Steve, I think cut-and-paste is a good example. We can use scissors and glue
if we want to cut and paste text and pictures; but not if we want to "cut
and paste", say, melodies, moving pictures or speech. That is, the tools
constrain (in this example, we are limited to paper or whatever can be cut
by scissors) and at the same time enable (scissors and glue allow us to cut
and paste pieces of paper; indeed, the very idea of cutting and pasting
"comes to mind", so to speak, once we have those tools at hand).
There is an interesting point to be made regarding the cut-and-paste
metaphor in computer-based scenarios. Everybody "cuts and pastes" *while
writing* on a screen - we are not limited, then, to what is alredy written
in pieces of paper (as is the case with scissors and glue). We could say
that cutting-and-pasting are "incorporated" into the process of text
production.
Now if we move beyond word processing to the more general "logotechnical"
(here I go again) character of computing, since every form of representation
can be translated into binary code, there is the possibility of editing
(that is, cutting, copying, and pasting) features such as digitized voice,
melodies, moving pictures, etc. - and doing that while producing those
forms.
What we have then is a technology that enables us to edit everything we can
conceive of as "editable". And what are its constraints? Maybe they have to
do with what *cannot* be so edited and tends to be relegated to the shadows.
For instance, can we really believe that computer-based tools for literature
classes do not affect the way in which people will read and interpret books?
I leave it at that - for now.
Luiz Carlos Baptista
lucabaptista@sapo.pt
lucabaptista@hotmail.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Gabosch" <bebop101@comcast.net>
To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Sent: domingo, 9 de Novembro de 2003 7:22
Subject: Re: first brief remarks on Carol Lee's article
> Very interesting point, Luiz. If we draw a parallel between programming
> the kind of computer-based tools Carol is speaking of with cutting and
> pasting text and pictures from magazines, then the challenge for the
> teacher is not just the technical (and hardly culturally neutral) aspects
> of the scissors and glue, but also the choice of magazines in the first
> place - the range of possible screens. But I think your point goes even
> deeper when you speak of the range of possible designs, and enabling and
> constraining cognitive processes. What examples do you have in mind?
>
> - Steve
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