happening. The notes and playing style also made it easy for me to recall what cranes look like, and to imagine them being in their nest.

References

Brown University. (2017). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital Memory: What Can We Afford to Lose?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrahqg9ZMc&t=262s

Woohoo! I made it through User Inyerface!

From the moment of ‘go’ – or should I say ‘NO’ – this felt like I was pulled into an ‘opposite day’ without being made aware of it. The first page used a series of fonts, shapes, and colours deceptively designed to make it take longer than necessary to click ‘HERE’ to continue…although I think by that point I was already clicking every word that I’m not entirely confident that was the one that moved things along.

On the next page, the Terms & Conditions box appeared. I try to make a habit of reading the Terms & Conditions before agreeing to them, and this was one situation where I deeply regretted it. The scrolling feature to get to the bottom of the Terms & Conditions was SSSLLLLLOOOOOWWWWW, and of course, one couldn’t continue before reaching the bottom. All the while, pop ups served as distractions, asking if I needed help and reminding me that time is ever-fleeting. Nevertheless, I persisted, only to be met with a form even more annoying than most. A red-text alert to say that I did NOT have issues with my password (yep, that got me…twice), a requirement to upload a photo (thank you for being my stand-in, grimace emoji ), and a personal details page that I would still be working through had I not decided to be deceptive myself (if anyone asks, I DO live at 3 Somewhere Street in Waterloo with a zip code of 12345). I was able to use the drop-down pronouns feature and identify my sex as they both had options aligned with how I identify, but it definitely got me by highlighting in blue the sex choice that was not being selected. At least it was kind enough to alert me to the inconsistency.

Although I have *thankfully* never quite met an interface as devious as the one I just completed, it does clearly show the power of UI design and how using ingrained colours (e.g., red vs green), font styles (e.g., underlined, bolded, capitalized) and shapes typically reserved for clickable buttons can be used used to guide a user through a series of steps without giving much thought to one. It does beg to question, though: should the onus be put on the user to carefully decipher each time, or on the creator to avoid deception and remain honest, even if honesty results in lost (potential) revenue? Likely, it needs to be  – and should be – both. But as the annoying pop-up kept reminding me, who has time for that?

The challenge

Redesign Task 1 by changing the mode in which it is presented and adding an audio component.

My inspiration

Reflecting on Task 1, there was a question that I neglected to address: what would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago? Or how about 40 years ago?! I wanted to explore this question while exploring ways in which my childhood shaped how I communicate today.

My rationale

Being a 1980s baby, I can confirm that a lot has changed since then. Technology and media have particularly made massive shifts over the last 4 decades. Technology has also allowed us to look backwards, as YouTube and the internet are now full of 1980s content that was not accessible ‘on demand’ at that time.

The New London Group (1996) acknowledges that our social environments, including media, shape our realities and design our futures. In an attempt to completely redesign the meaning of this assignment, I have put together a collection of videos and links, prompted by the items in my bag, to provide a view into the 1980s and my experiences as a child. This juxtaposition also reminds me that my childhood experiences and media exposure have stayed with me well into adulthood, for better or for worse. As a result, these ‘snapshots’ looking backward not only contribute to my current reality and the design of my own future but also shape my understanding of them.

Click, listen, watch, read, and enjoy travelling back in time!

(Tip: make the Genially full screen by clicking the two opposing arrows in the bottom right corner. There will be a button in the same spot to shrink it back down when you’re done.)

 

This work is one of my favourite movies and holds a special place in my heart, as my partner and I bonded over this film and its lead character during our ‘courting’ stage. And yes, it was also selected because I could imagine how to represent it in emojis more easily than many other options I had swirling in my mind. In creating this task, I started with the title; to me, it was the most logical order of things and confirmed in my mind that my selected work could be translated. ‘Translation’ best describes my process as I relied on a combination of words and ideas to dictate which emojis to use. I found https://emojikeyboard.io and https://emojipedia.org/ to be rather limiting compared to what I was used to using, so I ended up writing it as a WhatsApp message on my phone, opening WhatsApp up on my desktop and taking a screenshot of the message which I then saved as an image.

