Canadian students study Shakespeare 21st century-style with online animation
Chinook’s Edge School Division in central Alberta will be the first Canadian customer for a new online tool that helps students learn to love Shakespeare.
MindConnex Learning will provide eight teachers and 820 students across eight different schools within Chinook’s Edge School Division with Shakespeare In Bits Live!, a hosted version of its popular Shakespeare In Bits program, which it says will provide educators with a valuable in-class teaching resource and students with anytime access to the multimedia package, helping them to study Shakespeare in their own time and at their own pace.
Shakespeare In Bits is also available on iPad, PC/Mac, and iPhone/iPod Touch.
Beginning in October, Chinook’s Edge students will study Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, followed in January 2012 with Hamlet.
Chinook’s Edge School Division is the largest rural school division in the province, with 41 schools, approximately 11,000 students, 600 teachers and 200 substitute teachers.
“At Chinook’s Edge, our motto is ‘where students come first’. Every program and every decision we make is based on our focus and priority of service to students. As technology is a ubiquitous part of life, we believe it should form part of students’ education journey,” says Chinook Edge School Division Learning Services Coordinator Jerry Salmon.
“That’s why we chose Shakespeare In Bits Live! By fusing 400-year-old literature with modern day technology, Shakespeare In Bits will help create interesting and engaging learning experiences for our students. We are delighted to be the first school district in Canada to roll-out Shakespeare In Bits to our schools”.
Shakespeare In Bits is an all-encompassing, multimedia teaching and study tool that delivers Shakespeare’s most widely studied plays. Each play is brought to life with up to three hours of high-resolution animation and a professional audio soundtrack, presented side-by-side with completely unabridged play text.
Additional features include a unique in-line translation tool that, with a single click, helps students to understand difficult or archaic words and phrases within the context of the original play text. Character biographies, illustrated relationship maps, a wide selection of integrated analyses and study notes also help students understand key themes, language, imagery and quotes from the play.
“As a fellow Canadian, it is an absolute pleasure to welcome Chinook’s Edge School Division as our first school district client in Canada,” says MindConnex Learning CEO Michael Cordner. “Shakespeare In Bits Live!” is specifically designed for educators and students to get the most out of teaching and studying Shakespeare. The integration of text, audio and graphics is specifically designed to facilitate learners of varying abilities and learning styles.”
In addition to its school online subscription and lab editions, Shakespeare In Bits is also available on iPad, PC/Mac, iPhone/iPod Touch, supporting one-to-one personalised learning environments.
Category: Education
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