First Item: What’s in your bag? – Comparing Tristan Wong and Sourabh Aggarwal

Tritan Wong Post: Task 1: What’s in your bag? – ETEC 540 – Tristan Wong

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: What’s in my bag? – ETEC 540

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Tristan talks more about digital-first lifestyle while my reflection emphasize more on cultural exchange, travel, and academic work. Tristan’s bag primary contains tech-based items for an on-the-go work setup, whereas my bag is a perfect blend of cultural artifacts (currencies from different nations, a pen from Mexico) and a book (Shoe Dog), indicating a wider engagement beyond digital tools. This difference suggests that Tristan views his bag primarily as a work tool, whereas my bag represents both professional and personal dimensions, incorporating global ties and physical text-based materials.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Both of us used the similar CMS (Content Management System) WordPress via UBC (The University of British Columbia). We  both had enabled the comment section where anyone who has our blog post link can read and engage with the content in the comment section. It suggests a more straightforward, text-driven approach.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

Since both of used WordPress, the differences would lie in how we both have structured our content. Tristan’s post is more conversational, reflective, and structured with a personal storytelling style. My blog post is more analytical, with a structured breakdown of questions and answers, integrating academic perspectives (e.g., Brown’s framework on identity).

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

Tristan’s site privileges digital literacy, highlights more about remote work and virtual collaboration while minimizing traditional text technologies like pen and paper. on the other side, my site blends both digital and cultural literacies, incorporating technology alongside global perspectives. The blend of multiple currencies and a physical book (shoe dog) show inclusiveness and reflects financial literacy, travel awareness, and traditional reading practices, which are less prominent in Tristan’s post. However, both our posts favor digital tools and deny physical forms of writing, such as handwritten notes.

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

My blog post draws on Brown’s (2018) framework on identity through objects, anchoring your reflection in an academic and theoretical context. This positions my work within constructivist and sociocultural learning theories, where artifacts and experiences shape identity. Tristan’s post aligns with multimodal literacy theory, emphasizing digital communication tools and how technology facilitates knowledge production. His informal structure reflects a social constructivist approach, where meaning is co-constructed through shared experiences. Tristan’s post feels more personal and experiential, while mine is reflective and research-informed.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

The course likely motivates reflection on digital text technologies and self-representation. Both of our posts align with this by examining how personal belongings function as “texts.” The use of WordPress facilitates digital composition, reinforcing the course’s emphasis on technology-mediated literacy. My response integrates theory and cultural context, aligning with constructivist pedagogy by weaving personal experience with broader academic insights.

References:
Brown, E. (2018). Ellie Brown photography and artworks Links to an external site.. Retrieved July 12, 2019.

Second Item: Attention Economy – Comparing Jasmine Chapman and Sourabh Aggarwal

Jasmine Chapman Post: Attention Economy – The Most Annoying Thing – Jasmine Chapman ETEC540

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: Trapped in the UI: My Frustrating Journey Through User Inyerface – ETEC 540

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Jasmine Chapman focused more on frustration and instinctual user behavior. On the other hand, I focused more on the ethical implications of dark patterns in UI design. Jasmine reflections on emotional toll and usability difficulties such as struggling with password creation and misleading button. My approach was more analytical, I incorporate two major academic sources like Brignull (2011) and Gray et al. (2018) to frame the experience within ethical UX principles. I know this because her post was highly personal and experiential, whereas mine engaged with critical digital literacy and ethical concerns related to deceptive UI tactics.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Jasmine and I both used WordPress CMS to publish our reflections as blog posts. WordPress allowed us to structure ad manage our content, integrating text and potentially multimedia elements to enhance readability and engagement.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

We have use same same tool WordPress. The way we have shown our difficulties with the webpage are different. My post was more academic and structured whereas jasmine post was narrative-driven, using a storytelling approach that focused on usability challenges and emotional responses.

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

jasmine’s post privileged usability literacy and experiential learning and I privileged critical digital literacy. This clearly shows that jasmine focusing on how users interact with deceptive UI rather than analyzing why these patterns exist from an ethical standpoint. On the opposite side, I emphasize the systemic and ethical implications of dark patterns.

