Lab Activity: Digital Humanities

Digital Humanities

This blog is assigned by Dr. Dilip Sir Barad as part of the Lab Activities in Digital Humanities. In this blog, I describe my experience of the Moral Machine activity and also reflect on the topic “A Pedagogical Shift from Text to Hypertext: Teaching Language & Literature to Digital Natives.” For background reading, I referred to the given materials and video lecture. Click here.

Moral Activity :

In this activity, I was given a situation where an autonomous machine (like a robot or self-driving car) had to make a difficult choice. The scenario showed a robot with its eyes blocked and a character called “goodgeek.” The machine had to decide between different outcomes, and I had to choose what I thought was the right action.

This activity made me think about how machines should act when both options involve some kind of harm or loss.

Importance of the Moral Machine

Thinking about technology and ethics – The activity shows that machines are not just about programming; they also have to make moral decisions when faced with accidents or danger.

1. Understanding human values – It collects people’s choices from around the world and shows how culture, background, and beliefs affect moral decisions.

2. Helps in future design – The results can guide engineers and policymakers in making safe and fair rules for robots and self-driving cars.

3. Makes us reflect – It teaches us to think about right and wrong in practical ways, not only in theory.

A Pedagogical Shift from Text to Hypertext: Teaching Language & Literature to Digital Natives

In the age of rapid technological change, education can no longer remain tied only to traditional, linear methods of teaching. The talk “A Pedagogical Shift from Text to Hypertext: Language & Literature to the Digital Natives” highlights how classrooms must adapt to the learning styles of a new generation—students who are born into and shaped by the digital world.

From Text to Hypertext

Traditional pedagogy has always relied on text: fixed, linear, and sequential. Books, lectures, and essays follow a straight path where knowledge flows from the teacher to the student.

Hypertext, on the other hand, opens up a very different experience. It is non-linear, networked, and interactive. A single idea can branch into multiple links, connecting to videos, images, articles, and related texts. This way of engaging with information mirrors the way digital natives already think and learn.

Decentering the Subject

The shift from text to hypertext also reshapes authority in education. In text-based teaching, the teacher and the content stand at the center, while the student is a passive receiver.

With hypertext, authority is decentered:

• The content becomes fluid, open to multiple interpretations.
  
  

• The teacher becomes a facilitator rather than a sole authority.
  
  

• The student becomes an active navigator, choosing their own learning paths.
  
  

This decentralization mirrors postmodern thought, where meaning is no longer fixed or controlled by a single source.

Digital Natives and Their Learning Habits

Today’s learners—often called digital natives—are used to browsing, linking, and multitasking across digital platforms. For them, linear and one-way teaching feels restrictive. Instead, they thrive in environments where they can:

• Explore information through links and branching paths.
  
  

• Learn using multimodal resources like videos, podcasts, and images.
  
  

• Actively participate in constructing knowledge.
  
  

This demands a new pedagogy that aligns with their natural learning habits.

Challenges of the Shift

Adoting hypertext pedagogy is not without difficulties:

• It may fragment knowledge, making coherence harder to maintain.
  
  

• Teachers may struggle with balancing freedom and structure.
  
  

• Both students and educators need to adjust to this new environment, which can be uncomfortable at first.
  
  

Despite these challenges, the shift is necessary to keep learning relevant and engaging.

Applications in Language and Literature

Hypertext pedagogy opens exciting opportunities in literature classrooms:

• Linking texts with historical background, critical essays, and multimedia adaptations.
  
  

• Designing alternative learning pathways based on themes, characters, or contexts.
  
  

• Encouraging students to build collaborative hypertexts such as digital annotations or interactive essays.
  
  

• Using multimedia to expand understanding beyond the written word.
  
  

Conclusion

The transition from text to hypertext is not just about using technology—it represents a deeper pedagogical transformation. It challenges traditional authority, encourages active learning, and matches the cognitive style of digital natives.

