Here are some more reflections on the Mosaic\u00a0 project from the course “author” Sandie Byrne:<\/p>\n
12 August 2008
\nMarion and I spent some time looking through an online archive of images from the Ashmolean\u2019s Anglo-Saxon holdings, looking for illustrations for the course material. We selected some reliquaries, jewellery and weapons, but the archive didn\u2019t include the really spectacular artefacts I would like participants to be able to see, so we shall have to widen the net. I hope that the British Library will grant permission for us to include links to its holdings.<\/p>\n
30 September 2008
\nTALL have been busy with the development of other projects, and the obtaining of permissions is turning out to be a mammoth task, so the course isn\u2019t built yet.<\/p>\n
15 November 2008
\nI\u2019m so pleased that Nicolay Yakolev has agreed to be the tutor for the taught version of the course. His doctorate was in Old English, and he has published a lot of interesting work on the subject, but more importantly, I think he will be friendly and accessible, understanding of the way some people feel intimidated by Old English, and sensitive to the needs and learning methods of different students. I think he will appreciate the course, and I hope will enjoy teaching it.<\/p>\n
20 December 2008
\nSarah Mann has sent me a link to the course on DevMoodle, so at last I shall be able to see how \u2018Ancestral Voices: The Earliest English Literature\u2019 looks on screen. The web content has not been embedded yet, so will appear as links, and there will be instructions and reminders for TALL on the course build, so I won\u2019t quite be seeing the final form \u2013 the way users will see it \u2013 but I should be able to get a good idea. The Oxford, taught version of the course launches on 14 January, Sarah is away until 5 January, and other courses launch that week, so she and other TALL colleagues are going to have a busy 9 days.<\/p>\n
26 December 2008 Here are some more reflections on the Mosaic\u00a0 project from the course “author” Sandie Byrne: 12 August 2008 Marion and I spent some time looking through an online archive of images from the Ashmolean\u2019s Anglo-Saxon holdings, looking for illustrations for … Continue reading
\nThe course is looking good, with a very few minor errors that can easily be rectified. With the online material linked rather than embedded, it\u2019s hard to imagine the effect that will be created by, for example, the full-page illustrations of Saxon homes and dress, or artefacts such as weapons, and the amazing gold- and other metal-work. Having those on the pages of the units that users first come to will, I think, make such a dramatic impact, and bring home the point that Anglo-Saxon culture was much more rich, diverse, and sophisticated than we might think.
\nThe audio files in the course will, I think, make a big difference. I remember how difficult it was to get a sense of Old English from books alone, and poetry should always be heard as well as read. The inclusion of Stuart Lee\u2019s film is a bonus, too. In a sense, the more media the merrier, in the cause of making Old English literature accessible.
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