ETEC540: Text, Technologies – Community Weblog | A MET collaborative Weblog

The Importance of Petroglyphs

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Kenton Hemsing

Petroglyphs are ancient pieces of artwork that have been etched into rock walls and are protected around the world for their archaeological richness. These early etchings, which involved the ‘artist’ scratching or removing the top layer of the rocks surface with a sharp instrument (Judd, 2011), depict any number of possible items (Liston & Rieth, 2010). Many petroglyphs are images of animals and anthropomorphic figures (Boivin, 2004). Some also depict what is assumed to be the artists’ immediate surroundings including rivers, trees and other aspects of local terrain (Boivin, 2004).

Around the world, petroglyphs dating as far back as the Neolithic period have been found and studied by archaeologists (Judd, 2011). Some of the scenes depicted in these carvings represent maps of the local terrain, religious rituals, hunting scenes, and scenes from everyday life (Boivin, 2004). Petroglyphs demonstrate that humans may have been using icons for many years to communicate and retell events of the local history and traditions. These carvings share information, state boundaries and show victories in battles (Boivin, 2004). These petroglyphs give us some insight into how early humans communicated with each other before developing a more abstract and complex language system based on phonetic sounds (Houston, 2004). Since petroglyphs are found around the world, it has been assumed that this is one of the earliest forms of written communication and cannot be attributed specifically to one civilization or settlement (Restall, 1997; Abraham, 2011). However, debate does occur about the development of similar petroglyphs as a manner of understanding trade routes and interactions between different cultures (Houston, 2004), as interactions occurred and one civilization may have learned or borrowed the techniques from another or subsequently dropped as civilizations fell into ruins (Houston, 2006).

According to Judd (2011), petroglyphs may be the early ancestors to hieroglyphs and may have been used to depict various meanings, ranging from religious to linguistic (p. 189). In studying petroglyphs, it is commonly assumed that an etching of a giraffe represents the word or animal ‘giraffe’ but the context and meaning of the petroglyph is not necessarily understood (Judd, 2011). This is possibly an early attempt by civilized cultures to develop a written form of communication (Judd, 2011; Houston, 2004). Although not technically classified as a written language by most common definitions (Lawler, 2006), petrographic artwork certainly holds many similarities to hieroglyphics as a form of communication (Judd, 2011). It has been noted that petroglyphs found in areas of Egypt which have been dated to be more than 15, 000 years old (Judd, 2011), hold many similarities to the hieroglyphs that have been found in and around Egypt (Judd, 2011; Boivin, 2004). In ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, this move changed the writing style towards the use of hieroglyphics in which the artist used symbols to create sounds for the reader to follow and understand (Abraham, 2011; Houston, 2004).

According to Abraham (2011), we can see this changeover from pictographic or petrographic drawings to hieroglyphics in Egypt and throughout Africa (p. 82). This adoption of the techniques developed throughout the ancient civilization in Africa may have led to the development of a written language within Africa (Abraham, 2011). This can also be highlighted in the Mesoamerican cultures in North America as the writing of Native tribes began to change from petroglyphs to the use of symbols in the form of pipettes in the American Southwest, as is explained by Wright and Russell (2011). In their research, Wright and Russell (2011) found that there are areas in which abstract symbol drawings are located near and around more primitive petroglyphs and are indications of religious movements and beliefs (p. 369). The use of abstract symbols gave primitive cultures the ability to describe such religious experiences as “transcendence between and emergence from worlds” (Wright & Russell, 2011, p. 367). The use of these abstract symbols indicates that as a writing system develops, there is a move from simple drawing, to represent literal experiences and meanings, to a more abstract representation of thoughts, ideas, stories, events and possibly words or sounds. This is supported by Houston (2004) as he notes that individual wall etchings cannot be generalized as they are very time and place specific to those that created them (p. 225). However, Houston (2004) is also quick to note that this does not render these etchings useless in determining the outcome of a written language as they can be used to extract understanding (p.225).

The evolution from petroglyphs to hieroglyphs is one that involved the change from the use of pictures representing literal objects or events to the use of symbols that represented sounds or similar sound clusters for reading (Restall, 1997). Fortunately, this change from simple graphic representations to graphics accompanied with phonetic markers and sounds has made understanding much simpler for modern archeologists (Houston, 2004). This change coincided with a change in human communication from regionalized dialects to a more universal communication need as trade and interactions between cultures increased (Judd, 2011) and possibly coincided as well with a change in the political landscape of the regions (Boivin, 2004; Robinson, 2002). It seems then, that there may have been political pressure placed on civilizations to adopt a writing system that was simpler to understand and interpret.

In more recent history, petroglyphs have also lead to written languages being created by Native American tribes in the Southern United States (Weeks & Tankersley, 2011). The discovery of etchings in the walls of caves has been linked to the development of the Cherokee syllabic writing system that was developed during the 19^th century (Weeks & Tankersley, 2011). Although Cherokee is not an ancient language, this type of development from petrographic to syllabic is an example of how civilizations may have moved from primitive carvings in rock formations to the development of a language system for communication. The development of a syllabic writing system was a response to American colonization and aided the Cherokee civilization in keeping its own traditions and beliefs from getting lost under immense political and colonial pressure (Weeks & Tankersley, 2011).

The changes in which communication was recorded moved the human thought process to a different level of thinking. This is addressed by Ong (2002) when he discusses the movement of societies from primitive non-literate to literate and how the invention of writing changed fundamentally the way people thought (p. 99). This point is echoed by Houston (2004) as he discusses the spread of hieroglyphics around the world and their ability to supply present day researchers with evidence of writing practices, traditions and customs (p. 227).

Taking Bolter’s (2001) notion of remediation (p. 46) into consideration, the adoption of hieroglyphics and symbols into the writing system borrows elements from petrographic drawings. The development of hieroglyphs in Egypt and Mesoamerica included the use of symbols that represented phonemic sounds, literal signs as well as symbols to represent abstract concepts (Robinson 2002; Boivin, 2004; Houston, 2004). This inclusion of different elements set the groundwork for a more formalized writing system that made communication amongst cultures simpler (Liston & Rieth, 2010). Bolter (2001), notes that the creation of a new mode of communications adopts part of the system in which it is replacing (p. 46). In terms of early humans moving from petrographic to a more abstract and sound oriented writing system we see that there several aspects of petrography held in the new system (Bolter, 2001), such as the use of icons to represent literal and concrete objects.

We can see that as humans moved from etched carvings on the walls of caves and rock outcrops, to creating complex hieroglyphic messages on pyramids and tombs, the need to relate ideas has been met by the new method. This ratified and changed method was a response not only to possible political pressure but also by interactions amongst civilizations. Ancient Egyptian and Mesoamerican cultures showed this change from iconic petroglyphs to symbolic hieroglyphs including phonetic markers. The need to create a more universal and understandable manner for communication between people set a new standard for communication and eventually opened the doors for the creation of entirely phonemic based language, as demonstrated by the creation of the 19^th century Cherokee language, rather than abstract symbols.

References:

Abraham, C. (2011). Africa had its own writing systems. New African, (509), 82.

Boivin, N. (2004). Rock art and rock music: Petroglyphs of the south indian neolithic. ANTIQUITY, 78(299), 38-53.

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Gamkrelidze, T., & Ivanov, V. (1990). The early history of indo-european languages. Scientific American, 262(3), 110-116. Doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0390-110

Houston, S. D. (2004). The archaeology of communication technologies. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33(1), 223-250. doi: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143724

Houston, S. D. (2006). An example of preclassic mayan writing? Science, 311(5765), 1249-1250. doi: 10.1126/science.1122724

Judd, T. (2011). What the ‘animal’ rock art images of the eastern desert of egypt tell us about the people who drew them. Rock Art Research: The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA), 28(2), 187-195.

Lawler, A. (2006). Archaeology. claim of oldest new world writing excites archaeologists. Science (New York, N.Y.),313(5793), 1551-1551. doi: 10.1126/science.313.5793.1551

Liston, J., & Rieth, T. M. (2010). Palau’s petroglyphs: Archaeology, oral history, and iconography. Journal of the Polynesian Society, the, 119(4), 401-414.

Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and Literacy: The technologizing of the Word. New York, NY: Routledge.

Restall, M. (1997). Heirs to the hieroglyphs: Indigenous writing in colonial mesoamerica. The Americas, 54(2), 239-267.

Robinson, A. (2002). Deciphering history. History Today,52(8), 35.

Weeks, R., & Tankersley, K. (2011). Talking leaves and rocks that teach: The archaeological discovery of sequoyah’s oldest written record. ANTIQUITY, 85(329), 978-993.

Wright, A.M., Russell, W.G. (2011). The pipette, the tiered cosmos, and the materialization of transcendence in the rock art of the north american southwest. (2011). Journal of Social Archaeology, 11(3), 361-386. doi: 10.1177/1469605311403864

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged Cherokee, Egypt, hieroglyph, icons, Mesoamerica, petroglyph, phonetic, symbols | Leave a comment

The Printing Press: Intoxication of Knowledge

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Sheila

We should note the force, effect, and consequences of inventions which are nowhere more conspicuous than those three which were unknown to the ancients, namely printing, gunpowder, and the compass. For these three have changed the appearance and state of the whole world…
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, Aphorism 129

Although the printing press had been invented by the Chinese, Koreans and Turks before the fifteenth century, it was the innovation of the moveable type, alphabetic press that proved to be a “psychological breakthrough of the first order” (Ong, 1979, p. 11). At the start of her lucid and scholarly book The printing press as an agent of change, Eisenstein asks the key question: “What were some of the most important consequences of the shift from script to print?” (p. xi). This paper will focus specifically on the effects of this shift on thinking and consciousness in the development of the empirical scientific method.

