With these words Kenneth Kitchell aptly evokes the guiding principle of Teaching Classics with Technology. Pedagogy is a mobile discipline. Every student is different, and so too is every application of a teaching methodology as we find the path between educating and inspiring the next generation of scholars. Mutability is especially true of Classics. Each archaeological discovery demands that we re-evaluate what we know and how we teach. Even a ‘dead language’ (and readers of The Classical Review will appreciate the intended irony of this phrase) such as Latin changes with social expectations and applications. The flexibility characterising Classics pedagogy is less evident in its published scholarship. A book is, by its nature, a fixed snapshot of a certain time and perspective. It is here that we encounter a disjunct in the reading – let alone the reviewing – of Teaching Classics with Technology. It seems unjust to review, in a post-Zoom fatigue world, a book about the potential of digital pedagogy published in pre-pandemic 2019. Yet, what could have been this volume's undoing has proved its value.

An edited volume holds the capacity for a variety of perspectives, and that is what this book offers. Taking the definition of ‘Classics’ quite broadly, alongside the expected contributions on teaching language sit chapters on history and visual culture pedagogies. Despite the initial scope, emphasis is upon Rome's language and culture. ‘Teaching’ in this volume similarly emphasises tertiary education, while encompassing chapters on primary and secondary teaching. The resulting audience is specialist, yet with either a professional, personal or even vested interest in other aspects of the field. Only a few months can mark the passage from secondary to tertiary education, and, once arrived, students frequently enrol in cognate subjects under the umbrella of ‘Classics’. Awareness of what colleagues are achieving – and combatting – is in the best interests of teachers to ensure a responsive and informed classroom. With its varied subject matter, Teaching Classics with Technology provides the framework for this self-directed professional development. A Latinist in the physical classroom can peek into the virtual Greek classroom within a single volume. Contributions from the UK and the US allow such comparisons to be drawn across the Atlantic. However, as much as it is to be applauded, it cannot be avoided that this is a limited perspective for a large topic.

While offering a cross-cultural perspective, this geographical focus simultaneously limits the volume's scope. It would have been interesting to cast the net wider. Reflecting upon only UK and US teaching does not restrict the audience, as this Australian reader's enthusiasm for the volume no doubt illustrates. However, considering other cultures would have ameliorated (in scholarship at least) the issues of hierarchy and exclusivity decried frequently in the text (E. Searle, p. 101). A more global approach can be seen in the 2018 Forward with Classics: Classical Languages in Schools and Communities, edited again by Hunt alongside A. Holmes-Henderson and M. Musié. Despite discussion in the last chapters, however, technology was not at the centre of Forward with Classics. Perhaps a second volume of Teaching Classics with Technology is already needed.

Of the volume's foci – Latin over Greek, tertiary over primary and secondary, and UK/US teaching above all others – the first may be authentic to the sector. Latin almost routinely enjoys (whether justly or unjustly) higher enrolments than Greek. It also reflects the volume's self-perception within scholarship. Natoli and Hunt's introduction charts an ‘attempt to connect theory to practice ’ (p. 1) from R. LaFleur's 1998 Latin for the 21^st Century: From Concept to Classroom to J. Gruber-Miller's 2006 When Dead Tongues Speak: Teaching Beginning Greek and Latin. Gruber-Miller's title notwithstanding, both texts emphasised the Latin classroom. To this could be added Hunt's own, more recent, Starting to Teach Latin (2016). A few years on from the publication of Teaching Classics with Technology, we can also include Hunt's Teaching Latin: Contexts, Theories, Practices (2022) and Communicative Approaches for Ancient Languages, edited with M.E. Lloyd (2021). Digital Humanities in the Classics is a similarly booming field of scholarship with journals (Digital Classics Online, amongst others), conferences and texts.

Few books have united the fields of Classics pedagogy and digital scholarship. G. Bodard and M. Romanello's edited volume Digital Classics Outside the Echo-Chamber: Teaching, Knowledge Exchange & Public Engagement (2016) situates digital Classics at the intersection of education, scholarship and community engagement. What sets Teaching Classics with Technology apart is its aspirations to practical applications specifically within the classroom. The volume positions itself in a long line of texts grappling with Classics pedagogy in the twenty-first century. As such, it is best regarded as one step in a communal work-in-progress rather than a definitive work. And it is in this guise that the volume is of most use to a post-pandemic world.

