Colleges and high schools are bending their curriculum and degrees around students’ busy schedules and preference to fast technology. This means online classes for virtually any subject, including theater, are replacing more and more traditional classes. Since theatrical learning has always been centered on oral and visual instruction and interaction, it is important to ask if online theater classes are actually an advancement to theater education or just an easy way for lazy students to gain credits?
A few years ago, teaching theater online was very limited. Raina Ames, author of A High School Theatre Teacher’s Survival Guide and the Director of Theatre Education at the University of New Hampshire, says, “Now with the internet and the ability to embed videos and web links, there are many areas of theatre which can be richly taught online.” Many times students are not exposed to many plays or extra information due to the teachers’ limited class time and print resources. Therefore, it is beneficial that online theater teachers can direct students to several different plays, articles, and databases at the click of a mouse without the worry of time constraints. “Rich pictures dealing with a variety of topics (marionettes, ancient theatres in Greece, the new Globe Theatre, set construction, finished set and costume designs, etc) offer professors a chance to expose students to far more than they would be able to do in person with limited travel and budgetary options,” says Ames.
Theresa Layne, Theater Arts professor at College of the Canyons, also uses many online resources to enhance her online theater appreciation class. She says, “Theater is a visual process and that is why I utilize the internet by providing links to websites such as YouTube and BlueGobo.com. Both of these sites have an amazing amount of recorded productions as well as interviews with professional artists and producers that are utilized in the online environment.” Layne also requires her students to do work outside of the internet world. She requires that her students view live plays and tour and promote their local theater. She says, “This gets the student into the theater itself, something that is a new experience for many.”
Theresa Layne developed her online theater appreciation course eight years ago. She considers herself a pioneer in online theater teaching. She initially developed the course to give herself flexibility as a professor after she gave birth to her second child. She continues to teach theater appreciation online because she realized that her class gives freedom to many students who wished to earn units while working.
As a theater professor, moving your course online could be better for not only your students, but for you too. As Layne shared, she was able to juggle her teaching with her family responsibilities. Teaching online will open up the opportunity for you to embrace other options as well, such as pursuing acting.
Another reason to choose teaching theater online is because there is an increase in interaction. Since several students feel more comfortable speaking out when they are behind a computer screen, class interaction can be enhanced and required through discussion boards and online chats. ” have found students to participate more because they are required to post questions, comments and answers for a grade,” Layne says. Typically in the traditional classroom setting, a few students will be the head talkers while several other students feel too shy to speak out. The ability for each student to share every week will also enable the teacher to get to know every personality of their class equally. Many students will not experience a new class for the fear of looking like an amateur among those who are more experienced. This is why online theater classes encourage non-theatrical students to try theater.
However, only select theater classes will thrive online Ames says, “I don’t think every theatre course could be taught online, but history or survey courses are well-served by the possibilities online teaching can provide.” Classes that focus on acting and directing “require high levels of peer and professor interaction” says Ames. Obviously it is impossible to teach students how to act, direct, or how to put a production together online. Majority of fundamental, historical background and introductory classes in theater and acting is best for online instruction because it allows a large amount of lecturing to be consumed by the student at the student’s own pace.
The biggest issue with teaching theater online, as well with any online class is the lack of human connection. Ames says, “Theatre is a communal activity which will never be experienced the same way twice. This is lost in an online course.” Layne expressed the same concern. Her solution, alongside making her students attend live plays, is to videotape herself. “I am in the process of creating video lectures to bring that missing aspect back into the classroom,” she says. Remember, with an online class, one is sacrificing that personal connection for flexibility and technological advantages that is hard to get with a traditional theater class. It is up to you to decide which is more important to you and which would benefit your curriculum more. Many classes are also opting for a traditional classroom meeting time that then requires students to log in online for homework. This allows one to lecture how they normally would and require students to go home to watch a clip of a play or interview and comment on it online.
As far as teaching theater classes online to high school students, Ames does not recommend it. “High school students already have a difficult time expressing themselves publicly. If classes were online, it would further propagate an increasingly isolated generation of students who often IM or text one another instead of speaking directly to each other even when they are in the same room. I think the personal interaction between classmates as well as the teacher is essential in developing better social skills that will impact the rest of the students’ lives as they pursue careers in adulthood.” Ames also believes that even if the theater classes were based on the history or fundamentals of theater it still would not be beneficial for high school students to engage in an online version of their theater class because of their lack of self-discipline and background education of theater.
Just because your class is conducted offline does not mean you should stick to old textbooks and print resources. As a high school theater teacher, there are several ways to enhance your classroom and the education of your students with online tools. As mentioned above, use free recordings of live plays and interviews from actors, playwrights, and directors to get your students interested in all aspects of theater. There are also several theater lessons and activity guides available online that will give you ideas on making theater fun and educational to all of your students.
Raina Ames and Theresa Layne have several suggestions on how the best ways to conduct an online theater class. “I would set up assignments where students would videotape themselves teaching a lesson. I would also make quizzes or tests part of the class in order to ensure students are doing the reading assignments,” says Ames. Ames idea of students making and recording their own lessons helps them really dive into the material and develop a small personal connection between students.
If you are not internet-savvy, setting up your class online can be difficult. Layne advises, “At the colleges that I teach at there are always free classes you can take as an instructor on how to learn about teaching online classes. That is a great place to start. Then I would educate myself about what systems the colleges are mainly using to host the online classes. Blackboard is the online teaching tool that I use and find it very user-friendly. I would look to that website for information on how to begin as well.” Most colleges and universities already have a set online program they prefer to use. Since online classes can mean more students, your college might be happy to have you teach your class online. Talk with other online teachers at your college or university to learn the basics of setting up your class. The college’s tech services can also aid you in the initial jump to online education.
Teaching theater online is definitely a way to enhance students’ theatrical education because it exposes the student to more information than a traditional classroom setting usually does. Online instruction can also open up many more doors for you and your students. However, the internet will never replace human interaction, although it can come close. Therefore it is essential to find a balance in any theater class you teach, online class or not. No matter how great of a theater teacher you may be, Layne says, “It ultimately boils down to this, the student will get out of it what he/she puts into it whether it is online or off!”
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