The educational use of videoconferencing in the arts faculty: shedding a new light on puppetry

It is important for learners to be exposed to the real working world during their training in order to prepare them for their professional lives. The Department of Entertainment Technology, under the leadership of Zuanda Badenhorst, conducted a very exciting project with the Handspring Puppet Company while also making use of the newest learning technologies made available by the Department of Telematic Education, with Instructional Designer Mandi Axmann and Technical Manager Anette Sadie, at the Technikon Pretoria. This article reviews the educational use of videoconferencing as well as various considerations when implementing this medium Overview of the project The learners from Entertainment Technology as well as the Drama Department had the opportunity to follow the back-stage production work by the Handspring Puppet Company on a new piece entitled “Zeno at 4pm”. The aim of the project was twofold: to introduce learners to the planning and performance of a real-life production in puppetry, and to expose the learners to videoconferencing technology. The project started off with a videoconference during January 2001 hosted by the Department of Telematic Education with the puppeteers from the Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town, South Africa during March 2001. During the videoconference the puppeteers illustrated the making of the puppets and their planning for their production. During the second stage of the project the learners had an opportunity to see a final dress rehearsal of the production in Johannesburg, South Africa, and were able to ask questions regarding the stage set-up, lighting techniques, production costs and planning for the opening night in Brussels. These responses were video taped and were made available to the learners. 05_Baden 31/5/2002 5:31 pm Page 291