I initially found this task particularly challenging because I consider my emoji use as low. I use emojis, but I prefer text-based messages with icons used to guide emotion, context, or intention (Bolter, 2001). However, I am starting to use certain icons as substitutes for text:  for “I agree with you” and for “OK,” “good,” or “glad to hear.” Perhaps this gravitation toward multimodal communication is an effort to make my messages more appealing or to provide a more immediate response to my reader (Bolter). I also agree with Kress (2005) that this multimodal approach of interspersing icons within text – or moving entirely to icon-based messages – is indeed beyond the mere “ability to read and write” (as cited in the course notes) and transcends language to some degree. I still feel I need to make a conscious effort to learn how to ‘speak’ with emojis, and likely by the time I feel ‘fluent’ in emoji language the meanings of some icons will have changed. This made me relate to Bolter’s (2001) comment about older technologies remediating newer ones; perhaps the continued intertwining of images and text will eventually remediate my own communication style, through my own apprehension and enthusiasm .

All that said, can you guess which movie this is?

References

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Chapter 4: The breakout of the visual. In Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410600110

Kress, G. (2005). Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 22 (1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2004.12.004

This was my first experience creating something in Twine, and it was fun! My biggest challenges were deciding on a topic (I landed on adult learning concepts) and then trying to differentiate between creating a ‘story’ versus a ‘game.’ I’m still not sure I created anything that sits strongly in one category or the other. I do know that, much like the potato print exercise, I had an inner desire to apply this learning to create something that I felt could have multiple use cases, given the time and energy investment. (If that connection doesn’t make sense now, have a click through the Twine game below and it should become clear.)

I like how Twine creates a visual path to show how passages are connected, but then “flattens and obscures the structure” (Bolter, 2001, p.31) to create an interactive web-based experience. I took a very straightforward path; it doesn’t involve fancy ‘hooks,’ if-statements, or macros. However, these options also demonstrate the malleability of electronic spaces that Bolter (2001) refers to. Certainly, I took advantage of this with several rapid additions/deletions, copy-paste functions, quick revisions, and testing.

Twine also made sense to me, the way my mind seems to work. When I’m speaking, both professionally and casually, I try to draw connections between concepts, guiding the listener through the story with (hopefully) the right amount of detail. In writing, I often refer to ideas being connected by ‘threads.’ Twine shows these connections (or associations, as Bolter (2001) might say) between passages with literal lines that ultimately define the thought network and show the overarching story path. It felt very similar to creating a concept map, just in story/game format and with a hypertext result. It does warrant pause, though, if my ‘natural’ way of thinking has been heavily influenced by having access to computers for the majority of my life. Growing up during a time when computers (those ‘idea processors’) went from high-tech wonders that few families had to living in (almost) everyone’s pocket, certainly makes me wonder how much technology contributes to my own “manipulation of thought” (Heim, 1987).

Ultimately, my ‘approach’ to this assignment was just to jump in and try it. I did notice, though, that my thoughts kept referring back to two experiences during this formation. The first was leveraging my past (albeit limited) experiences with web design and web editing. The second hailed from my childhood, where I used to relish in choose-your-own-adventure books, and appreciated how, no matter what option you chose, it still took you to the end. To me, this experience of combining ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ experiences aligns with Bolter’s (2001) view that technology may not ‘end’ things but rather iterate, reconceptualize, and remediate much of what we know and appreciate about various forms of communication.

ETEC540-Task5-SantoMelissa – Twine – zipped

References

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Chapter 3: Hypertext and the remediation of print. In Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (pp. 27-46). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410600110

Butcher, L. (2021, March 1). The 4 principles of adult learning and how to apply them to your employee training. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-principles-adult-learning-how-apply-them-your-employee-butcher/

Heim (1987), as cited by the course website in module 5.3.

General Observations

I found it very interesting that my default approach to this assignment was with a creative lens – similar to cardmaking that I’ve done in the past – rather than an academic one. When deciding which word to produce, chose something that could be reused; I anticipated time investment and artistic quality and wanted to leverage the effort. As a result, I selected the word ‘Thanks.’

