Visual Assignment – The Life of a Superhero

http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/the-life-of-a-superhero/

The superhero of my choice is..well, me. Me and all my pole sisters. Women who pole dance might well be regarded as real superheroes among us because of the incredible things they learn to do practicing this beautiful sport. It hurts, bruises, and needs a lot a lot a lot of training and consistently. The move I’m demonstrating here is the Superman (#pdsuperman on instagram), I felt it was very fitting for the purpose of the assignment.

I may be a superhero, but I’m not always climbing poles or jumping over stuff doing backflips (some real annoying common misconceptions right here). Here’s me doing a super mundane activity:

Writing Assignment – The End Is For Everything

http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/the-end-is-for-everything/

Hello. I’m icy! I’m out with my mom exploring today. We swim together to the big ice rocks. My grandparents tell me stories about how there used to be such big ice rocks before I was born, and they always warn me about the our evil hunters. Their names are..shhh..humans! They told me scary stories about how these devils want to take my white fluffy fur to wear it or put it on their floors. Some mega evil ones just want to kill us for fun.. I pretend to be brave, but I’m so scared. I heard some grown up bears saying that we shouldn’t swim so much anymore because the water is not as clean now. It’s because of the evil humans dumping stuff that kills us in our water! I’m so sad because I love swimming and eating fish. The big ice rocks are now too small because the evil humans produce harmful chemicals that melt our big ice rocks. I’ve been practicing to swim to impress my mom! But now where will I swim to? Now we can’t get our fishies and I’m always hungry. I’m scared my mom will eat me like my friend’s parents ate him. Also the humans spill something brown and icky that pollutes our fur and kills us! We are becoming so few, our kind is now called “endangered” so we are in danger. I’m very scared. I hate the evil humans.

image credits: https://www.thelocal.de/20190315/baby-polar-bear-makes-berlin-debut

Code Assignment – Make a Simple Program

Make a simple program

I took the “simple” pretty literally and wrote the simplest piece of c++ code you’ll ever read in your code dreading, late-night debugging life. It’s the area of a square lol

I haven’t coded since Spring2018, doing this made me remember some syntax and how xcode actually looks. A tiny but fun assignment.

Final Reflection Video Links:

Part 1 of my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYOVYZ12u0I

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCgYjqJylM

“If there was an oppression olympics, I would win the Gold medal” – Maysoon Zayid

My contribution to the course is a fun video about opportunities. During the course we did the privilege walk around the same time we were learning about empathy & how to differentiate it from sympathy. I felt very moved by that activity, but I would’ve prefered to not have had to leave the classroom to do it, and it would’ve affected me emotionally more if I was seeing the video about it by myself. For that reason I believe the Ted Talk by Ms Maysoon Zayid about her disability and how it affected her career & opportunities is important for more of us to see. She says “If there was an oppression olympics, I would win the Gold medal” and then refers to how she belongs to various disadvantaged groups. She is a Palestinian Muslim woman with Cerebral Palsy, and she came to tell her story & share her experiences.

When I saw this video years ago, I felt bad for her. I felt sympathetic. After a while I realized that seeing this particular video and trying to feel her emotions changed the way I act towards anyone I encounter with a disability. I later realized that what I was actually feeling was empathy. I can say that one of the best things I learned in this course is empathy and how it has many dimensions, and I loved sitting in a classroom and see them feel it too.

Towards the end of the video she relates her experience & learning to digital literacies eg. social media exposure and the downside to it which exists where people like her are exposed to hate and discrimination. She discussed how as a child doctors told her she wouldn’t walk and now she does, but if she was growing up with social media maybe she wouldn’t have. By saying this she highlighted how other people’s opinions on the web affect our perceptions and our lives as a result.

https://www.facebook.com/Zero-waste-Egypt-112691462680847/

https://www.instagram.com/zerowaste.egypt/?hl=en

I chose to do my Curation assignment about the hashtag on Instagram called #ZeroWasteEgypt which also has a Facebook page associated with it: Zero-waste Egypt.

