Summary

The first chapter in Writing Technology: Studies on the Materiality of Literacy by Haas (1996)  is about the Technology Question present in writing studies. The Technology Question is present in many debates about how material writing is, and how separate orality and literacy are. There are three categories in which Haas examines the technological question: philosophical, historical, and sociopsychological. The Technology Question in philosophy is concerned with the effects of unifying language with a physical medium. For Plato, writing had negative psychological effects that would eventually cause writers to lose memory. Writing, for Plato, created a false sense of truth. There was also a clear duality between speech and writing. For Jacques Derrida, writing 2,500 years later, criticizes  the strict dichotomy between writing and speech. He deconstructs the dichotomy between body/soul and immaterial/material. In Derrida’s theory, writing created the Western world, not the other way around. Some scholars have studied literacy through analysing its effects on historical Greek culture. Walter Ong and Jack Goody have also addressed the Technology Question. For Ong, people think differently in oral cultures than they do in literate cultures. Goody studies the differences between literate and nonliterate cultures. The sociopsychological aspect to the Technology Question includes theorists who examine writing as a tool that affects the way individuals think. Lev Vygotsky considered symbol systems(writing) as part of an overall cultural system. He included writing as a tool that people used to interact with the natural world. Scribe and Cole also argue against the sharp divide between technology and writing.

The second chapter in the book surveys different ways that the technology used to write has been studied. The change in technology has prompted more people to notice its materiality. There are different levels in which to study the effects of technology on writing: individual, cultural, and material. Technology studies are interdisciplinary as different scholars from different fields have to learn about how to study technology. Two myths impede the study of technology: the myth that technology is transparent, and the myth that technology is all encompassing and all powerful. Haas outlines different theories of writing and explains that cognitive theory, classical rhetorical theory, and postmodern theory do not provide a sufficient background to build a theory of writing based on technology.

In The Politics of the Interface: Power and its Exercise in Electronic Contact Zones, Self& Self(1994) examine the interface f the computer as a “linguistic contact zone” (p. 482). THe article discusses how interfaces can privilege the dominant culture and transmit certain attitudes about people. For example, computer interfaces often privileges English as a language. Eliminating certain forms of colonialism and oppression from interfaces requires critical thinking from teachers as they expose students to new technologies. Teachers should be able to tell students about different kinds of borders found in technology: virtual, cultural, and linguistic.

Discussion:

It’s important to note that writing is a form of technology that was once new. The picture embedded on the page shows two different eras of technology. People in Ancient Sumeria Reading Plato from the perspective of someone living in the 21st century where literacy is basically required to survive in the world can seem a little strange or even humorous. The fact that Plato was thinking about how writing could change society or change the way people think is very interesting and still relevant, especially with new technologies. Plato did not think that writing was conducive to truth and learning.On the other hand, there is Writing in the Disciplines is a pedagogical movement in which teachers encourage their students to write to learn. Writing, in this theory of learning, is a way to truth.  As new technologies arise, there are always traditionalists and naysayers who fear it. There are probably many people who are skeptical about teaching new media in the classroom because they find it distracting and not necessarily pedagogically sound. It is important not to naysay new technology because that can be reactive, but to think about it analytically and observe how it affects writing and learning.

“Writing created the West, not the other way around” (as cited in Haas, 1996, p. 7).

This quotation is from a scholar paraphrasing Derrida, and I find this concept really interesting. I know Haas’s work is really just commenting on how different theorists see the Technology Question but this quote did jump out at me. “The West,” according to this quote, would be a construct that depends deeply on the technology of writing. This idea could be connected to Derrida and Foucault’s ideas about archive and power. If writing formed the Western world, then it is important to remember that a majority of people in the Western world were not literate. Now with compulsory, widespread education, that has changed. It is still something really interesting to consider as we learn about technology and the history of education. Derrida also did not agree with Plato’s strict dichotomy for speech and writing, for him, writing was “always there.” I am not sure how that would be possible, especially considering that there are still oral cultures that transmit information without the use of visual symbols. You can have a system of speech without a system of writing, but I have not heard of any societies that only had a visual form of communication.

“ This is not to claim, of course, that the only educational effects computers have is one of re-producing oppression or colonial mentalities”(Self & Self, 1994, p. 482).

The Self&Self article is  useful for teachers and perhaps other users of technology because it reminds us that there are power structures built in to computers. While technology like the internet has been lauded as a tool of democratization, it is also  tool which we can use to unfortunately oppress and discriminate. Extreme examples include cyberbullying young women online simply because they are women visible in a public space. Technology exposes many people to different views and different people, but it does not mean that it automatically changes perspectives or causes people to think critically about their cultural attitudes. The issue of accessibility also pops up again. Not all students have access to technology when they are home, so they may fall behind when they have to use technology in the classroom.

Haas, C. (1996).  Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Link.

Self, C.L & Self, R.J. (1994). “The politics of interface: Power and its exercise in electronic contact zones.” College Composition and Communication. 45(4). 480-504. http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CCC/1994/0454-dec1994/CCC0454Politics.pdf

Brain Rules Ch 2 Prezi

For this week’s note-taking challenge, I used Prezi. I have never used Prezi before. Like mind maps, I think Prezi is a presentation system that encourages people to summarize. I have seen Prezi used in classroom presentations, so like powerpoint, you are supposed to give additional aural presentation that goes with the visual cues on the screen. Unlike with Mindmap, you can create different kinds of relationship between information. I decided to use bigger or smaller circles to give information hierarchy, but you can create all sorts of relationships between the bubbles. One could create a timeline in Prezi, for example. Using Prezi really did force me to think about the Brain Rules chapter and take out the information I thought was most important to learn. Though I did not add any voice-overs, it is possible with the use of Prezi.