Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, people of all ages, I hereby present to you The Telegraph. May you find in it a kernel of wisdom, and a tinge of joy, and not a root of disappointment! The internet’s grand-daddy was indeed the Victorian “Internet”. What was it exactly? You’ll have to read, play, and watch to find out. I hope you enjoy this! I opted for an interactive website, rather than a paper.
https://sites.google.com/site/etec540telegraph/home
Great Research!
You present a large array of content across your site. It must have taken you time to research and find links to all the videos and other sites. When thinking about the telegraph, its origin in visual signaling had slipped my mind… I just always associated it with Morse Code.
I appreciated how your page or technology progression continued to address the concept of remediation as coined by Bolter. It was also interesting to consider the variables and drawbacks that caused revisions or innovations to occur. Additionally, transmitting my own morse code was a fun activity included in your site.
Thanks for sharing about the telegraph,
Heidi
Thanks, Heidi! It was quite a bit of research, but it was fun. I love doing historical research, and you are spot on with regards to showing the remediation of the telegraph. It did begin as a visual technology, and eventually became an auditory one! I wonder what Ong would’ve said about that…was the electric telegraph a type of secondary orality?
JSV
Thanks, Heidi! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I wish I could have included more, but in the interest of time and my sanity I had to limit it to what it is. One thing I wanted to also look at was the training involved in learning morse code…it’s actually a real easy “alphabet” to learn. At first it was something that had to be visually read off a strip of paper, but as time wore on it was something that was much faster to listen to (a return to some kind of orality, maybe an “artificial” orality).
What’s not so easy with Morse code is when secrecy, codes, and espionage come into the picture. The Dreyfus affair was something I really wanted to get in there, but it falls outside the scope of this project. In a nutshell France was the first government to have a branch dedicated to decoding secret messages (i.e. snooping on its allies and its enemies). The telegraph has such a fascinating history, and the implications it had across societies around the world are too many to mention!
Thanks also for trying your hand at Morse code. I wasn’t sure if that link was working. I guess it is.
Hello,
Like Heidi, I really enjoyed your project. I thought your use of different modalities was engaging and interesting. I found the section you included on Roman uses particularly intruguing. I also valued your description of the télégraphe. I teach French Immersion and we are currently studying technological developments over time. I plan on sharing the history you presented with my class and think they will find it interesting.
Excellent research!
Lindsay
Thanks Lindsay! That warms my heart to know someone out there will actually be using this research in their classroom.