The nineteen chapters are organised into three parts. Part 1, ‘Blended and Distance Modes’, explores the methods, theories and principles of teaching with technology. It is in Part 2, ‘Classics Without Language: Literature, Culture and Outreach Models’, that the definition of ‘Classics’ widens to include history and visual culture. This section considers how specific technologies can communicate these disciplines to audiences in the tertiary sector and beyond, either to support language teaching or as subjects in their own right. Part 3, ‘Using Technology in the Ancient Language Classroom’, unites the approaches of the two previous sections to test technologies in language pedagogy. Each chapter is well researched and strikes an effective balance between current scholarship and critical reflection on the writer's own practice. Many of the chapters – such as K. Gilliver's ‘Flipping Romans: Experiments in Using Technology for Teaching in Higher Education’ – reflect upon experimental pedagogies. Even three years on, there is an appealing feeling of being on the cusp of new developments in a rigorous and relevant discipline. Looking at its structure, the book resembles the typical edited volume of scholarly works. In its text it posits a role somewhere between this format and, following LaFleur, a teacher's vade mecum (Natoli and Hunt, Teaching Classics [2019], p. 5). However, its immense value notwithstanding, Teaching Classics with Technology does not have the universal applicability of a handbook.

In terms of the volume's scholarship, all chapters offer intriguing and original contributions to pedagogy and the digital humanities. In terms of its practical application, the chapters range from case studies that could provide precedents for changing pedagogical direction, to inspiration for new developments, to guides ready for implementing in the classroom. A. Chadwick's ‘Going Digital: the Principles Behind CyberCaesar’ presents an in-depth critical narrative of the impetus, aims, method and evaluation involved in creating the CyberCaesar programme. As a scholarly work, it is an illuminating study of intersecting priorities in language teaching. However, its applicability is limited to those using the CyberCaesar platform or teaching Latin. This is one example among many in a volume that encourages a dual approach to its reading. To return to the principle of discipline awareness highlighted at the beginning of this review, the book is best regarded as a critical survey of current practice. From this, educators can select what best aligns with their own teaching.

The volume's organisation further encourages a selective approach to its reading and practical application. Like any edited volume, Teaching Classics with Technology presents as many perspectives and methods as there are chapters. Distinct voices are not necessarily an issue. The teaching of Classics is a varied field, and the volume is an admirably accurate reflection of the sector. Yet, with minimal references between the chapters, the experience of reading the book cover-to-cover could be improved by greater structural coherence. The editors’ explanation of the themed organisation in the introduction does provide some framework. Further comment at the beginning of each section, or an afterword, would draw together the various themes of each chapter. More inter-chapter referencing could also guide readers as they make connections across the field. These are more suggestions for improvement than deeply felt criticism. The volume may not be a universal vade mecum, but it is a book in which every Classicist can find something of use.

Three years after its publication, the world in which the book was written has changed exponentially. And with it, so too has changed what, how and why we teach Classics. What shines through every chapter of this volume, and the text as a whole, is the persistent relevance of principles underpinning digital Classics pedagogies. This is not about ‘technology for technology's sake’ or creating an online imitation of the classroom experience. Expressed in nineteen different voices, the message remains that incorporating technology into current practice can improve the academic, social and personal well-being of both educators and students. It is a new platform for communication, not an accessory to existing modes of teaching and learning. It is here that the volume holds its applicability following the forced Covid-19 digital classroom. In fact, some chapters and perspectives are even more pertinent than before.

In 2019 M. Nicholls's guide to digital reconstructions in the classroom in ‘SketchUp and Digital Modelling for Classics’ was a valuable method of bringing ruins and archaeological sites to life. Similarly, H. Lovatt's recommendation of in-class student surveys in ‘“Just-in-Time Learning”: Using Hand-Held Voting Devices in the Undergraduate Lecture Room’ offered modes ‘to break down social barriers and to empower students to join in discussion’ (H. Lovatt, Teaching Classics [2019], p. 160). In 2022 these approaches are invaluable when travel remains out of reach for many communities and restrictions limit student interaction. Teaching Classics with Technology is ripe for an update – and that is not a criticism. The considered research, critical reflection and authentic practice displayed in the volume makes it not only a valuable contribution to the field in its own right. These qualities also offer the potential to be the groundwork for post-pandemic Classics. We may smile wearily at 2019 warnings that teleconferencing can be a disjointed experience from a 2022, where ‘you're on mute’ is a constant refrain. Nonetheless, the methods and principles of Teaching Classics with Technology hold true, and are more potent now for having been put to the ultimate test.