THE POSSIBILITY OF MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF A FACE-TO-FACE PERFORMATIVE BASED COURSE WHEN TRANSFERRED TO ONLINE DISTANCE LEARNING

Abstract

The article describes a qualitative inquiry in the form of a case-study which used participatory action research. The study was implemented over a period of two years, 2020 and 2021. It inquired into a face-to-face higher education elective course on creativity and happening in which there was a strong performative element. The aim of the study was to find out how the transfer of the elective to online distance learning would effect the integrity of the course. To do this, the face-to-face course (taught 2017, 2018 and 2019) was taken online and the effects of this determined through the consideration of various data collected during the period of the study: artefacts, accounts of procedures, personal accounts of involvement and visual documentation. The results show that there was little disruption to the cognitive components of the course or the component in which the students had to enact individual or small groups happenings. The greatest disruption was to the component in which close proximity was needed and where the students had to interact with one another physically. In the component of the course in which a group happening was enacted, the online distance learning model was abandoned in favour of situations that were face-to-face. In connection with what occurred, it is suggested that if the elective was to continue as an online course, a form of online classroom management � platform management � would need to be established. In addition, to ensure that the physical and proximal elements of the original course were maintained, the course would have to be offered as blended learning rather than an online distance learning course only. In the conclusion, the author suggests that the blended learning option would also be appropriate for the present-day world.