Posts from — September 2009

Posted by Michael Haworth

I think that a great example of text and what it represents is this image of my daughter Rebecca writing her name.  Rebecca is five years old this year, just entering kindergarten, and is an emergent text user.  She understands all of her letters, can write her name, and can copy words such as her current favourite “Hannah Montana”.  Rebecca is beginning to unlock a world of communication through her developing ability to read and write and text.  Text gives all those who have mastered it, a mode of communication with people across time and space in a wide variety of mediums such as print and electronic.  Text provides a depth of communication and understanding between people that an image or another communication method may not.  My daughter Rebecca is just starting her lifelong journey into the world of text, its immense power to communicate, and the incredible mosaic of uses.  To see the opportunities that text is opening for her as she learns to read and write is simply amazing.

Posted by Michael Haworth

“A man provided with paper, pencil, and rubber, and subject to strict discipline, is in effect a universal machine.”

Quote from “Intelligent Machinery: A Report by A. M. Turing,” (Summer 1948), submitted to the National Physical Laboratory (1948) and published in Key Papers: Cybernetics, ed. C. R. Evans and A. D. J. Robertson (1968) and, in variant form, in Machine Intelligence 5, ed. B. Meltzer and D. Michie (1969)

Quotation and quotation information obtained from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

When I think of technology, I often think about an absolutely amazing mathematician that had a tragic ending named Alan Turing. Turing was integral during World War II to unlocking the German secret Enigma machine codes.  As can be seen in the quote above, he also brought forward the idea of a “universal machine” or technology that could simulate any computer algorithm.  Turing also proposed the “Turing Test” to prove or disprove whether a computer could be considered “intelligent” or not.  Technology extends the mental and physical capabilities of humanity and surrounds us and is part of much of what we do and how we live.  Technology includes everything from a simple plough to the most sophisticated computer or telecommunication systems. .  I see Turing looking at “technology” from a  similarly very large, all-cncompassing perspective rather from a specific task or application perspective.

Text is away of expressing information.  I view the ability to express yourself and share those expressions with others to be of great importance.  Expressions can be in the form of ideas, concerns, issues with social status, or simple musings.  I chose to include a few lyrics from an N.W.A. song because they represent a movement in American society in which an underprivileged and racial discriminated group used the power of text translated to music to express their opinion on contemporary society.  You can watch the video, on youtube, which adds images to enhance the text here.  Sorry no Embedding possible….

I’m expressin’ with my full capabilities,

And now I’m livin’ in correctional facilities,

Cause some don’t agree with how I do this.

I get straight, meditate like a Buddhist

I’m droppin’ flava, my behaviour is heriditery,

But my technique is very necessary.

Blame it on Ice Cube… Because he says it gets funky

When you got a subject and a predacit.

Add it on a dope beat

And that’ll make you think.

Express Yourself…

Express Yourself…

Come on and do it…

Noah

N.W.A. Retrieved from www.nwaworld.com

View from my house near Monte Alban, Oaxaca

My definition of a text:

A text is a collection of symbols that carry meaning. A text can be interpreted or “read” because the symbols are coherent and understandable, i.e. they are a code in the semiotic sense.

In this way, I hope to define a text as more than just words, but also include images, tattoos, facial expressions and gestures, and perhaps even landscapes.

Could an ancestral landscape be considered a text to an indigenous community, where rocks, trees and clouds can be read as they have meaning?

As I looked up the word “text”, I started to see the link from one term to another.  It seemed natural to display my findings in this fashion.  The yellow bubbles are my own thought processes.  Once this organizer was complete, I felt the title could be “from text to technology”.

Morgendämmerung, originally uploaded by hailewelt.

Hello, my name is Stephanie Hopkins (I was Prizeman last semester), and this semester I am taking my 5th and 6th MET courses. I am from Victoria, BC, but now call Port Alberni home. I teach grade 7 and 8, I am married with one child, and I am afraid of airplanes.

I chose this image not only for its “frightening” beauty, but also the thoughts and feelings it evoked for me. The idea of air travel and aircraft in general is a mind-boggling and frightening thought to me, but is also one of the most important (for both positive and negative reasons) technologies in our history as humans.

As various technologies propel humankind into the future, I worry about the effects that these new and improve technologies wil have on us. The simple beauty of the sunset and landscape in the photo is a reminder of where we have come from, and what we have to lose if we are not careful.

The juxtaposition of the two ideas in this photograph compels me to think about the future and what my feelings are on where we are going as humans. I am far from a technophobe, in fact, like others on this forum, I too cannot seem to function without my email with me at all times, but I am becoming increasingly aware that if I do not have balance of chaos and simplicity in my life, then I will create problems for myself and my family.

Food for thought, anyway!
Cheers,
Stephanie (Prizeman) Hopkins

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.

Hands, originally uploaded by Weird Beard.

We typically view technology as something separate from us. Technology is a process or an instrument we employ apart from ourselves. Yet, just look at our hands.  They are some of the very first instruments we see and use as infants.  Our minds never stop employing our hands. The paradox is that we see technology as something separate from ourselves even though we are inherently technological.  We say that we are one thing and technology is another. But doesn’t technology really start from our imaginations employing our bodies to fulfill an idea or a need?  All machines and processes are manifestations of our thoughts.  We give birth to technology.  We have a deep kinship with it and more…   McLuhan took this notion to its extreme when he said, in relation to our harnessing of electricity, “electricity may be said to have outered the central nervous system itself.”