The posts on these pages help raise awareness on how to limit our waste and provide instructions on how to ensure the things we throw out will not be harming the environment.

#ZeroWasteEgypt was founded in 2017 by an Egyptian woman named Eman Mossallam for the purpose of sharing information about environmentally-friendly alternatives we can use instead of plastic, styrofoam, cans and other polluting materials.

On her pages she shares and sells these cheap alternatives. For example the Net Shopping Bag which can be taken to grocery stores to buy fruits/vegetables/ other things available without packaging, to ensure we ditch those evil plastic bags which I’m sure each of us has tons of lying around at home, & when they’re thrown out, they end up on the streets or in the ocean we need to protect. She also advised we keep our glass containers and store leftovers in them, instead of using plastic/ foil covers on plates. Glass is almost always made out of some recycled material and is biodegradable.

She also shares lots of valuable information in the captions on how to be healthier for yourself and your environment. For example there was a post about ingredients (how to make) natural soap for washing dishes and where to find it, especially those sold in no packaging at all. This is a lovely replacement for the plastic bottles of liquid soap we use which have chemicals that actually harm us when we eat using the utensils we used it to clean. In the same post she mentions brushes/ loofahs that can be used to apply the natural soap onto. She is careful not to post accessories which are partly plastic, the brush has a wooden stem and she also posted a brand of earbuds with wooden stems before. I personally feel guilty about these small things I throw away which have a plastic part. To keep myself from buying them again, I keep imagining them ending up attached to a turtle, in the mouths of whales, or on a beautiful beach somewhere..

This is how Ms Eman Mossallam is using her digital literacies to help people. She runs pages which raise awareness about how as individuals we can help combat a disaster our planet is suffering. She shares detailed information, in English and Arabic, on two of the social media platforms with most users, and uses the hashtag at the end of each post so it reaches lots of people. I have personally learned from these pages and have been influenced to change my lifestyle.

She has highlights on her instagram page which are very informative. For example the “Ramadan” highlights I came across some days ago opened my eyes to horrifying statistics about Egyptians’ wasting of food and water during the holy month. The highlights are dedicated to tips about what we can do to limit food going into garbage bins and water down the drain, and how for example plastic packaging of some foods may be substituted. This in itself is a good deed many may want to start practicing during Ramadan, so we benefit and the planet benefits.

As a result of her online contribution to this cause, her followers keep increasing and changing their unhealthy lifestyles. Pages and hashtags such as ZeroWasteEgypt are influential and affect their followers quite positively. I believe ZeroWasteEgypt and initiatives like it are necessary now because we only have 11 years to save the planet and after that we’re all doomed. Just something to think about 🙂

On the bright side, there are countries who are aware and making changes. The above headline was shared on Zero-waste Egypt’s Facebook page. A lot of similar posts are shared, which makes me very happy. There is hope after all.

https://www.facebook.com/Zero-waste-Egypt-112691462680847/

https://www.instagram.com/zerowaste.egypt/?hl=en

Soliya (connect express) was my first time being involved in a group video chat in an intercultural context. I didn’t expect to enjoy it at all, thought it would be very awkward and was worried I’d lose a big chunk of my grade because of not attending all of it or doing it correctly. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable & informative things I’ve done for any class. When we first started, it was sort of a breaking-the-ice session but we all got along pretty quick. A difficulty for all of us though was the little talk button & the fact that only one of us could speak at a time. I would forget to click that button before speaking sometimes. Our moderator explained that it’s so each person has a chance to speak without being interrupted and so we can all practice really listening, so I guess it has more benefits than not. The only other online group calls I’ve been in were Skype and House Party and those were not for a learning purpose and didn’t have a talk button.

We all use the web for common purposes, for learning and communicating and we all agreed that we aren’t very active on social media so we don’t share much content, rather we use it to stay updated and connected. We exchanged instagrams to stay in touch with each other and I believe now we have a connection. I’d definitely contact any of them if I find myself in their country and would love to meet them and show them around if they visit mine.

