- 1.Date: 8-10 January 2010 Venue: H M Patel Institute of English
Training and Research Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat Presented by
Dilip Barad [email protected] International Conference on
Interactive Media in Pedagogy: Learning English In & Beyond
Classrooms
2. Learning Literature through Web 2.0 Tools: Does it really
help? 3. The initial skepticism regarding the effectiveness of
computer-enabled teaching and learning has given way to intense
exploration and implementation of such learning technology in
teaching practices in India. The focus has shifted from simply
describing and examining computer technology to exploring how to
integrate it more effectively into the teaching and learning of
languages and literatures in order to enhance learning in
contextualized environment. 4. Educators have realized that
effective use of technology can influence student learning. This is
true so far as language learning is concerned. When we come to
teaching of literature, we find that still technology is not used
the way it should have been. 5. Limited use of technology in
literature classroom Tape recorder Video cassette player VCD/DVD
player PPT presentation Where are ICT or Web Tools for teaching
literature ?..?..? How innovatively are they used? If ever they are
used Does it address pedagogical issues pertaining to teaching
literature through web 2.0 tools? 6. Experiments in Teaching
Literature through Technology BBC production of Shakespearean
Tragedies and Comedies. Poem recitation downloaded from
www.librivox.org. Skype for online teaching. YouTube videos for
selected scenes in plays/novels and animation movie. Film
adaptations of novels. Websites and Blogs by eminent writers and
CALL experts 7. BBC production of Shakespearean Tragedies and
Comedies Advantages: Plays are not for reading but for viewing how
about performing?!?!? Viewing gives better understanding. . . The
internal conflict of Hamlet Anguish and suffering of Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth The somber effect of witch scenes in Macbeth Play
within Play in Hamlet Nunnery, bed-chamber, duel scenes in Hamlet
Night walking scenes in Macbeth Gaiety, joviality, comedy, wit As
You Like It 8. Poem recitation downloaded from www.librivox.org
Advantages: Poetry is best enjoyed when listened and recited. The
sound of the words, musical melody of the diction Poets own
recitation or by native speaker with sweet, clear voice gives
special effect in listening a poem. Language embellished with
artistic ornament can be better felt while listening poem. We teach
poems of Nissim Ezekiel, Sarojini Naidu, Eliot, Keats, Donne Got
best results with Waste Land, Keats Odes, Donne 9. Skype for online
teaching. Prof from Kolkata delivered online lecture on Old Man
& the Sea to the students of Bhavnagar University Advantages:
An experts interaction with students. Cost effective saves money
and time in travel and other itinerary Students get exposure to new
ideas and creative ways of criticizing literary text. 10. YouTube
videos for selected scenes in plays/novels and animation movie.
Advantages: www.youtube.com Animation of Novels, short stories,
poems, plays . . . Edited scenes of long plays and novels Edgar
Allen Poes Short Stories the effect is all important in short
stories Instead of watching entire novel or play, it is better to
view selected scenes youtube helps in selecting scenes. Animation
movies are short and sweet version of literary text web resources
helps 11. Film adaptations of novels Advantages: Better
understanding of environment, setting, costume, vernacular
language, time, characters, life-style, behavioral pattern etc The
novel is a narrative that organizes itself in the world, while the
cinema is a world that organizes itself into a narrative.Jean
Mitry: The Encyclopedia of Novels into Films Oliver Twist,
Middlemarch, Tess, The Guide, Name Sake, 12. Blogs by eminent
writers, critics and CALL experts There are innumerable blogs by
writers/critics for instance www.chetanbhagat.com/blog: writers
views on reader/critics comments http://sarojinisahoo.blogsopt.com
http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/2009/10/study-classic-
of-literature.html Advantages: Having interaction with living
writer/critic leads to better understanding of his/her ideas 13.
Study classic literature through web resources an example Task:
First go to Wikipedia and find a summary of the plot. You can do
this with most books, just by searching for the name in Wikipedia.
Click on the link to see The Old Man and the Sea Plot. Read through
the plot, then watch the animated video of the story on YouTube. It
takes about 20 mins, so make sure you have time before you start.
14. Now that you know the plot and have seen the video you should
be able to tackle the book. You can read the complete book online
at Google books The old man and the sea The book is quite long to
read, but you should now have a good grasp of the story. If you
want to study the story in more depth you can find notes and
analysis of the story at: SparkNotes. 15. Pedagogically speaking
Thus, we can identify scientific way of learning literature through
technology We an identify various methods and activities of
teaching literature through technology Its advantages are many 16.
It seems technology is very helpful It seems.in reality, it is not.
It is very helpful because we think in terms of Foreign Literature
If we take Literature as a whole into consideration, I mean,
regional literature, mother language literature then.??? 17.
Foreign literature difficulties in comprehension Literature being
product of culture, myths and legends, collective consciousness,
society, environment, time, nation and its people one cannot
understand literature without understanding all these aspects which
are basic ingredients of literature These all makes English
Literature difficult to comprehend A flute player of Vrindavan
Urubhanga the Broken Thigh On the eve of St. Agnes Ode to Psyche
18. Literatures in regional languages Do we need help of technology
in comprehension of regional literature? Isnt is better understood
without any technological aid? 19. Literature is the creative
product of human emotions, feelings, observations, imagination and
fancy. Technology kills creative interpretations of literature. The
free-play of fancy and imagination is limited by its adaptations to
movie/animation. Reading literature cultivates mental capabilities
to think beyond horizons viewing it limits our horizons Example:
Reading of Kubla Khan. Rhyme of Ancient Mariner and viewing of
Avatar. literature is a narrative that organizes itself in the
world - - -it is the word created solely of WORDS. 20. A few
examples from The Encyclopedia of Novels into Films: Tibbets and
Welsh The film (TESS) does succeed in depicting the essential
tragic quality of Tess and her victimization at the hands of fate
and of men but the complexity through metaphor and symbolism is not
wholly captured in the film. Polanskis Tess, Nastassja Kinski,
while beautiful and captivating in her own right, is too childlike,
submissive, and withdrawn to be the strong, intelligent, and
resilient Tess of Hardys novel. 21. Hemingway thought Spencer
Tracy(an actor who acted Santiago) too fat and rich to play an
impoverished fisherman, Santiago. The crux of OMS is in Santiagos
monologues with the fish, Marlin: I love you, beautiful fish. I
respect you. But at the end of this day, I will kill you. Man can
be destroyed, but man cannot be defeated. Click to view movie 22.
The difference in viewing literature and reading literature There
is vast difference in interpretation of literary text in reading
and in viewing Literature is Words, words, words (Hamlet) Isnt the
beauty of WORDS lost in its adaptations by various technological
means?? Isnt is something like - - - playing games on the field and
on the computersSpoon feeding and eating with ones own hands 23.
Inconclusive conclusion The Literature should be read, interpreted
and enjoyed only by READING Is technology killing the art of story
telling? All other attempts of teaching or learning literature
through technology displays incompetency on the part of reader /
teacher / learner. The real aesthetic pleasure lies in the
delightful reading of literature Reading gives free play of
imagination and fancy to reader . . . It helps in cultivating
mental capabilities of the reader Technology mars the beauty and
real essence of literature. Free play of meaning is delimited when
technology interferes 24. Thank You . . . May be, by disagreeing
with my views, you may agree with me. And by agreeing with my
views, you may disagree with me. [email protected]
