Hi all,
My name is Lachelle (she/they), and this is my 8th MET course. I live, work, and play in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (also known as Edmonton). I’ve had to take a bit of a break from the program over the past couple of semesters, but I’m excited to get back in the saddle. Looking forward to going on this learning journey with you all!
For this task, I decided to add a few items into the photo that I typically wouldn’t carry around with me on a daily basis in order to share a bit more about myself. All of these items would make it into my bag for a particular purpose, but probably not at the same time.
- Sketchbook/travel watercolour set: One of the items that often makes it into my bag is my sketchbook. I use it for doodling, recording thoughts, reflection, and lately I’ve been experimenting with water colour painting. I got this compact painting set as a gift, and I’ve enjoyed being able to take it with me on the go. Both of these items represent text and literacy. Putting thoughts into words and recording them on paper is a traditional form of ‘text’, and using colour to express concepts is a different form of literacy. This made me think of using mediums other than words to express concepts and ideas. Images, colours and the way art makes a viewer feel translates into thoughts or experiences in their mind. If we think of text as a mode of communication, I think visual art is included in that.
- Packet of seeds: I received this small packet of wildflowers when attending a local NDP rally in my city. It has text printed on it, as well as a QR code that brings you to the platform of the candidate. QR codes are an example of where text and technologies intersect. One needs to use a smart phone camera to scan the QR code, which then directs the viewer to a text online. If one didn’t have access to a smart phone, or wasn’t familiar with what this printed design meant, they wouldn’t be able to access the information. However, for those who have access to technology and are familiar with QR codes, they act as a digital flag or a bookmark to enable the viewer to learn more about a particular topic. I also find it interesting to consider the connection between the NDP’s political leanings and the importance of taking care of our earth and the people and creatures on it. Planting seeds seems like an apt analogy here.
- Assorted keys: Keys act as a physical entryway to a location, which can be considered a form of technology. I’ve included both my car keys and my work keys/access card. My work keys also include a USB drive that allows me to quickly access important documents in the event that accessing the cloud or the internet is not available. For the most part, this isn’t a problem, but I always have the documents I need on the USB drive as a backup just in case.
- Volunteer badge: I volunteer for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival every summer. In order to access the grounds, verify which crew I’m on, and access the delicious volunteer meals, this badge is required. The colour of the image on the badge indicates which level crew access you have. Hole punches are used to indicate which meals you’ve had. Your name and crew is printed on the badge for others to read. I also have a pronouns pin on my badge to communicate which pronouns I use, and indicate to others that I am someone who respects personal pronouns. This is a direct correlation with the importance of language in communication.
- Wallet full of receipts and cards: I’ve had this wallet for many years, and it contains probably too many receipts and cards. The cards themselves range from bank cards, reward cards, identification cards, or gift cards. All of them connect to digital databases that hold information about who I am, where I spend time/currency, and memberships to certain programs. A physical piece of plastic with text, numbers and a barcode connects to a digital record of transactions – another waypoint from the physical to technological.
- A softball: My partner and I joined slow-pitch league with the Edmonton Sport and Social Club, which has been fun! I think of different types of literacy, physical literacy being one of them. Skills like how to throw a ball, hit a ball with a bat, and understand the rules of the game come through physical experience and practice. You can read all you want about proper technique, but by playing games and getting a physical feeling for the skills, you gain a literacy that goes beyond text/conceptual knowledge.
- Nivea lip chap and Kind granola bar: Personal care items and snacks are often packaged with a brand name. The brands we choose to purchase and use are influenced by advertising, and packing can communicate different sentiments about a product. Nivea is often recognized by the deep blue hue and bold white sans serif text on their products. I wonder how their products would be understood if they changed their font to Comic Sans and changed their branding colour to butter yellow with white text, making the text practically illegible.
- Water bottle with stickers/backpack buttons: In displaying stickers and buttons on personal items, we communicate the things we care about. On both my water bottle and backpack, I share that I enjoy listening to the local radio stations CJSR and CKUA. Both of these stations play eclectic music, have community radio shows that talk about local issues, and feel far more ‘grass roots’ than the larger stations. Radio is an auditory text, and an example of text, technology, and multiliteracies intersecting.
- Laptop and smartphone: These technology devices allow me to do my work, read articles, communicate with friends and family, and access the world wide web. These are the most obvious forms of the intersection of text and technology that I’ve included. They afford multimodal interaction with apps, media, communication technologies, digital texts, and beyond. For this exercise, these are actually the least interesting items to reflect on for me for some reason!
- Small note pad with sticky notes: This smaller note pad usually comes with me on a regular basis. It affords me an ability to jot down quick thoughts and reminders, include sticky notes (mainly grocery lists) written at different points of time that I can reposition or remove from the book. I know that there are technology tools on my phone like the reminders app or notes app, or even tools like Padlet or Trello that serve as a digital sticky note board, but I still have an inclination to physically writing these things down. Part of me likes the idea that these notes aren’t a part of any digital footprint, that they aren’t saved in the ether forever. They can’t be used to send me targeted ads or profile me as a particular type of consumer.
15 – 25 years ago, I was not carrying around a laptop (I only had a desktop), and my cell phone would have been a Nokia flip phone that was used mainly for phone calls, and the occasional T9 text. I’d definitely be carrying around my sketchbook/journal, as I’ve been doing this for many years. There would be more scribblers, printed coursepacks and textbooks for school, significantly increasing the weight of my backpack. In all reality, my wallet would likely look the same—I’m pretty sure it’s about 15 years old! There would be less keys and access cards, and no vehicle keys, as I relied on public transit at that time.
In the future, an archeologist might look at my bag and see a person who is still attuned with more manual/less technologically enabled forms of text and communication. Meanwhile, there are objects (like the laptop and cellphone) that can essentially collate most of the other items in a singular object. They might see people living in this temporal time as people who are straddling many spaces and worlds, and question why we had so many tangible things.
This was such an interesting assignment to do– thank you! I’m looking forward to learning more about the rest of you in this course!