Within fifty years of Gutenberg’s invention in the 1440s, in Mainz, printing presses had been established in all the major cities across Europe. The printing press initiated a ‘communications revolution” (Eisenstein, 1979, p.44) that changed the dissemination of knowledge, the storage and retrieval of information, systems of education and the “communication networks used by learned communities throughout Europe” (Eisenstein, p. xvi). Much of the research that Eisenstein explores situates the shift to print within a “large cluster of relatively simultaneous, closely interrelated changes” (p.44) that drove the social, intellectual and cultural developments from the Renaissance to the early modern period; dismantling the taboos and powers of the Catholic Church and feudal society, leading the ‘democratization’ of knowledge and widespread literacy, the development of modern capitalism and industrial production, and the rise of modern science (Eisenstein, pp.43-159; Ong, p. 116).

With the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks, scholars fled to Europe. The early Renaissance period in Florence, Italy saw the rise of Humanism, and the Latin translation of standardized texts of the ancient authors – Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Galen, preserved in the East by the Byzantine and Arab cultures. Because the bulk of the texts printed in the first century of the press were translations of ancient texts, many scholars refuse to acknowledge that printing had any significant effect on the development of the new theories in science. For Eisenstein, however, it was this intense examination, comparison and critique of the received wisdom of the ancients that fueled intense intellectual ferment: “contradictions became more visible; divergent traditions more difficult to reconcile. …Even while confidence in old theories was weakened, an enriched reading matter also encouraged the development of new intellectual combinations and permutations” (pp. 74-5).

EFFECTS of PRINTING on Thinking and Consciousness

The effects of printing become clear in the gradual, but radical changes in the storage and retrieval of information – the scientific text evolves as a resource to be consulted with the refinement of indexes, tables of contents, catalogues, titles; with standardized pictures, diagrams, tables, charts and maps. Encyclopaedias used “vast networks of correspondents” to send in corrections and new information that would be included in the next edition. This was the beginning of authentic scientific collaboration and the ongoing accumulation, editing and preservation of knowledge in printed form that was central to the rapid advances made during this time (Eisenstein, p. 109-113).

After the advent of printing the transmission of written information became much more efficient. It was not only the craftsman outside the universities who profited from new opportunities to teach himself. Of equal importance was the chance extended to bright undergraduates to reach beyond their teachers’ grasp (Eisenstein, p.66).

The great figures from the Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution (15th – 18th century) were devouring all the classical texts, new scientific works and observations that they could find. Descartes, Newton to Galileo and Kepler, based their scientific work on the observations and work of others in the Commonwealth of Learning. The learning culture shifted from oral reading and rhetorical disputations to silent reading of books, the nature “of collective memory was transformed” (Eisenstein, pp. 66-9).

Francis Bacon (1620) was known as the harbinger of empirical science and argued against the Scholastics for the importance of inductive (scientific) reasoning:

There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immovable, proceeds to judgment and middle axioms. And this way is now in fashion. The other derives axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by a gradual and unbroken ascent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried. (The Novum Organum, aphorism 19)

The Scientific Revolution was a ‘paradigm shift’ from Church Scholasticism to the modern conception of man as capable of taking his destiny in his own hands, improving his life with Science. The earliest Manifesto of Humanism was Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man published in Rome, 1486 when he was 24. His work still reflected the early Renaissance spirit, and its attempts to reconcile the teachings of Plato, Aristotle and other ancients from the Near East with the teachings of Christianity:

For it seems to me that by the confrontation of many schools and the discussion of many philosophical systems that “effulgence of truth” of which Plato writes in his letters might illuminate our minds more clearly, like the sun rising from the sea. (Mirandola, p.47).

The Renaissance believed that the individual could approach the powers of the Divine. Pico della Mirandola spells it out clearly when he quotes Plato: “that among all the liberal arts and contemplative sciences, the science of numbering is supreme and most divine” (Mirandola, p. 52). Galileo’s remarks about mathematics concur: “With regard to those few mathematical propositions which the human intellect does understand, I believe its knowledge equals the Divine in objective certainty” (p.103).

The scientific ideas came fast and furious and threatened the stability of the Church – the heliocentric model, the laws of motion, atomic theory and chemistry, and the emphasis on observation and experiment. Francis Bacon stated the core of the new empirical method, but Galileo was the scientist who applied mathematical reasoning and proofs to his careful observations and experiments. In his book Il Saggiatore he writes:

Philosophy [i.e., physics] is written in this grand book—I mean the universe—which stands continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one is wandering around in a dark labyrinth. (p. 237-8)

The discoveries of the Renaissance were extolled as great miracles:

And what is more marvellous than the human thunderbolt, which in its power far exceeds the heavenly? Nor will be silent about thee, magnificent Magnet, who dost guide us through vast oceans, and night and storms, into countries we have never known. Then there is our printing press, conceived by man’s genius, fashioned by his hands, yet a miracle equal to the divine. (Cardano (1501-1576), quoted by E.M. Forster in McLuhan, 2010, p.203).

As confidence in the Scientific Revolution grew, so did the seeds of the scientific hubris of the 20th century. The struggle to liberate knowledge from the domination of the Church and feudal society took several centuries, and in the meantime it became tangled in the vastly profitable international markets of the printing presses.

The ‘ecological’ complexity of these concurrent changes are rooted in a consciousness being restructured by the ‘interiorization’ of the technology of printing (Ong,2002, p. 152; McLuhan, 1962; Bolter, 2011, p.43) that ” both reinforces and transforms the effects of writing on thought and expression” (Ong, p. 115). With Descartes in the 17th century, experience fixed in the ordered space of print would unfold the ‘rationalized systems’ to quantify nature and develop applied ‘technique’ that would drive the Industrial Revolution and modern science (Ellul, p. 43).

The Primacy of the Visual Space and Reflexive Consciousness

Ong summarizes: “A new noetic world was shaping up, spatially organized” (p. 123). With printing, words become ‘locked in the space’ of the page producing the “exactly repeatable visual statement and correspondingly exact verbal description of physical reality” giving scientists the means to gather and report the detailed observations and experimental results that fertilized new ideas (p. 125). The interiorized technology of print leads to an analytic separation of ‘knower’ from the ‘known’, and made possible “increasingly articulate introspectivity, opening the psyche as never before not only to the external objective world quite distinct from itself but also to the interior self against whom the objective world is set” (Havelock, 1963 in Ong, p. 104).

This reflective self of Erasmus, Bacon and Mirandola now turns to increasingly detailed observations of objective phenomena of all kinds. William Ivins says:

The exactly repeatable pictorial statement, a logical grammar for representation of space relationship, and the concepts of relativity and continuity…are rarely thought of seriously in conjunction with one another. But, between them, they have revolutionized both the descriptive sciences and the mathematics on which the science of physics rests (pp.23, 24 in McLuhan, p. 126).

“Control of position is everything in print” (Ong, p. 119). This impulse to control is projected onto the space of observation where mathematics and measurement place all objects/things in positions that are calculated and predicted (Heidegger, 1977). The sense of closure fostered by print was the fixed point of view“ ( McLuhan in Ong, 132) which solidifies the ‘independent observer’, as does the ‘perception’ of chronological sequences and linear causality (McLuhan, p. 56) in “typographic control ‘that’ impresses more by its tidiness and inevitability: the lines perfectly regular, …This is an insistent world of cold, non-human facts” (p.120). Ong is ‘valuing’ what was the inevitable scientific objectification of visual space, the ingrained ‘lineal, sequential habits… the visual homogenizing of experience… and the relegation of auditory and other sensuous complexity to the background” (McLuhan, p. 125).

Print`s disruption of the sense ratio brought the dominance of the visual, encouraging a more ‘reflexive’ analysis on objects in space: “unlike the eye, the unaided hand is unable to discover whether three or more objects are on a line.” (Ivins, p. 7 in McLuhan, p. 81) The fact that “print stepped up the visual intensity of the written page to the point of entire uniformity and repeatability” (p.111) made possible the rapid development of new mathematical theories.
_____________________________________________________________________

Concluding Remarks

The Renaissance confidence that science would bring humanity close to the divine in power has been shown to be generally well placed. Science has developed concurrently with the industrial society`s many improvements in living conditions for the population of Europe; and the incredible richness of knowledge and culture that is now accessible to so many. The Scientific Revolution forever changed the relationship of humanity and nature, but we must never forget the impulse behind Mirandola`s Oration on the Dignity of Man.

References:
Bacon, Francis. (1620) The Novum Organum, (full original title Novum Organum Scientiarum). Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum

Bacon, Francis (1823). Novum Organum. (James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, transl.). The Works (vol. VIII), Boston, MA: Taggart & Thompson. Retrieved from:
http://www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm

Bolter, J. D. (2011). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Descartes – Life and works. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-works/

Eisenstein, E. (1979) The printing press as an agent of change. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Galileo, Galilei, (1623). Il Saggiatore. in Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo. (Stillman Drake, trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. pp. 237–8. Retrieved from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution#cite_note-discoveries-24

Galileo, Galilei. (1967). Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, (Stillman Drake, trans.). 2nd. ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. p. 103. Retrieved from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution#cite_note-discoveries-24

Heidegger, M. (1977) The question concerning technology. (William Lovitt, trans.). New York, NY: Garland Publishing. Retrieved from:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:R8rRtht7R4QJ:simondon.ocular-witness.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/question_concerning_technology.pdf+&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShokvRqVwkgHVJ3rVaJXtnrMaXN96kaGQW2JwaeAUayNJ56xGZjGI5rJtjrNFMfC26KCgcjbVpYHLFgP82Vwh5l0D1HXrgoVG15yAx-yiV8T5r4I0QaVmxbagE-y8EudKVtMiPH&sig=AHIEtbQ4K765hpatlbIfH9Um75yH6rxMxg

McLuhan, M. (2010). The Gutenberg galaxy: The making of typographic man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni (1956 ). Oration on the dignity of man. (A. Robert Caponigri, transl.). Chicago, IL: Henry Regnery Company. (originally published in 1496 in the collection of his works) Retrieved from:
http://brittlebooks.library.illinois.edu/Scripts/Done%20with%20Dispatching/picode0001oradig/picode0001oradig.pdf

http://masi.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Mirandola/

Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and literacy (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Routledge.

