Making Connections

Making Connections Leslie Dawes ETEC 540

After reading chapters 9 and 10 of Bolter (pp.189-213) and viewing the Community Weblog, I can reflect on my journey through ETEC 540 with a connection to self and fellow students. As Bolter states, “The reflexive character of each technology permits writers to find themselves in the texts they create and therefore to know themselves in a new way.” Bolter (pp.189). Understanding the history of writing and the remediation of print makes me ponder another statement of Bolter. “It seems almost inevitable that literate people would come to regard their writing technologies as both a metaphor for and the principal embodiment of thought.” Bolter (pp.189). Reading posts, commentaries and participating with my comments has broadened my thinking on many different levels. I have learned a lot about writing from both Ong and Bolter. I particularly found Writing Spaces (Bolter) an interesting read. One of my commentaries focused on the ebook. I have since purchased an ebook and plan to use it over the holidays. While reading one of the Making Connections today, I noticed that one student commented that she thought that having the readings on the ebook would be a good idea. That reminded me of remediation of print. Another opportunity that I had during this course was collaborating with a colleague of mine at school who is also in 540. We did assignment #3 together and we learned a lot about the telegraph. The Rip, Mix, and Feed assignment done by Alison, who participates in the Me to We Club was particularly meaningful as it involved our school. We did the song and dance as a whole school and now for the holiday season, the students are putting together shoebox care packages for the homeless in Vancouver. It is great working with Alison and sharing ideas and giving feedback. Thank you, Alison. I want to also thank everyone in 540 for the interesting and insightful discussions. I believe that we learn so much from each other. It has been a learning journey. Thank you to Jeff Miller and Brian Lamb for their work. “The best way to spread knowledge, according to Condorcet, was through authorless and open-ended texts, circulating freely between all citizens:” Bolter (pp.208).
References:
Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing spaces: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dobson and Willinsky’s (2009). Chapter- “Digital Literacy.” A submitted draft version of a chapter for “The Cambridge Handbook on Literacy.”
The New London Group. (1996). “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures.” Harvard Educational Review 66(1), pp. 60-92.
Ong, Walter J. (1982). Literacy and Orality. Methuen & Co. Ltd.