Mechanization of Text
The invention of the printing press and movable type changed the way information was transmitted in a monumental way. Political and social change emerged from the widespread availability of print materials, books and newspapers changing the way we communicate information. As a significant step in the evolution of text, print material set the grounds for information communication in twenty-first century culture through the use of information communication technology (ICT) (Siegel, 2012). The invention of the press modified, not only the way in which readers relate to text, but has also revolutionized the way we communicate.
The affordability of the press to generate text created a huge shift in our ability to communicate information. The mass-produced print allowed the opportunity for the general public to interact with text. Invented in the mid-fifteenth century by Johannes Gutenberg the movable type was first used to duplicate documents, such as the bible (Kreis, 2012). More recently the printing press has been used for the large distribution of information through newspapers. No longer exclusively the property of the wealthy, the rise of press created a wider audience knowledgeable about reporting on a range of current events. The printing press created a medium for fast acting news allowing countless perspectives to be recorded.
The press gave rise to journalism and brought about an accessibility of information. This changed the way that readers related to text and who could interact with text. Creating a culture of literacy, individuals became less restricted by geographical boundaries, starting to develop our world of global citizens. Education traditionally an oral practice, evolved into being heavily reliant on print materials (Ong, 2002, p. 127). Text became an authority and the teller of truths. Changing the face of education, text has been at the forefront as a means to construct and communicate knowledge. With an abundance of information from print to electronic, education practices are continually evolving to prepare individuals to sort through information. Luke (2012) discusses in his article the process of critically understanding and framing our understanding of knowledge. He states, “’Reading the word,’ then, entails ‘reading the world’ (Freire & Macedo, 1987), unpacking myths and distortions, and building new ways of knowing and acting upon the world” (Luke, 2012, p. 5). Luke (2012) highlights, individuals not only need to access information, but also are required to learn to decipher bias, to become critical readers and formulate thought.
Looking forward, educational practices have continued to expand to include multiple literacies. The rise of the Internet echoes that of the press in the past. Individuals are oversaturated with the enormous amount of information accessible at their fingertips. With more than one source of information, individuals continue to need to develop the skills to be able to think critically. Walter Ong observes, “once the word is technologized, there is no effective way to criticize what technology has done with it without the aid of the highest technology available” (2002, p. 79). Students must learn to participate in this community of technology in order to effectively participate in culture. The New London Group describes this mission as having the, “fundamental purpose […] to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, and economic life,” referring to information learned and skill development (The New London Group, 1996, p. 60). Providing students with real-world opportunities and modes of interacting with knowledge is critical to engaging students in life-long learning. As a grade 7 teacher, I find it both challenging and exciting to guide students to read critically and select credible sources. I believe that it is imperative that students develop the skill to examine information critically, in order to generate their own meaning.
References
Kreis, S. (2012, April 12). The Printing Press. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html
Luke, A. (2012). Critical Literacy: Foundation Notes. Theory Into Practice, 51(1), 4-11.
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures.Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.
Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and Literacy. London: Routledge.
Siegel, M. (2012). New Times for Multimodality? Confronting the Accountability Culture. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(8), 671-681.
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Freeman, M. (2015, April 16). Who Is Anti-Science – Free, Critical Thinkers Or National Geographic? TheSleuthJournal. Retrieved June 18, 2015, from http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/who-is-anti-science-free-critical-thinkers-or-national-geographic/
Hello Laura,
You should give Willisky’s article a read, he has some great ideas regarding literacy and its effects on democracy. My group is doing our research project (Assignment #2) on the printing press, so we’ve done a fair bit of research on it. However our project is more on the societal affects of the printing press rather than its history. Gutenberg is often credited with the “invention” of the printing press but as you mentioned and like most inventions, he was simply the person who made it popular. Just like Alexander Graham Bell was the person who popularized the telephone, he certainly didn’t invent it. The printing press, even a movable type one, existed up to two thousand years before Gutenberg.
The premise of our presentation is that whatever effect literacy had on society, the printing press multiplied it. So the printing press can be thought of as a magnifier. I was specifically taken by Willingsky’s of the cause-effect relationship of literacy with democracy. Especially with an alpha-numeric language (as opposed to a hieroglyph style language) that allows even young children to learn it, such a language system brought about the first instances of public education. And with public education brought about knowledge and power to the citizens and the first instances of a democratic society. As a citizen, I’ve always felt that democracy is the most precious idea of all simply because when given a choice, the majority will choose to do the right thing.
