On December 4 and 5 the English Subject Centre held two distinct but related days at the University of Glasgow looking at issues surrounding the use of C & IT in English. The first day, entitled New Initiatives in English and Technology, drew together speakers from different backgrounds working in this area. In the morning we looked at three projects that were initiated by colleagues within higher education: the ARIES project from the University of Glasgow, the computer marked test that was commissioned by the English Subject Centre and an innovative first year module devised at York St John in which the students worked in groups to create contextual material online for the literature studied.
In the afternoon representatives from the BBC, Literature Online and Blackwell’s Literature Compass gave their perspectives from outside the higher education sector. The day was designed to highlight the many possible working methods and approaches that digital technology has inspired as well as the opportunities for cross-sector collaboration.
The second day, entitled Enhancing Online Discussion, began with a broad overview of the work being done in this area across the country. Nine speakers representing as many institutions and approaches to the use of online discussions, presented a snapshot of their work in rapid succession. This vast array of experience was further enhanced by a workshop given after lunch by Dr Kate Boardman from the University of Durham which forced the participants to think carefully about the objectives of their online discussion work. Two further papers followed: one on the role of the moderator by Panos Vlachopoulos of the University of Aberdeen and the second on the true usefulness of video conferencing by the English Subject Centre’s Brett Lucas. These provided the audience with further thoughts about the most productive ways of using the technology at our disposal. The day was rounded out by an animated discussion which eventually had to be moved to the College Club bar to conclude.
Many of those who attended are located in Departments where their own work is unusual and therefore this gathering of like-minded individuals was seen as a great boost in morale for all who participated. These two events together clearly demonstrated that, whilst it is still an emergent area, the introduction of C & IT in the curriculum is accelerating through the development of many new approaches to teaching with technology.
