1

NEICN 2010 Dr Marie Arndt

Up your KILT! Techie teaching Waiting for Godot.

Technology has become an increasingly featured pedagogical tool in

teaching and learning. It is, however, unevenly used within various

disciplines, and is significantly less applied in teaching literature than in

many other disciplines. E-learning may be the salvation for many people

who want to study, but are unable to have direct access to education for

different reasons. In the current financial climate the additional constraint

of funding cuts, especially in areas like our own, alternatives must be

considered, but not allowed to reduce the focus on our subject.

E-learning, purely online studying, or blended learning, online and face-

to-face learning, offer alternatives that can help squeeze shorter contact

time and/or growing group sizes into a manageable situation for a

lecturer, but first you need to know what is available in terms of, for

example web 2.0 tools and the pedagogical gains to be had from using

technology in teaching and learning.

I am not going to give you a lesson in e-learning, but I am going to talk

you through an example of how technology can be used in teaching a

particular text that we all know, Waiting for Godot.

2

Waiting for Godot can be a challenge to teach to both A-level and

undergraduate students. Students are not necessarily familiar with the

theatre of the absurd in general, nor with Beckett or his work.

Furthermore, we would probably also encounter insurmountable

obstacles due to time constraints if we consider the diverse contextual

aspects, including culture and language, that we may want to bring to

our students’ attention. In this presentation I will pay attention to how

blended learning can be particularly beneficial when teaching an area

like Irish literature to students with little or no background knowledge of

the Irish context in order to acquire an informed reading.

In my introduction I highlighted the dilemma of covering a lot of material

and angles in a short space of time. This problem can be for example be

solved by preparing podcasts, documents and provide links for additional

material that students can access out of contact time, at any time they

wish. It is advisable that they are required to feedback on key material

provided, to check the progress of their learning and understanding of

context and the play.

Preparing podcasts may seem like a daunting and time-consuming task,

but there are easy-to-use programmes to use, like Audacity. Another

programme, ScreenToaster, allows you to record a sound to comments

on presentations or documents that can be stored as screenshots, with

3

sound to accompany the whole presentation. If you are teaching the

same text to several groups and for several years this presentation can

be re-used and thereby save you time. The students will also benefit

from podcasts as it provides the opportunity to listen several times, and

focus on parts that they find particularly difficult.

In designing elearning reflective writing has become an important

feature. This element requires or encourages students to record

difficulties or thoughts while engaged in study; these entries can be used

for peer or seminar discussions, revision and assessment. Reflective

writing can also benefit analysis and preparation for written assignments.

In this context it is worth mentioning that research has argued a lot for

the benefit of using reflective writing by students as a source for

assessment. Objections, however, have included arguments that if

students know that their reflective writing will be assessed it may inhibit

their honesty in verbalising difficulties in understanding a text, for fear of

being marked down. In order to overcome these obstacles it is

necessary to weigh up beforehand the pros and cons, and justify to

yourself and your students why you want them to use reflective writing

and for what purpose. Reflective writing can be done in blogs, in

eportfolio-systems like Mahara, or by using an eportfolio-style system,

like Google Docs. Your institutional VLE may allow all these methods.

4

Students should be encouraged to collaborate and technology makes

that easy. Apart from discussions in seminars students can comment on

each other’s blogs and also create a group wiki, for example, as

preparation of group activities and for collaborative preparation of

particular aspects of the text for seminars. Students can be encouraged

or required to keep a reflective journal throughout a course, in order to

keep track of their learning and understanding. All documents can be

collected in an eportfolio.

Example: integrating technology in teaching

Waiting for Godot.

Activity 1

5

+ What do you associate with the expression ‘Nothing to be done’?

Write down your thoughts in a blog post.

This reflection can form the basis of the initial discussion at the first

lecture, which can lead into an introduction of the play that can focus on

‘the human condition’ and that Waiting for Godot is a play where nothing

happens, twice.

In a lecture we have time to give a few initial points about the philosophy

at the heart of the play, but only additional material, will give students the

opportunity to learn more about Existentialism.

Here you can record a lecture in a podcast about Existentialism and/or

refer in links to material on YouTube.

+ Students can then be required to write what they have learnt

about Existentialism in a blog entitled ‘Existentialism’, including

reflection on the difference between ‘existing’ and ‘living’. Also

encourage students to read and comment on blogs by their peers.

Students should go back to their description later, to check on

aspects of Existentialism in the play.

Students’ blog entries can form the basis of an introductory lecture to the

play, including a Power Point presentation. It is also helpful to add a

transcript, for students who need additional support to follow the

presentation.

Activity 2

Students should now have learnt more about the philosophy and ideas

in the play, so they can start exploring the play.

6

Watch a clip in class from YouTube or any film source available of the

opening of the play. As this is a play, it is meant to be watched, not read.

Watch the clip with the sound turned off. Link to watch the opening of

the play.

While watching the clip consider the following points:

+ How does the lack of sound add to your observations about setting,

time, and the characters? Pay particular attention to how the pair

behave towards each other; you’ll find a lot of clues in their body

language.

+ Does the silence give you a better idea about pace in the play?

+ Who seems to be doing most of the talking, Vladimir or Gogo? What

does that add to your understanding of their relationship?

+ The setting. Describe the landscape.

+ The characters. Describe their dress and what it may tell you about

them. Observe the body language to describe the relationship between

Vladimir and Estragon (Gogo).

Discuss in class

Now watch the same clip with the sound switched on.

Consider the following points:

+ Describe Vladimir and Gogo’s perception of time and place?

Remember that Vladimir says that conversations will help to ‘pass the

time’.

+ What difference does it make to watch the clip without and with

sound?

7

Discuss in class. Afterwards there students should add comments in

their blog, including points about watching the clip with and without

sound. This is reflective writing as a follow-up from lecture and

discussion.

Students prepare for lecture or seminar.

Read Act 1 Reflect on the following point:

+ The language in the play. ‘Nothing to be done’ is a key phrase in

the play, and it is repeated several times in this short clip. When

would you use that phrase? Why are Vladimir and Gogo using it so

often? How does it relate to their waiting for Godot? How does it

relate to what you know about Existentialism?

Add your notes to your blogpost about the opening of the play.

These are examples of how technology can be used in teaching

literature. What you use depends on time at your disposal, learning

objectives, students’ technological skills, what they can easily access

and technology available in the institution. Whatever you use, you must

be comfortable using it and justify its pedagogical benefit.