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

My post was inspired from Brignull’s (2011) work on dark patterns and Gray et al. (2018) on obstructionist UI tactics and rely on critical UX teory and digital ethics. Jasmine’s response was more aligned with human-computer interaction (HCI) and usability theory. She wanted to convey the message to the readers how how users instinctively engage with deceptive design elements. I have structured my reflection as a critical analysis, encouraging intellectual reflection on UI ethics.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

The task asked both us to reflect on our experiences with the tricky design and how this design mislead user interfaces. I focused on the ethical side of the design whereas Jasmine sharing her personal frustrations and learning through experience

References:
Bagaar. (2019). User Inyerface Links to an external site. [web game].

Brignull, H. (2011). Dark patterns: Deception vs. honesty in UI design. Links to an external site. A List Apart, 338.

Gray, Colin M., Yubo Kou, Bryan Battles, Joseph Hoggatt, and Austin L. Toombs. “The dark (patterns) side of UX design.” In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems, pp. 1-14. 2018.

Third Item: Twine – Comparing Tatiana Kloster and Sourabh Aggarwal

Tatiana Kloster Post: https://sites.google.com/view/etec540/weekly-tasks/twine-task

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: Twine – ETEC 540

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

I have noticed that Tatiana and mine experience working with Twine are bit distinctive. Tataiana focused on the complexity of structuring a branching narrative and managing multiple pathways. She used storyboarding to organize her ideas and make sure everything connected smoothly. I have created a a structured decision tree to make sure players felt in control. I also faced technical issues when trying to integrate my Twine game with WordPress, something she didn’t mention.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Tataiana and I, we both have used Twine to create interactive stories. Tatiana mainly focused on how choices impact storytelling whereas I focused on gameplay mechanics and player decision-making.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

Tatiana’s project seems more like an interactive book, where the player explores a story and makes choices that shape the narrative. My project is more of a game, where players must strategically make decisions to reach different outcomes. While we both focused on interaction through twine, Tatiana work on experiencing a story, while mine is about solving a challenge.

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

Tatiana purely work to encourage players to reflect on their choices which has potential to develop storytelling and critical thinking skills. My project focuses on game literacy and decision-making. Tatiana prioritize reading and interpretation and I prioritize problem-solving and engagement.

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

When it comes to theory, Tatiana’s project influenced by Kress’s (2005) theory and my project influenced by game design theories (Five College Digital Humanities, 2016; Franck, 2016), which focus on how to keep players engaged through interactive storytelling and smooth gameplay. Tatiana focus on how stories are shaped by user choices.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

This task helped us both as I have closely seen the Tatiana framework to experiment with digital storytelling. I also had to deal with the extra challenge of integrating Twine with WordPress, which shaped my project to be more technical compared to Tatiana’s narrative-driven approach.

References:

CodePen. (n.d.). CodePen: Online code editor and front-end web developer community. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://codepen.io/

Crows Crows Crows. (n.d.). The Temple of No [Twine]. Crows Crows Crows.

Five College Digital Humanities. (2016, June 30). How to use Twine to make your own text adventure games [Video]. YouTube.

Frank, A. (2016, June 20). Crows Crows Crows’ new game is the most fun 10 minutes you’ll have today. Polygon.

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

Fourth Item: An Emoji Story – Comparing Isabella Veltri and Sourabh Aggarwal

Isabella Veltri Post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/veltri540/2025/01/12/task-6-an-emoji-story/ – “Dexter” (a TV show about a forensic expert who is secretly a serial killer in Miami)

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: An Emoji Story – ETEC 540 – “Coco” (a movie about a boy who loves music and travels to the Land of the Dead).

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Isabella and I, we both have created emoji stories. Isabella focused on a TV show and I have decided to pick a movie. Both of us used emojis to represent key themes while I have realized I have used excessive emojis to represent movie “Coco”.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Both us have used WordPress CMS which we have used via UBC to publish our stories. The WordPress platform allows us to add emojis and write reflections.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

Both us have used WordPress CMS. The platform lets us format text, add images or emojis, and present our work clearly.

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

Isabella focused on visual literacy aligning with theories of multimodal discourse by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2001) and I have focused on digital storytelling emphasis on the remediation of traditional narratives into digital formats, referencing Bolter’s (2001) work on writing spaces..

