Note: I have taught my modern American poetry course on line (all on line). Here is a link to course materials. I have also led on-line discussions in "book groups" and the like for some years; one such project is The Kelly Writers House Alumni Book Groups. See also an article about all this that was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine.
It's my view that simple email (asynchronous communication as a forum for group discussion) works well in combination with real-time ("live") formats such as "chat rooms" and "webcasts." (I don't think the value of listservs has yet been superceded by web-based discussion formats, and in any case, in general, it's my view that discussions can be conducted through electronic media that are more collaborative and more learner-centered than those typically that take place in the traditional classroom.) I have also found, through live webcast sessions hosted by the Kelly Writers House and webcast sessions as part of my online poetry course, that that medium, though a bit creaky at this point in the development of the technology, is very effective, even fun, and not fundamentally different from the traditional teaching experience. Can a true learning community be created and maintained through these new media? I think so. But can experimental poetry be taught in such an apparently impersonal way? By now you know my answer.
Document URL:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/clips.html
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modified: Friday, 08-Aug-2008 14:59:26 EDT