The Copernican Revolution. Retrieved from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_of_Scientific_Revolutions

Image References

Galileo’s illustrations of the Moon, taken from telescopic …
Image Source Page: http://timetoeatthedogs.com/2010/02/09/nasa-and-the-ghosts-of-explorers-past/

Newton`s Notebooks
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Newton%27s+notebooks&view=detail&id=CC3F503FA335BA152EFA02F5BB3D19EEF925E9EA&adlt=strict

Newton Mathematics
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Newton%27s+notebooks&view=detail&id=5BF84CD03935C9B94B1CA22AF39A31C3115EB964&adlt=strict

Comet observations
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Newton%27s+notebooks&view=detail&id=39B685C3D636AF9DAF31439E1091BF127B011F44&adlt=strict

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged Bacon, culture, Eisenstien, galileo, history of science, mcluhan, Mirandola, Ong, printing press, renaissance, technology, typography | 1 Comment

Punctuation and Spacing

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Meggan Crawford

Have you ever considered why there are spaces between words, funny symbols in our sentences, and even spaces between letters? If so, my site will show you where some of these developments came from and will get you thinking about what impact they have upon reading.

Please visit http://punctuation-spacing.weebly.com/ to view my research project.

-Meggan Crawford

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged interletter spacing, oral reading, punctuation, silent reading, spacing | 2 Comments

The Influence of Radio and Television on Culture, Literacy and Education

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jkendell

Written by Deanna Stefanyshyn and Julie Kendell

Introduction

Technology has the power to affect not only education but also culture, religion and personal thoughts and beliefs. While the world population is continually growing, our global world seems to be getting smaller as we are able to connect to people in a way that was never imagined. Radio and television were among the early contributors to this new form of mass media and played a role in affecting world political views and religious beliefs as well as changing how we view literacy in an educational setting. While these technologies started off as a form of entertainment, people quickly began to see the advancements and benefits that these technologies could bring to an educational setting. As with any new technology, the use of radio and television in the classroom faced resistance and limitations that set a pattern for inclusion of advancements even in today’s educational world.

Silent Films

The earliest known media available to teachers were termed ‘visual education’ or ‘visual instruction’ because they did not yet combine the advancement of sound. For example, silent films were used in the classroom along with photographs, well before films with sound and audio recordings gained popularity (Cortez, 2009). In fact, silent films showed so much promise in the educational world that Thomas A. Edison predicted “Books will soon be obsolete in schools …. Our school system will be completely changed in the next ten years” (Saettler 1968, p. ). However, it was found that especially in the beginning of film use, teachers were only using it occasionally in their classrooms. Some reasons that were recorded were “teachers’ lack of skill in using equipment and film; the cost of films, equipment, and upkeep; inaccessibility of equipment when it was needed; and the time involved in finding the right film for each class” (Mehlinger, n.d.). What is not surprising is that these specific roadblocks are often the same reasons given by teachers today when discussing their use of 21st century technology.

School museums were a popular venue for the first visual instructional materials and allowed for distribution of portable exhibits including slides, films and study prints to schools (Saettler, 1968). In order to gain respect from teachers, it was very important that these materials were viewed as supplementary curriculum materials that would enhance lessons rather than replace the teacher entirely. Even today teachers continue to fight for their standing as the primary source of instruction while maintaining autonomy in their use of media. This very idea has brought forth professionals in the field to argue that:

“(a) teachers should be viewed on an equal footing with instructional media-as just one of many possible means of presenting instruction, and (b) teachers should not be given sole authority for deciding what instructional media will be employed in classrooms ” (Reiser, 2001, p. 55).

Considering this has been an issue in education for the past 90 years, there does not appear to be a definitive answer that will come anytime soon.

Radio

“Radio broadcasting is one of the greatest educational tools which has ever been placed at the disposal of civilized man. It is an instantaneous, universal means of communication. It is not a new art, but is a means of multiplying the efficiency of oral communication just as the printing press multiplied the effectiveness of the written word. In addition to that, it has certain decided advantages over the printed page which it in part supplants and in part supplements” (Tyler, 1935. p.115).

While, the invention of radio dates all the way back to the 1820’s when Hans Christian Orsted discovered the relationship between electricity and magnetism, it wasn’t until between 1916 and 1920 that the first known radio news program was broadcast (Wikipedia, 2012) . As time went on the world of radio grew in both scope and popularity, and many broadcasts began to hit the radio waves.

Radio became a new form of communication and entertainment. Between the 1920’s and 1950’s many radio shows were broadcast, and gathering around the radio in the evening was a common form of entertainment. People, regardless of where they were located and what class they belonged to, could tune in to listen to news, sports broadcasts, comedy shows, dramas, live music and political addresses. Radio was a way for people to escape the care of their everyday lives. The world began to become a much smaller place in the minds of many people as they began to see that we were all, in a way, interconnected.

Radios grew even more in popularity during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s due to the Great Depression. While most other forms of entertainment were expensive, the radio provided entertainment free of charge right in your own home. Radio became a vital link to information and had the power to influence people’s opinions in a way that had never been seen before. People could find out what was happening in the world quickly after it happened and it was much faster than waiting for the newspapers to print a story. The invention of the radio also had an effect on religion as religious broadcasting was born. Benjamin Armstrong, former president of the National Religious Broadcasters, described radio and other electronic media as the “new Pentecost that communicates religious belief directly to the homes and hearts of individual listeners and viewers” (Armstrong, 1979, p. 7).

While radios became commonplace in most homes in the United States during the 1920’s and 1930’s, radio also began to gain popularity in the area of education. Many felt that radio had the power to bring the world to the classroom, and that radio programs could be presented as if they were textbooks of the air (Lindgren, 2004). While textbooks were the most common place to gain understanding and information at this time, it quickly became clear that other mediums could be beneficial if used properly. Usually the radio programs that were created were in line with the general classroom curriculum. However, studies have revealed that there were major contrasts between the content of schoolbooks and the content that was on the radio (Lindgren, 2004). Radio programs opened up the arena to discussing contemporary progressive ideas and political notions. These progressive ways of thinking were not readily available to students in a classroom. Children who listened to educational radio encountered views of society that were much different than the views that were shown in their school books (Lindgren, 2004).

Beginning in 1920, the Canadian National Railway, a non-educational agency, invested in radio infrastructure and saw the need for educational radio. The CNR used radios as a form of entertainment for their passengers; however, the president of the CNR Sir Henry Thorton saw both the social and commercial value in providing educational programming as a public service (Buck, 2006). Beginning in 1925, educational programs were broadcast in Canada. Success of the CNR’s educational broadcasts encouraged Thornton and the CNR to expand educational offerings, and they began to use this technology to reach the learning disabled. In 1926 broadcasts from the CNR were created for reception at the Point Grey School for Deaf and Blind in Vancouver (Buck, 2006). People believed that broadcasts of music and storytelling could help stimulate the brains of these students. This signified the first use of radio in Canada in the field of special education.

By the end of 1926 there were broadcasts on a regular basis that were intended for schools. Lectures, recitations and music were popular but other broadcasts, which included activity sessions, were also gaining popularity. These broadcasts gave students instructions on how to create projects and the students could then follow along.

Due to the successful example of the CNR educational broadcasts, several provincial educational broadcasts began in the late 1920’s. The University of Alberta’s CKUA began broadcasting in 1927 and Nova Scotia’s broadcasts at CMHS station in 1928. Although some of the broadcasts from these stations were specific to the province from which they were created, the national broadcaster, the CBC, carried some of the programs that were developed. They also broadcast some more generic programs that could be used in all provinces and continued to offer educational broadcasts for adult learners. An example of an adult educational broadcast was “Enquiry into Co-operation” where current affairs were discussed. The longest-lived adult educational program was “The National Farm Forum” which ran from 1941 – 1964. The CBC still provides educational materials today. They have a large digital archive with many radio and video clips that have been used to create a variety of lessons and projects for students. As well as these archives, they continue to broadcast radio programs on topics ranging from music appreciation to current events.

Audiovisual

“The audiovisual era reinforced a principle that developed during the preceding visual instruction movement: Visual aids can teach more people more things in less time” (Cortez, 2009, p. 4).

Radio paved the way to bring mass media into the educational setting, but many people saw the limitations of only using hearing as a teaching tool. The idea that videos and television could reach the same number of people and incorporate sight, started the rise in educational television and audiovisual education.

In the 1920’s sound began to be combined with film therefore coining the terms ‘audiovisual education’, ‘audiovisual instruction’, and ‘audiovisual devices’. However, the transition was not a smooth one as many resistant teachers had just began to buy into the advantages of silent film. Furthermore, educators were concerned that their silent film equipment would become obsolete; a pattern that has repeated itself over the decades as more and more technology is introduced. However, the actual introduction of audiovisual materials would have to wait until the Great Depression was over before it really saw its rise throughout the education system (Treat, 2006).

WW2 provided a desperate need to educate many people in a short amount of time. This was the kind of movement audiovisual education required to gain the momentum needed in order to necessitate the funding to create videos for training military personnel. Not only did they need to educate a large number of military recruits, there was also a need to educate new industrial workers to replace them while they went off to war. A quick solution to train people quickly resulted in the opportunity to test out the new forms of media during the war. After the war there was a transition to use these types of materials in schools (Treat, 2006).

Educational Benefits

“No teacher in our schools can teach with full effectiveness unless he has a keen understanding of the role of the mass media in the life of his students” (Dale, 1954, p. 8).

Radio allowed information to be distributed to a much larger audience. Radio as an educational tool became popular and many studies proved its effectiveness, especially in the area of distance education. It was the hope that “competent and imaginative teachers in any community can and do use teaching aids such as school broadcasts to stimulate and vivify the classroom experiences of youngsters” (Reid, p.146). Using radios in education allowed students to see a broader spectrum of the world around them. They were introduced to more worldly views and had access to much more information. While educational broadcasts began at first as mere listening activities, they later became an interactive experience where students worked with the information that was presented to them in a variety of ways.

