Podcast#5: Dr James Morris “Rewriting Shakespeare: the convergence of digital media, culture & education”

Berkshire Digital

Former PC Pro editor, journalist, video producer and Head of Web Media at Ravensbourne, Dr James Morris joined us to speak at Digital Berkshire in July. This event was hosted in the charming country house setting of the Cantley House Hotel, Wokingham, with drinks sponsorship support from Kyan.

For the last six months, Dr Morris has been working with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Cisco, educational network provider Ja.net, and the London Olympic Committee on a radical project that brings together multiple disciplines in an innovative way. Based around the play I, Cinna (The Poet), written by Tim Crouch, the project aimed to rewrite the way Shakespeare is taught in secondary schools. This was shot as a film, which was streamed to thousands of secondary school children around the UK on 2nd July 2012.

For his Digital Berkshire presentation, Dr Morris discussed how this project illustrates a trend to much more interactive media and education. I, Cinna (The Poet) is a classic example of “transmedia”, bringing together theatre, filmmaking, TV production, website design, social media and user-generated content into one cultural artefact. The trend is increasingly in this direction, and this huge project is only a first step towards media which routinely crosses boundaries, providing greater engagement both in education and in the wider landscape of digital culture. Dr Morris looks at where this trend is heading.

Links:
www.tzero.co.uk
www.icinna.org.uk
www.allisnotlo.st (HTML 5 demo)
www.thewildernessdowntown.com (HTML 5 demo)

Dr Morris has kindly shared his slides from the presentation with us and these can be found on our SlideShare account.
Slides : Rewriting Shakespeare: the convergence of digital media, culture & education

Listen: Digital Berkshire Podcast#5: Dr James Morris “Rewriting Shakespeare: the convergence of digital media, culture & education”