What New Technology Adds

In this unit, technology was used in two ways: to record students' own performances so they could analyze their own understanding and to display expert performances that students could critique and try to emulate. Recording and critiquing their performances enabled a level of self-assessment that would not otherwise be possible. Without the video record, students would not have the benefit of being both the performer and audience. When watching themselves, they noted when they "messed up", forgot a line, or were "boring" to watch. Seeing how they could have done things differently, they recognized that speaking to an audience is not necessarily communicating, and with their teacher, they discussed how one could say a script but not understand it or "perform it." In this way, technology helped students reaffirm their understanding of how to read a drama for meaning and how drama differs from other genres of literature. In watching videotaped performances, teacher and students also noted how the process of learning to communicate was a slow but worthwhile one.

Furthermore, viewing expert performances helped the teacher and her students to understand what the criteria for bringing text to life looked like in practice. In this way, using technology helped make understanding goals more explicit. As students critiqued the taped performances, they developed and demonstrated their understanding of dramatic devices and expressionistic elements. Listening to their critiques, the teacher could identify what they knew and where they were uncertain. Finally, using the cable studio to edit and air these scenes from Macbeth emphasized the link between school and community, in effect, linking education to effective communication outside school walls. Broadcasting the taped performances within the KPHS district also affirmed that what students understood was important to their society and that each voice could have a powerful public presence.

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• What Students Have to Say