Was there something particularly challenging in the process?

I wouldn’t say that anything was particularly challenging about this experience, but there were a few hiccups along the way. Despite Cooke’s (2012) video that showed the stamps backwards and upside-down, I ended up making the first three potato stamps with the letters facing forward. The capital ‘T’ was forgiving but the ‘h’ and the ‘a’ stamps had to be redone. Also, the stamps – and the letters they produced – were not perfect; it took me a bit to get over this.

I also considered aspects like potato selection to font style, tried to have all the stamps match in terms of line thickness, and ultimately accepted that hand-carved stamps had more irregularities than anything produced through machine manufacturing.

How much time did it take for you to create the stamps?

I lose track of time while making the potato stamps; my mind wandered while creating them, which I suspect is similar to what Paul Collier described of his own experiences in Cooke’s (2012) video. I estimate that it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to make all six stamps, but I really wasn’t tracking the time as I found it relaxing and enjoyable to be working on something creative and tangible.

Have you noticed anything particular about the letters that you have chosen to reproduce?

Instead of using new potatoes to resolve my initial mistake of carving the letters the wrong way, I cut off the first attempt and carved the second attempt on the same potato half. This meant that the second attempt still included some deeper cuts from the first attempt and, as a result, some of the letters did not print clearly or printed the ink with texture rather than a solid print. Also, most stamps had a natural curve to them and required a second (or third) stamping attempt to fully stamp the letter as anticipated. Even still, the ‘a’ was missing a chunk, however, since it was still clearly an ‘a’ I used it anyway. I also misjudged the length of the word with the first attempt and found that the way the ‘k’ and ‘s’ landed on the page looked awkward, thus prompting the second stamping attempt.

Considering the time and effort that it took you to create a 5-letter word, how do you feel about the mechanization of writing?

The mechanization of writing has allowed for mass production and incredible flexibility. The amount of text I could have typed in 45 minutes far surpasses what I could have printed with potatoes or even a letterpress. The efficiency of fixing errors and reproducing copies of text using technology far exceeds that of hand writing or printing with stamps. Since text is primarily produced mechanically nowadays, handwritten or hand-stamped items can be seen as more valuable or personal, with increased emotion. For many, a handwritten card is of higher value than a typed email, and a handmade card is often considered more beautiful than a store-bought one. The idea that someone would purposely choose the less-efficient path to create text or a piece of writing brings about a sentimental feeling, akin to homemade cookies versus store-bought ones.

Attempt 1 (left) and attempt 2 (right). 

Reference

Cooke, D. (2012, January 26). Upside down, left to right: A letterpress film [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RqWe1bFpM

I used the voice typing tool in Google Docs for this voice-to-text assignment. Below is what this technology captured, unedited, and my analysis of it.

