My name is Braden Litt and I am a Grade 6/7 teacher from Surrey, British Columbia. I am writing this in response to the “What’s in your bag” exercise for my ETEC 540 course as part of my UBC Masters of Educational Technology.
For this exercise, I picked my backpack that serves as the work bag that I use for my job as a classroom teacher. I took the above picture in the middle of a workweek, so it is a mostly accurate picture of my working life. I will note that I cleaned my bag prior to the start of a new school year, so this is a sanitized version of my daily bag.
My work bag carries:
- Wallet with identification, debit and credit cards, Costco membership and unused Home Depot gift card
- Grey MacBook Air with Surrey Schools identification tags
- A COVID-19 vaccination sticker
- Two non-medical masks in a plastic baggie
- Wireless headphones and cord adaptor
- The keys to my home life:
- My car key fob with skate lace keychain
- My front door key with Vancouver Canucks keychain
- The keys to my work life with a yellow lanyard
- School board identification badge with blue lanyard
- Nalgene brand water bottle with Marvel’s “Ironman” embossed
- One pen branded with Brock University Recreation Services information
- One whiteboard marker branded with Brock University Recreation Services information
Daily Use and Personal Meaning
Many of the items that I carry daily in the bag are related to access. The various keys allow me entry into my place of work and home at the end of the day. My identification badge identifies me as an adult employed by the Surrey School Board, allowing for easy identification in a school setting. As a teacher in Surrey, masks are mandatory to enter into a school setting. The COVID-19 vaccination sticker was given to me at my second vaccine appointment, something that is now mandatory in order to access many services and establishments in British Columbia. My driver’s license and health card allow for access to certain privileges, such as driving, and services, such as health care.
Some objects serve no purpose to anyone but are for my personal comfort. My headphones serve to meet personal preference while making my daily work routine more enjoyable.
Some objects evoke powerful memories for me, but would be meaningless to other onlookers:
- The pen and whiteboard marker with the textual trace of the Brock University branding remind me of the time spent studying there and being employed by the Recreation Services department throughout. I made many friends, met my future wife, and spent much time studying during my experience there
- My Nalgene water bottle was purchased at the same time as several others of similar influence for the members of my wedding party. I have carried it daily as a reminder of those that are important in my life, as well as a reminder of the commitment that was made on that day.
Text Technologies
The most obvious text technology in my bag is the MacBook Air. This device allows me to engage in consuming, creating, and editing digital text. It is the p[physical object that allows me to engage in the digital communication realm. It also allows me to convert digital communication into print through wireless access to a printer. I also use my laptop as my primary method of consuming written text, finding it easier to carry than books or paper documents. The barcodes on the front create a connection between computer-printed labels and a digital registration system, allowing for the identification of a tangible object in a non-tangible manner.
An additional text technology that is less obvious is the identification badge. The printed identification number refers to a digital registration system for all employees, while also being computer printed. The printed number itself directs me to a digital information system. There is a barcode that can be scanned in order to access certain areas, as well as reference my personnel file. This printed text is an allusion to a complex digital data system, as well as allowing for the collection of information about those who wear it.
The debit and credit cards allow physical access to my online banking and payment services while being a computer-generated, printed text. The majority of the cards in my wallet direct allow for access to digital identification systems containing information about me.
All of the copyrighted branding (Apple, Marvel, Skullcandy, etc.) serves as a physical print reference to registration and gathering of written copyrights with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, which exists in the digital sphere.
All of the writing within my bag is in English, reflecting my mono-linguistic abilities. While the Macbook could be used to allow me to engage in different languages, the objects tell a different story.
What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago?
In the past, my laptop and headphones would not be included due to being of larger physical size. Recent technological developments have made it possible for them to be easily carried. My car key would not be a fob, rather it would exist as a physical key. It would be very unlikely that I would be carrying non-medical masks, nor would there be a COVID-19 vaccination sticker. My keychain with the Vancouver Canucks logo would look different prior to 1997 when the team underwent a brand and logo redesign. While Nalgene water bottles have been around since 1949, it is unlikely you would find one bearing Marvel branding since only jumping to the forefront of popular culture with the release of movies starting in 2008.
How do you imagine an archeologist might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?
I would imagine that a future archeologist may view the contents of my bag like that of someone who lived and worked in a digital-dependent, English-speaking society. There are no physically generated texts, with all being computer-generated, nor are there any texts of differing languages. They may also view the society as restrictive since most objects serve to either identify me, allow for registration into digital systems, or to restrict access to physical spaces