During WW2 many people believed that America’s victory was attributed to the their ability to understand and use audiovisual equipment with great success (Reiser, 1987). It is no surprise then that many of the first studies done on the benefits of audio visual materials were done using military instruction techniques. Studies done in the 1950’s surrounding military instruction looked at the effectiveness of TV, kinescope recordings and regular classroom instruction. It found TV and TV recordings to be superior to regular classroom instruction (Rock, n.d.). In a separate study by Rock et al. (1959) it was found that TV instruction was at least as effective as regular instruction and more effective for learning challenged groups. However, Reiser (2002) did a review of many of the different studies involving a comparison of learning using different mediums for instruction delivery. He found that regardless of the method of instruction all participants learned similarly (Reiser, 2002).

The discrepancy among these research findings may have come about for several different reasons. With the introduction of audiovisual materials, teachers began to feel threatened in their role as educators. Some believed that videos would take over as the main means of instruction therefore rendering many teachers obsolete. Furthermore, many of the first studies involving audiovisual education were funded by government agencies in specialized situations. The requirements of educating military personal are different from educating students in a regular classroom. It was obvious that during the time of TV instruction, advocates wanted the research to prove that their work in bringing audiovisual materials to the classroom was warranted. Finally, the actual ability to deliver the lesson by any of the mediums could impact the ability to learn. Just as a poorly created computer program may not benefit instruction, so might an ill prepared or unenthusiastic teacher. Therefore, in these studies, there are many variables that can impact the findings, resulting in no definite answer as to the exact educational benefits of audiovisual materials, especially in its infancy.

However, in terms of teacher satisfaction, one study did a comprehensive survey of teachers in elementary and secondary schools using in-school TV lessons in Science, Music, French, and Spanish. It found that 89% of teachers found it valuable enough to continue (Hansen, 1953). While the resistance towards obtaining devices and materials needed to incorporate audiovisual in education was present, it is clear that there was some movement towards integration of audiovisual into lessons from both learning and teaching perspectives.

Criticism and Limitations

There were some limitations to the use of educational radio in Canada. In rural areas sufficient power could often become an issue and weak signals were also a challenge. Radio receivers were still expensive, and not all schools had the funds to invest in the technology needed to participate in radio broadcasts. Because there were no recording abilities at this time, students and teachers had to be available at the time of the broadcast or else they would miss out. Some people also worried about the advertisements that came with educational programming.

There were limitations to simply broadcasting information to a passive audience so shows began to become more interactive. Audiences began to become more involved in broadcasts which resulted in a higher number of listeners with sustained listener attention. Audience participation was encouraged in most programs and this resulted in a larger variety of content and presenters.

Just like radio, the introduction of audiovisual education came with its fair share of issues. During the 1920’s there were two emerging sides to the audiovisual educational debate. While some educators embraced the need for instructional films to keep up with increased school enrollments, others shied away with the misperception that they were too complicated, that teachers would become robotic, or that commercialization would take over (Cortez, 2009).

Furthermore, television and other technological advancements have brought about many critiques from researchers including one by Neil Postman in his book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” He put forth the idea that television has turned our society into an audience that is dependent on the need for constant entertainment. In fact, he suggests that “television is altering the meaning of ‘being informed’ by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation. Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information – misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information – information that creates the illusion of knowing something, but which in fact leads one away from knowing” (Postman, 2006, p. 106) Furthermore, he uses Sesame Street as an example to demonstrate how parents used it to excuse themselves from the guilt of having their children watch TV arguing that it was actually benefiting them by teaching their children to read. However he argues that “we now know that “Sesame Street” encourages children to love school only if school is like “Sesame Street.” Which is to say, we now know that “Sesame Street” undermines what the traditional idea of schooling represents” (Postman, 2006, p.143).

Media Literacy

This new idea that teachers needed to be aware of how and where students might be able to obtain information, called for a change in the definition of what was once clearly defined as literacy. Audiovisual materials did not alter the concept of literacy; they in fact forced experts to create a new form of literacy. This new term ‘media literacy’ is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms (Aufderheide 1993). In earlier times students had limited information available to them. They were able to obtain information from their textbooks or from oral conversations with others. However, new technologies such as the radio and various audio visual materials, such as films and television, provided new ways of thinking about the world around them. Students were no longer at the mercy of their teacher to be the bearer of all things educational. They could learn on their own through these new types of mass media. Students needed to learn how to understand and use the mass media that was being introduced in many classrooms and in their homes. Students needed to become critical thinkers as the media began to shape students understanding of their environment in a way that was never accessible before.

Conclusion

While educational technology began as silent films in museums, it quickly transitioned to include radio broadcasts and audiovisual materials. As technology advanced, the ability to deliver mass media changed the way information was delivered and began the shift away from the teacher being the bearer of all information. While many saw the benefits of being able to educate more people in a shorter amount of time, there was also a lot of criticism and limitations that hindered its progress. However, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks and eventually technology prevailed forcing educators to adapt to a new form of literacy in the classroom. Once again history demonstrated its ability to repeat itself, as many of the issues that were raised with the introduction of radio and audiovisual are parallel to those issues teachers currently face with internet and other technologies of the 21st century.

References:

Aufderheide, P. (1993). National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. Conference Report. Washington,DC: Aspen Institute.

Bagley, W. C. (1930). Radio in the Schools. The Elementary School Journal, 31(4), 256-258. doi: 10.2307/996158.

Buck, G. H. (2006). The First Wave: The Beginnings of Radio in Canadian Distance Education. Journal of Distance Education, 21(1), 76.

Cook, D. C., & Nemzek, C. L. (1939). The Effectiveness of Teaching by Radio. The Journal of Educational Research, 33(2), 105-109.

Cortez, J. (2009). Audiovisual Education, History of. In E. Provenzo, & A. Provenzo (Eds.), Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education. (pp. 62-64). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Dale, E. (1954). Introduction. In N.B. Henry (Ed.), Mass Media and Education. The Fifty Third Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education Part II (pp. 1–9).Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education.

Hansen, C. F. (1953) Teaching by TV in the Washington, D. C., Public Schools Washington, D. C.: Board of Education

Kanner, J. H.; Runyon, R. P .; and Desiderato, O. (1954) Television in Army Training: Evaluation of Television in Army Basic Training. Technical Report 14. Washington, D. C.: George Washington University, Human Resources Research Office, p.76

Lewis, T. (1992). “A Godlike presence”: The Impact of Radio on the 1920s and 1930s. Magazine of History, 6(4), 26-33. doi: 10.2307/25154082.

Lindgren, A. (2004). ”Radio” Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society, (2), 707-709. Retrieved from http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Pa-Re/Radio.html

Mehlinger, H. D., & Powers, S. M. (n.d.). Technology in Education – School. Retrieved from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2495/Technology-in-Education-SCHOOL.html

Postman, N. (2006). Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York, N.Y: Penguin Books.

Reid, S. (1942). Radio in the Schools of Ohio. Educational Research Bulletin, 21(5), 115-148. doi: 10.2307/1473784. Retreived from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/1473784

Reiser, R. A. (2001). A History of Instructional Design and Technology: Part I: A History of Instructional Media. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49(1), pp. 53-64.

Rock, R. T., Duva, J. S., Murray, J. E., & Fordham University Bronx NY Department of Phsychology. (1959) The Comparative Effectiveness of Instruction by Television, Television Recordings, and Conventional Classroom Procedures.

Saettler, P. (1968). A History of Instructional Technology. New York: McGraw Hill.

Treat, A., Wang Y., Chadha R., Dixon M.H.m (2006, September). Major Developments in Instructional Technology: During the 20th Century. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~idt/shortpapers/documents/ITduring20.html

Tyler, T.F. (1935). Radio and Education. The Phi Delta Kappan, 17(4), 115-117. Retreived from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20258384 .

Wertheim, A. F. (1976). Relieving Social Tensions: Radio Comedy and the Great
Depression. The Journal of Popular Culture, X: 501–519. doi:
10.1111/j.0022-3840.1976.1003_501.x

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (2012, Oct 25). Invention of Radio. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_radio

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (2012, Oct 26) . Radio Broadcasting. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_broadcasting

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged audio-visual, culture, education, literacy, radio, telelvision | Leave a comment

The Original RT – Radio to Television

Posted on October 28, 2012 by mcquaid

Introduction

Today, the Internet commands so much attention that it is easy to forget about pre-established channels of media that are mixed up within its melting pot: radio and television. Although not a purely direct line, we would not have our most recent form(s) of communicative technology without having built upon these previous two. Other than this, why look at these older media now? To learn a bit about their past, to see how the jump was made from one to another, to investigate the public attitudes and educational approaches to them, and to seek a greater understanding of why and how we interact with media in the ways we do today.

History and Context

Prior to the introduction of radio to the public, people received most information by spoken word, written word, musical recordings, or telegraph. Most information was passed on asynchronously, and texts (music, newspaper, books, etc.) were usually used by individuals or, perhaps, small social or family groups. Many people were excluded from the use of certain texts for reasons such as race, financial means, or literacy rates. With radio came the opportunity for people of any location, race, literacy level, and almost any financial background to share the same experience as many others across a wide space at the same time. Sometimes, the news might even be live, from primary or first-hand sources. For some places, take Canada for example, the exposure to the music, issues, and ideas of other regions brought understanding, a new sense of national identity, as well as national icons, especially in sports and music (Fitton, et al., 2006). Similar values became shared among a far-flung and wide range of listeners as they listened. We went from villages and regions to national villages, to, eventually, McLuhan’s global village.

Not everyone was on board, however. There was some friction and anxiety about radio’s power – not just the fact some people reported they heard things with their dental fillings – newspapers were worried, and, for a time, were able to have restrictions put into place that limited how much news radio could broadcast. Eventually, those restrictions were lifted (Godfrey, 1998).

Not long after, television came into play. When this new medium arrived, its programming mirrored much of what was on radio, including the news, allowing viewers to see shows they were familiar with. Unfortunately for radio, now that people could both see and hear the news on TV, listeners left. This caused the amount of news and information / talk radio to be reduced. From that point, radio’s time slots became filled mostly with music.

