ETEC540 has been more than what I imagined it would be when I subscribed to it. I must say that it far exceeded my expectations and surprised me in a different way than I expected. The course has been enlightening for me in many ways. Postman`s Technopoly opened my eyes to the many angles from which people see technology, hence helping me to identify my position in that spectrum. This reading piqued my interest a lot and making me anticipate what was to come.
Initially, Ong`s definition of orality threw me into a muddle as I realised that my understanding of orality was different from Ong`s assertions .This placed me on the opposing end of the spectrum. However, further reading began to open up a better understanding of Ong`s points to me especially as the course progressed and I observed what others opinions and mine, I began to see a lot of the characteristics Ong mentioned in practical terms. I realised that I started to question how my understanding of concepts and writing skills may have been influenced by the (residual oral) environment I grew up in and how that may have been altered by the (literate) environment I find myself working in now.
At the start of the course my impression of text was merely anything that is put together using lines and curves- a form flowing from one end to the next which has particular meaning to the producer or consumer. Hence text for me could have been a drawing or letters and number. Prior to ETEC 540, I did not think of text as technology but after I read Botler`s synthesis of techne and definition of literacy, I realised that technology does not just mean electronic device of some sort but is a skill set that requires practice and review over time.
ETEC 540 has done a great job of connecting the technology of writing from centuries past to present times. There has been so much material that I sometimes feared information overload. I particularly enjoyed the assignments which availed me the opportunity to research and explore technologies myself and also read what others discovered in the process and find connections across each others entries thus it became a technology melting pot.
From the papyrus to the printing machine to computers and hand-helds, students and teachers have come a long way. Wesch`s “A vision of today” is an eye opener to this. The NetGeneration are redefining the way we see and know teaching and learning. I am not a teacher, but I am excited by this video and the realisation of the need to see beyond the walls of the schools and into the virtual world of the Netgen using the tool and gadgets they are so “addicted” to, to open up the intellectual world to them.
References
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN: 0-8058-2919-9.
Ong, Walter. (1982.) Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.
Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. NewYork: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc.
Wesch, M. (2008). “A vision of students today (& what teachers must do).” Accessed online from: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/