We are the original technology and we have a deep and organic kinship with all the technology we create.

Reference:
Marshal McLuhan, Understanding Media (reprint, Cambridge, Mass: MIT, 1994), 247.

Naval Signal Flag Alphabet, originally uploaded by ibdesignsusa.

Hello all,

My name is Laurie Trepanier and this is my eighth class in the MET program. I am hoping to complete all degree requirements by April, but this may be difficult as I have just completed a move from Borden, Ontario to Cold Lake, Alberta. While the move was not very difficult, my new job is becoming a little more hectic each day.

For those who I have not yet had the pleasure to meet, I am a Training Development Officer in the Canadian Forces (CF). My job while in Borden was to instruct CF members on the Systems Approach to Training (SAT) used in our system and to assist tradespersons to become instructors within our schools. My new job is to advise Command on the acquisition of training technologies (simulators, software, etc) and to oversee the training of the technicians who maintain the CF-188 Fighter Jet (Hornet). The technical background that I require to be effective in my new job leads me to spend many nights reading information concerning airworthiness, safety systems, weapons, airframe structure and electronic systems and sub-systems. Thus my dream of completing two courses this semester has been placed on hold.

Being a Navy gal, the picture I have selected is very significant to both my military career and my idea of communications, text and technology. While the signal flags are considered old, it is just as effective in both military and civilian marine operations today as it was in the time of Nelson. My opinion of technology is basic; is not just a computer or a PDA. To me, it is a means of communications – regardless of the age of the tool. Text is what results when technology is used. Technology is the tool; it is the object that can transform thought into symbols that others can understand.

Laurie

The Red Umbrella Mixed Media Collage, originally uploaded by Scarlet_Beautiful.

Making Sense of It All

I chose this mixed media image as it summarizes many of my personal and professional interactions with text and technology. It seems like the young lady is seeking answers from the ancients in the horizontal script while new age pieces of data are falling upon her from above.
Yet, given her attire (umbrella and rain coat) she is prepared to meet the challenges of meshing the old with the new i.e., creating synthesis. I believe I am beginning to find this place of synthesis with my old world skills and attitudes and my new age Web 2.0 abilities.
I also find the juxtaposition with this transpiring out in nature to be a vivid reminder of our connections to the natural world and this is something we must never loose regardless of our reliance upon the new technologies.
My name is Drew Ryan and this is my final course in the MET program. I have been living and teaching on the West Coast of Vancouver Island for 14 years with my wife Christine and sons Tylan (3) and Tayte (15months). My passion is the integration of technology within the K-12 system focussing on First Nations learners. I look forward to this course and its completion:)

Paper Garden, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

I chose this picture because it demonstrates that technology can be used to create something beautiful. Technology has been successfully integrated into many aspects of society, including the Arts, (textiles, paintings, sculptures, etc) and Humanities. Without the advancements of techniques, the different textures of the paints, the design of the paintbrushes, the construct of the medium, etc., this beautiful mosaic could not be made. Simple, yet beautiful. Technology does not have to be complicated. It can be simple, but at the same time sophisticated and elegant. I generally find that people make it more complicated than it really needs to be.

Hi, my name is Deb Giesbrecht. I have been a nurse for 21 years. I work in Winnipeg and I teach nurses how to use computer programs within their working environment. Many nurses have difficulty with new technology, including computer programs that are designed to assist them in their daily tasks. My role is to support and educate them in this process. Electronic charting is a few years away, however, we are beginning to get nurses acquainted in using computers in their own work environment – which is challenging enough! I have recently implemented a Learning Management System, which allows learners to do online learning prior to face-to-face classroom time. This has proved to be challenging and enlightening all at the same time.

This is my 4th MET course and I am looking forward to seeing what kind of positive impact this will have, not only to me personally, but also in my own classroom. I am always looking for new and varied ways to get messages across to the learner, and I have found that my previous courses in the MET program have equipped me with skills that I than pass along to the learners. I am eagerly anticipating what new skill set I will be acquiring this term!

Computer Mountain, originally uploaded by draikar.

When I saw this image of old hardware stored, the thought of how fast we run through different gadgets and fads immediately came to mind. It’s pretty amazing how “new” technology or technological artifacts become obsolete- giving in to something faster, better and simpler. I think that text has also gone through some transformations and stages, giving way to new delivery modes.
I’m Cecilia Tagliapietra; I live in a small USA-bordering town in BC, Mexico and I decided to take this course because the title and content captivated me when I first read them. This semester I’m taking my 6th and 7th courses with the double degree program with UBC and ITESM; I’ll probably ask for a lot for help, since we’ll be working with new, different tools I haven’t had the chance to try before. I honestly hope I can learn from all of your experiences and comments.
I’ll be reading you around 😉

Ceci Tagliapietra

woven journal, originally uploaded by ereneta.

The concept as text being like words woven together really made sense to me. This being my 8th class in the program, I am more drawn to different definitions of text than of technology. The relationship between language and meaning can be so complex, that it’s possible for text to be created merely for the sake of filling space without really conveying meaning. The picture effectively illustrates this possibility.

My name is Ryan Bartlett and although this will be my 8th course in MET, it is my first course directly through UBC. I started the program 1.5 years ago while teaching foreign/second language methodology and EFL at a private university in Oaxaca, Mexico. Since then I have been taking courses online administered through the Tec de Monterrey in Mexico. So long story short, I’m excited to see how UBC works online not to mention very interested to take a deeper look at the complex relationship between language and technology.