So if what Willinsky claims is true – literacy and democracy have a symbiotic relationship. Then the printing press multiplied not only literacy but solidified a democratic way of life. And now the internet allows all of us to be publishers, writers and videographers is hyperlteracy that goes well beyond the multiplying effects of the printing press.
There’s a couple of interesting thoughts coming to mind:
– What is a moveable type printing press?
– Why was Gutenberg’s printing press so successful if others already existed?
I studied some videos to find out what is meant by a “moveable type printing press”. I can easily visualise the action of a typewriter – how a finger press to a character ejects a unit of type from a casing and whacks it against a sheet of paper, hitting a moving ink ribbon on the way. The printing press is a little different. Rather than each letter moving, the letters are laid out manually by a typesetter into lines of text which are then cased in “furniture”. The whole piece of furniture is inked and pressed against paper. This short video gives a helpful demonstration and explains the terminology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE0OoWX6TQs
The Crandall Printing Museum in the US also has a short video about the Gutenberg press.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLctAw4JZXE
The same organisation demonstrates how to cast metal type (letters).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwsrqXmNeCY
The moveable type printing press is labour intensive by today’s standards, although understandably a revolution in its day.
To the other question: If printing presses already existed, why was the German-invented press so successful? Germany was well situated to support the Western world’s centre of knowledge in the 1400s. The Catholic church was in Europe, with scribes in many monasteries busy at work copying codex Bibles and other manuscripts. Indeed, the early universities were controlled by the Catholic church too. Gutenberg could turn his invention into an innovation (Daniel used the term ‘popularize’) because he published the socially and politically accepted book of the day.
Great post Laura and wonderful reply Daniel! Your conclusion on how the printing press helped democracy evolve by empowering more people to be literate thanks to the development of the education, which in turn is happening once more thanks to the internet, is a great point. It used to be that writers and researchers would spend their whole lives waiting and working towards being published, whereas today, anyone can be published and anything can go viral! Anyone can create a video and inspire the world – and we can all share our personal knowledge in the best way we see fit.
I think that smartphones are the next revolution. They are opening up a world of communication and “text” that is of high quality. What is most incredible, is that our youth are at the center of it all. They grew up as digital natives and have the abilities and confidence to try anything with their smartphones. I gave my students project to create/share an inspirational story. Many chose to record videos and to watch them navigate their hand-held devices and edit as they went was incredible! We hold so much power at our fingertips.
Can it be that technology is evolving culture, evening out the playing field, just as the press helped develop democracy, through the spread of literacy? Is age really vital in this day and age – or can our students accomplish much more thanks to the technologies available at their fingertips, catching up to the world more quickly than ever before! How will our education system support them?!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your post! I like what you’ve brought up in your last paragraph where you describe evening the playing field. I believe that the integration of the technological world (i.e. the web) has permitted in many instances access to information and the ability to share and publish ideas. I think that this is such a powerful tool that is so integral to our lives and the lives of our students. It is critical that we assess and hopefully help guide students to be somewhat cautious and competent users in their interactions and activities online.
I think that the education system (at least in BC) is attempting to address the technological movement by reassessment of the current curriculum as well as to add the IB program into (some) public schools/incorporate the IB principals into the general classroom. The shift from memorizing facts to learning concepts and how to navigate resources has already begun. I hope that with the integration of this new curriculum and IB ideas comes funding to help guide educators in their teaching practice.
Thanks again,
Laura
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the post. I have read the Willinsky article and did find it quite interesting. In particular, I liked how he describes the necessary skills we must develop in order to be critical readers. This, to me, indicates what I mentioned above with restructuring traditional forms of education as information delivery and to shift focus to teach the students skills. Willinsky states, “scholarly publishing could do more to help people turn to research, as a way of cultivating such crucial reasoning abilities” (Willinsky, 2002, p. 10). Discussing his reasoning for scholarly articles to be made public, I believe that Willinsky echoes some of the previous concerns with access to information and the ability to effectively interact with text in order to find meaning. Thank you for your suggestion to look back – I hadn’t looked at this reading since the first week of the course. It was interesting to look back at the article and my notes in the margins, reflecting on how some of my thoughts have developed since the beginning of the course.
I look forward to looking at your groups project! I am working with Sarah on photography as a means of communicating/communication.
Laura