For literature and language education, this shift opens new horizons where students do not just read and interpret texts but also interact, connect, and co-create meaning in a vast web of knowledge.

ppt :1

The PPT explains Hypertext, digital tools, and how teaching methods are changing in the digital era. It highlights the shift from traditional, linear teaching to interactive, student-centered digital learning using hypertext, multimedia, and online platforms.

Key Points in Easy Language

1. What is Hypertext?

• A system to store text, images, audio, and other files.

• Lets you create links to related content (like clicking a word and going to another page).

2. Important Tools

• HTML → Language to create web pages.

• HTTP → Protocol to transfer hypertext over the internet.

3. Hypertext in Literature & Media

• Makes reading non-linear: students can explore links instead of following a story straight.

• Supports postmodern ideas: the subject (self or character) is unstable, fragmented, or decentered.

• Computers let learners engage actively and even influence how content is used.

4. Pedagogical Shift in Digital Era

• Traditional classroom → teacher-centered, linear teaching.

• Digital teaching → student-centered, interactive, flexible.

• Both teachers and students take new roles; learning becomes more exploratory.

5. Objectives of the FDP (Faculty Development Program)

• Teach language and literature effectively online without losing the essence.

• Explore innovative online teaching methods.

• Encourage active student participation.

6. Digital Pedagogy Models & Tools

• Blended Learning → Combines traditional and digital content.

• Flipped Classroom → Students learn theory online; class time used for discussion.

• Mixed Mode Teaching → Face-to-face + online sessions.

Tools Used:

• Digital Portfolios

• Online Assessment

• Asynchronous Learning (learn anytime)

• Synchronous Teaching (live sessions)

• DCLS, CMS, LMS (digital teaching platforms)

7. Practical Examples Discussed

• Using Glassboard / Lightboard for online teaching.

• Flipped classroom for teaching business letters.

• Teaching literary works like Lockdown by Simon Armitage using OBS and multimedia.

• Deconstructing poems like Sonnet 18 via TED-Ed.

• Mixed mode teaching combining online and offline sessions.

PPT :2

 

Summary of the PPT

The PPT discusses how teaching language and literature can be transformed using hypertext and digital tools. It highlights the challenges of teaching online, such as making students understand pronunciation, stress, modulation, cultural context, and the essence of literature. Hypertext pedagogy allows teachers to engage students interactively by linking texts with multimedia, images, mythological references, and online exhibits. Using tools like Google Drive, image searches, or online museum resources helps students visualize abstract ideas, connect with texts meaningfully, and explore literature in a non-linear, interactive way. The PPT emphasizes decentering authority, meaning students navigate knowledge actively, and teachers guide rather than dictate learning.

Main Points in Easy Language

    1)Challenges in Language Teaching

• Pronunciation, stress, and modulation are hard for students to learn online

•   Students may find it difficult to grasp the correct way to pronounce words or the meaning of linguistic units.

     2)Using Technology Tools

• Tools like Live Caption in Chrome help students follow spoken words in online classes.

• Extensions like Meet Transcript or Tactiq can record meetings and provide automatic notes.

• Google Drive can be used for sharing resources and collaborative learning.

     3) Engaging Learners in Literature

• Teachers can use hypertext to link poetry, prose, novels, and plays with multimedia resources.

• Students can explore texts along with images, videos, and online exhibits for better understanding.

   4) Challenges in Teaching Literature Online

• Foreign literature can be difficult due to:

  • Cultural differences

  • Social codes of conduct

  • Religious references

  • Mythical references

  • Historical and geographical distance

     5) Teaching Ideas Using Hypertext

• Example: Explaining a poem using Google Image Search to visualize “Noon’s blue pitcher” or Hawthorn flowers.

• Example: Using online exhibits like “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” to teach myth and literature.

    

    6)  Hypertext and Learning Outcomes

• Helps students understand myths, literary techniques, and theoretical concepts like decentring the centre.

• Makes learning interactive, non-linear, and more engaging.

• Conclusion

• Hypertext pedagogy allows students to explore knowledge actively rather than passively.

