TASK 1:\u00a0 WHAT\u2019S IN MY BAG? – Jennifer<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540jenniferr\/2021\/01\/15\/task-1-whats-in-your-bag\/<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I appreciated Jennifer\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s in My Bag\u201d task post, particularly because she chose to share something different from what I considered to be a typical daily bag, such as the purse that I used for my post: she chose to share something that she holds \u201csacred\u201d and that \u201ctransports the tools\u201d that enable her expression.\u00a0 I admired her willingness to share meaningful contents and her commitment to expressing herself through music on a daily basis.\u00a0 I also appreciated that she used music as her communication focus for this task as it introduced a whole new type of literacy that I hadn\u2019t considered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The contents of Jennifer\u2019s bag seemed especially relevant to a course that introduces students to various technologies intended to facilitate expression.\u00a0 It even included technology for use during times when her self-expression became too much (practice pad for snare head.)\u00a0 Her inclusion of a journal for moments of overstimulation spoke of a practicality and an ongoing commitment to expression, even in moments of silence.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite this commitment to expression, Jennifer notes \u201c…the narrative of my bag conflicts with the one that I project to the world.\u201d\u00a0 Influenced by Jennifer\u2019s musical theme for this task, I envisioned a tuning fork as this message resonated with me.\u00a0 It reminded me of how difficult it can be to communicate from a place of authenticity, even when we have various tools and opportunities to practice our expression.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jennifer\u2019s bag included technologies of various materials, made of paper, wood and electronics. In her analysis of these technologies, she noted how some signify the relationship and ongoing conversation with her music teacher.\u00a0 As someone who is very biased in the direction of relationships, I found it interesting that this element was not included in the technologies described in my \u201cWhat\u2019s In My Bag?\u201d task.\u00a0 I might not have noticed this omission if Jennifer hadn\u2019t remarked on her bag\u2019s contents enabled relationship.\u00a0 This is clearly important to her as she notes that \u201cyou can get to know someone more deeply by how they choose to express themselves.|<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I thought about how Jennifer\u2019s approach to this task differed from my own I recognized that her content was free from COVID – no sanitizer, no disinfectant wipes, no coupons for curbside service.\u00a0 \u201cAnd the band played on\u201d came to mind.\u00a0 I found comfort in artifacts that, at least on the surface, had remained untainted by the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jennifer said that loves \u201cto be inspired by others.\u201d\u00a0 Based on my experience, I imagine that there are others who love to be inspired by Jennifer.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n TASK 3 – VOICE TO TEXT<\/b>\u00a0 – <\/span>YING <\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/2021etec540\/2021\/01\/27\/task-3\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aside from the fact that Ying\u2019s \u201cVoice to Text\u201d post was about dogs, I was drawn to her post because of her opening sentence:\u00a0 \u201cVoice-to-text programs are unappealing to me because they\u2019re not \u2018smart.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 As someone who is consistently amazed by the capabilities of\u00a0 such technologies, I don\u2019t often examine them from this perspective. \u00a0 Even with all of the errors that were included in my voice-to-text transcripts, I remained enamoured with the fact that we have such technology to support our communication.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ying\u2019s post showed that she didn\u2019t need voice-to-text to tell her that she needs to work on initiating speech.\u00a0 She noted that she already knew that she needs to settle her mind, focus on enunciation and slow down when she starts speaking to someone.\u00a0 I presume that this knowledge was made available through inferences made during verbal communication with humans.\u00a0 Technology cannot necessarily provide such nuances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ying and I shared similar stances regarding the weightier consequences of the written word:\u00a0 She wrote, \u201can oral story is more forgiving,\u201d and I wrote \u201cthe material permanence of the written word adds a layer of cautious care as we anticipate our work being interpreted and critiqued by others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The concepts of time and consciousness seem to be relevant to both of our perspectives.\u00a0 To communicate clearly, we need to slow down and be conscious of our intentions.\u00a0 Writing forces us to take time to slow down and communicate clearly, just as Ying says she needs to slow down to communicate clearly.\u00a0 However, with writing, the extra time required to communicate also comes with heightened expectations regarding the quality of the communication. Presumably, if we take our time with spoken communication, we might have the best of both worlds.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In terms of consciousness of intention, this is where I found Ying\u2019s post to be very thought-provoking.\u00a0 To communicate consciously, we need to think about what we want to say.\u00a0 But, as Ying asks, \u201care thoughts even in words?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDo thoughts occur divorced from words?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have never considered any other possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How can thought exist without words?\u00a0 What is a thought that is not communicated?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Time continues to be a factor in Ying\u2019s questioning, as she notes that \u201cthoughts occur rapidly, too rapidly to occur in complete sentences.\u201d\u00a0 I agree.\u00a0 Thoughts do occur rapidly, but I can\u2019t conceive of them as being made of anything other than words.