Assignment 2: Basic stuff on html and Wikis

In working with the blog I went into the template section and worked in the basic html script – half looking things up on the sites that Yishay had suggested (see the LKL blog) and half just copying the examples of how things done in the template already. I wrote a paragraph about the blog, something about me, put some links in re papers, books, and journal.

This was an interesting experience as it helped me to think about the logic and formality of html as a programming language: a stability and certainty that I really enjoyed. It reminded me of doing maths. I then was switching between the template panel and the preview of the blog – looking at the way the html was realised on the blog. It was great – I was moving between the ‘specialised’ domain of programming (I know very very basic) which is not really known to me, and the ‘everyday’ visual domain of my intention of ‘what things look like’ – like the level of a heading, where I wanted a link to start and end, bold and italics. In this iterative move between the everyday ‘visual grammar’ – that I know – and the specialised programming grammar – that I don’t really know – I could begin to understand the programming stuff a bit, to play around with it to understand it. For instance in the html of the side bar I couldn’t work out where it was I could put a block of text to appear in a certain place, so I put it in one place, viewed it, then moved it in the template, then viewed it, and in doing so I eventually managed to decipher how the html related to the spatial layout of the side bar.

This move from specialised to non specialised ‘languages’ (or maybe formal systems is a better way of putting it?) is central to the work that I am doing about representation, communication and learning. It is interesting to be experiencing this in the realm of programming. I am also re-learning to play guitar and in the process to read music – which I used to sight read but haven’t played any music for years – but again it is the iterative move between reading music (specialised formal language), playing it and recognising tunes (everyday knowledge) that is moving my learning along.

I also went in and edited the wikipedia entry for interactive whiteboards and play around with html. Basically I just added to the entry on classroom use - by entering some references. As Yishay pointed out the way that I edited the entry showed a complete lack of awareness of the point and meaning of Wikis – and the cultural practices that surround them. So that the norm would be not to add on some academic references but to make some links either external links to key people or to project www, or internal links within the wiki.

Both these short and very basic activities made me think about programming as a cultural practice – how technology is embedded in – or becomes embedded in – evolving sets of practices and communities (in a very loose sense) and the logic and formality – the grammar of programming as a semiotic is a product of – and a realisation of – this culture. Which in turn makes me think about all the stuff around identity and language – how learning a ‘language’ gives a person access to a set of cultural practices that enables them the means to ‘try on’ identities associated with that language – like all the Jim Gee Stuff on video games, literacy and identity.