Implementation of “Shakespeare with Europeana” (SoI-GR-569)
Author: Yiota Bali
Abstract
The learning scenario was implemented during the English lesson under the topic of “Famous People of the Past” found in the fifth grade English book. Shakespeare is mentioned extensively in the particular chapter and I thought it was a great opportunity to delve into the playwright and learn as much as we can about his life and work. The class consists of nineteen 10-year-old pupils (10 girls, 9 boys) who worked in groups of five and practised their written production of English and their ICT skills using diverse web 2.0 tools as well as Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality for the first time. They were also involved in coding activities which were submitted in the eu code week challenge. Most of the activities were carried out in the computer lab where the four groups could research and collaboratively do the various activities. The original scenario was adapted to the age of my students and extended by four teaching hours, reaching seven teaching hours in total, since more attention was paid to details about Shakespeare and the play “Romeo and Juliet”. By the end of the implementation the pupils had acquired detailed knowledge about the playwright, his use of language and his works. STEM education, Computer literacy, collaboration and critical thinking were some of the learning aims and they were clearly promoted through innovative and engaging activities. Moreover, inclusion was the principal aim of this project, so the groups were mixed ability making sure that everyone contributed and gained knowledge. There are multiple final products of the scenario as each of the four groups of pupils worked on different creations with a strong focus on the uses of Artificial Intelligence.
Introduction to Shakespeare and “Romeo and Juliet”
I began the lesson by asking the pupils what they knew about Shakespeare and his plays. They didn’t know much and I informed them that we were going to learn about him and his tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. I showed this video and they had to pay attention in order to answer the embedded questions about Shakespeare. The first teaching hour concluded with my reading “Romeo and Juliet” to them instead of showing the video summary from the original scenario. The book was a children’s adaptation in Greek, but it was very close to the original text. A discussion followed with the pupils expressing their feelings about the story and they all agreed that they could see why Shakespeare was a great author. I also focused on the balcony scene and showed them part of the video of the original scenario and the Europeana document in which they identified words and expressions from the book I had read to them. Finally, I divided the class into four groups of five pupils assigning each group with researching at home about Shakespeare (his life, his works, his house, the Globe Theatre).
Interview with Shakespeare
In the second teaching hour I introduced ChatGPT and the pupils took turns to ask questions to Shakespeare himself. It was the first time that they were acquainted with AI and they had a lot of questions about the mechanics behind it. They were particularly surprised to see that AI could actually respond in the language and style used by Shakespeare and were eager to ask details regarding his life as each answer led to a new question.
Working in the computer lab
In the third teaching hour each group worked in the computer lab applying the information they had acquired through their research and the interview through AI. The pupils created a timeline of Shakespeare’s life, a mindmap of his works, a 3D representation of the Globe Theatre as a STEM activity and an advertising poster of his house. The pupils themselves coordinated their work in the groups and divided the tasks. They browsed through the Europeana site to find the pictures to include in their final products
or to use them as models for their task (photo 7). They made sure that they provided credit for the pictures they used. They all expressed their opinion and collaborated quickly and effectively.
Augmented Reality and revision
The fourth teaching hour was carried out in the classroom. It was the first time the pupils got acquainted with AR. Each of them used tablets to see the additional information I included in the AR app regarding Elizabethan theatres. They had to read the information in order to answer a crossword puzzle about what they had learned about Shakespeare as a revision exercise. As a final revision activity they put the jumbled “Romeo and Juliet” play in the correct order. It was an activity suggested in the original scenario, but I adapted it to be used online. Finally, I assigned some work at home; firstly, I asked the pupils to search the net and find words and expressions that Shakespeare coined and are still used today and, secondly, I asked them to draw pictures of Romeo, Juliet and the balcony scene.
