Linking Assignment
Task 2 – What’s in My Bag (Robyn)
https://blogs.ubc.ca/metrobynrn/2024/05/21/task-1-whats-in-my-bag/
I really enjoyed Robyn’s introduction. It stood out from mine because she used her phone apps instead of her bag for the exercise. I found her video format to be more engaging than my written reflection. Hearing her voice made the introduction feel more personal.
Her video made me realize that our phones might offer a better reflection of who we are, how we communicate, and what literacies we value, compared to the contents of our bags. Since Robyn and I share similar life circumstances, it was interesting to see how many of the same apps we use. However, my one observation was that focusing solely on her phone might overlook other other important forms of literacy in her life, such as physical reading and writing.
Task 4 – Manual Scripts and Potato Printing (Katy)
https://blogs.ubc.ca/krichards/2024/06/09/task-4-manual-scripts-and-potato-printing/
For this task, I wanted to respond to a classmate who completed the potato printing exercise as I had. I was glad to read Katy’s post because she completed both tasks, which helped me think through the manual printing exercise as well. Overall, we had similar observations about potato printing.
Regarding manual scripts, I appreciated Katy’s observations about how time-consuming, uncomfortable, and messy writing can be. Her comments made me consider what the potential benefits of handwriting might be and I found it surprisingly difficult to identify clear advantages. Although I mentioned a few in my post, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with them, which still bothers me because I often prefer handwriting (I just can’t clearly explain why). I would have loved to hear what other classmates thought about this subject. On reflection, I suppose that blog responses don’t facilitate this kind of interaction as effectively as a forum would. I regret not using Mattermost a bit more during this class.
Task 7 – Mode Bending (Carole)
https://blogs.ubc.ca/mccleanetec540efolio/2024/06/30/task-7-mode-bending/
This was definitely one of my favorite posts. I think Carole executed this task perfectly, showcasing her understanding of the assignment through the combination of a great idea and the perfect digital tool to make it happen.
To me, the benefits of mode-bending were clear in this post. Carole’s Chatterpix videos were engaging, funny, and memorable while still serving the same purpose as task 1, making this approach an improvement over the original exercise. Carole references the Dobson and Willinsky article in her post, and I think this task illustrates their concepts well. It’s an excellent example redesign, showcasing how digital literacy evolves from and can also extend beyond traditional forms of print literacy.
I found Carole’s idea of changing the perspective very helpful for the concept of redesign. I personally struggled with this task and had difficulty coming up with ideas I liked. I think keeping this concept in mind would have made the process much easier for me and it’s something I will take with me from this task.
Task 8 – Golden Record (Jonathan)
https://blogs.ubc.ca/jonathantromsnessetec540/2024/07/08/golden-record/
Jonathan’s approach to the task was quite different from mine. His background and interest in music were evident in his thoughtful and well-informed choices, which considered various factors. I had to read his post several times to fully grasp his analysis, but it was obvious that his choices were grounded in evidence. In contrast, my choices were more about eliminating options based on genre or location. I often noted the cultural significance of my music selections, but I realized that the same could be said for pretty much all the works on the record. For me, the task involved mainly ruling out options, guided by Dr. Smith Rumsey’s question: “What can we afford to lose?”
In this instance, we used different tools for the task. Jonathan started with the memorable SNL cowbell sketch and then listed his choices with explanations, combining narrative and multimedia to engage the audience. I chose to use an infographic, which visually organizes information, making it easier and more engaging for users to understand large amounts of data quickly. Jonathan’s approach is more linear, while my infographic presents information visually for faster comprehension.
Task 9 – Network Assignment (Matt)
Matt and I were in the same grouping for this assignment, and he took a very different approach to my own by creating an Excel spreadsheet and an adjacency matrix (a term that was new to me). I appreciated that he included pictures of his spreadsheets, as they helped clarify his analysis and observations. His examination of the data was very thorough and despite our differing methods (I used pen and paper to create a list of what I knew to be true from the data and then made observations based on that list), we reached similar conclusions.
Interestingly, I read his post while going through the articles for Task 11, which felt like a serendipitous coincidence. As I mentioned in my response, his analysis of algorithmic deficiencies was a perfect illustration of the concepts I was reading about for that task.
Task 11 – Detail/Release (Duncan)
https://blogs.ubc.ca/duncman/2024/07/21/task-11-detain-release/
Although I did not complete a post for this task, I participated in the exercise and appreciated Duncan’s post for articulating many of the observations I had made myself. Like Duncan, I completed the task multiple times to explore the potential consequences of different factors for decision-making.
Though our approaches for each attempt differed, I think we ended up with the same realization, that in the end, no one approach seemed to make a noticeable difference in the outcome, making it all too easy to defer to the algorithm’s recommendations.
Duncan references The Crime Machine podcasts in his post to discuss how skewed data can become when decisions rely too heavily on algorithms. I also noticed several links to O’Neill’s work (reference in the post). This exercise was a great example of how ambiguous algorithms can be and perfectly illustrates a “Weapon of Math Destruction.” This fictional algorithm is widespread (affecting major life decisions), mysterious (with unclear scoring methods), and destructive (potentially ruining people’s lives unfairly) – and very eye-opening.