Take My Advice: If You Have Trouble With Tech

Sometimes technology betrays us! It’s happened to us all, usually at a point when we are actively trying to seem competent. If you ALWAYS have problems, however, there might be something on your end you could change. There are some common problems I’ve identified from my time supporting faculty and graduate students with technical issues; these issues not only also affect students (and thus could be usefully passed on to them for their own tech needs) but also characterize a decent portion of my own issues when I stop to reflect. Some of the biggest below:

You’re going too fast. Technology can often allow us to go faster! But going too fast with a technology can not only lead you to make mistakes (guilty), it is also sometimes simply too fast for the tool to keep up. For example, Canvas often needs a refresh to show an updated grade when grading quizzes– it simply won’t update its view for you immediately upon the updating of a quiz grade. And, it’s of no use to start reviewing New Analytics in Canvas immediately; it takes time for it to analyze student activity and grade data and present it to you. It can help if you think of technology not as an instant communicator, but as a collaborator who might take a little time to get back to you. 

You’re using the wrong browser/old hardware. Imagine the software you’re trying to use is a gold-plated, top of the line refrigerator. It’s very nice, it functions perfectly, and it has a lot of features that you’re looking forward to using. Now imagine you give that refrigerator to a Pekingese and tell it to carry it up the stairs, install it, and get it functioning.

A Pekingese who would try really hard, though. Image by No-longer-here via Pixabay.

Not only is that Pekingese not going to be able to lift that refrigerator, it’s also not going to have any idea of what you’re talking about. Using incompatible hardware or software to get your tool working is similar– generally, it’s either not strong enough to carry the task, it doesn’t have the capacity to understand what it would need to understand to carry out the task, or both. 

You’re using a nonstandard tool for the job. Imagine that refrigerator again. It has a door, right? It plugs in. You put food in it. All these qualities are very similar to a microwave, but if you try to use the refrigerator as a microwave, you’re going to be disappointed. Similarly, looking at what a tool was designed for and evaluating if that is in line with your ambitions for the tool can be helpful. That’s not to say you can’t use a tool at sideways purposes– I would argue half of my discussions of Twine are sideways to its intent. (Incidentally, the medium of Interactive Fiction also has a lengthy history of using tech in ways contrary to its intention for creative purposes, so I feel I’m part of a rich tradition.) However, you’ll experience less frustration if you do so intentionally, rather than realizing that you’re trying to give feedback with a software that’s really only meant for file sharing, or facilitate group collaboration with a tool that only allows one or two users at a time. 

I’m in an interesting predicament at the moment where I’m trying to use AI tools to complete some data analysis. I am reading about good prompting strategies and trying to use them. I’m trying to build a foundation and then build on top of it. I’m trying multiple different strategies to see if I can come to some different results, even if only to give me some insight into how to better get the results I want in future. Yet, at the moment, it’s been more time checking and evaluating and figuring out where it’s getting its ideas than actual time saved in the analysis from the way I normally do it. 

I don’t think I’ve been going too fast, although I admit sometimes I see the demos of how quickly AI can pop together information and read reports of how it’s dramatically cutting time spent on certain tasks and I’m like “shouldn’t it just be able to do this for me already??” My hardware and software don’t seem to be the limiting issue– it’s not that it’s too slow, it’s that the conclusions are incorrect or partially correct or inventing some information that is not quite there. And the tool by all reports seems to be the tool for the job (see above demos), although perhaps a lesson I may end up learning is that some parts of the job are beyond it. I think the issue is actually a number 4, which is that the tool is more complicated to use than I am treating it as, and I don’t know enough yet about using it effectively. Straightforward and simple UX is powerful, but it can come at the expense of tailored, expert usages– think about what can be achieved by a pro using HTML to create a website versus a novice using Blogger or WordPress, or by a musician versus the prerecorded tracks on a child’s toy keyboard. The problem I’m trying to solve, then, may simply be one that is more “improvisational jazz” than “Old MacDonald.”

 

The strategy that's been most helpful to me so far is one that can be difficult for a lot of us to use: ask someone else to make an attempt at it, and learn from what they do. When in doubt, have someone else try! Either they have success, which you can learn from, or they don't, in which case you can at least feel a bit better that you are not alone.

