Hello everyone! I apologize for the crumpled paper as little did I know when I went to do the assignment, I did not have any at home. So the backs of school notices I found in my backpack was what I used. I enjoyed reading and listening to the podcasts this week. Just thinking about how writing is one of our greatest inventions as described in the podcast. how we have gone from, “printing on the world making it part of the environment”, by using stone to the invention of the codex, something bound and compact and easy to carry around. To the patience of placing each individual letter so that it can pressed is really quite amazing.
Do you normally write by hand or type? Did you find this task difficult or easy? Explain.
I always jot down notes by hand, I am always seen with post it notes within my classroom, as it is fast and convenient. Funny enough finding paper at home to do the writing task was what was difficult. For the life of me I do not have sheets of paper at home, I left my planning book at school, so it was difficult to find paper to write on. Once deciding what to write about and paper I found the task somewhat easy. Now I feel exposed as I have chicken scratch writing and I will have to post this on my blog, I do not have the whimsical kindergarten teacher printing. I have my moms, good luck reading my writing. So not having the convenience of spell check or picking a nice font, yes, I did find it difficult. Thinking about the podcast and the gentlemen talking about how writing is an independent invention to record, trade data, laws etc, and how the written language is one of the world’s greatest invention is making me appreciate my chicken scratch writing.
What did you do when you made a mistake or wanted to change your writing? How did you edit your work? Did your choice of media play a part in how you edited your work?
Now the tool I have at home was an obstacle, I like using pencil, a really sharpened pencil. This too I was lacking at home, I really need to buff up my home office stationery as I can easily see I just use my iPad and laptop. Being said with a pencil you make a mistake you can erase. Pen is more permanent like a final copy. So for editing my work I just had to cross out any mistakes I made adding the ^ symbol if I missed a word. I was more cautious when I was writing because I knew I did not have the tools (erasable pen, whiteout etc) to fix my mistakes. Normally not a big deal, but this will be posted on my blog, a permanent fixture. My writing felt more guarded, I had to use words I knew how to spell and that I had to use proper sentence structure. In the readings this week, Bolter (2001) states that, “Mechanization in the context of writing systems, however, refers not to this sort of slow highly skilled labour, but to the production of text according to, in Bolter’s words, “the insistent rhythm of the machine” (p. 15).” Now this is referring to the printing press, however talking about the insistent rhythm of the machine, with writing I am that machine and reflecting back there was a lot of kinks and missing parts to make the rhythm of writing smooth.
What do you feel is the most significant difference between writing by hand and using mechanized forms of writing? Which do you prefer and why?
The big difference writing by hand is my rough draft where as typing is a more polished finished copy. Of course, when typing there is still rough drafts, especially within a professional context when producing essays or report cards for students, however I do not have to worry about the mechanics. Spelling and grammar, there are tools to help me instantly with this, with writing by hand, to me it is rawer. Bolter (2001) observes that “each culture and each period has had its own complex economy of writing” (p. 21), and that as new technologies emerge, they may replace or supplement established technologies. He calls the process of shifting from one medium to another, which involves both competition and integration, “remediation.” Each new technology, Bolter observes, claims to be better than the one it sets out to remediate in at least one—if not several—senses (p. 26). Although I am the creator of the content, the computer does not make me a good writer, however it helps clean up my mistakes so that I am more confident in what I am putting down. Whether it is an assignment or an email to a parent or administration with tools to help me see what is effective or ineffective and then being able to clarify and adjust. Typing gives me greater confidence in sharing than what I have written down by hand, fixing any remediations.
Reference:
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
