Jessica Holder ~ Intro and Thoughts
Hi there! I’m Jessica living in what I like to call a “frozen wasteland” in central Alberta. This is my halfway mark course for the MET program. I am a wife to a scientist, a mother to four vibrant daughters, a DL teacher working with home learning families, and a homeschooling mama continually contemplating the essence of “What is an Education?”.
What a privilege it has been to gain insight from fellow colleagues as thoughts have evolved and been shared on the intersection of text and technology. The uniqueness of each post, in ways, confirms my own thoughts as I’ve considered how writing is a reflection of the mind, the culture and the soul. {Briar’s words eloquently elaborate on this in her post – thank you!}.
As a reflection, is it possible that writing makes the unknown, known; the unthinkable, conceivable; the impossible, reality? Do we fully understand what we are before we shape the text, or is it only once the text is formed that we begin to interpret and come to know what is?
The image that I have chosen to represent writing and text is that of a fragmented mirror indicating reflection of self and culture, yet not in its entirety and always with an edge of distortion.
P., Ariel (2005), [photograph]. Retrieved September 12, 2015 from Flickr Commons: http:www.flickr.com/photos/arielp/30119937
If taking a moment to consider the changes of text over history, from hieroglyphics and the papyrus scroll to present day devices, one will notice stark contrasts in the existence of the carefulness and purpose of text. The precision of the papyrus scroll scratched out by an elite individual for words to be passed down from generation to generation severely clashes with the often flippant tapping of text by anyone today, meant for a single moment in time.
Has the value of the written word decreased because of it accessibility, or has it become even more invaluable due to its integral part in our existence? The intentionality of text in a world of rapidly changing technology is something to be consciously considered, especially if text is a reflection of who we are and a telling of what is.
Looking forward to exploring the relations of text and technology with you more as we move through this course together!
Good to have you here Jessica, welcome!