Technology and Classics

[Laura Gibbs]

Following on Seumas's lead, I'm posting something here with the title "Technology and the Classics" so that if Andrew wants to pick up a list of these, he'll be able to find it.

I'm someone who is absolutely passionate about the use of the Internet for teaching and learning, Classics included! I'm also very excited about how community tools, like this ning.com community, make it possible for teachers to connect and share ideas online. In addition to this Classics ning, I would recommend very highly these other "teacherly" nings:
Fireside Learning
Classroom2.0
plus a great new initiative thanks to Evan: Schola - Ning Latinum

I started teaching fully online courses back in 2002, which is ancient history in the world of online teaching. Every year, I enjoy the classes more and more, expanding the range of technology tools that we can use for reading, writing, and sharing online. You can see what I'm up to in my classes at these addresses:
Mythology-Folklore
World Literature
Epics of Ancient India

In terms of Latin and Greek, for me the greatest pleasure of working online has been having access to early printed books that I would never be able to lay my hands on personally - but thanks to the Internet, the books are on my virtual shelf. My own specialty is Aesop, so I have been working on
the fables of Abstemius - from a 1499 edition I found online!
illustrations to Steinhowel's Aesop - as early as 1479!
Barlow's 17th century illustrated Aesop

I'm not sure why I find the digital world so absolutely congenial for me both as a teacher and as a learner. I was successful enough in the classroom as a student, and successful as a teacher... but nothing at all like what I have been able to accomplish online. I can remember the very first webpage I published in 1999... and tens of thousands of pages later, it still feels like a new adventure every day.

This ning brings together discussion forums and blogs in such an easy-to-use way - I hope that more teachers and students will take advantage of it in the future so that we can keep on sharing and learning together! As you can see, I'm a happy user of blogs, wikis and webpages - if you have questions about any of these technologies, let me know and I'll try to help. Meanwhile, you can check out my evolving Latin activities at my Bestiaria blog.

:-)