Any of these tech issues plaguing you, or others? Let me know in the comments!

Enough About Me: Source Analysis Template Walkthrough

As promised when I introduced the Source Analysis Template, I have also created a walkthrough to using it. If these steps seem like a lot, don’t worry! This is a pretty granular breakdown, and some of these steps are repeats from the download process in the first post.

Setting Up

1. Download the Twine desktop app from Twinery.org and the HTML file for the template. 
2. Once you reach the Story Listing in Twine, click “Import from File” on the Side Menu. Click “Choose File,” then select the template file. 
3. The template will appear as a story in the Story Listing view. 
4. This is a good point to do the following two actions: 
• Duplicate the file so that you have the template for safekeeping, and a work file for your new activity. That way, you can go back to the template if needed, or duplicate it for other uses in future.
• Click the Settings (gear) icon next to the duplicate and select “Rename Story.” Give your activity a descriptive title, as this will appear in the activity once it is complete.
5. Click on the template to open it.

Welcome

1. Double click on the “Welcome” passage to open it. 
2. Replace the all caps text in between the two sets of tildes, as well as the tildes themselves, with text relevant to your activity. (example: ~~ THIS ENTIRE THING ~~ would become Your Text)

Leaving the tildes will result in your text looking like "Title" and "Title of Text" in this 

image in the finished product-- which, if you like it, great! If not, take out the tildes.

3. You should also, of course, feel free to edit or omit other text that may not apply to your use of the activity-- for example, if you don't want your students to turn in the answers at all, or if you want them to complete the activity in one sitting, some of the instructions may not apply. 
4. If you’d like to link to a copy of the source or excerpt, edit the link text given in the Welcome passage in the paragraph beginning “If you’d like, you can pull up a copy of…” Put the URL link itself in the first set of quotation marks, and the text you’d like to link (usually the title of the source) in place of ~~LINK TEXT WITH TITLE OF SOURCE~~. 
• For example, this:
  <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp" target="_blank">Code of Hammurabi</a>
• Becomes this:
  Code of Hammurabi
5. This version of the story asks for the student’s name in the Welcome passage , so that their answers at the end will have a name associated with them. If you don’t need this feature, you can delete the question and the code for the input box ({text input: 'studentName'})
6. Close the passage by clicking the x at the top right. You’re done with this one! 

Source

Okay, this is the fiddliest bit, but I promise it’s not so bad. There’s even a nice visual walkthrough to help you out. Ready?

1. Replace “~~TITLE OF TEXT~~” with the title of your source or excerpt. 
2. Replace “~~ADD YOUR TEXT HERE. PUT TEXT YOU'D LIKE TO LINK INSIDE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:” with the full text of your source or excerpt. 
3. Identify the words within the source that you would like to link to another passage. Copy ‘em.
4. Go down to the link list. Replace “~~LINK TEXT 1~~” with the copied text. 
5. Highlight the entire line. Cut. 
6. Highlight the words you copied earlier in the passage. Paste. You’re done with the first one!
• Here's what that process looks like. Every little yellow flash in this clip is a CTRL+C (Copy) or a CTRL+V (Paste). 

7. Repeat this process with each selection of text you want to link. Delete any links you do not use.

Items

There’s lots of code-looking stuff here, but never fear! Each of these lines that begin with "{text input for:" simply creates an input box where students can write their answers, one input box per line. 

1. Add any questions or comments you’d like to the Item 1 box corresponding with the text you linked to this passage. 

2. If you’d like a text input option for students to respond to your questions:

• Cut and paste the first line of code from the list beneath the relevant question.
• Repeat for all questions in that Item. Delete any you do not use (or else you’ll have a list of extra input boxes in your passage).
• Each input option can each only be used once in your story. So, if you used ‘inputA’ and ‘inputB’ in the Item 1 passage, you’ll need to remove these two from the next slide and use 'inputC,' 'inputD,' etcetera. 
3. If you don't want a text input option, simply delete all text before {back link, label: 'Save and go back to excerpt'}.