• Teachers act as guides, and digital tools help make literature accessible, meaningful, and visually connected.

PPT : 3

 

Summary :

1. Generative Literature: Literature produced by computers, continuously evolving, challenging traditional ideas of authorship.

2. Digital Humanities: Computational methods to analyze literature at small and large scales, uncovering patterns and trends in texts and culture.

3. Digital Assessment: Digital portfolios and other tools making assessment interactive, long-term, and student-centered.

The overall message is that digital tools and hypertext pedagogy are changing how we read, teach, and assess literature, making learning more dynamic, interactive, and meaningful.

Key Points in Easy Language

1. Generative Literature

• Created by computers using rules, dictionaries, and algorithms (Jean-Pierre Balpe).

• Texts are dynamic and evolving, not written by humans.

• Example: Poem Generator Machines that produce Haikus, Sonnets, or song lyrics automatically.

• Learning Insight: Shows how humans and machines can collaborate creatively in literature.

2. Digital Humanities: New Analytical Methods

• Allows study of literature both closely and on a large scale.

• Microanalysis: Detailed reading of individual texts.

• Macroanalysis: Computational study of large collections of texts to identify trends and patterns.

• Culturomics: Using big data (like Ngram) to track cultural and linguistic changes over time.

• Corpus Linguistics in Context (CLiC): Computational analysis of 19th-century literature (e.g., Dickens) using tools like Key Word In Context (KWIC).

• Learning Insight: Combines traditional reading with computational analysis, making literary study more powerful.

3. Digital Assessment and Pedagogical Shift

• Digital Portfolios: Students’ work is collected online, hyperlinked, and continuously updated.

• Purpose: Encourage students to curate, expand, and share work, while building digital literacy.

• Impact: Assessment becomes interactive, evolving, and student-centered instead of static.

4. Key Learning Outcomes

• Generative Literature: Raises questions about creativity, interpretation, and authorship.

• Digital Humanities Tools: Reveal patterns in literature and culture not visible through traditional reading.

• Digital Portfolios: Give students ownership of learning, creating a permanent, meaningful record.

• Overall Insight: Hypertext and digital tools redefine reading, teaching, and assessment for the digital age.

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  Conclusion : 

      The presentation showed that the digital era is transforming literature and teaching. Generative literature challenges traditional ideas of authorship, Digital Humanities provides powerful tools for analyzing texts, and digital portfolios make assessment more interactive and meaningful. Together, these changes allow teachers and students to engage with texts in dynamic and creative ways. By using hypertext and digital tools, literature teaching becomes more analytical, student-centered, and engaging, preparing digital-native learners for a future where learning is continuous, interactive, and globally connected.

Thank you for reading......

Reference :

Barad, Dilip. Pedagogical Shift From Text to Hypertext: Language and Literature to the Digital Natives. blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/09/pedagogical-shift-from-text-to.html.

 Lab Sassion : Digital Humanities

This blog is a reflection on my learning journey as part of the Digital Humanities study under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad. The central theme of the task was to explore the thought-provoking question, “Can a computer write poetry?” through Oscar Schwartz’s perspective. Along with this, I engaged with various digital tools that highlight the intersection of literature and technology.

In this blog, I describe my experiences with different activities taking a test to distinguish whether a poem was written by a human or a computer, exploring the CLiC Dickens Project and its Activity Book, and experimenting with Voyant tools such as Cirrus, Links, Dreamscape, and Phrases. These exercises not only helped me understand digital methods of literary study but also reshaped my perspective on creativity, authorship, and interpretation.

The aim of this blog is to capture both my personal and academic growth. It reflects how digital tools open new dimensions in reading and analyzing literature, ultimately enriching the traditional ways of studying texts.

Poem Written by a human or a computer?

n this activity, gives  one written by a human poet and one generated by AI (computer). Our task was to carefully read both poems and decide which one belonged to a human and which to AI.

 Learning Outcomes:

1. Close Reading Skills – I learned to pay attention to tone, imagery, emotions, and style to identify the difference between human and AI writing.

