Technology- means of transmitting information and making life easier! I see technology in simple things that enhance and facilitate every-day processes and do-abouts.

Image from: www.bbc.co.uk/…/2008/05/images/abacus.jpg

The representation of ideas, feelings, concepts and meanings through symbols.

I found this interesting image on Abraham Lincoln. If you take a close look, you’ll see it’s the Gettysburg Address  pronounced by Abraham Lincoln (Pennsylvania, USA, 1863). I found this image a “metaphor” on text and the way it can send different messages and concepts depending on the way it is used and arranged.

Image by Yelnoc: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yelnoc/361303918/

As text is the word itself, technology is the means by which to share the text. This can take many forms from the most ancient of the scroll to the modern computer applications. To me technology as a process is something subtle, but wide reaching. Something which, for better or worse, slithers its way into society changing all elements of daily life, communication, thought process and our world view. The process reminds me of the erosion of cliffs which stand strong for many years, but with years of wear, wind, and climate change are made anew. Yet, they continue to stand, but in a different and more refined way. This is why I have chosen the image of the Cliffs of Morr in Ireland. They are much like the process and evolution of technology- strong and stealth, but ever changing as time and events alter their shape, their scope and their breadth.

If you asked me last year to define technology I would have used words like: modern, electronic, fast, technical and expensive. Recently I have come to a different personal understanding of technology. I believe that technology is anything that allows you to work more efficiently. The wheel was a technological wonder in its day as was the pencil. The fellow in this youtube video seems to have the same view of technology. I love working “smarter not harder”. As a matter of fact my wife teases me and says that if I die before she does she is going to engrave “He worked smarter not harder” on my gravestone.

Weblog posting on TEXT

Given the debate over the academic validity of using sites that are created by a ‘community of experts’, I decided to go to the source that most of us equate with this movement, namely Wikipedia. There it was confirmed that ‘text’ has multiple meanings:

• Plain text refers to computer code
• A text is a coherent set of symbols
• A textbook is an instructional manual
• And a text can refer to a particular Biblical passage
• TEXT is the name of a hardcore band from Sweden

To me text simple means a way to getting a message across and that is why I chose the Rosetta Stone as a pictorial representation of text. Without text we would rely on other means of communication (oral, gesturing, smoke signals etc.). Most if not all of these would be far less efficient than using text in one form or the other. I mean how else would I be able to describe to what text means to me without actually using text?

Downloaded from FLICKR

One of the earliest forms of writing to be developed came out of ancient Sumeria approximately in the 30th century BC.  They made use of standardized punches and clay tablets as a way to keep track of trade and the bounty from early agrarian culture.  So when asked to contemplate text and technology my mind first jumped to “when it all began”.

The development of early writing systems as well as the independent development of the written word at various times in the past has always been a source of fascination for me.  In Jerrod Diamond’s book, “Guns, Germs and Steel”, he touches on the development of early language, specifically how the written word was discovered independently by various different cultures around the world, specifically what is now Iraq, Egypt, China and southern Mexico/Guatemala.

As we quickly approach 2010 I am amazed at the rapidly developing use of text in the digital age.  In particular I find the movement towards collaborative writing (both software and conventional language) as seen in the open source and wiki movements as being particularly exciting.

My name is Richard Biel and I work at the Sunshine Coast Alternative School.  I teach the humanities in a blended learning environment to students ranging in age from 15-19.  I team teach with a gentleman that has been using Learning Management Systems and computer based technology and alternative text formats since 1994!!!

Boekdrukkerij in Amsterdam, originally uploaded by Nationaal Archief.

I selected an image of a man loading presumably paper into a printing press because of the historical implications of the printing press. For me the printing press represents the connections and contacts between cultures, having been invented in China and transferred to Europe. This represents the communications of ideas through text that in turn help to mass produce other ideas for distributions. Personally the press also symbolizes the ability for certain members of a society to control the messages that are distributed and consumed by the rest of society. Lastly, I selected the image because I cannot read the text that accompanies it. It is in a language which I do not read, thus symbols that are recognizable to me but an norganization that is alien.

My name is Noah Burdett and I live and work in Vancouver BC. I am currently a grade one french immersion teacher with the Vancouver school district. As I work with students that are discovering texts and beginning to make meaning of texts I am extremely interested in its history and its future. I look forward to collaborating within the 540 community.

Au revoir,

Noah

2005 Powwow, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

I chose this picture to illustrate my vision of text technology due to its multidimensional qualities. This photograph depicts a man from an indigenous culture during a ceremonial dance. The dance denotes the Greek origins of the word “text”, reflecting the concept of creation and creativity. The dance and the apparent chanting or singing of the man reflects the Latin period of the word, the weaving together of verbal construct. The colorful and varied materials in the clothing of the man emphasize the blending of oral and written constructs as well as the merging of text with technology as society utilizes various tools to enable the recording of sounds/ideas into diverse written formats.

I am Liz Hood and I am a media specialist in Rock Hill, SC USA. (I believe we are called teacher-librarians in Canada). I currently serve in an IB-MYP school. Through taking this course, I am hoping to gain an understanding of the evolution of text technologies and how to best prepare both students and teachers for emerging text and technological spaces. While I am currently involved in K-12 education, my goal with MET is to move to training educators in the best implementation of technology within their specific curriculum area. I have completed 6 MET classes thus far and plan to graduate in May 2010.