We had visuals well before any form of literacy or orality existed. Today, we look at multiliteracies as something new. That is, the combination of text, hypertext, with visual imagery such as still pictures and videos. “We are living through a period of dramatic global change, as new business and management theories and practices emerge across the developed world” (London, 3). While true, technology has merely enabled or perhaps advanced what we already do. In other words, we’ve always combined “multiliteracy” into our communications. We simply never had the opportunity to record, playback and share our ideas until technology catches up with us.<\/p>\n
So these terms that we like to throw around like hypertext, multiliteracies, digital literacy are examples of technology fulfilling a niche, a human desire that existed well before the technology itself. Similar to the music we wanted to express was always within us, but we needed musical instruments to bring those sounds to life. We’ve always needed an airplane, but it would take many thousands of years before we could assemble the technology to actually fly.<\/p>\n
Dobson states that “Roughly concurrent with the public uptake of hypermedia and the Internet was the rise of computer-mediated communication” (Dobson, 9). I’d like to extend that idea further by saying that we were already hyperlinkng and adding hypermedia to our literacy well before the computer was even conceived. When the codex was invented, it enabled the ability to interlink and reference articles and pages by a numbering and citation system. When the printing press was invented, shortly after people were adding graphics to it. Following that, a metal \/ copper etching technique was perfected that allowed images of much greater detail to be published along with text.<\/p>\n
Interesting but un-related note … I visited a museum with a printing press and learned that this metal etching technique would later transfer to etch circuit boards. Its the same basic technique where ink protects the metal from being eaten by the acid. But in the case of the printing press, the goal is to have raised surfaces for the purpose of holding ink and printing pictures. In the case of a circuit board, the goal is to eat away the exposed copper leaving behind the circuitry. Fascinating!<\/p>\n
Attached is a pic of copper etched plates used to print images from a printing press.<\/p>\n
Dobson T. & Willinsky J. (2009), Digital Literacy<\/a><\/p>\n