Evolution of Text

Posted on September 10, 2010 by iirene

Text Messenger- The Evolution of Texting

Hello and sorry that this picture is a bit gross. I chose it to represent the evolution of orality and literacy. You can see this picture as human changing into or being controlled by artificial intelligence. How do technological tools affect the way we communicate and think (or not think) about the world around us? The keyboard looks as if it has taken over the woman’s ability to speak. How much do we control modern technology? How much of it controls us?

I’m from Vancouver, but live in Osaka with my husband and 10 year old son. I’m a university EFL instructor. My background is in Literature and Education (SFU) and I also have a MA in Japanese Studies (U of Sheffield). When time allows, I like writing, yoga and travelling.

I just entered MET, and this is my first and only course this semester. I look forward to learning with you all.

Irene

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Ancient Media

Posted on September 10, 2010 by adorat

Japanse karakters / Japanese characters

If text is the creation of something and closely related to technology, the photo of the Japanese characters used in a printing press brings the two together. Japanese kanji is an ancient form of the written word and the printing press is an invention that brought text into the modern era. I thought this photo represents the state of today: bridging together the old and new. Many people are coming to grips of being connected to the world 24/7 (not neccesarily a good thing) and learning a new language (the one of the digital world). We are constantly creating something with our words on social media sites, at our jobs (email communications, SMS, instant messaging, etc).

Hello everyone. My name is Adora and this is my sixth/seventh course in the MET program. I am also taking 540 this semester as well as working full-time at a private secondary school in Surrey, BC. I teach Math and Biology. My interest in the course is seeing and learning about the evolution of text, language, media, and technology. As a society, the way we communicate with each other has changed very rapidly and I would like to see if this affecting the way the world works and affecting academia. I look forward to working with everyone this semester.

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Modes of expression

Posted on September 9, 2010 by vschrader

Text tattoo

cc licensed Flickr photo by Darice de Cuba
poem by Omar Khayyam

I see text technologies as modes of expression. I’m attracted to this photo as representation of this. I’m not particularly fond of the poem, but I certainly relate to reverting to writing on skin when papyrus, paper and plug-ins fail me.

I like the presence of the various modes of communicative tools here. We have the ink on skin – in a font reminiscent of the typewriter – and the keyboard. (There is also a suggestion of permanence each offers. Were the poem on the screen, it could be deleted for none to ever see or published for the world. Intriguingly, the tattoo gives ultimate permanence on the skin – forgoing laser removal – and the photo of it published to Flickr broadcasts worldwide.) We also have the photo itself as a form of communicative device; can we call that text? I am contemplating the irony of the hand being cut from the photo when it is the one constant necessity for creation of text in any form… unless of course we delve into consideration of voice recognition technologies.

Hi, I’m Vicki Schrader. I am also in the ELL/ESL field, teaching at the high school level. Writing is a big part of helping my students get where they need to be. I am currently enjoying maternity leave with my still-new-but-growing-fast busy little girl and my kinder-boy, but am excited as well to return to the classroom with all that MET has inspired so far. From ETEC 540, I hope to round out my perspectives on writing online, and awareness of related tools, methods and concerns, as I prepare to supplement the traditional methods I have used in the past. As such, this is timely for me, coming in good time to inform my practice just prior to my return to work. I am excited to be here.

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Circular relationships: Avoidance is not an option

Posted on September 7, 2010 by mmwong

Glass ball

It was difficult to find a picture that truly represented the complexity of the issues raised in this course. I kept going back to this image because to me it visually represents the circular relationship we have with technology. We can turn from it but we can’t really avoid it. Postman (1992) mentioned “for it is inescapable that every culture must negotiate with technology, whether it does so intelligently or not” (p. 5). I also felt that the picture captured the so-called flowing nature and multiple structures of digital text (Bolter, 2001).

My name is Melanie Wong. My day job is a Learning Leader. I also have a second job working with my ministry of Education developing English as a Second Language (ESL) material for teachers. My passion is ESL (since I have done a previous masters in this area) and technology. I am really looking forward to this course and working with all of you!

References

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York, NY: New York

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Get excited and make things

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Brian


cc licensed flickr photo shared by moleitau

Not exactly a profound thought, but at its core what excites me most about the digital domain is that it helps ordinary people make media and share it, rather than simply consume what is fed to them. And of course, this is a fine example of appropriation and re-contextualization of an existing media symbol. I am not suggesting that all the effects of new media are positive. But it’s rare for me to go for long online where I don’t see an example of ‘ordinary’ people doing extraordinary things with digital tools.

My name is Brian Lamb, and I am one of the instructors for this year’s iteration of ETEC 540. In my ‘regular job’, I spend most of my time working through how social media can be used by educators and learners, and how the emerging open education movement might enhance the role of higher education in society. It’s my privilege and pleasure to work with many gifted peers at UBC and beyond, and I am excited and ready to make things with my new peers here in the Text Technologies course.

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Don’t mind the mess…

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Brian

…we’re just doing a little work gearing up for this year’s iteration of ETEC 540.

This is how much fun I’m having at the keyboard:

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