Abstract:

During this academic year a need has arisen for new ways of delivering classes in both schools and universities. Literature is traditionally a subject best taught in a physical classroom environment where students and teachers can read aloud and discuss collaboratively the texts they are studying. Some genres of literature, particularly poetry and drama, significantly benefit from being interpreted and performed in a face to face, group environment. So what happens when traditional methods are no longer possible?

This paper will use student feedback and teacher experience to explore and compare the benefits and drawbacks of some approaches to teaching online, with specific reference to the use of Microsoft Teams to foster interactive, collaborative work between literature students and to replicate – as far as possible – the atmosphere of the physical classroom. Students responses will generally indicate that students felt that online and face to face classes featured a similar amount of active approaches. Though some respondents strongly disliked not being at school, students responded positively to most questions about the effectiveness of online literature lessons and gave positive feedback about the teaching approaches used.

Keywords:

Literature, online teaching, pedagogy, active approaches.