The Story

This past weekend we had my daughter’s birthday party and I think it was a pretty good success we had 10 kids total and the plan was they were going to arrive and come over and do some crafts the first activity that we had was my birthday daughter was greeting all of her guests at the front door and show them where to go in the living room where my other daughter was waiting to teach them how to do origami she had found this really cool this really fun design where if you went to fold it if you hold it one way it’s a dog and then when you flip it to the other side it becomes a cat so that add some variety for people who prefer dogs or cats or most of them both actually once everyone had arrived we moved into the room with the long table and the first activity was painting coasters the reason this was the first one is because they wanted to make sure that the paint had enough time to dry so some of them chose to tape off designs others just did a free paint and yeah with 10 kids it was surprisingly successful not super messy once they finish that we handed out canvas pouches and Sharpie markers and they got to do Sharpie tie-dye canvas pouches and this was really cool I’d meant to look up the kind of scientific properties behind it but not entirely sure if a bunch of 70 girls would be interested in that so instead what we did was just had them colour however they wanted on their canvas pouches with these Sharpies and then once they were done we sprayed it with rubbing alcohol had a little bit of trial and error had a tiny little spray bottle at first and it wasn’t going to work very well so then we move to a larger spray bottle the kind that normally you would have kind of your cleaner in and yeah it works so much better so the trick was definitely to saturate the fabric with the rubbing alcohol and then it was fun right before your eyes you could see the colours melting in matching in the Fine Lines Blurred new colours came about and where created as existing ones Blended together and I think all in all most of them we’re really pleased with it not everyone chose to spray not everyone seemed to understand there was one person who was pretty upset that her design had faded after we sprayed it but yeah I mean that’s quick fix she can go back over on Sharpie and I’ll write her name again whenever she wants so once that was done we figured it was time for a snack we had a rainbow fruit and veggie platter some little pepperoni stick for them to a snack on and variety of juice boxes and then once that was done we did washer necklace is so I picked up some metal washers from the hardware store and got a bunch of nail polish just whatever we had around probably had about 10 or 11 bottles and yeah they just painted the washers and some of them did some cool design some of them just painted it one colour and the whole idea was at once that was painted with nail polish and had dried send they would be able to string it on some kind of a a row port wine that we provided with them they had a choice of colours and then they could add some beans as well so all in all they would have ended up going or the end up going home with her tomorrow call me some coasters canvas bag and and washer necklace the final thing that we have them do was of course we needed to keep with the craft thing so we brought out cupcakes confetti rainbow cupcakes with white icing and then presented those on paint palettes with candy in the 10 different spots for it until they all got to decorate their own cupcake however they wanted with all of the candy or not eating some of the candy on the side or not and yeah it was really fun to see those kinds of designs and I think we were able to get everything done everyone seemed to have a good time and like I said all it all I think it was a success.

The Analysis

The most glaring deviation from written English is that this is one massive run-on paragraph. I don’t use voice-to-text very often in my day-to-day life, so I forgot that one must actually say “comma,” “period,” and “exclamation mark” to add punctuation. It wasn’t until the very end that I remembered this, hence the final period at the end.

Because I was speaking off the top of my head and not from a script, there are a few places where I think the text is wrong, but it could have also been my narration style, such as repeating words (“kind of a a”) and incorrect tenses of words (“so then we move to a larger spray bottle”. However, there are also several places where I am confident the text is incorrect. Examples include “70 girls” (should be “7-year-old girls”) and “row port wine” (should be “rope or twine”). These mistakes remind me of the ‘telephone’ game I played as a kid (and that Gnanadesikan (2008) mentions) where accents, emphases and subtle slurs can make huge differences in whether the receiver correctly interprets the message to pass along. These, and many other blunders in my oral recount of the events, would have been rectified if scripted in advance, as a pre-conceived written version would have been more deliberate and precise (Gnanadesikan, 2008).

These errors could also be a suggestion that I should improve my enunciation, which is something I have noticed deteriorating since 2016 when I left a job that involved lecturing/class facilitating for 5-6 hours each week. If someone had been listening to the story, they may have misheard “beans” for beads but could have either used the context to figure out the proper word or asked for clarification. Similarly, if I were to increase my weekly oral presentation time, I believe some of these words would have been presented more clearly.

The use of technology here has taken what would otherwise be a collection of fleeting sounds and turned it into a visible, permanent record of my daughter’s birthday party. One aspect that I find interesting is that a written recount of this event would not exist had it not been an assignment. Sure, we would have told family and friends about the event, slightly adjusting details and incorporating emotional nuances with each iteration, but it is not something I would have otherwise written down unless I was trying to convey the story to someone I could not speak to directly. This is not because it was an insignificant event (it was my daughter’s first ‘friend’ birthday party, thanks to the timing of COVID); when asked to speak an ‘unscripted’ story, I automatically thought of a personal event that had strong emotions tied to it (joy, pride, exhaustion, love). And yet, none of these emotions seem present when reading the words captured with voice-to-text. Had this been scripted, or intended to be conveyed in written language, I would have included words to express emotions that I know my voice conveyed in the original oral story.

Reference

Gnanadesikan, A. E. (2008).The first IT revolution. In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet (pp. 1-10). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304671