Abstract:

The teaching of poetry poses specific pedagogic challenges in many different international contexts. The aim of our research is to demonstrate how technology, when applied to poetry teaching and learning, can help motivate and engage pupils, also promoting better skills and knowledge of poetry. We will start with a brief introduction to the reconciliation of poetical and technological rationality. Thinking and feeling (with all the mystery surrounding it) should not be mutually exclusive - thinking is not knowing, it requires puzzling and dealing with the unintelligible and non-evident - which disturb and disrupt the act of thinking. This paper will then describe an experimental implementation of the Moodle VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) in order to teach poetry, undertaken with students (14-15 years of age) and presenting some preliminary outcomes. Outcomes arise from cross examination of the records related to participation, score and time spent on activities in the VLE and the data obtained in the survey applied to the students after the teaching sequence. These outcomes indicate that all students claimed to be satisfied with this learning experiment and that a significant percentage of them even stated that it has allowed for effective learning.

Keywords:

Poetry, technology, rationality, teaching and learning.