I’m very lucky to have been matched with members who are all respectful, who listened well and did not judge any other member & respected opinions. My group was great at constructive communication because of this. In our sessions we got very deep, we discussed lots of societal problems such as unfair government regulations, hate crimes, environmental threats, homelessness,  things like homosexuality, dating & familial perceptions, sex, parties, drugs, societal pressures and a lot of other things and we shared the situations on these things within our countries and social settings. We shared our experiences, good and bad. I can say we all were really open and we connected deeply. My sessions were on Wednesdays and I remember feeling like something is wrong on the Wednesday after the 4^th session because it was like something in my day was missing. I really enjoyed this experience and am grateful to have attended Soliya.

Although I am well aware that tons of data about me is being collected and sold from firm to another, I did not realize the extent to which that happens before I saw ‘Morning Rituals’. I knew about third parties, how cookies work, and made my peace a while ago with the fact that my information is collected and stored somewhere, because after all it is all used for mining and developing algorithms which create programs and software that make our lives easier as users. Nevertheless, I felt a bit scared when the narrator said they know I’m seeing the video through a mac and from Cairo. I felt like there were eyes on me, and in one way or another there is. I understand the struggle of needing accurate data to use for data mining and visualization to some extent, because my major requires me to get this sort of information so I’m able to do my projects & my graduation project, and so I also understand the dangers. Confidentiality & security must be ensured, so as a user I’ve been making sure to at least skim through terms and conditions of the apps I install. I leave some strange looking sites that use cookies. Some apps ask for access to the microphone, which is a big deal. When my phone is in my hands and I’m having a personal conversation, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being listened to. It is especially creepy when I’m exposed to ads related to things I’ve talked about, or things I’ve searched online only once. We all need to be aware that we’re being tracked, and decide for ourselves how much we’d like to share with the firms lurking inside our devices.

When I first learned how to practice and promote feminism, I made certain that it revolves around the most important aspect: intersectionality. I believe that if it isn’t intersectional, it isn’t feminism. I’ve been aware that one of the things affecting our unjust system dictating who gets access to what opportunities most heavily is how that system is designed, but until now I was not aware of the many dimensions of this design which exist.

Because feminism is not yet so accepted in Egypt, I don’t believe it can advance far enough yet to become intersectional (not that I believe it is anywhere), but now things are mostly about finding some equality between men and women, to start with. Realistically speaking, however, I find it essential that every group is factored in. Every group meaning every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, able-bodiness extent, nationality, social class, religion, and any other aspect of a person’s identity (except maybe the Nazis, I won’t lie). It was very interesting for me to read about the idea of single-axis evaluation, which imposes a further burden on groups who are already disadvantaged in several ways, because they cannot express the discrimination against them from one dimension. They are denied the right to represent those closely linked with them if they do not share the same characteristics exactly. This affects the policies developed by our states and institutions, and it again isn’t designed to be in their favor. I loved how the article described race, class and gender to be ‘interlocking systems’ to explain the matrix of domination. Every person who falls into these culturally challenged categories, and/or facing structural injustice imposed by institutions, or are even oppressed on the lowest levels of personal expression, each has been failed by the design of our systems in a way.

These designs of the systems that govern us must change to accommodate more than just cis white men. We need to include more. We need more diversity, because if we’re going to design better systems and support the access to better opportunities then we will need as much experience from those who are not cis white men as we can get our hands on. The experience of the marginalized matters, because they are the key to designing foundations which will not tolerate marginalization or neglect. The accomplishments of people who’s work is seen as less valuable because of their skin color or native language or gender has to stop being ignored, because when their contributions are attributed to where they came from, these places can start being provided with the resources needed to take them high enough to achieve equality, only if the privileged classes make room.

I loved reading about organizations that actually are leading change, and it got me thinking that what our game needs to be more influential is links to sites where the participant can go make a change for the cause, instead of stopping at being informed.