In terms of spread, or the rate of adoption of use, the common statistics seen are the ones which compare how long it took certain technologies to reach 50 million users (radio took 38 years, TV 13, the Internet four) (We the Peoples, 2000). What this does not account for is the change in population over time. To reach a saturation point in the market of 75% (the percentage of the population having bought / adopted the technology), it took 81 years for the telephone, 19 years for TV, 35 years for the computer, and 25 years for the Internet (DeGusta, 2012). This may be a more fair measure of how important, accepted, and widely-used a technology is for its time, vs. others. It surely does not take into account things like infrastructure and conditions for a technology’s success, but it seems as if TV was the most desired technology that was taken up by people fastest.

The Impact of Radio and TV on Language and Literacy

When we read or hear the term “literacy”, the default meaning that comes into our minds is that it relates to being literate, or being able to read and write words. I would argue that one of the main things both radio, TV, and all technologies after have done is to change what our notion of a text can be, and what being literate means.

Before writing existed, the kin to literacy must have been something like “listenacy” – the ability of others to listen and take in information. Once writing and symbols began to come into play, to be literate meant you had a command of your native language – you could read and write in it. Many years later, if you could read a book or a newspaper and write a letter, you were pretty literate. It may have been a little lonely, doing most of this on your own, and in your own mind, but at least you were literate. When radio came, there was a bit of remediation at play – written text, music, and spoken word were co-mingling and finding their ground with one another, and listeners had to adjust. Now, text could be an audible radio show, too, with sound effects. It could even be a hoax show, like War of the Worlds – teaching many the value of critical literacy / thinking. Listening to radio was often a shared activity as well, bringing an element of immediate community or sociality back to literacy.

With television came less imagination – in the moment, at least. People no longer had to visualize what they were listening to – they could see it and hear it at the same time, helping to get more meaning out of the spoken content, since much of the meaning in speech is visual. While watching TV is a bit more passive for the mind than listening to radio, I would argue that it augments imagination, in a sense – or at least visualization or visual literacy – it would allow people to see and better understand more people, places, and objects. It would give them reference points in their mind of real things rather than leaving their mind to simply make up their own images. As much as radio was augmented text, TV (and movies, before it) upped it even more, combining visuals, and a wider array of effects with the message being delivered – creating people with an audio-visual literacy. For that moment, however, users of both radio and television still interacted with it in a very “oral” way, in that once the moment or show had passed, that was it – there was no way to save or reverse content. At the same time, both radio and TV were acting as models of the written word. Users were exposed to different styles and formats for writing (as well as speaking), and looked to certain shows or characters as examples of good work, inspiring many to try something similar (Orson Welles, n.d.).

Specific Educational Links

Neither radio nor TV are inherently bad, educationally. Both have track records that show deleterious effects – especially when they displace a valuable intellectual or social activity (Neuman, 1988), or when young children watch less intellectual shows (Wright et al., 2001). Both also have data backing up their educational benefits – how watching quality programming between the ages of two and three improves the school-readiness of children from low-income families (Wright et al., 2001), and that interactive radio instruction has been a success in some areas for decades, and continues to be (Bosch, 1997). Susan B Neuman summed it up well when she said, “The responsibility and the challenge of using television to expand children’s learning and literacy, however, lies not in the technology, but in our hands.” (1991). It’s not a technological problem, it’s how we do or don’t use it.
Conclusion

Language, literacy, and education are dynamic entities, and radio and television are “merely” a couple of important technologies that have had an impact on all three along the way. For millennia, many have warned (Plato, included) that writing and a departure from oral language will damage the memory of those who use it. If what Silcox said in 1993 is true, that we remember 10% of what we hear, 26% of what we see, and 50% of what we see and hear, how can that be true? Is it not also ironic that we may read a once-oral story from Plato from 2,372 years ago, warning of writing-induced mental failure… remembered en masse because it was written down? Perhaps we remember some or more things really well in oral situations, but not nearly so many things overall. Silcox also noted that we remember 90% of what we do. If this is also true, modern media, which allows for more interaction (natural, and associative, at that, according to Bolter) should be the best version we have yet. Through technological remediation or negotiation, the Internet still has radio and TV in it – both are robust, useful, and still have their place. Whatever the next seemingly large shift is from where we are at, we might do well to welcome it (with a critical mind, still, of course) and further ourselves a little faster. It seems the right approach to take in a global village which exists in secondary orality, and the young – the digital natives – are most likely to be the first ones down the path (Prensky, 2001).

References

Bolter, J. D. (1991). Writing space: the computer, hypertext, and the history of writing. Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Bosch, A. 1997. Interactive radio instruction: Twenty‐three years of improving educational quality, Educational and Technology Notes Series, Vol. 1, No. 9.

DeGusta, M. (2012, May 9). Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History? | MIT Technology Review. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427787/are-smart-phones-spreading-faster-than-any-technology-in-human-history/

Fitton, A., Kenyon, R., MacDonald, R., & Parker, L. (2006). Canadian Identity. Toronto: Thomson Nelson.

Godfrey, D. & Leigh, F. (1998). Historical Dictionary of American Radio. Greenwood Press, Westport.

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media; the extensions of man,. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Neuman, S. B. (1988). The displacement effect: Assessing the relation between television viewing and reading performance. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 414-440.

Neuman, S. B. (1991). Literacy in the television age: the myth of the TV effect. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Orson Welles. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles

Plato. (360 B.C.E.). Phaedrus by Plato. The Internet Classics Archive: 441 searchable works of classical literature. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Silcox, Harry, A How-to Guide to Reflection: Adding Cognitive Learning to Community Service, Brighton Press, 1993.

We the Peoples: Full Report. (2000).Welcome to the United Nations: It’s Your World. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/full.htm

Wright, J. C., Huston, A. C., Murphy, K. C., St. Peters, M., Piñon, M., Scantlin, R. and Kotler, J. (2001). The relations of early television viewing to school readiness and vocabulary of children from low-income families: The early window project. Child Development, 72: 1347–1366.

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged communication, culture, language, literacy, mcluhan, media, Ong, orality, technology | Leave a comment

The Invention of the Ballpoint Pen and its Effect on Literacy

Posted on October 28, 2012 by anne

Ballpoint pens are everywhere! People keep them in their purse, book bags, cars, desks, offices and in classrooms. They are both, affordable and portable. Whenever you need to write something down, a ballpoint pen can usually be found somewhere close by. We pick them up and carry them around without even realizing we have them. The reliability of the ballpoint pen is something most take for granted. With such a convenient writing tool, it is easy to see why its invention has had a major impact on literacy and education. Some may question the necessity of the ballpoint pen in today’s society, where one has access to computers, tablets and smartphones. However, even with the invention of these new technologies, the ballpoint pen still has a place in homes, offices, businesses and classrooms around the world.

Why It Was Invented

The ballpoint pen has a long history. Goad (2012) gives a brief summary of how Hungarian born, Ladislas Biro first invented the ballpoint pen. Biro was an editor of a paper and was frustrated with the fountain pen. He constantly had to dip his fountain pen in ink and it took a very long time to dry. He noticed that newspaper ink dried instantly and decided to use this ink and create a better pen design. In 1931 he showcased his invention at the Budapest International Fair and patented his design. These first pens used gravity and would only work when holding the pen upright. Biro and his brother improved their design by developing a spring loaded piston in the pen. When the pen was pressed on, it would cause the ball to roll and transfer ink to the paper (Goad, 2012).

Although the pen still had leaking issues, they worked great for pilots as they did not leak at high altitudes. The British government bought the rights to the “Biro” pen and used them in the Air Force (“The history of,”). Milton Reynolds saw the Biro pen and knew that it would be well received in America. He used a prototype of the Biro pen and used it to create his own version. He called the first American pen, the “Reynolds Rocket” and it sold for a very expensive $12.50 at Gimbels in 1945 (“101 gadgets that,”).

It was Marcel Bich that finally brought the ballpoint pen into every day use. He solved the leakage problem and was able to lower costs. Bich paid Ladislas Biro a royalty on his patent and manufactured his own pen in France in 1952, which he called the “Ballpoint Bic” (“Ballpoint pens,” 2006). These pens were cheap to make, disposable and could be mass produced. The demand for ballpoint pens finally took off. In 1965, the french government approved them in schools, with other countries soon following suit (Smith, 2008).

The Effect on Literacy

The ballpoint pen is an invention that changed people’s lives. In fact, the editors of Popular Mechanics recently ranked it number 54 in the 101 gadgets that changed the world (“101 gadgets that,”). However, the use of ballpoint pens in the classroom was initially met with some controversy. In 1950 the Federal Teacher stated,

“Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices then throw them away. The values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Businesses and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries.” (Collins and Halverson, p. 30)

The fact that pens would be simply discarded when one finished with them, seemed unheard of up to this point. However, it is because of this that writing began to change. In classrooms, the ballpoint pen made writing quicker and easier. Students could write down lecture notes effortlessly, without having to dip their pen in ink. They did not have to worry about ink smudging their paper and could continue to place pages on top of one another while writing, without having to wait for the ink to dry. The ballpoint pen could be found in a variety of places that a fountain pen and ink could not. Writing became more portable. Individuals could write down their thoughts wherever and whenever they wanted to, as ballpoint pens were easy to carry and could be found virtually anywhere. There was no longer a need for people to worry about forgetting important information or ideas. They could simply pick up a ballpoint pen from a desk, car, pocket or purse and instantly write down whatever information they needed.

We now live in an age where a smartphone is the new portable device that is carried around by individuals. It can be used to type important information, send pictures instantly and communicate ideas with others. However, the significance of the ballpoint pen to literacy and education remains significant. It was the ballpoint pen that created the idea that you can write anytime and anywhere. Even with the use of smartphones, ballpoint pens can still be found in just about every place. In fact, The Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) recently completed a survey on pen use. It found that 73% of people still carry writing instruments with them and that 83% use ballpoint pens daily (Keyser, 2012). Businesses are handing out these inexpensive pens as a great form of advertising. Their logos can be seen every time an individual picks one up. Apparently, businesses have allowed the luxury that the Federal Teacher (1950) was so sure wouldn’t happen.