\u00a0 Ying\u2019s post made me think this through. For now, my thoughts are (ha, ha) that thoughts are only made conscious when they are slowed down enough to be seen as what they are: words.\u00a0 Techniques such as mindfulness help us to slow down our thoughts enough to be aware of them, and to examine them.\u00a0 And we examine them, question them, with words.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bolter (2001) notes that <\/span>writing makes our \u201cverbal thoughts visible\u201d (p. 193).\u00a0 As writing is communicated in words, I have assumed that it was simply transcribing the words of our verbal thoughts.<\/span>\u00a0 This is clearly a bias of mine that I will continue to challenge after this course.\u00a0 Thanks, Ying!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Hypertext and the remediation of print. In <\/span>Writing space: computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print<\/span><\/i>. Routledge.<\/span><\/p>\n TASK 4: MANUAL SCRIPTS<\/b> – <\/span>MEL D.<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/meldrake\/2021\/02\/03\/task-4\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After musing about how my manual script might have contributed to a more thoughtful communication process, it was fun to witness Mel D\u2019s approach to the potato stamping option for this week\u2019s task.\u00a0 I appreciated her ingenuity on so many levels!\u00a0 First, she chose a process that forces deliberate thought around communication with the cutting out of letters, the thinking through of ink, the concern about whether it would be acceptable to use said \u201cink,\u201d the selection of a personally meaningful message, and the effort to use technology to convey the whole experience as effectively as possible (and in true educator style, providing details on how she accomplished that!)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While this task suggests that Mel would likely go above and beyond with any assigned task, I wonder how different the process would have been if the task didn\u2019t allow for her personality and talents to shine.\u00a0 I think about factory workers stamping with stamps they didn\u2019t create, into products they didn\u2019t make, for an outcome that they may or may not find rewarding.\u00a0 Daniel Pink\u2019s research into motivation comes to mind when I compare Mel\u2019s work to factory work or the \u201cexcessive drudgery\u201d of the monastery transcriptions of our earliest days.\u00a0 In his book, \u201cDrive\u201d Pink reminds us that we need to have a sense of autonomy, mastery and purpose.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure that Mel wants to master the art of beet stamping, but her ability to adjust the assignment and express her creativity (autonomy) in a way that contributes to her learning (purpose) shows us what we\u2019re capable of in our communications.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I wonder how our world would be different if we all took such care in the communication of our messaging!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n TASK 5: TWINE – DEIRDRE<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ideamachinery\/2021\/02\/12\/task-5-twine\/<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I found solidarity in the suffering of Deirdre as she elaborated on her experience of the Twine task.\u00a0 \u201cPleasantly frustrating\u201d is how she described the process.\u00a0 I\u2019m confident that is the first time that I have seen those words juxtaposed. This is one of the reasons I chose to write about her experience here.\u00a0 Like me, she was frustrated by the process.\u00a0 Unlike me, she enjoyed that.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I agree with Deirdre\u2019s observation about how Twine helps to \u201cmake explicit their thinking and understanding of topics\u201d I find her continued observation to be \u201cpleasantly frustrating\u201d in its accuracy from my experience.\u00a0 She writes that Twine-like processes may be especially helpful for \u201cstudents that are challenged by showing their thoughts linearly.\u201d\u00a0 I find this observation to be \u201cpleasantly frustrating\u201d because it may be true.\u00a0 As someone who enjoys the wanderings of free association, I didn\u2019t enjoy the experience of having to work so systematically to create Twine narratives.\u00a0 The overall result of seeing it come together was very rewarding, though.\u00a0 It provided that special sense of triumph that only comes from overcoming challenges through the use of new and uncomfortable ways of thinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bush\u2019s (1945) commentary about the mind\u2019s preferences for connecting ideas describes my typical approach to thinking and problem solving.\u00a0 However, the fact remains that we wouldn\u2019t have technologies like Twine to accommodate associative learning preferences like mine without linear and sequential thinking.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Deirdre\u2019s approach to the Twine task was not premeditated. She allowed herself to \u201ccontinue fully down one path before returning to the fork.\u201d\u00a0 In choosing the scenario for my Twine task, I selected an area of professional competence – an area where I felt confident in my knowledge of all of possible endings.\u00a0 Assuming we already know the answers is not particularly conducive to learning.\u00a0 Through Deirdre\u2019s reflection, I can see how my prior knowledge might have interfered with my experience more than the linearity of the narrative tool.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a world that is becoming arguably more hypertextual, I wonder what is happening to our minds and learning preferences. As I curmudgeonly become irritated by the rapid barrage of my teenager\u2019s Tik Tok feed, I\u2019m reminded of the annoyance of channel surfing of days gone by.\u00a0 \u201cPick a channel!\u201d people used to say as a family member scrolled through the channels with the remote control\u00a0 Now the channel itself is constantly changing, teleporting to something new within seconds.\u00a0 Perhaps my annoyance is actually the fear that I can\u2019t keep up. If I trust in Bolter\u2019s (2001) assertion that hypertext can help us to manage overwhelm, perhaps there\u2019s an app for that.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Hypertext and the remediation of print. In <\/span>Writing space: computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print<\/span><\/i>. Routledge.<\/span><\/p>\n