Reimagining Education in the Digital Age

The first keynote I attended revolved around the idea of integrating technology with education, at first I didn’t think much of the topic because most of our learning is through the internet these days, we don’t study through books anymore. Even social media is becoming a key factor for teaching and learning. Dr Couros discussed how he teaches his students to contribute to the web rather than just consume from it. He talked about how he is learning from observing how his children use and learn from the web, and that gives him inspiration regarding how his students could too. The world is changing, many disciplines are becoming data-centric and the internet is our main educator nowadays, more than our parents, instructors, or anyone else. Dr Couros discussed that the web is changing in 3 ways, first is change in content: content is not as valuable as it was before. I believe it’s because nowadays you can learn almost anything by looking it up online. There is a youtube video somewhere to teach you absolutely anything you want to know, and as a student, I’m thankful such useful knowledge is a few clicks away. This however makes me feel a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I go to university (and such an expensive one) to learn things I either already know, or can know from the internet for free. We are operating in a way that basically means that employs are looking for a certificate before they look for knowledge. As a college student who has taken classes with professors that have taught me nearly nothing, have heard me complain about it but then do good on their exams, I have to say it’s really funny how they don’t realize half the class learned that information from someone on Youtube who doesn’t have the PhD they do. In contrast, I did learn some things from the hour I spent listening to dr Alec Couros, because he was an engaging presenter. I was impressed to see videos of kids taking up challenges and making youtube videos, they’re contributing to the web in a way most of us aren’t. Also I was impressed to see others posting on the web to ask questions, and it felt very nice to see a community of people dedicated to help others on the web come together in the comments to share information. Another change in the web he discussed was the change in tools. I may love technology and it’s advancements, but I also feel like it’s making us not pay attention to anything else. I’ve taken pictures in class in stead of writing things down in the past, and I almost never go back to look at that picture. I never have any recollection of taking it or of the topic that was being discussed until I’m scrolling through my camera roll looking for a picture of something else, and that’s the downside I’m seeing to how new tools and technologies are changing how we learn. On the other hand, tools like apps can be very useful like the PhotoMath app that a kid on youtube made a video about for others to use for their maths homework. I was thinking “why couldn’t I have known about this last semester when I couldn’t make time to do my maths homework???”, I’m learning every day how to ask google the simplest of questions, because I’m sure to find something useful. The third factor he discussed was networks, how we can immerse ourselves in online communities who give us the opportunity to learn a lot, and in return we do the same. I thought of how on twitter every day I see interesting tweets where people share their opinions on a certain topic, or share stories of their experiences, and then thousand of people come in to comment. I’ve read tons of useful threads from tweets that started with simple questions, for example “What is the best work advice you’ve received?” and this was written by a person who doesn’t have a large number of followers, but with everyone retweeting with comments the tweet ended up with thousands of replies, all of which sounded very very useful. I always save these things for future reference. For this reason, twitter is my favorite social media app. I loved the idea that he requires his students to choose something they’ve always wanted to learn and use the web for it and then share what they’ve learned. Some students chose painting, some chose an instrument, some learned a new language and I think from this learning experience they saw the reflection of our societies that’s on the web, and how they got an opportunity to see how great it can be to teach them new skills. I also loved seeing snippets of the games his students made and that got me very excited for the game we’re going to make in our Digital Literacies class. What I loved most about this keynote was the discussion of how the growing social web can be such a beautiful place. I got very emotional seeing drawings of the little boy who passed away from cancer that were shared by strangers under a post the boy’s father made. What I loved even more were the videos of students in Brazil who connected to a senior’s home in the US to talk to them and learn English from them. I loved the illustration that between humanity, technology and pedagogy there’s a sweet spot. Overall this was a very nice talk to attend and I don’t think there’s anything I wish could’ve been done differently. I believe being open to constantly searching and learning from online sources has great impact on how we can learn in the future.

