In the room, and the digital canvas, where it happens

Opening paragraph: Active learning methods and a collaborative ethos gave me the confidence to start delivering the digitally supported classes I have always wanted to teach. In spring 2024, I led a final year, undergraduate module in event studies at Edinburgh Napier University. There were no barriers to trying new tools and methods: I had a suitable classroom space with large TV monitors for students to cast their devices to; the students were engaged and familiar with the field; and I was part of a pilot project within the university. The timing was right to try something new, with the institution’s support. I had struggled to embrace active and digital pedagogies, because I had not found a suitable framework that I could reapply weekly, and innovate around it. That framework came to me fully formed: a classroom space of students sat around tables, facing each other; combined with an online virtual canvas accessible to all students during class time. Each table group had its own area within the canvas, so a single digital space encompassed the whole class’s activities.