Abstract

Minnesota has a long history of momentum and achievements in dance education, including the increasing use over the past ten years of distance learning tools such as video conferencing, web pages, interactive learning objects, and blended models (face-to-face and online interaction). We are keenly interested in how the technology affects teaching and learning, and the implications it may have for our work as teachers and teaching artists. Some of the essential questions that guide us include: What student needs are we trying to meet? How can technology support and enhance our processes of learning and teaching in dance? What are the best practices in distance learning?

This session pairs a short demonstration of video conferencing in dance with a facilitated discussion of the pedagogy and student responses in the interactive video session. After watching students in Tempe work with a Teaching Artist in Minneapolis via video conferencing, NDEO session participants will unpack the lesson using Descriptive Review, which is a reflective protocol that helps practitioners perceive deeply and think critically about experiences.

Perpich Center for Arts Education and The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts have used a similar session model over the past year to create a reflective teaching lab for Teaching Artists in dance. Since 2003 The Cowles Center has used video conferencing to offer virtual field trips that allow students across the U.S. to remain in their classrooms and work with master teaching artists in another city while removing the barriers of time and money associated with travel. The professional development programs at Perpich Center use an array of tools including Descriptive Review and distance learning models in working with students, teachers and teaching artists across Minnesota to improve arts education statewide.

Join us to find out more about the interactive use of video conferencing and talk with your colleagues about the choices, challenges, and creative moments of teaching dance in a new way.