Teaching in an Age of Complexity

Dr Catherine Cronin’s keynote started off with talking about the idea of networking between teachers and students and the web, which was discussed in the previous keynote. It was interesting for me to hear the distinctions she made between the nature of teaching within physical spaces, bounded online spaces with restricted access, and open online spaces. Open online spaces encourage much more sharing, teaching, learning and in my opinion is the ideal space for contributing to the web. Engaging in participatory culture in digital spaces is the best thing about the internet as a whole, because that’s where real connections can happen and that’s because of the low barriers. Hearing this I felt that I should explore more blogs and maybe create a reddit account, so I can explore and be part of more online communities like twitter and tumblr. I really loved the figure of the piece of tangled wool she used to describe the link between open, participatory, and equitable pedagogies. How she said “I don’t think they could be disentangled”. I learned that making it “open” tackles the extent to which these online sources are accessible, “participatory” is for measuring the ability of students to put things out there instead of just consuming from the information made available to them, and “equitable” is making sure everyone has the same opportunity for this. The 3 together can diminish structural inequality in this educational context. It was also very interesting for me to hear that the greatest difficulty students in higher education encounter on the web is the balance between openness and privacy, because I believe this affects me and will continue to affect me in the future as a student or as a user of the web for any educational purpose, because I’m a very private person who is currently trying her best to get more out of the web. I also learned about the apps and websites for open web resources which was great, but the best thing about this keynote for me was the different perspective about Wikipedia she presented. I agree that being able to edit and write wikipedia articles is super useful because it gives us the opportunity to share on that sort of platform and be up to date with information regarding any discipline because Wikipedia is such a broad online entity.

Attending these keynotes made me notice something I wouldn’t otherwise have ever thought about and that’s how teachers who encourage digital learning have a wonderful community of their own, and now I’m considering taking a class in Education so if I’m ever someone’s teacher (which I do plan on being in a specific field) I can do it well. I feel like the two keynotes were very different but a little similar, the content cannot really be compared, but I believe the first one was more enjoyable and engaging because of Dr Couros’ great presentation skills, but the second keynote was much more interesting for me to listen to even though I saw it online. I found myself replaying several minutes to grasp the concepts better, and I learned a lot.

Spent

This game was depressing to play. It felt like every right decision has a consequence too. I’ve seen movies like ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ about struggling families in America, but playing the game and having to think about how I’d act if it were me made me feel so much more empathetic, and at times it made me feel like I’m in danger, like when I had to hang up the call about unpaid charges for my car because I was unemployed and could not do without the little money in my pocket. It also hurt to think about families who struggle with depression and cannot afford treatment, which will make dealing with financial pressures even more stressful. I felt privileged that I only have to deal with the social stigma around it. Also the parts about needing to go to a dentist or getting tested for heart problems and not being able to afford any of it made me fear for the person who has to go through this, because “nothing can happen to me because I need to support my family” must be their first thought.. and I felt angry at a state who does not cover their medical expenses, but does for the wealthy who work for the state. The one that hurt the most was getting a sense of understanding of how it feels to miss out on a child’s growth because of being too busy attempting to support them financially, I thought of children who go through this believing they’re being neglected and I thought of the extra burden that puts on the parent, and I feel saddened for them and I just blame capitalism, but also I feel guilty. I made it through the month with $39 dollars and chose most of the options that benefited the child and none of which were for my own physical and mental health, now having responsibilities as an adult scares me more than it already did.

Syrian Journey

This game felt just horrible. I felt like this is too serious to be playing a game about. No matter how many posts we read, games we play, or videos we watch, even talks given by actual Syrian refugees about these life-threatening journeys they have to go through just to survive.. none of this can make us actually grasp the feeling of horror they have experienced. I feel like there has to be a special place in heaven only for victims of genocide. Being faced with the options, I felt like every option was worse than the other, my #1 fear was drowning, which I did the first time I played, and the second time I ended up in a concentration camp which is horrible as well. I feel awful, I hate the world we live in but I know God will avenge them and I keep learning to value safety more and more.