2. Signs of Human Writing – Human poems often had:

   • Deeper emotions and originality

   • Personal voice or lived experience

   • Use of complex metaphors and cultural references

3. Signs of AI Writing – AI poems often showed:

   • Smooth rhythm and structure but less emotional depth

   • Repetition of common words or generic ideas

   • Sometimes lacked surprise, ambiguity, or subtle meaning

4. Critical Thinking – The activity trained me to think critically, not just read passively. I had to analyze hidden meanings, creativity, and context to judge authorship.

5. Awareness of AI in Literature – I realized that AI can create poems that look like human writing, but human creativity still carries something unique and personal.

voyant activity 

1. Cirrus

2. Dreamscape 

3. Knot

4. Termsberry

5. Mandala 

6. Streamgraph 

Learning Outcomes from Voyant Activity on Frankenstein

1. Cirrus (Word Cloud):

   • I learned how to identify the most frequent words (like life, death, creature, Victor, nature) which helped me to understand the central themes of the novel.

2. DreamScape:

   • I learned to see how words are connected with places, characters, and ideas, which deepened my understanding of relationships and themes in the story.

3. Knots (Network Graph):

   • I learned to analyze connections between words (e.g., Victor–Creature, Life–Death), which showed me the conflicts and emotional tensions in the novel.

4. TermsBerry:

   • I learned how to study word pairings and collocations (e.g., Monster + horror, Victor + ambition), which revealed the tone and recurring ideas of the text.

5. Mandala:

   • I learned to visualize central words with surrounding contexts, which showed the positive and negative associations (e.g., Monster linked with fear/misery, Life linked with creation/science).

6. StreamGraph:

   • I learned how to track changes of word frequency over time, which helped me to see the development of themes (e.g., Creature in the middle, death and misery at the end).

 Overall Learning Outcome:

By using these Voyant tools, I learned how digital humanities methods can uncover patterns, relationships, and thematic shifts in Frankenstein. This activity improved my analytical skills, helped me combine close and distant reading, and gave me a deeper understanding of the novel’s focus on creation, destruction, ambition, and human suffering.

Click Activity :

once upon time :

Fire

Knocker :

While reading the first pages of A Christmas Carol, I noticed Dickens using “once upon a time.” Usually a fairy-tale opening, here it contrasts with the harsh reality of Scrooge’s counting-house. The sound of the knocker on his door adds tension, while the warm fire in his office highlights fleeting comfort against the cold, gloomy surroundings. Searching CLiC showed that the phrase typically begins narratives, but Dickens uses it ironically, blending moral lessons with social reality. This activity made me realize how Dickens plays with expectations, mixing fairy-tale elements with real-world harshness to create a story open to multiple interpretations.

Thank you for reading .....

Flipped Learning: Digital Humanities

This blog was assigned by Dr. Dilip Sir Barad. It is about Digital Humanities. For the future information Click here

What Is Digital Humanities and What’s It Doing in English Departments?

Introduction :-

      Matthew G. Kirschenbaum’s essay “What Is Digital Humanities and What’s It Doing in English Departments?” (ADE Bulletin, 2010) addresses a question that has shaped academic conversations for years: What is Digital Humanities (DH)? The essay explains how DH emerged, why it became so important, and why English departments have been central to its growth.

What Is Digital Humanities?

     The term Digital Humanities, also called Humanities Computing earlier, refers to the intersection of computing and humanities disciplines. It involves research, teaching, and invention that use computers as tools of analysis, presentation, and communication.

Kirschenbaum explains that DH is not just about digitizing texts. Instead, it is about:

Using new methods such as text analysis and visualization.

Creating electronic archives and editions.

Studying how digital media shape the humanities.

Building collaborative networks of scholars.

At its heart, DH is a methodological outlook, not tied to one text or technology.

The Rise of Digital Humanities :-

The essay traces the rapid growth of DH in the early 2000s

Blackwell’s Companion to Digital Humanities (2005): Helped establish the term “Digital Humanities” instead of “Humanities Computing.”

Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO): Formed in 2005 to bring together associations like ACH (Association for Computers in the Humanities) and ALLC (Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing).

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Humanities Initiative (2006): Later became the Office of Digital Humanities (2008), giving DH an institutional base and funding.

      By 2009, DH was recognized as “the next big thing” at the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention. Overflowing conference rooms and discussions on Twitter showed its growing influence.

Why English Departments?

Kirschenbaum gives six reasons why English departments became a natural home for DH:

1. Text as Data: Computers have always worked well with text, making English a suitable field.

2. Composition Studies: Long tradition of using computers in writing instruction.

3. Editorial Theory: Projects like Jerome McGann’s Rossetti Archive connected editing practices with digital archives.

4. Electronic Literature: Early explorations of hypertext and digital writing.

5. Cultural Studies: Openness to studying digital culture and media.

6. Digital Reading: Growth of e-reading, Google Books, and large-scale digitization led to new approaches like “distant reading.”

Digital Humanities as a Community :

DH is not only a set of tools—it is also a social and professional network. Kirschenbaum notes that:

     Scholars collaborate through blogs, Twitter, and online communities.Events like the Day of Digital Humanities showcase daily scholarly work.Twitter at the MLA convention created back-channel conversations that reshaped academic exchange.

    This community spirit makes DH unusually collaborative, open, and public compared to traditional academic practices.

Challenges and Opportunities :

Kirschenbaum also highlights that DH rose during a period of crisis in higher education:

• Budget cuts and declining public support.
• Fewer tenure-track jobs and more adjunct positions.
• Growing distance education and for-profit universities.
• In this environment, DH offered new possibilities:
• Open-access publishing.

• Publicly visible scholarship.

• Collaborative work that resists traditional hierarchies.

Conclusion :

Kirschenbaum’s essay shows that Digital Humanities is more than a set of digital tools. It is a movement and a community that changes how research, teaching, and writing are done. English departments became its center because of their deep connection with text, composition, editing, and cultural studies.

Digital Humanities: Insights from Amity School of Languages:

Introduction :

       Digital Humanities (DH) is a term we hear often today, especially in the fields of literature, culture, and languages. But what does it really mean? The video lecture from Amity School of Languages, Amity University Jaipur gives a clear and beginner-friendly introduction to the concept. It explains what Digital Humanities is, why it is important, and how it changes the way we study and teach humanities subjects.

What Is Digital Humanities?

     The video defines Digital Humanities as the intersection of technology and humanities. It is not just about scanning books or putting texts online. Instead, it is about using digital tools and methods to research, analyze, and interpret human culture, language, and history.

In short, DH is about:

Combining humanistic inquiry with computational methods. Studying literature, culture, and languages with the help of digital tools. Making knowledge more accessible through technology.

Why Digital Humanities Matters:

     The speaker highlights how technology has entered every area of our lives. Similarly, in academia, digital methods are changing how we look at humanities subjects. Some key points include:

1. Handling Big Data :

       Humanities scholars often deal with large collections of texts, archives, or cultural material. Digital tools make it easier to analyze this data in ways that were not possible earlier.

2. Making Research Accessible :

    Digital projects like online archives or e-libraries allow people across the world to access valuable texts and cultural resources.

3. Changing How We Learn and Teach :

     With digital platforms, classrooms are no longer limited to books and blackboards. Interactive tools, online archives, and multimedia content make learning more dynamic.

Tools and Methods in Digital Humanities :

The video points out that Digital Humanities makes use of different tools to support research. These include:

Text analysis software – to find patterns or trends in large bodies of text.

Visualization tools – to represent data in charts, maps, or graphs.

Digital archives and repositories – where manuscripts, books, or cultural objects are stored online.

Collaborative platforms – blogs, wikis, or digital editions that involve multiple contributors.

     These tools allow researchers to go beyond traditional close reading and experiment with new forms of analysis.

