Week 1: What do the words “text” and “technology” mean to you?
Week 1 – Initial Thoughts
Consider the course title, “Text technologies: The changing spaces of reading and writing.” What is text? What is technology? How would you define these terms? Without consulting any resources, record your initial thoughts on these questions.
With the word “text”, I first think of written word; on a page, a book, an email, a message, etc. For “technology”, my initial thought is anything that was made to help a user become more efficient in a task.
I was recently scrolling through Instagram and came upon a carousel of photo texts. Here are three of the six posted:
This came to mind right away when I re-read my initial definitions of the words “text” and “technology”. As someone who was born in 1992, this resonates with me; and it can even be seen in my definitions of the aforementioned words. I understand the “old school” and the “new school”. My understanding of “text” veered more on the “old school”, in that my go-to was a written form – something more manual and analogue. Whereas my first thought for “technology” geared more toward “new school”; technology it not just a computer or electronic device, but a broader term for a tool that helps someone in a task.
It’s interesting to be in this in-between of understanding. I feel that I have the best of both worlds, in moving along in this technological age of education. I look forward to exploring what other implications and discussions arise from this course, in regards to the words “text” and “technology”.