Sleep-deprived mom

I played this game (and am writing this reflection) with no control over my left arm because of my little sister who won’t let it go. To type using both hands my laptop is basically up to my chest, so I understand a tiny bit of how things have to be when you have to get something done and still care for a needy child. I’ve lost many hours of sleep just this week because she cries if I won’t let her sleep in my bed, I love her to death but being someone who doesn’t want kids, this game made me feel like it wouldn’t be too bad never having kids because of all the extra sleep I’d be getting lol. I sacrifice my sleep for very few things, right now I can’t think of anything that feels better than those first extra few minutes of sleep in the morning, so always being rushed and not getting enough sleep being a lifestyle for me is not something I’d want to try and cope with. Children are such a huge deal, I realized this playing the other games more but here I thought more of my own mental health. My little sister and my puppy cost me enough sleep as it is (and of course.. the most evil of all.. uni.)

My score on this game was a 10/14

Responsible Partying

This is probably the lamest party I’ve ever read about. A party isn’t a party if it doesn’t involve risky things. I’m a big party animal when my social battery isn’t on the low, but I really dislike alcohol. Maybe if there’s a keg and random people are trying to do handstands drinking from it, that would be cool, but not just drinking for fun. That stuff is like blood poison and in my opinion it’s not fun at all. Still, I believe college is a good time to experiment and figure out the things you enjoy. If this game didn’t say it was a highschool party I probably would’ve felt more comfortable about it. I remembered my highscool prom, which was the best party between all other schools and the best party any of us had been to up to that point, and there was no alcohol or anything illegal, just a bunch of friends having a lot of fun. I believe we should all party responsibly, but responsibility for me means not harming anyone or getting caught, crazy experiences matter!

However, the part about the near sexual assault made me feel much different. I’m happy there was a video on consent shared, many Egyptian men and women do not have a clear understanding of it, even though it has been proved that children understand it very early in their lives, which is why I feel that we need to be teaching children (especially boys) about consent as early as possible. If I was living the situation where I was on the other side of that door, there is no doubt I would’ve gone in there and pretend to have been looking everywhere for the girl to get her out of that situation. Ladies, if you’re ever at a club or a random party and see a girl looking uncomfortable with a guy who went up to her, barge in there pretending to be old friends who haven’t seen each other in ages! She’ll be thankful and it could be the start of a kickass new girl friendship

Defying Gender Roles

If it isn’t already obvious from how I speak in class, here is a chance for anyone reading this to know that I am a serious feminist. If I was playing this game a year ago, I would’ve thought ‘these questions are old’ or ‘nobody says this or thinks this anymore’ but in reality, girls are still being raised to believe these things, and as young adults they are still being encouraged to pursue careers which are “not difficult” so they may “fit a woman” [angry feminist triggered]. I believe that we hear these things a lot but still do not change the way we address women or the respect or support we give them as opposed to men doing their same work. Equal pay is still not happening for us, and there is still a common misconception that women are naturally caring and nurturing. I’ve dealt with more sensitive, caring men than women, and as I don’t believe women are realizing their worth well enough in spite of everything we keep preaching about gender equality, I also do not believe men are becoming any more comfortable crying, exposing their feelings, or displaying sensitivity which in most cases is just basic human decency. There still exists a powerful stigma that men need to be tough, and women submissive. I believe we need to GET OVER THIS much faster than we are, and frankly, I believe ‘if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention’.

Know Yourself

I found the answers on this to be rather strange, because I know I’m not a judgmental person. I’m actually the most understanding person I know, but I do get the point that we make judgments without realizing. I tend to assume the worst of strangers, because I’m painfully aware of the dangers that surround us. However, I do believe I should work on being more optimistic, tricky as it may be to not get gullible in the process. If anything, I may be judgmental toward gullible people, because I feel awareness is a skill everyone must acquire. I made a lot of incorrect decisions while doing this game, but I think they were all for the best.

I want to improve on aspects of creating, innovating, and using tools & technology. My current goal is to use apps and tools to create cool things, so first I must practice ability to come up with cool things