Conclusion

Mariana, Biro’s daughter believes that despite some critics that say the ballpoint pen ruined handwriting skills, it was her father’s greatest invention and legacy. Mariano remembers hearing her father respond to those critics with, “Well, writing comes from the heart. If we can help the hand to perform the task, what is wrong with that?” (Smith, 2008) There are now many other instruments that can be used to record information. However, often even when we are sitting in front of a computer screen, we still use our handy ballpoint pen to jot down notes. When we receive a phone call and need to take down a message, it is not our smartphone we use, but the pen resting on the table. With the ballpoint pen, we don’t have to depend on batteries or have to charge them. If a ballpoint pen runs out of ink, we merely pick up another one. Therefore, the ballpoint pen is still a valuable writing tool that can be used to record our “writings from the heart”.

References:

Ballpoint pen. (2006, May 6). Retrieved from http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ballpen.htm

Collins, A., & Halverson, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital revolution and schooling in america . New York: Teacher’s College Press. Retrieved from http://1to1schools.net/2012/06/ballpoint-pens-the-ruin-of-education-in-our-country/

101 gadgets that changed the world. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/101-gadgets-that-changed-the-world

Goad, J. (2012). Why was the ball point pen invented?. Retrieved from http://janisgoad.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Was-the-Ball-Point-Pen-Invented

Keyser, N. (2012, August 16). Pens, still an effective promotional marketing product. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Pens,-Still-an-Effective-Promotional-Marketing-Product&id=7235616

Smith, D. (2008, June 15). It’s 70 today, but our favourite pen just keeps rolling along. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/15/news

The history of writing instruments. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.thepenguy.com/resources/writing_instruments.htm

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged ballpoint pen, education, invention, literacy, pen, research, technology, writing | 1 Comment

Ditto Technology: Implications for Learning

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Ginelle Stutt

Humans as copiers

Much can happen at a school copier: plans made, gossip spread, discussions had, meetings set. Photocopiers are unique social junctions within schools, and important academic intersects between teachers and students. At the least, copying technologies offer functional ease. They also offer comfort in that something important will not disappear into the abyss of content – having a copy means the item and all embodied ideas will last when the original moves forward. For those who make it life’s work to nurture ideas, comfort resides in knowing a good resource can be captured for future use. Teachers are born copiers. They see new ideas and may wish to use them directly, or adapt and modify. Department meetings and professional development courses are often enhanced by direct exchange of ideas and resources. At a busy, condensed conference, the phrase “Don’t worry, you’ll get a copy of this”, can evoke sighs of relief. Training schools often require developing teachers to watch experienced ones in action so absorption, reflection and emulation can occur. Moreover, private markets pay well for quality material that works effectively in classrooms. Some teachers create material for support websites, the express reason being that resources can be bought, copied and used in some manner that fits buyer needs. Pedagogical values are passed from teacher to student, and within educational communities. As historian David Owen remarks, “Copying is the engine of civilization: culture is behaviour duplicated” (Owen, 2004). The development and historical context of one pre-computerized copying technology, the spirit duplicator or Ditto Machine, and its impact on education is interesting to consider in light of this human desire to obtain and retain information.

What is a ‘Ditto Machine’?

To understand this technology, one should consider the adjective used to describe ‘machine’. ‘Ditto’ is traditionally used to mimic or connect with what has been said – a type of verbal, cognitive shortcut. Italian in origin, the term has deep historical roots, originating from Latin ‘dictus’, meaning ‘said’ (Harper 2001-2012). In order to avoid repetition of the month, an early example may read, ‘Julian was born May 23^rd, and was christened 30^th ditto’. In a more modern context, controversial American radio host and political commentator, Rush Limbaugh, known for his outspoken conservative views, includes a segment on his show, as pictured on his website, called ‘Dittohead Nation’. ‘Ditto heads’ are known for espousing similar socio-political ideology to Limbaugh, at times using ‘ditto’ to copy previous callers’ ideas or praise for the show, thereby increasing on-air time. From its earliest uses, the intention, ironically, was to avoid repetition, however over time the term has become synonymous with agreement and direct dissemination of material.

Ditto machines, known in the United Kingdom as the Banda machine and in different countries by the manufacturers’ names, rely on chemicals and master sheets for copying processes, as did the later derivative, the spirit duplicator. The two names (‘Ditto’ and ‘spirit’) can appear confusing as the terms are often used interchangeably in research papers and other academic materials.

Technically, Ditto technology from the early 20^th century used ink, gelatin, a master copy and intense pressure to impress the copy against a hard copying surface, whereas spirit duplicators used master copies and included alcohol-based liquid chemicals to give the ink impression a more lasting quality (Early Office Museum). A commonality between the technologies is the use of chemical process to cement copies to print.

The Process

Figure 1: A retired Ditto Machine

To make a copy, the machine was turned on, checked for ink and chemical levels, and masters inserted against the drum. The original was carefully aligned and smoothed face down against a cylindrical copying surface, one that the original would wrap around in order to absorb the aniline dyes from master copies placed against the original. The master and original, united and pressed against the cylindrical surface, would spin with high pressure and produce long lasting albeit slightly blurred copies in multiple colors, but often a unique shade of purple. The copying process would start by turning a hand crank (see Figure 1) or adjustable knob, and production was fairly loud but quick. Click here to see a full set of copies run through A.B. Dick Model 215. Ditto technology inventor Wilhelm Ritzerfeld was issued his patent in 1964, nearly 50 years ago after his 1923 innovation. This copying technology was a heavy but portable metal machine that could produce short-run copies; the ditto machine was an ‘ideal medium’ for batches of 100 copies, a functional fact that made the technology useful to classroom teachers (Verry, 1953, p. 313). In reference to chemical use within the process, Steve Brower, international director of popular Ditto manufacturer A.B. Dick Co., notes, “It was a very wasteful process” (Virgin, 2002, para10). With any technology comes progress and challenge, and this was the case with early copying technologies.

Ditto or spirit technology was clearly not the first of copying technology. 18-19^th century letter copying presses portable book presses were only two of many duplication processes available, along with mimeograph and lithograph technology (Early Office Museum). The first acts of copying print onto another material preceded Johannes Gutenberg’ pivotal printing press invention, reaching far back to the Chinese Tang dynasty; copying visions, ideas, warning and rules on structural walls reaches back further to 6^th century Egypt (State Master, 2003). Ditto technology reflects only one stage of the innovation that preceded and would follow it, specifically in regards to Chester Carlson’s highly competitive but expensive invention in xerography, but it was Ditto technology that had a profound impact on student interaction with text.

Impact on learning and culture

When a student receives a photocopy, there can be an immediate perception of importance attached to the item – the tangible carrying greater weight than the spoken. Technologies themselves are artificial but they are not simply exterior aids; they have transformative power over inner consciousness and personal perception (Ong, 1982, pp. 81-2). Copying technology allowed once distanced text that remained in school to become personalized to students. Ong speaks of the ‘mechanical contrivance’ inherent to musical technologies (p. 82), so consider also the organic message sent to students when teachers expended the effort to produce rare pungent copies. It was unaffordable to run countless copies as schools operated on constrained budgets and within limited access to the machines (Lawn & Grosvenor, 2001, p. 119). If students could take copies home more regularly, and the copies embodied a novelty factor and synaesthesia through site and smell, it is intuitive that students would engage on a more personal, reflective level with the content and learning process. Julia Mckelvey, an English drama teacher, remembers, “The kids loved it when you gave them out banda-copied papers as they had the lovely smell of the spirit used to copy the sheets and they were also slightly damp when they came out of the machine” (personal communication, October 16, 2012). Having one’s own copy of content made the learning personal, and of course more technologically advanced. Keeping in mind that in the early to mid 20^th century, it was not possible to make vast bundles of copies due to the tendency of schools to have one or two machines due to cost, being able to hand out materials to students enabled teachers to move through core content more quickly as it could be revised at home, and the process allowed for development and experimentation with new learning activities (Lawn & Grosvenor, p. 121). The pivotal development of Chester Carlson’s xerography technology would complicate this as copies could be run off more quickly, more cheaply and more often. Some educationalists have critiqued teacher use of the technology in that photocopying can become environmentally unfriendly and at times an unimaginative crutch for teachers to lean on as they busy students with passive, superficially processed worksheets (Faris, 1989, p. 148). The worry Faris (1989) notes is that with copying technology, the perception of learning can halt when the worksheet is ‘done’, turning what should be active questioning and thinking into a passive chore to get through. Ditto machines, however, did not entirely fit this era of criticism as copies were a relatively limited commodity in schools – for many of those who recall the technology, it was special to receive a copy and that perception made the engagement with reading and writing more personal and reflective.

Conclusion

Pre-photocopying technologies allowed students the freedom to take work home and experience individualized learning. Ong notes, the intelligence is ‘relentlessly reflexive’, absorbing what surrounds it in a process of internalization (1982, p. 80). Learning became more individualize and internalized due to the ability to engage independently. Copies allowed parents to see assessment practice, and how content was delivered. Ditto machines occupied a special moment in educational history not only because they preceded the onslaught of xerography, an innovation that would drastically change curricular delivery, but because the act of creating and processing the product signalled dedication to learning.

References

Curator (2001-2012). Early Office Museum. Retrieved from: http://www.officemuseum.com/

Harper, D (2001-2012). Online Etymological Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=ditto&searchmode=none

Lawn, M & Grosvenor, I (2001). When in doubt, preserve: Exploring the traces of teaching and material culture in English school. Journal of the History of Education, 30 (2), pp. 117-127. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00467600010012418

Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the World. New York, NY: Routledge.

Owen, D. (2004) Copies in Seconds. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Inc.

