[Year 12 IT Apps] Hacking through the classroom IT Language

[ken price]

Apart from the political spin on language (my favourite being the
"40th anniversary of human invasion of the Moon"), there are many
changes in the use of language in technology happening before us.

For example

- "Have you got a USB I can borrow?" as a request for a USB memory
stick, rather than the actual USB port or bus.
- The use of "radar" or "laser" as a synonym for a speed camera based
on that technology.
- The term "blog" being used by newspapers for what most of us would
call a single blog posting on a blog.
- 30 years ago boasting about having a "plasma" in your lounge room
would only happen if you were busy separating blood or were a
physicist with a rather substantial bunch of equipment to produce a
magnetic field to contain the ionised plasma in question.
-  "An MP3" referring to a song in MP3 audio file format (we never
refer to "an Excel" though we do use the term "a PowerPoint" ...wonder
why).

"Upload" and "download" seem to be used interchangeably by some
people, and I've lost count of how many times I've heard TV programs
ask me to "log on" to their website - when they just meant visit it.

Many old textbooks show an entirely different meaning for CPU than its
current meaning.

Perhaps we should also mention regional pronunciations as part of the
language issues of technology?

The acronym "URL" -  I've heard this pronounced as the common "you are
ell" , as "ural" and also as "earl" (very common in one profession)

"GIF" occurs as both "giff" and "jiff"

While it's perhaps out of our area, "quark" is usually pronounced to
rhyme with dark, but also in its original form which rhymes with pork.

I guess this adds more complexity to an already complex area...

ken
(DoE Tasmania)
On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
> No Donna, you did raise a good point and thanks for raising this. I am being
> careful here not to pick on any one issue, broadening it from the original
> hacker vs cracker debate to something more interesting .. What many call a
> settlement, others call an occupied territory. What many describe as
> pioneers, others describe as invaders. What many describe as illegal
> migrants, others describe as desperate refugees. What some hide as
> government owned, private and confidential, others may report as being in
> the public interest. What the media describes as a balanced debate,
> scientists describe as pandering airplay to crackpots.
>
> Even our very real world of IT is not so black and white. Crikey, what some
> call a benevolent security filter, others describe as the great firewall.
>
> Should students be aware of this language play and be guided to identify the
> associated tensions. There are some powerful groups and corporations that
> like to think they can control our thinking and steer opinion. Humanities
> teachers have to juggle the spin put onto our language all the time. Would
> anybody on the list like to share how they deal with this?
>
> I have my doubts that common usage should dictate the ideas of what we
> should teach. That is not to say that we cannot describe what people
> generally think. I bump into this every year when I start to describe
> information and data to get students to think about these terms as as IT
> professionals do, not as a lay member of the public. Any valid claim for how
> we should use a term should probably be based on sound arguments, not
> popularity.
>
> Regards Roland
>
> On 2 April 2010 10:48, Donna Benjamin <donna at cc.com.au> wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, 2010-03-28 at 18:33 +1100, Mark KELLY wrote:
>> > I fear the battle is already lost; 99% of the
>> > population simply does not know or care about the difference: and they
>> > win.
>>
>> But you are IT teachers, teaching IT students, who surely should at
>> least be exposed to the notion there is a difference?
>>
>> Or should I just pull my head in?
>>
>> Common Usage is not always Correct Usage.
>>
>> I fort youse guise mite no that.
>>
>> --
>> Donna Benjamin - Executive Director
>> Creative Contingencies - http://cc.com.au
>> ph +61 3 9326 9985 - mob +61 418 310 414
>> open source - facilitation - web services
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Association Inc
>
>
>
> --
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
> the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
> _______________________________________________
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> IT Applications Mailing List kindly supported by
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> Association Inc



-- 
Dr Ken Price MACS ACCE Professional Associate.
President, TASITE