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Svetlana Gibson

ETEC 511

Marianne JustusAssignment 1A

Space 1 Our Move

For the last two weeks, as this class opened and the school year began, I have been

involved in moving our home. This seemed like a major obstacle to doing thisassignment until I began to read about it. Our move, oddly enough, was full of

educational technology.

All an untrained eye will see are rooms stacked with boxes, taken apart furniture, andplants huddled in the corner. A trained movers eye will detect the directions and

warning notes crudely written on boxes and furniture. These are just a small part of the

illustrative technologies. A to do list, our notes to each other, the map with directions

to our new home, and the bill for the move are all part of illustrative technologies.

The arrangement of the boxes, the furniture, plants, tape gun, and toys which ourdaughter has pulled out of the packed boxes are all part of environmental technologies.

All these are the environmental technologies which have been rearranged to make our

move possible. There is also an encroachment of outside environmental technologywhich the movers have brought with them. The movers carts and trolleys, the carpet

runners, their truck and the ramp are a part of the traveling environmental technology.

The elevator and the stairs are also a part of environmental technology.

The website used to find the movers and arrange the move is part of connective

technologies and was essential in planning the move but not available during the actualmove. This is very interesting because one of the most powerful tools is rendered uselessduring the actual move and we are completely reliant on manpower.

The power rests with the movers. Our lifes possessions are completely in their hands.They have our cherished and our mundane possessions in their truck. All that is left for

us is to hope that it will all arrive in one piece and at the right address.

Space 2 UBC Botanical Gardens Apple Festival

Every year in the middle of October our family takes a scenic ride to the UBC Botanical

Gardens Apple Festival. Here you can taste and purchase up to 60 varieties of apples.As you stand in line you can not help but notice all the people who have come for this

precious commodity because many of the varieties of apples can only be purchased here.

Those huddled in line are discussing the merits of their favorite apples and sharingrecipes. This group experience of standing in line with like minded individuals is the

origin of connective technology.

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Illustrative technologies abound in the signs labeling and exalting the virtues of each type

of apple. All the directional signs, information booklets, and instructions are all part of

illustrative technologies.

The apples, the grounds of the gardens, the flora, the structures, the barriers limiting your

wanderings, the vendors tables are all part of the Environmental Technologies.

Connective technologies are the cornerstone of the festival. There is a website dedicated

to the botanical gardens which provides festival information. As I noted, many of thetechnologies are low-tech. The human interaction is what the festival is built on.

Standing in line, jostling for samples, and chatting with volunteers are low-tech examples

of connective technologies.

The Apple Festival is hosted by the UBC Botanical Gardens and the funds go to support

their research. The original mission of the Gardens was research into the native flora of

BC.

A major social issue that relates to this space is that although it is open to the public and

the admission to the gardens is free during the festival, it does not reach the lower socio-economic segment of our society. The event does not make an effort to attract a wide

range of public. The average visitor seems to be well educated and financially secure.

It would seem that education and power is being carefully controlled by the

dissemination of information. So once again, information is power.