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

Isabella’s approach reflects Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2001) theory of multimodal communication, focusing on how images (also known as emojis) construct meaning alongside text. My reflection incorporates Bolter’s (2001) concept of remediation, examining how digital platforms transform traditional storytelling methods. These theoretical frameworks influence how readers engage with and interpret our emoji narratives.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

This task encourages exploration of digital literacies and multimodal expression. In my web space, I responded to the pedagogical goals by reflecting on the process of translating a movie plot into emojis.

References:

Chapter 4. Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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

Kress, G.R., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Oxford University Press

Fifth Item: An Emoji Story – Comparing Natalie Keizer and Sourabh Aggarwal

Natalie Keizer Post: Network Assignment Using Golden Record Curation Quiz Data Task 9 – Text Technologies: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: Musical Preferences and Network Visualization: Insights from the Golden Record Quiz – ETEC 540

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Natalie and I focused on two different things. One one side where Natalie focused on manipulating and analyzing the visual representation of the network data, whereas my analysis talks about identifying cultural representation and social implications of music selections. This is because my post primarily delved into the cultural biases, music traditions, and the broader implications of data representation.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Both us have used WordPress CMS which we have used via UBC to publish our blog post. The only difference I have observed the way we have structured our content.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

Natalie’s blog post is more structured and she brilliantly talks about her her observations and suggestions for improving the visualization. She emphasize more on node manipulation and readability enhancements. My post is more analytical, breaking the process into steps and connecting the data to broader cultural and social concerns.

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

Natalie’s post privileges data visualization literacy and my post privileges critical digital literacy. Natalie focus on the biases and limitations of data-driven insights, questioning what is missing from the dataset while my blog post suggests that understanding requires questioning the dataset itself.

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

Natalie works align with constructivist approach while my work mainly aligns with critical data studies because I focus what the visualization omits and how data shapes narratives and cultural perceptions.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

This task help us to exploration of digital tools and critical reflection. Natalie’s post aligns with the technical and usability aspects of digital tools and My post engages with the broader sociocultural aspects.

References:

Music from Earth. Links to an external site. (n.d.). NASA.

Taylor, D. (Host). (2019, April). Voyager golden record Links to an external site. [Audio podcast episode]. In Twenty thousand hertz. Defacto Sound.

Sixth Item: Manual Scripts and Potato Printing – Comparing Jamie and Sourabh Aggarwal

Jamie Post: Task 4 – Manual Scripts – blogs.ubc.ca/zhu540

Sourabh Aggarwal Post: Manual Scripts and Potato Printing – ETEC 540

1. How has your colleague’s experience differed from yours? And how do you know?

Jamie mainly focus on difficulty of organizing thoughts while writing manually whereas my experience to demonstrate how it slows down the writing process. I did observe that slower pace encourage deeper engagement. Jamie did notice that lack of easy editing an obstacle which makes it harder to structure ideas. Overall, Jamie expresses frustration with the inability to reorganize text, whereas I focus more on the cognitive benefits and challenges of handwriting.

2. What web authoring tool have they chosen to manifest their work?

Both us have used WordPress CMS which we have used via UBC to publish our blog post. Jamie post appears to be personal reflection while my response is structured with direct references to academic sources (Bolter, 2001; Innis, 2007), making it more formal and analytical.

3. How does their tool differ from yours in the ways in which it allows content-authoring and end-user interface?

As I have mentioned before that Jamie focus on personal reflection and how difficult to collect ideas while writing manually. My response is structured with numbered questions and references. I emphasize more on academic writing style.

4. What literacies does their site privilege or deny in comparison and contrast to yours?

Jamie’s post privileges expressive, personal literacy, allowing for introspection and emotional engagement. My response, in contrast, privileges academic literacy, requiring the integration of theoretical concepts, structured argumentation, and formal referencing.

5. What theoretical underpinnings are evident in your/your colleague’s textual architecture, and how does this affect one’s experience of the work?

Jamie’s work aligns with a constructivist approach. My response, however, is rooted in media ecology and remediation theories (Bolter, 2001; Innis, 2007), analyzing how different media shape cognition and engagement.

6. How do the constraints of the course design manifest in your architectural choices? How have you responded to the pedagogical underpinnings of this course design in your own web space?

This task help us to understand two major elements : experiential learning (through handwritten task) and theoretical analysis (through academic reflection). My blog post seems to be more formal discourse while Jamie’s post appears more exploratory and personal reflection mainly about the thoughts on collecting ideas.

References:

• Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Innis, H. (2007). Empire and communications. Dundurn Press.