Public Access

Because both Kress and McLuhan were speaking at such noticeably different speeds and depths, I was unsure as to how they would connect. I think the connection is best understood from the perspective of, in fact, a teacher.

McLuhan was dense in his writing, but I was immediately pulled in at the moment he mentioned dance (shocker). Being a dancer, though, I was forced to disagree with him. He said that waltz was not going to be considered hot--or high definition--because of jazz. The waltz, simplistic in nature, was then considered less simple than jazz? Who is to say?

I find great trouble in this argument because his argument of hot and cold is all-encompassing in terms of mediums. A photograph is hot; a comic strip is cold. One provides more information, the other less. One invites more participation, the other less.

That's just not right. Kress stated right off the bat, "The communicational world of children now in school is both utterly unremarkable to them and yet it looks entirely different to that which the school still imagines" (Kress, 16). People will see different mediums in different ways. Age and exposure, as Kress points out here, could be a factor. The fact that we all have different "intelligences" and work better in different mediums is a factor. For example, my best friend is a biomedical engineer. An equation hold a lot more information to her than it does for me, while a poem is rich in information and clues to me and they are totally lost on her. Our minds work in different ways, like Cramer's and Mr. Pitt; how does McLuhan believe that categorizing mediums into participation and quality is accurate?

Multimodal education allows for different students to thrive in different projects, different choices. I believe the purpose to be that each different mode we work in will push us in different ways. And even within those modes, we will find that some examples are easier to read than others, some are more complex than others, and some are more thoughtful than others.

I think what it comes down to is that Kress and McLuhan have different perceptions, maybe even definitions, of "access." McLuhan clearly demonstrates intelligence in every word he has written while Kress approaches the topic with a tinge more uncertainty, less credibility. That might be what makes me agree with him more. When McLuhan talks about the undoing of things (tribes, ballet, etc.) he does so as if the technology introduced harmed the culture. Some was just more accessible to some rather than others and those who could not keep up fell flat. Ironically, in both instances, it is men who experience the undoing. Kress recognizes there is an undoing, but sees power in it. More people are able to have a voice because of these shifts. More people can experience ease in different ways; more can have a voice. That speaks directly to the multiple intelligence theory, and while to those who once had power (schools, men) find themselves at odds, one author clearly is able to accept the challenge and is open-minded, while the other is more into labeling and pointing fingers than much else. Funny how he talks about participation, huh?

#Kress #McLuhan

Public Access

Because both Kress and McLuhan were speaking at such noticeably different speeds and depths, I was unsure as to how they would connect. I think the connection is best understood from the perspective of, in fact, a teacher.

McLuhan was dense in his writing, but I was immediately pulled in at the moment he mentioned dance (shocker). Being a dancer, though, I was forced to disagree with him. He said that waltz was not going to be considered hot--or high definition--because of jazz. The waltz, simplistic in nature, was then considered less simple than jazz? Who is to say?

I find great trouble in this argument because his argument of hot and cold is all-encompassing in terms of mediums. A photograph is hot; a comic strip is cold. One provides more information, the other less. One invites more participation, the other less.

That's just not right. Kress stated right off the bat, "The communicational world of children now in school is both utterly unremarkable to them and yet it looks entirely different to that which the school still imagines" (Kress, 16). People will see different mediums in different ways. Age and exposure, as Kress points out here, could be a factor. The fact that we all have different "intelligences" and work better in different mediums is a factor. For example, my best friend is a biomedical engineer. An equation hold a lot more information to her than it does for me, while a poem is rich in information and clues to me and they are totally lost on her. Our minds work in different ways, like Cramer's and Mr. Pitt; how does McLuhan believe that categorizing mediums into participation and quality is accurate?

Multimodal education allows for different students to thrive in different projects, different choices. I believe the purpose to be that each different mode we work in will push us in different ways. And even within those modes, we will find that some examples are easier to read than others, some are more complex than others, and some are more thoughtful than others.

I think what it comes down to is that Kress and McLuhan have different perceptions, maybe even definitions, of "access." McLuhan clearly demonstrates intelligence in every word he has written while Kress approaches the topic with a tinge more uncertainty, less credibility. That might be what makes me agree with him more. When McLuhan talks about the undoing of things (tribes, ballet, etc.) he does so as if the technology introduced harmed the culture. Some was just more accessible to some rather than others and those who could not keep up fell flat. Ironically, in both instances, it is men who experience the undoing. Kress recognizes there is an undoing, but sees power in it. More people are able to have a voice because of these shifts. More people can experience ease in different ways; more can have a voice. That speaks directly to the multiple intelligence theory, and while to those who once had power (schools, men) find themselves at odds, one author clearly is able to accept the challenge and is open-minded, while the other is more into labeling and pointing fingers than much else. Funny how he talks about participation, huh?

#Kress #McLuhan