Technology and Language

00:03:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxDBr6jAqQ

Summary

TLDRThe speaker discusses how technology is often narrowly defined as something with an on/off switch or as computer-mediated communication, overlooking its complexities. In a class at Virginia Tech, these themes are explored by examining how communication evolves with technology. A significant moment occurs when students analyze Doug Engelbart's demonstration and recognize the movement of words on a computer screen as a form of animation. This leads to a broader understanding of animated GIFs as an evolved form of symbolic language essential to modern communication. The lesson highlights the intersection of technology and communication, encouraging deeper reflection on how digital advancements transform human interaction.

Takeaways

  • 💡 Technology often lacks a unified definition, seen simply as 'on/off' devices.
  • 🔍 Analysis of Doug Engelbart's demo reveals the evolution of word manipulation.
  • 🧠 The Virginia Tech course explores cognition, learning, and the internet.
  • 🎨 Animated GIFs are linked to traditional writing through symbolic representation.
  • 🔄 Movement of text on screens symbolizes the evolution of language.
  • 📚 Students associate modern communication with traditional tech.
  • ✨ Recognizing animation in language transforms understanding of electronic media.
  • 🚀 The digital age redefines how we communicate and collaborate.
  • 🔗 Animated symbols are deeper than visual tricks; they're linguistic evolution.
  • 🖥️ Engelbart's work demonstrates shifts in communication technologies.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:03:53

    In the speaker's experience, the term 'technology' is often used in a limited way, typically referring to devices with an on/off switch or computer-mediated communication, without fully appreciating its complexity. People often equate 'technology' with the way humans communicate and collaborate electronically. The speaker describes teaching a class at Virginia Tech, exploring this concept through a seminar titled from 'MX to YouTube: Cognition, Learning and the Internet.' In a class exercise, the speaker had students observe Doug Engelbart's demonstration of dynamic text on a computer screen, leading to a discussion about how such animations, like GIFs, represent an evolution in technology. The exercise helped students see technology not just as tools but as a progression in communication mediums, linking animated text to traditional writing in a new symbolic form. This realization illuminated for students the deeper implications of technology in the context of language and communication evolution.

Mind Map

Mind Map

Frequently Asked Question

  • How do people generally define technology?

    Many people refer to things with an on/off switch or computer-mediated communication as technology, but this view is limited.

  • What is the focus of the course taught at Virginia Tech?

    The course explores the connection between cognition, learning, and the internet, focusing on the evolution of communication practices.

  • What observation did a student make about words on the screen?

    The student noted that words move on the screen, showing that language becomes animated in electronic mediums.

  • What is the connection between animated GIFs and written language?

    The discussion led to the understanding that animated GIFs are an evolution of traditional writing, offering repeatable, movable symbolic representation.

  • What is suggested about the movement of words on screens?

    They suggest it's part of the continuing evolution of how we manipulate and interact with written language through technological means.

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  • 00:00:00
    one of the things I've seen over and
  • 00:00:02
    over in my work is that folks say
  • 00:00:05
    technology in ways that don't really
  • 00:00:08
    cohere don't have a kind of common
  • 00:00:11
    philosophical underpinning typically
  • 00:00:13
    they mean things that have an on/off
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    switch that doesn't get us very far
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    or they'll mean things that have to do
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    with computer mediated communication but
  • 00:00:27
    they're not able to think about it in
  • 00:00:28
    ways that get at the real complexity or
  • 00:00:31
    wonder of it typically in my work I
  • 00:00:34
    found that faculty and students
  • 00:00:36
    unfortunately can often use the word
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    technology when what they really mean is
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    the way we communicate and collaborate
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    as human beings via this electronic
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    mediation I taught a class at Virginia
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    Tech last spring
  • 00:00:50
    it's the seminar I keep iterating on the
  • 00:00:52
    latest version of it is called from MX
  • 00:00:54
    to YouTube cognition learning and the
  • 00:00:57
    internet what I really think the secret
  • 00:00:59
    title is is this is your brain on brain
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    so I enjoy getting in there and thinking
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    with students about their communicative
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    practices online using the kinds of rich
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    media people just enjoy tinkering with
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    so one day we were looking at Doug
  • 00:01:20
    Engelbart's mother of all demos in this
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    class last spring and made a shopping
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    list so it's got quite a few items on it
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    and if I want to I can see that yes
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    those are numbers numbered statements
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    and I can say there ways I can scan down
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    it like I can point to Tim and say put
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    it at the top and I scan up the point
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    223 and I got quite a few and there's
  • 00:01:43
    Doug Engelbart doing what we're all very
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    used to now he's making the words move
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    across a computer screen we don't think
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    anything about it we copy we paste we
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    find and replace you can take your word
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    processing document and you can move the
  • 00:02:00
    words around it doesn't work exactly
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    that way if you're writing it out with a
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    pen even if you're using a printing
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    press even its movable type
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    but once the thing has been printed the
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    words don't move I guess unless you're
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    making a kidnapping ransom note and you
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    cut things out and rearrange them so I
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    said to my students so look what do you
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    notice about the words on this screen
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    and I just kept pushing and pushing and
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    pushing I didn't really know what they
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    were gonna say and one of my students
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    said the words move I said yeah that's
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    right that's kind of interesting isn't
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    it they're animated what happens when
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    language
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    in a physical representation in an
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    electronic medium is animated and then
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    suddenly I went what do you do that's
  • 00:02:43
    animated in your communication and the
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    student said well hmm we animate gifs
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    and the more we talked about it the more
  • 00:03:00
    we began to understand that there was a
  • 00:03:03
    direct link between animated gifs and
  • 00:03:05
    the words moving on Doug Engelbart's
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    screen something about the way an
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    animated jiff was kind of the next step
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    in the evolution of the word and when we
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    made that connection they began to
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    understand oh this is like what I do
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    when I speak or when I write but now
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    it's an animated gifs repeatable
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    moveable symbolic representation of this
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    idea this pointing that I'm doing and
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    their eyes lit up it was great they can
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    understand
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    oh this isn't just a new trick you do
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    with Photoshop this is the next thing
  • 00:03:42
    related to our obituaries with the
  • 00:03:45
    technology of written language
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    you
Tags
  • Technology
  • Communication
  • Animation
  • Learning
  • Cognition
  • Doug Engelbart
  • GIFs
  • Electronic Media
  • Virginia Tech