Verry, H.R. (1953) Photocopying and Duplicating Processes. Aslib Proceedings, 5, 313-315. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb049490

Virgin, B. (2002, October 17). Opinion: The Ditto is Dead, and Few Mourn its Passing. The Seattle Post. Retrieved from: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/The-ditto-is-dead-and-few-mourn-its-passing-1098579.php

Hyperlink Citations

Li, B. (2012, January 10) AB Dick Model 217 Spirit Duplicator . Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B979xBnk2Hg

Limbaugh, R. (2012, October 6). Elected Democrat Won Over by This Show [webpage]. Retrieved from: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/

Anonymous. (2012, October 2) Illegal Immigrant Dittohead Does the Thinking Americans Won’t Do Pt 1. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=updtUy5NCcM&feature=relmfu

Anonymous. (2010, October 22). A. B. Dick Spirit Duplicator Model 215. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5nEp48dsw&feature=related

Ritzerfeld, W. (1962, December 17) Google Patents. Retrieved from: http://www.google.com/patents?id=zIBbAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

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The Origins of Silent Reading and its Impact on Education

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Christie Robertson

It is hard to think of a world where silent reading did not exist, at least in a westernized world. To the literate person silent reading happens naturally; however, there was time when reading was only done orally. Silent reading began with the standardization of writing techniques and the advent of the printing press. Over time, as literacy became more widespread and books easier to own privately, reading habits changed from communal group readings to a private, silent activity. This also shifted scholarship from a communal, public, and sometimes censored act to individual, private and sometimes controversial study. Today’s educational systems still emphasize silent reading and critical thinking, but they are shifting once again to include teamwork and collaboration as essential competencies.

The History of Oral Reading, Text Standardization and the Printing Press

Before the Roman alphabet and widespread literacy reading was conducted orally. Ong (2002) maintains that primary oral cultures used formulas, redundancy and mnemonics to recall history, heritage and culture orally to new generations. As literacy began to spread, these tendencies did not vanish automatically. Early writings are reflective of a still very oral culture. Erudite philologists proved the patterns in the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero’s letters where comparable to the meter in public orations; therefore suggesting texts for private readings were meant to be read orally and reading silently was for concealment only (Saenger, 1982, p. 370). Furthermore, “written texts often continued the oral mnemonic patterning that made for ready recall” (Ong, 2002, p. 117). It would take years before this cycle would be broken.

A scan of ancient texts illustrates why reading aloud was prevalent. Ancient writing had no punctuation, upper or lower case or word separation (Manguel, 1996; Saenger, 1982). Saenger (1982) claims oral reading helped hold the syllable in the short-term memory while words, phrases, and sentences were decoded. Similarly, struggling readers improve their understanding by reading out loud, thereby aiding connections “between spellings, pronunciations, and meanings in memory compared to silent reading of new words” (Rosenthal & Ehri, 2010, p. 921). As reading and writing evolved so did stabilization of technique.

It was the standardization of text that began the shift to silent reading. Saenger (1997) maintains two aspects determine the cognitive and physiological processes needed for reading: (1) the structure of the language and (2) the transcription of the language. Transcription is most related to the propensity for silent reading. Transcriptions using an ambiguous system will require oral manipulation and memorization, and graphic systems, such as English, facilitate early adoption of silent reading. Furthermore, use of space and abbreviations allow pattern recognition. This is due to our brain’s ability to recognize and remember in chunks (Saenger, 1982). Morris, Bloodgood, Lomax and Perney’s (2003) research suggest there is “an interactive relationship between beginning readers’ concept of word in text and phoneme awareness” (p. 322). Standardization of writing techniques allowed for this chunking to happen.

Silent reading began on a larger scale in the Middle Ages with Celtic priests transcribing with little knowledge of Latin. They had to separate words in order to decode them, which led to scribes copying silently and silent reading (Manguel, 1996; Saenger, 1982). But writing was still very communal—compositions were still dictated to secretaries, who expanded on their notes. (Saenger, 1982, p. 382). This ended in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries when writers began to think of themselves as writers, and addressing themselves to the reader not the listener (Saenger, 1982). At first the increase of silent reading was contained to those who could already read and write, but this would change.

Literacy and silent reading were further impacted by the prolific nature of the printing press. Widespread printing began around 1450-1480 and was well established by the end of the fifteenth century (Chappell, 1970). Desiderius Erasmus’s book on grammar, dictionary, Greek and Latin, and letter writing and other dictionaries and grammars had large circulation, providing a basis for literacy (Chappell, 1970). McLuhan (1962) believes the printing press shifted oral culture to visual culture: “men exchanged ideas through the private silent reading of printed books” (p. 367). The printing press would slowly erode barriers, such as cost and inconvenience, to allow for the prevalence of silent reading.

A Change in Perception and its Impact on Society and Education

As alluded to above, silent reading requires a different cognitive process than oral reading. McLuhan (1962) stresses “phonetic writing split[s] apart thought and action” (p. 22) and readers need to recall by the eye rather than by sound. Ong (2002) argues the redundant patterns of oral storytelling became unnecessary when print stores ideas for easy recall. Instead literate cultures use list, graphs, and skimming and scanning techniques, which allow for more analytical thinking (Ong, 2002; Saenger, 1982). Ong (2002) even goes so far to say writing allows for creative thought because an individual can store and reference original assertions. These changes in cognitive processes simply continued to bolster silent reading as the principal form of reading.

While it happened slowly, the shift to silent reading also impacted our education system. There are some individual examples of silent reading in the past, such as Augustine’s shocked recollection of Bishop Ambrose reading silently (Manguel, 1996), but the large transformations can be mapped with the changes in libraries. Libraries originated in the monasteries of twelfth century as a way for the monks to share their knowledge (Saenger, 1982; Vais, 2012). McLuhan (1962) describes the study carrels as “singing booths” (p. 92) as they were used for dictation rather than private study. This began to change in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when silent reading was more prevalent; libraries had side-by-side desks and important books were chained down to prevent theft (Saenger, 1982; Vais, 2012). Silent reading allowed reading and study to happen more quickly. In fact, in the fourteenth and fifteenth century students followed written texts while the lecturer spoke (Saenger, 1982) illustrating a shift in valuing reading over rhetoric. Ultimately, throughout the eighteenth century, due to cheaper books and the demand for the mobility of reading, libraries rid themselves of chained books (Vais, 2012). The standardization of text, the printing press and the prevalence of silent readings were slowly shaping the structure of education systems.

Silent reading also impacted our views on acceptable study materials. In preliterate times it was easier to prevent the reading heretical or provocative texts. Public reading of banned books was forbidden and only theology professors were allowed to read heretical texts for purposes of refutation (Saenger, 1982). As literacy levels changed printing was viewed as a threat to established power (Chappell, 1970). Eisenstein (1979) concludes “The nature of man as a political animal was less likely to conform to classical models after tribunes of the people were transmuted from orators in public squares to editors of new-sheets and gazettes” (132). In fact, English laws suppressing freedom of press led to exodus to Holland where printing and reading were less controlled (Chappell, 1970). The ability to read silently led to questioning censorship as the literate masses began to see the benefit of considering things critically.

Ong (2002) also upholds print played a huge role in peoples’ perception on privacy:

Print was also a major factor in the development of the sense of personal privacy that marks modern society. It produced books smaller and more portable than those common in a manuscript culture, setting the stage psychologically for solo reading in a quiet corner, and eventually for completely silent reading. (p. 128)

Eisenstein (1979) also concludes that a reading society is more “atomistic and individualistic” (p. 132) because it does not require community gatherings to learn of current events. Ultimately, being able to read without judgment changed perceptions of learning. Saenger (1982) maintains:

Psychologically, silent reading emboldened the reader, because it placed the source of his curiosity completely under his personal control…removed the individual’s thoughts from the sanctions of the group and fostered the milieu which the new university heresies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries developed…Private visual reading and compositions thus encouraged individual critical thinking and contributed ultimately to the development of skepticism and intellectual heresy. (p. 399)

However, while reading became a more private affair the critical thinking it evoked also brought like-minded individuals together (Eisenstein, 1970). The common thread between both assertions is that critical thinkers make choices, either keep it private or seek out those with compatible ideas.

This shift in emphasis to critical thinking and reflection rather than memorization and recitation has impacted the current education system. Anderson (2008) maintains society presently values knowledge and information as commodities. This directly affects the skills required for the workforce. Society demands and provides “rapid change and renewal, information explosion[s], poorly organized information, incompletely evaluated information and collectivization of knowledge” (Anderson, 2008, p. 7). Youth need to learn how to construct knowledge, be adaptable, find, organize and retrieve information, use information communication technology (ICT) and critical thinking, and work as a team (p. 7). Voogt and Pareja Roblin (2012) found educational systems supported this globally. All westernized frameworks highlighted the importance of collaboration, communication, ICT literacy and social and/or cultural skills and most frameworks also valued creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and productivity (p. 309). For example, since 2003 Alberta’s English Language Arts curriculum mandates students must demonstrate competency in managing ideas and information and collaborating with others (Alberta Learning, 2003). What western educational systems are supporting should lead to improving our current methods and curriculum so they reflect the needs of society’s workforce.

Conclusion

The advent of silent reading was preceded by text standardization and the printing press. Indirectly, it was these technologies that led to an emphasis on private thought and critical thinking en masse in industrialized areas. The predominance of silent reading in westernized countries has shaped the societal views and educational systems of today, which value the critical thinker, problem solver and team player.

References

Alberta Learning. (2003). English language arts (senior high). Programs of study. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/645805/srhelapofs.pdf

Anderson, R. (2008) Implications of the information and knowledge society for education. In J. Voogt and G. Knezek (eds), International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (New York: Springer), 5–22.

Chappell, W. (1970). A short history of the printed word. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Eisenstein, E. (1979). The printing press as an agent of change: Communications and cultural transformations in early-modern Europe. vol I. Cambridge, London: Cambridge University Press.

Manguel, A. (1996). A history of reading. Toronto, ON: Alfred A Knopf.

McLuhan, M. (1962). The Gutenberg galaxy. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

Morris, D., Bloodgood, J., Lomax, R., Perney, J. (2003). Developmental steps in learning to read: A longitudinal study in kindergarten and first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3), 302-328.

Ong, W.J. (2002). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. New York, NY: Routeledge.

Rosenthal, J., Ehri, L.C. (2011). Pronouncing new words aloud during the silent reading of text enhances fifth graders’ memory for vocabulary words and their spellings. Reading and Writing, 24, 921-950.

Saenger, P. (1982). Silent reading: Its impact on late medieval script and society. Viator, 13. 367-414.

