Mediated Liveness: Technology and Online Teaching

In this chapter, we first introduce the theoretical and pedagogical frameworks that inform our work and the concept of togetherness we develop and apply to our online teaching. To further explore the impact of liveness, we compare the phenomenon as it has manifested in the classroom with the debates over what constitutes “live theatre” occurring right now in the field of theatre and performance studies. We then describe our actual practices in terms of the technology and technological tools we use, the preparation for the work that we do, and the ways in which we create and maintain our class structure in order to build a learning community and togetherness for each class. We then reflect on what we have learned through our experiences in relation to our dedication to student-centered pedagogy. We observe that technology and online teaching have now become part of the educational experience of higher education and we advocate for the use of technological tools to enhance and expand upon the building of a learning community and its togetherness.