Submission Instructions

Okay, home stretch! There’s so little you need to do here, it almost doesn’t seem fair. 

1. Choose one or both sets of instructions for submitting answers. Delete any irrelevant instructions. 
• If you did not use any text inputs in your activity, you can delete this passage entirely or replace everything before the {back link} with any concluding text you like. 
2. Replace “~~YOUR PREFERRED SUBMISSION INFO~~” in the instructions you choose with the email, LMS assignment submission link, or other details needed for students to submit any work they’ve created. 

That’s it! You’ve got a Source Analysis Activity of your own. If you have questions or get stuck at any of these steps, feel free to reach out in comments, or schedule a quick chat with me via my Calendly. 

P.S: Now that you’ve made this lovely thing, how do you put it out into the world? We’ll talk more about that in the next post. 

Plug and Play: Source Analysis Template

Ever since I created the Source Analysis I activity, I've been wondering if there was a way to reduce the friction of creating a close reading exercise like this even further than just providing an example. Twine is a fairly low investment technology to pick up, but to start from scratch can be intimidating, and there can be a high barrier to trying new things for teachers who simply don't have much time to argue with technology. 

To help with this goal, I've created a template for making a source analysis activity similar to Source Analysis I. I have tried to make it as self-explanatory as possible to use (at least, if you’ve read the previous posts and/or demoed the Source Analysis I Activity), so feel free to download it and jump right in yourself! However, if you’d like a more detailed walkthrough to using it, one is coming. 

Download Source Analysis Template! 

This template is good for activities like: 

• Close reading of a fiction or nonfiction text guided by questions
• Encouraging annotation of specific passages
• Creating notes about a source that will inform a paper or exam question

For the particularly imaginative, you could also use it for:

• Having students read and dissect the key requirements of a paper or project prompt
• Reflecting on the different formats of a text (what different things did students pick up reading the piece in its original format versus within Twine?)

To start working with the template:

1. Download the Twine desktop app from Twinery.org and the HTML file for the template.
2. Once you reach the Story Listing in Twine, click “Import from File” on the Side Menu. Click “Choose File,” then select the template file.
3. The template will appear as a story in the Story Listing view.
4. Optional: This is a good point to do the following two actions:
   • Click the gear icon and click “Duplicate Story.” This will make a copy of the file so that you have the template for safekeeping, and a work file for your new activity. That way, you can go back to the template if needed, or duplicate it for other uses in future.
   • Click the Settings (gear) icon next to the file you plan to work in and select “Rename Story.” Give your activity a descriptive title, as this will appear in the activity once it is complete.
5. Click on your work file to open it.

In creating the template, I worked out a couple of irritations of the original:

• If using a link to an external site, placing it into the template as provided will now automatically open it in a new tab, rather than either opening in the existing tab (thus navigating away from the activity) or requiring users to right click and select "Open in a new tab" manually (which is annoying to have to remember). This update is thanks to this question and answer in the Twinery forum!
• The original activity required players to make a slightly unnecessary choice between whether they were going to write down their answers separately or in the input boxes. Although this was useful for the purposes of demonstrating two different approaches, it really wasn’t necessary for a template– if not using the input boxes, the creator can delete them, or the players can ignore them.

You may have noticed it’s been a while since my last post, and that’s primarily because every time I sit down to publish this template post, I come up with a new way to make the template or the instructions better which requires an additional hour of Googling, fiddling, and fighting with Blogger. I then created a bunch of content which felt like too much for one post; I like to keep these somewhat bite-sized. So, I’ve created a lot and split it into smaller, time-released bits, like those pain reliever capsules with the little spheres inside. (Is that what those do? Not sure, but they look fancy, so I’m going with it.)

Now, finally, I’m releasing the template out into the world, with the promise of additional supportive content to come, including a walkthrough (with a helpful video demo or two) and some upgrades to this template that you may like to experiment with. I’m also offering some small-group or one-on-one meetings for anyone who wants support or ideas for using this template; feel free to schedule an open time on my Calendly. And, if you decide to use it to create your own resource, I’d love to see the final product or hear about how you used it!

Enough About Me: Deformalizing and Deformatting