GIF and Meme creations
During the fifth teaching hour we used pictures (https://www.europeana.eu/el/item/15503/FS_PSE151493alt, https://www.europeana.eu/el/item/15508/29122, https://www.europeana.eu/el/item/2024903/photography_ProvidedCHO_KU_Leuven_9982545350101488) from the Europeana platform and the pupils created their first GIF and meme. They thought it was one of the most fun and productive activities saying that they wanted to modernize Shakespeare. They even experimented with editing for the first time and edited the picture of Shakespeare making him smile. They had many ideas and cooperated to finalize their creations.
A love song and an AI generated picture
The sixth teaching hour was carried out in the classroom and the pupils used AI to generate a song for Romeo and Juliet. They expressed their feelings and thoughts about the tragic lovers to prompt the lyrics and they chose the music. A discussion followed concerning copyright as I challenged them with questions regarding the ownership of the song, which led to them thinking about the ethics of AI. Furthermore, they described the balcony scene and an AI generated picture was created which they compared to their hand-drawn picture of the scene. They commented on how different the two pictures were and that AI was probably biased since it deviated from what it was prompted to create.
More AI and coding activities
For the seventh and final teaching hour the class moved to the computer lab where they worked collaboratively in four groups. Two groups were involved in pixel art coding activities: the first group encoded the balcony and the second group encoded the poison and the dagger that killed Romeo and Juliet. Both coding activities were submitted in the eu code week challenge (code week 4 all: cw24-XRHel, cw24-KFzb6). The class had previous knowledge of coding and had already participated in the eu code week with other activities. The two images were then decoded by the other two groups of pupils. The third group used the pictures of Romeo and Juliet I had asked them to draw at home and animated them using AI. They edited the pictures first and then they tried all kinds of moves and really enjoyed it. The fourth group created a comic using words and expressions that were coined by Shakespeare and are still used today. They used the research I had assigned to them in one of the previous lessons.
Dissemination
I created a padlet for the project where the pupils uploaded the animated drawings they had created and expressed themselves about the project in various ways. Some of them wrote poems, others created wordclouds and others uploaded pictures they themselves had created at home using AI. They commented on each other’s contribution and interacted. The padlet was uploaded on my blog for easy access and the pupils uploaded on it from home. The whole project will be presented to the school and the parents at the end of the school year celebration.
Evaluation
The pupils answered a questionnaire on google forms in which they assessed both the project and their own performance in the tasks. It was uploaded on my blog for easy access and the pupils answered it at home.
Outcomes
The impact of the implementation has been great on the pupils, the school and their families. The pupils met all the learning aims of the scenario and they all gained knowledge about Shakespeare, the play “Romeo and Juliet” and web tools important for their personal and educational evolution. They were particularly interested in Artificial Intelligence uses, they used it privately to generate pictures for the padlet and they asked for more coding activities. Even the weaker pupils showed an unprecedented eagerness to participate and accomplished the desired results. The other teachers of the school commented on the mind map of Shakespeare’s works saying that it was very helpful and ready to be used in their classes in the future. In the weeks that followed after the completion of the implementation I had parents telling me how happy they were with their children’s enthusiasm and commitment to the project. The students shared the knowledge they acquired every day with their parents and they were keen to contribute to the padlet, thus disseminating the project. Every time we have our English class they ask to start the lesson by listening to the song they had created and of which they are very proud. They also collaborated very effectively in their groups and applied critical thinking in all their creations, especially the ones that involved AI. I was merely there to assist since they proceeded with extraordinary cooperation including all their classmates in the assignments. Finally, they realized how rich Europeana is in resources and they suggest that we search in the Europeana platform whenever a new topic arises during the lesson. As an educator I have, once again, appreciated the richness of Europeana resources and I have been able to instill the same feeling to my students. It is a reliable source of culture that definitely furthers knowledge. The fact that I am permitted to create my own collections in the Europeana platform is time saving and I have been taking advantage of it extensively. The more I use Europeana the more ideas I have for creating activities for my students involving Art and STEM education.
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario?
Link to the learning scenario implemented: Shakespeare with Europeana.
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
PDM 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Austrian National Library.