ABSTRACT
Throughout history the technologies of cultures and communities have always facilitated human activity and development. And be they simple telescopes or modern space probes, paint brushes and pigments or virtual design studios, they have also facilitated human creativity and inspirational leaps of imagination through the practices of, for example, science, astronomy, dance, engineering, literature, sport, music or philosophy (Leach 2001). Technologies not only encompass the primary artefacts controlled by our hands (the stick in the sand; wheels and levers; quills, pens, scrolls, books, notebook computers, and so forth). They also facilitate secondary artefacts, such as the language, symbols, and signs through which we bring ideas into being and organize thinking (Vygotsky 1962: Wertsch 1995). Consider the technologies you used in the 24 hours prior to turning this page. For me, such a list seemed endless, including mobile phone, cooker, calculator, credit card machine, bicycle, piano, lawnmower and garden spade, car, pencil, kettle, fountain pen, washing machine, tin opener, TV and radio. Whatever our setting, we make our own selections from the huge variety of technological tools available to us. They enable us both to define and carry out our day-to-day activities. They assist us in interpreting everyday experiences, solving problems and making ideas concrete. The uses we make of communications technologies, be they phone conversations, letters, web pages, faxes, posters, text messages, memos or e-mails, mediate a good deal of our day-to-day social interactions, and thus our relationships with one another.
