Final blog reflection

I think that the most useful thing that I have learned this semester is how to incorporate videos into my classes. This semester I was able to learn to use imovie, viddler, and final cut pro. These technologies will help me so much in the classroom. They will help me to teach my students to combine the physical aspects of dance with the visual. I feel like it will take their artistic development to a whole new level when learn to present their dancing in artistic ways (such as by making a video). I am so excited to use viddler as a means of communication with my students. I wish I had learned about this a long time ago! I think it will be so helpful to the students to be able to have a visual to go along with my students. I think it will greatly increase their capacity to improve. They will have a better understanding of what I am seeing when I observe their dancing. I think it will lead to an increase in feedback from me and it will better my relationships with my students. Being a student for many years myself, I feel like I can grow and improve so much more when I have a visual aid to help me learn. Also, I think it will be so useful to be able to use imovie of final cut to advertise  if  I ever have a studio of my own. I am so excited to use these technologies in the future. I am also noticing that technology doesn't intimidate me nearly as much as it used to. Now, even if I don't know how to use something, I feel like I am able to better navigate myself until I am able to figure out how to do something. This will help me greatly when I am a teacher and will encounter technology that is completely new to me.

Dance Blogs!

I found a couple really cool and helpful dance blogs this week! The first one is called ARTSblog. It has a special section specifically for dance education, and articles posted by others in the dance arts community. These articles are thought provoking and they link dance educators around the country. The other dance blog that I came across is called Dance Advantage. This blog is full of resources for dancers, dance educators, mothers or dancers, and choreographers. It is full of articles specific to the needs of those in the dance community and specific to the time of season. It is full of great pictures as well and has a very personal feel. I am so excited about finding these blogs! Check them out!

Personal technology project!

I am learning how to use viddler! From what I have been seeing so far it will be so helpful in my future classes! It will be a way to communicate with my students and give them feedback so that they can have a visual guide to go along with my comments. I wish I had found this sooner!

Wait, technology is really used in dance education!?

Apparently this is truth! Who knew?:) I found the greatest book that proves this fact. The book is called International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2007, Volume 16, Section 12, 1381-1397, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-3052-9_94) and there is a section in it called "Technology in Dance Education" written by Mila Parrish.


Here is a link to the abstract of this section and places where the book can be found!

Extra credit assignment

I watched a video on the David O. McKay school of education about the Open High School of Utah. This is an online teaching program for high school students in which they can take online courses that cover all parts of their high school curriculum. The teachers create a course and then have "office hours" where they are online and available to help the students. They called this one-on-one tutoring because the teachers are able to focus on the students individually. I found this video so interesting! The things that they are able to do for students by teaching them online is amazing. The teachers are able to see exactly how much time each student is spending on an assignment and the results that has on their grades. Also they are able to make sure that the students are really receiving one-on-one help from the teachers because a log is kept where every instance where a teacher is communicating with a student is recorded. Also, the students can tell the teachers what part of the curriculum is confusing, and the teacher can go in and change it immediately. I feel like it really caters directly to the students' needs, and they receive what they need very quickly. The program seems very adaptable to the students needs. Their results are extremely positive and show that OER seems to be quite effective. This system amazes me. It is brilliant and has been meticulously thought out. The students get taught on an individual basis which is the way that most students learn best.The only thing that worries me about this program is how it affects the students social development. Are they able to learn to work together? Are they truly able to problem solve or is it spoon fed to them? Do they learn how to properly budget their time since they can take the classes whenever they feel like it? Are they learning to interact with other students and exchange ideas and opinions? I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but they are all things that I would have to seriously consider if I were going to look into this farther.

Here is the video! Click here

Podcasts!

So lately I have been thinking about the benefits that podcasts could have for my future dance students and I decided it would be a great teaching and sharing tool! This way students can share their performances with friends and family, and they have an easy way of recording and submitting their dance material to be graded. This site explains how podcasting works and the benefits of it. I think this is a great technology tool that all dance teachers can use in their studios.

Here it is!