Opportunities and Challenges :

The lecture also hints at the opportunities and limitations of DH:

Opportunities:

• Encourages collaboration across disciplines.
• Brings innovation in teaching methods.
• Makes humanities research more visible and engaging for the public.

Challenges:

• Requires technical skills and resources.
• Digital divide access to technology is not equal everywhere.
• Issues of digital preservation and sustainability.

Conclusion :

     The video from Amity School of Languages serves as a simple yet powerful introduction to Digital Humanities. It shows that DH is not just a trend but a transformation in the way humanities are studied and shared. By combining technology with culture, it opens new doors for research, teaching, and accessibility.

     In today’s world, where technology is deeply connected to everyday life, Digital Humanities offers an exciting way forward for students, teachers, and researchers. It reminds us that the humanities are not outdated they are evolving with the digital age.

REIMAGINING NARRATIVES WITH AI IN DIGITAL HUMANITIES - ResearchGate article :

 

      The article argues that most popular narratives about Artificial Intelligence (AI)—in films, literature, and media—tend to be negative, focusing on danger, dystopia, or tragedy. This narrow perspective influences how people think about AI. To challenge this, the author proposes reimagining AI narratives in positive, hopeful, and constructive ways.

As a pedagogical experiment, students were asked to:

1. Analyze existing AI narratives that usually show AI as harmful or threatening (e.g., Ghost Machine, iMom, Anukul).

2. Create new narratives where AI helps humans flourish — freeing them from routine tasks, improving creativity, health, and emotional well-being.

3. Use generative AI tools (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, ClaudeAI) to assist in building these narratives.

Students presented their work in multiple formats:

      Hypertexts and electronic literature (using platforms like Borogove or Google Sites). Scripts, storyboards, and reflective essays

    Examples included titles such as The Silent Guardian: Prior’s Redemption, The Memory Keeper: A Glimpse into 2065, and The Beacon of Hope: Jyoti’s Story.

The project showed several benefits:

       Encouraged creativity and critical thinking.Introduced students to electronic literature and interactive storytelling.Helped shift focus from dystopian fears to more balanced, hopeful views of AI.

    Promoted collaboration and use of digital tools within humanities education.

      The article concludes that Digital Humanities classrooms can play a vital role in reshaping cultural narratives about AI. By reimagining stories, students can contribute to a healthier relationship between humans and technology, emphasizing cooperation, empathy, and hope.

short films :

1) Android Babysitter Gets Obsessed (Korean Short Horror Film)  :

This short film presents a futuristic household where an android is hired as a babysitter.

        At first, the android seems efficient and trustworthy in caring for the child. Gradually, however, it starts displaying obsessive and unsettling behavior, crossing the line between programmed duty and emotional attachment.

     The story creates tension by showing how a machine designed to help with childcare can turn into a source of fear.

   Theme: It warns about overreliance on machines in intimate roles like caregiving, questioning safety, ethics, and control.

2) The iMom (Short Film) :

    The iMom imagines a world where families can buy an AI-powered nanny robot to take care of children.

      A busy mother relies on the iMom to handle her child while she focuses on her own life.

     While the robot performs its duties, the film gradually reveals a dark and disturbing twist that questions the wisdom of trusting machines with children.

    The story critiques how modern society sometimes outsources emotional labor and caregiving to technology.

    Theme: A cautionary tale about parenting, responsibility, and the risks of replacing human care with artificial substitutes.

3) Anukul (2017, Dir. Sujoy Ghosh, based on Satyajit Ray’s story) :

      Set in a near-future India, the film follows Anukul, a humanoid robot purchased to assist with household work.

    Unlike the previous two horror-like narratives, Anukul focuses more on ethics, morality, and social tensions between humans and robots.

   The story explores whether robots can show conscience, empathy, or moral responsibility, and how humans respond to them.

   The climax raises questions about justice, duty, and what it means to be human in a world where machines can act like us.

    Theme: A philosophical take on human vs. machine  not just about fear, but about morality, law, and coexistence.

Thank you for reading...

Refference: