I’d like to propose a conversation about using technology in the performing arts classroom, especially in relationship to playwriting and collaborative work. I recently taught a hybrid section of first-year writing and spent the semester looking for ways to create  lessons that were more than just online versions of what we did in class; the real challenge was finding lessons that made the online classroom the ideal environment rather than just the one we were given. I’m teaching a playwriting class in the fall and want to find ways to make online work relevant and engaging.

During the spring semester of 2013, three acting teachers at three different colleges linked their class discussions through Twitter under the hashtag #ACTweets. (The instructions for students can be found here.) The pedagogical experiment allowed students and teachers to directly interact and discuss with others in Acting 1 classes at CUNY colleges around the city. We thought of it like having the one-on-one attention of a smaller classroom, but the scope and breadth of the CUNY system.

This project was motivated by a desire to help students think through and about acting outside the classroom and was organized by:

@eero_laine – Eero Laine, Acting 1 at the College of Staten Island
@rayelz – Rayya El Zein, Acting 1 at City College
@defyinggravitas – Barrie Gelles, Intro to Acting and Acting 1&2 at Brooklyn College

In light of this recent experiment, we hope to have an open conversation about using social media in (and outside of) the performing arts classroom. What has worked? What has failed? How do students respond? Do the performing arts need social media?