I have recently come across two amazing examples of digital humanities in which traditional content of Hamlet and the Canterbury Tales is presented via fundamentally new interfaces. The way this content is styled allows for the viewer and reader to interact with these classics in startling new ways.
The Canterbury Tales and edtech? Chaucer’s 14th Century classic ? Yep, you guessed it, there’s now an app for that. And it’s amazing; and it is a great example of embedding print within multimedia to enhance understanding.
VR is another medium that shows great promise. Thus far, it seems that the military and gaming industry is using it more than anyone. Artists, scholars and writers really haven’t figured out what to do with it yet. I look at a lot of VR so I can filter the junk and share the best with all of you. And much of it isn’t very good. So, I was thrilled to discover this 360 performance of Hamlet. Go grab a Google Cardboard headset or get a better one from the tech suites to watch it. You haven’t really seen anything like this before. Here’s what the Grey Lady had to say about it.
Both of these are stunning. Check them out! I encourage us to think more about teaching kids how to begin to do this. It will be sloppy and messy. For instance, we have no clear understanding of how to grade such work. It takes us far out of our comfort level and area of expertise.
But wouldn’t it be fun?