Poetic literacy is thriving in online spaces. Teachers and researchers have much to learn from how adolescents are engaging with poetry in the digital
“In a participatory medium, immersion implies learning to swim, to do the things that the new environment makes possible.” -Janet Murray, Hamlet on the HolodeckFor new “digital swimmers,” or those just dipping their toes into the pool for a semester or two, complicated (and expensive) technology and skill sets can sometimes hinder creative expression. My goal, as a teacher of digital creative writing, is to get students to “listen to their broccoli” (follow their intuition), as Anne Lamott suggests, and express their unique voices through multiple modes. By utilizing software that is accessible on their own computers and easy to navigate, students are less intimidated and free to create and focus on writing. Although all software has its limitations, I’m seeing some wonderfully creative and thoughtful projects from my students.My digital creative writing courses are “open education resource.” In the past, I have relied heavily on the Adobe Creative Suite in my courses (accessible on campus) and taught mainly Dreamweaver for hypertext projects. With the spring pivot online, Adobe was not quite as easy to access (although the free subscriptions they offered were appreciated by several of my students) and students in the fall wanted to use their own computers and not those in the lab. I had always tried to incorporate free software options—Twine, Google Maps, and Knightlab storytelling tools—but found myself expanding these options even more this past year. Between my writing and e-lit courses, we explored Google Earth, Scene, and ThingLink for 360 work, and relied mostly on Twine and ThingLink for hypertext projects. This semester I am adding Timeline. The simplicity of the software has allowed these new digital swimmers to delve deeper into the platforms’ potential and their subject matter. I have been impressed with the complex projects being made in ThingLink, which at first glance seems like a very simple platform. You can add links to video, 360 environments, add sound, videos, and link multiple “pages” (projects) together. My intro. level students had very little trouble learning the interface and executing their ideas.As Anne Frances Wysocki says in Writing New Media, “When someone makes an object that is both separate from her but that shows how she can use the tools and materials of her time, then she can see a possible self—a self positioned and working within the wide material conditions of her world, even shaping that world—in that object” (21). In this paper, I will discuss several of these “Plat(free)forms” and their capabilities (and limitations). I will explore how these accessible platforms enable expression, in particular of marginalized voices, as Twine has been used widely in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as provide potential for exploring virtual spaces with minimal technology. I will show several student projects that exemplify their uses, as well as how they are being used to create political, diverse, and deeply personal narratives, allowing digital learners to shape their worlds and add their voices to the world of e-lit.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has made me further address the value that artistic research has for our mental and psychological health and its significance in community healing. I have, for a while now, used digital technologies to create poetic spaces of shared personal stories interconnecting narratives to bring up issues of power, territory, displacement, historical memory, gender and violence. The need to live, work, socialise at a distance, through digital platforms has highlighted the importance of finding ways to share stories, connect and heal through community creative research practice. How can we engage global communities through electronic literature art practices?
This paper will explore the use of digital methods and tools to conduct and disseminate research in interdisciplinary projects alongside artists and communities and will address the motivations to researching with participants. It will draw from the findings coming up from our workshop in ‘Creative Digital Practices: Community Platform for Healing and Mapping’, (also submitted to the ELO conference).
As co-investigator of the AHRC funded project Memory, Victims, and Representation of the Colombian Conflict my role was leading the creative team working on the artistic research project titled Invisible Voices: Women Victims of the Colombian Conflict and give voice to the women in their participation in the construction of memory. This was an enriching experience where both parties - the academics/artists and the community group – gained knowledge through the physical co-creative workshops with tailored designed research methods for this specific context, and the subsequent digital documentation and archival of the artistic experience. Taking this project and others as core studies, this paper will address questions in connection to community research; the value of creative storytelling and artistic approaches to share personal stories; and discuss pertinent issues in connection to the value, impact and societal change these projects can contribute, not only to the specific group, but to society in general.