Teaching/Thinking with Technology

1. Teaching/Thinking with Technology Ann McClellan Professor and English Department Chair Plymouth State University

2. What is the Digital Humanities? • The intersection between computing and the humanities • Curating online collections • Data mining (i.e., “Big Data”) • Incorporating digital tools into humanities disciplines and research

3. Why am I going digital? • My personal crisis in the humanities • Preparing thinkers for a digital world/workforce • Thinking ‘forward’: how are the humanities, and how we experience media, changing?

4. How I started • Currents in British Literature II • Who are my students? • What are my course goals and learning outcomes for a ‘traditional’ class? • What digital projects/tools might fulfill those outcomes? • What can students learn about literature AND technology from these activities?

5. My Course Goals • To understand British literature texts in their cultural and historical contexts • To learn how to identify and analyze patterns within and among literary texts and periods • To develop critical and creative analytical practices • To write about texts with depth and clarity • To employ research skills in writing about literature and/or film

6. The “Project Suite” These small-group projects, all defined at the start of class, will be com­pleted on a rotat­ing basis dur­ing the course of the semes­ter. There are five projects to com­plete. (100 points per project)  • Project Rota­tion: • Project 1: Tweet­ing and Archiv­ing Class Discussion • Project 2: Blogging—Textual Analy­sis and Crit­i­cal Thinking • Project 3: Podcast—Reading and Analysis • Project 4: Video Essay—2 Minute History • Project 5: Designing a Text Application

7. Tweeting Class Discussion and Storify Learning Outcomes/Goals: • To take effective class discussion notes • To be able to determine the most important points, concepts, themes, and elements from class discussion • To be able to crystallize complex ideas into efficient pieces of information • To be able to build a narrative out of your collaborative notes that best represents what happened in the ephemeral classroom • Examples: Victorian Period • World War Z • World War Z 2

8. Blogging a Text Learning Outcomes/Goals: • To practice close reading of a text which focuses on literary argument (i.e., thesis claims), specific textual evidence, analysis and interpretation • To initiate and/or build upon class discussion, topics, and themes that relate to individual texts and the overall literary period • To employ research skills in finding online materials that will support, challenge, extend, illuminate the text and your interpretation • To employ research skills to find and incorporate a variety of media sources into your writing which is reflective of current trends in writing in the digital age • To integrate primary text evidence, visual/media elements, and external research into your argument in a meaningful way

9. Example Class Blogs • Wordpress and “Journey of the Magi” and “Leda and the Swan” • “Those of Us Who Are About to Die Solute You: Readings on WWI”

10. Podcasting and the Lost Art of Reading Aloud Learning Outcomes/Goals: • To practice reading complex literary texts out loud in creative and engaging ways • To practice communicating effectively through speech • To practice close reading skills of literary argument, analysis, and interpretation • To collaborate with others • To learn how to use podcasting technology • Example: Postcolonial Poetry

11. Two Minute History Videos Learning Outcomes/Goals: • To employ research skills in finding relevant, scholarly material on a cultural/historical topic related to class content • To learn about literature’s social and historical context • To decipher the most important and relevant information to share with others in an efficient yet informative and entertaining manner • To utilize the creative possibilities of video to engage and educate your audience in your topic • To learn how to use various filming and editing technology

12. Example Videos • “Gentleman’s Hour: The Origin of the English Novel” • “The Partition of India” • “Coffee House Culture in the 18th Century” • “Edward VIII and the Abdication Crisis”

13. Designing a Text Application Learning Outcomes/Goals: • To reimagine a literary text in a new digital format • To utilize the creative possibilities of digital apps to engage and educate your audience in your topic • To identify and design learning objectives and/or entertainment objectives appropriate to your text and literary period • To explain clearly and effectively how audiences will use the app functions • To learn how digital app technology is changing and/or enhancing how we ‘read’ and understand texts • Example Apps: “Wordsworth in your Pocket”—Prezi • “The Art of Jamaican Language”--PowerPoint

14. Reflection In a final reflective doc­u­ment posted to Moodle, I would like your group to col­lab­o­ra­tively reflect on the fol­low­ing issues: • How did com­plet­ing this assign­ment affect how you understood the literary period? How so? • Is there a level of knowl­edge that was pro­vided uniquely by this assign­ment, beyond the ini­tial read­ing itself? • What was your expe­ri­ence using Twit­ter? What were the prob­lems and how did you solve them? • What would you change about this assign­ment to make it more rel­e­vant, infor­ma­tive, enjoy­able, chal­leng­ing, or interesting? • Do you see this project being help­ful for lit­er­ary study? Why and how?

15. Conclusions • Start with your course learning outcomes FIRST • Emphasize and clarify the learning outcomes throughout the projects • Remember: digital projects are not really about the technological tools but about the skills and learning outcomes