Saenger, P. (1991). The separation of words and the physiology of reading. In Olson, D.R. and Torrance, N. (eds), Literacy and Orality. Retrieved from Google Scholar http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VKSIC5H8sd8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Saenger,+P.+(1991).+The+separation+of+Words+and+the+physiology+of+reading.+In+Olson,+D.R.+and+Torrance,+N.+(eds),+Literacy+and+Orality.&ots=rpCVCEvA_e&sig=X4Z6BH684rUmoJ2DjG5LIbD9s8I#v=onepage&q=saenger&f=false

Saenger, P. (1997). Space between words: The origins of silent reading. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Vais, G. (2012). The house of books: The metamorphosis of the library space (Middle Ages). Philobiblon: Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Humanities, 17, 50-63.

Voogt, J., Pareja Roblin, N. (2012). A comparative analysis of international frameworks for 21^st century competencies: Implications for national curriculum policies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(3), 299-321.

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Penny Papers: innovation & social change

Posted on October 28, 2012 by smyers

Here is a link to the wiki I created on the penny papers. My focus is on the reciprocity of technology and social change. Emphasis is on Benjamin Day’s The Sun which is regarded as the first penny paper of New York.
Hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to contribute to the wiki and I will add you as an editing member!
http://penny-papers.wikispaces.com/Introduction

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged 19th century, Benjamin Day, Christensen, disruptive technology, Innis, literacy, media, newspaper, penny papers, printing press, readership, technology | 1 Comment

The History and Future of the Chalkboard

Posted on October 28, 2012 by tavenia

Tara Avenia

(Avenia, 2012).

[youtube]http://youtu.be/_XngtsmH9FU[/youtube]

(Avenia, 2012)

“Among the Greatest Benefactors of Mankind”

A close look into the history of educational technology will reveal that an invention from over two hundred years ago remains arguably the most influential technological innovation of our time. It was Josiah F. Bumstead who first declared in his 1841 essay, The Blackboard in the Primary Schools, that the chalkboard is a groundbreaking technological invention (Krause, 2000). Numerous scholars have agreed with Bumstead’s pronouncement citing in reference to the chalkboard that “the inventor or introducer of the system deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not among the greatest benefactors of mankind” (Krause, 2000, p.11; Ressler, 2004, p.71; Tyack & Cuban, 1995, p.121). With the advent of compulsory schooling in the United Kingdom in the late eighteen hundreds and the significant increase in student population in public schools, the British acknowledged a sudden need to adopt a unified education program. The chalkboard stood at the core of this new teaching culture. This report will argue that the chalkboard gave rise to the standardization of public education, and its integration into English classrooms in the nineteenth century led to the widespread advancement of rote memorization as the dominant teaching pedagogy in the United Kingdom.

The Invention of the Chalkboard

The chalkboard is widely believed to have been invented by a Scottish teacher James Pillans, in the nineteenth-century (About Blackboards, para. 7). Mr. Pillans “supposedly hung his students’ slates together on the wall, making a large ‘slate board’ to write up his geography lessons where the whole class could see them at once” (Wylie, 2012, pp. 259-260). The first documented case of the chalkboard however is found in America in 1801. Mr. George Baron is credited as being the first teacher to make use of a large black chalkboard to assist him with his instruction at West Point Military Academy (About Blackboards, para. 8). Regardless of where it was invented, either in the United Kingdom or in the United States of America, the fact remains that the chalkboard was created by teachers to assist with teaching, and is an important educational technology.

A Necessary Educational Technology

The Council on Education in England officially recognized the chalkboard as a classroom necessity in 1844. Wylie (2012) contends that this permitted the use of state funds to go toward purchasing the educational technology for the first time in history. Surprisingly, it took nearly thirty years to pass the 1870 Education Act that provided universal elementary education to all British children (“Key Dates in Education,” n.d.). As Krause (2000) contends, “from almost the beginning, the chalkboard seems to have been a technology that was universally accepted, immediately adopted, and widely praised” (p.11). History demonstrates that the chalkboard was adopted before universal education. This is partly because the chalkboard is an economic educational technology. Krause (2000) declares that chalkboards “are easy to operate devices that are cheap, low-maintenance, and long-lasting. They are simple to use, flexible in application, and extremely reliable” (p.12). Tyack and Cuban (1995) make reference to a chalkboard salesman from 1841 who describes the chalkboard as “the MIRROR reflecting the workings, character and quality of the individual mind” (p. 121). Many would agree with Krause’s proclamation that the chalkboard “was and remains an ingenious teaching tool and a significant contribution to the ‘technology’ of the classroom” (p.12).

The Standardization of English Education

The increase in student population that resulted from the 1870 Education Act in Britain created the need to standardize education. Krause (2000) proposes that the British are responsible for the Lancasterian method that was arguably “one of the first ‘systematic’ approaches to education” (p.10). This newly standardized approach was advertised throughout the country via teaching manuals, which were published in mass and as Wylie (2012) contends “promote pedagogy as largely universal” (p.261). The chalkboard, having been deemed a necessity, was aggressively promoted in these teaching manuals that spread the word of this new standardized approach to education. Krause declares “chalkboards … were an essential part of the Lancasterian method because [they] kept costs low by minimizing the use of paper, ink, pens and books, and because [they] facilitated group instruction by monitors and teachers” (p.10). A closer look at two teaching manuals published in the late nineteenth century demonstrate that the chalkboard, also called the blackboard, was the “main-stay and sheet anchor of a lesson” (Livesey, 1881, p. 6). In How to Prepare Notes of Lessons: A Manual for Pupil Teachers and Students in Training Colleges, Taylor praises the chalkboard for its invaluable impact on teaching and learning. Taylor writes that:

The blackboard is always at hand, and blackboard drawing has advantages peculiar of itself. The teacher can draw to any suitable scale – he can construct his drawing before the class – he can simplify it by divesting it of all un-essentials, he can produce it at the moment, and in a manner calculated to insure close attention. We would earnestly encourage all young teachers to cultivate assiduously the art of blackboard drawing. (1881, p. 29)

With the advent of universal primary education, and the acquired need to standardize the British education system, teaching manuals were published and distributed throughout the country to communicate the pedagogical change. The manuals were meant for teachers, they communicated the correct method to teach and to learn and always promoted very specifically how to use the chalkboard to achieve these means.

Rote Memorization Becomes The Dominant Teaching Pedagogy

Teaching manuals produced in the late nineteenth century in England outlined in precise detail how a lesson was to be taught. Wylie (2012) concurs that the “instructions portray the teacher as explainer, demonstrator and corrector. There is no active knowledge construction by students, only explanation followed by drill, with the teacher giving corrections” (p.261). The emphasis on rote memorization is demonstrated below in figure 1. In this lesson, Taylor (1881) demonstrates to the teacher the step-by-step process to teach the letters I, T, L and H. He leaves little to the imagination of the classroom teacher.

Figure 1 (Taylor, 1881, p.34).

The teaching manuals produced in the late nineteenth century included chalkboard instructions for every subject; some surprising examples include lessons on sound, listening to music, and on the topic of healthy exercise (Livesey, 1881). These are lessons that would arguably be better taught through action, in a student-centered approach. Livesey (1881) emphasizes this in his teaching manual, Moffatt’s How to Prepare Notes on Lessons; he states that a science lesson should be about discovery, and should be student-centered. Livesey goes on however to outline the exact script a teacher should say when teaching science as well as listing precisely what the teacher should write on the blackboard and when (pp. 22-25). Figure 2 is an example of a lesson from 1881 that instructs the teacher in a step-by-step fashion how to teach their students to read. As Wylie (2012) points out, “even reading, a deductive decoding skill that is rather different from memorising how to write letters, was taught through imitation and drill, with the blackboard as a demonstration space” (p.262). Take notice of the lesson prefix that includes instructions on classroom setup.

Figure 2 (Taylor, 1881, pp.35 – 36).

Wylie (2012) contests that “the end goal of these [teaching] methods was memorisation, achieved through students’ repetition of corrected, acceptable imitation of the teacher’s model” (p.264). The teaching manuals produced in the late eighteen hundreds taught a teacher to teach much like you teach a very young child to paint, by numbers. Wylie (2012) contests that these “manuals on traditional subjects are written as commands and specific instructions …[and] thus teachers were meant to learn through imitation, just like their students” (p.270).

The Future of the Chalkboard

The blackboard is an adaptable technology and extremely reliable. As Puryear (1999) defends, the chalkboard is inexpensive to produce, easily distributed, and portable. The chalkboard is easily mastered by anyone with basic literacy skills, so although it was introduced with the teacher centered rote memorization pedagogy at its core, it could just as easily be used to enhance education placing students in the center. Ressler (2004) contests that the chalkboard is a fundamental tool to facilitate learning because “the learning process is about making connections” (p.71) and a chalkboard permits the text to remain visible for the students. Ong (1982) may argue that because text on a chalkboard is permanent in a way that electronic text is not, a student who learns from a chalkboard is better suited to recall the text at a later date. Both Ong and Ressler would agree that “a chalkboard – especially a large one- facilitates the creation of such connections by allowing students to view, discuss, and process several related topics simultaneously” (Ressler, 2004, p.71). Perhaps the chalkboard, and its twentieth century cousin, the digital whiteboard, will remain an educational technology for another two hundred years. In time, I predict, those who use the chalkboard to teach will learn to do so in a constructivist manner, moving further away from the rote memorization pedagogy of our past.

References

About blackboards – blackboard technology and chalkboard history advances. (2012). In Ergo In Demand online. Retrieved from http://www.ergoindemand.com/about_chalkboards.htm

Avenia, T. (Artist). (2012). Chalkboard Presentation Title Card [Image file].

Avenia, T. (Artist). (2012). Chalkboard Word Art [Image file].

Avenia, T. (Producer). (2012, October 28). The history and future of the chalkboard [Video]. Video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XngtsmH9FU&feature=plcp

Chalk stick write on chalkboard [Audio Sound Effect]. (n.d.). In freeSFX online. Retrieved from http://www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/chalk

Key dates in education: Great Britain 1000-1899. (n.d.). In Educational Resources online. Retrieved from http://www.thepotteries.org/dates/education.htm

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Posted in Research Paper | Tagged Chalkboard, communication, education, text technology, writing | 4 Comments

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