Innovative ways of learning...

I think that is the only title i could come up with..

this is not to dispute the fact that the best method of teaching is always in a live classroom setting, but barring those factors, do you think that there could be any innovative (for want of a better term) or different ways one can learn dance besides dvd instruction? (which probably seems the most innovative thing out there right now?

what about teleconferencing? live webcasting?

has the possibilty of those things been explored by any of the instructors on the forum?

kayshier said:

I think that is the only title i could come up with..

this is not to dispute the fact that the best method of teaching is always in a live classroom setting, but barring those factors, do you think that there could be any innovative (for want of a better term) or different ways one can learn dance besides dvd instruction? (which probably seems the most innovative thing out there right now?

what about teleconferencing? live webcasting?

has the possibilty of those things been explored by any of the instructors on the forum?

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This is a nice topic - we had discussed it briefly when Leyla originally posted on her Habibi you are my What? workshop (not this time around). I believe that several things were discussed including the limitations of technology such as price, bandwidth and of course not being able to benefit from the instructor checking your technique etc.

However, for workshops that are more about body language and that sort of thing rather than actual movement, as i believe the above mentioned workshop is i think it's a great idea to widen the market for your workshop.

Let's hear more about it!

With high speed internet it is very much possible, using a webcam and voice chat! If the speed in 'live' then why not?

Reen.Blom said:

With high speed internet it is very much possible, using a webcam and voice chat! If the speed in 'live' then why not?

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What about those without high speed internet? Frequently these will be the very people who have difficulty getting a live teacher.

Frankly even with high speed internet I have found internet instruction frustrating (too small, too slow, too grainy ) and would rather use a DVD.

Do people without high speed internet not have access to it somewhere? I really don't know. But I know at uni they use online stuff for students in other countries, and they are not all financially rich countries. Maybe they use the university as it has the equipment, so maybe this is a possibility?

(They also do something where they deliver lectures via mobile phones! Not a clue how that works either but sounds so futuristic to me!)

karena said:

Do people without high speed internet not have access to it somewhere? I really don't know. But I know at uni they use online stuff for students in other countries, and they are not all financially rich countries. Maybe they use the university as it has the equipment, so maybe this is a possibility?

(They also do something where they deliver lectures via mobile phones! Not a clue how that works either but sounds so futuristic to me!)

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I think high speed internet is available nearly anywhere but in some countries, the faster you want it, the more you have to pay.

maria_harlequin said:

I think high speed internet is available nearly anywhere but in some countries, the faster you want it, the more you have to pay.

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But if universities are publicly funded bodies then they might not charge lots. I don't know how it works in other countries. But for example, here in the UK all university libraries are open to the public - they might not broadcast it, but as public buildings I understand the are open to everyone. I'm not saying their technology is open to all, but if they have a public service remit then it's worth investigating...

Well, I suppose, if you want live feedback, you are bound to either have a high-speed internet or go to class.

If you want to use a DVD, you still need a computer or DVDplayer/TV.... so I guess if you cant afford either then DVDs will be of no use either...

But with the hope that broadband becomes cheaper and more acessible, online COULD be that innovative way of learning...

After all we are learning trough forums, reading, watching youTube clips of famous dancers, browse costume shops, discuss, make friends in different countries? For me its a great source!

People have periodically asked me why I don't offer my lectures via webcast. On the surface the web seems like an ideal tool for disseminating a lecture, right? Here's why I haven't done it:

1. The technology required to present a "webinar" tends to be expensive, at least if you want halfway decent quality. You need to have some kind of real-time streaming of both audio and visual. This isn't cheap.

2. Most of my lectures contain video clips to illustrate key points. Switching a web cast back and forth between my face and the playing of a clip adds a level of complexity to the logistics of presenting it.

3. In my day job, I work for a Very Large Technology Company. I really, really hate attending webcasts which the presenter is trying to show us their PowerPoint slides or do live demos via webcast, because invariably our view of the person's screen fails to keep up with what the voice on the phone is saying, and it becomes frustrating beyond words to be an audience member when you can't see the visual aid. If the technology can't even keep up with refreshing a screen with a new PowerPoint slide every 2-3 minutes, then there's no hope for showing a moving image of dance.

4. Technology challenges - there's nothing like a live presentation to prove Murphy's Law. ("If anything can go wrong, it will - at the worst possible moment.") I used to do demos of technology in sales presentations to customers, and had sooooo many occasions in which something went wrong. It's hard to close a deal when the technology fails right in front of the potential buyer! Relating this to dance, imagine the damage it would do to the instructor's reputation if she offered a webinar and then had some kind of technology failure!

5. User problems. Somewhere, there will be a user who can't figure out how to make the technology function as desired. Whose job will it be to solve it? The dancer/instructor's? Most dancer/instructors don't have the technology skills to troubleshoot the highly complex technology that goes into live presentations. And it's that much harder when you can't see the other person's computer screen, and you have no way of knowing which potentially-conflicting programs she has installed.

6. Dancers in general are not particularly tech-savvy people. That applies on both ends - authoring the webinar, and being a learner. I get lots of rather basic technology questions from people who use my web site, so I shudder to think about the technical support issues a webinar would generate.

7. The administrative hassles would be a nightmare for the instructor. How do you handle collecting payment in advance, tracking who paid, and admitting them (and only them) to the webinar? Yes, it can be done, but it sounds rather manual and tedious to me. What happens if someone who pays their money for the online workshop is a no-show? Does the instructor need to refund their money? How can the instructor prove they didn't show up? What if someone who DOES attend reverses their PayPal payment afterward? The instructor probably won't have a recourse - by then, the service has been delivered, and can't be undone. PayPal is not particulary sympathetic to sellers when these incidents arise.

karena said:

Do people without high speed internet not have access to it somewhere? I really don't know. But I know at uni they use online stuff for students in other countries, and they are not all financially rich countries. Maybe they use the university as it has the equipment, so maybe this is a possibility?

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And how available is high speed internet to non-students? To people who don't live in a university town?

I seldom download/watch video on the internet, be4cause Aussie is very expensive when it comes to high speed internet. I watch the odd you tube, but keep an eye on how much time I have for the month. In my area we can't even gets ADSL 2 because Telstra refuses to upgraded our exchange, Wireless is useless because of the hills.

The government has just recently decided to fund optics but we won't see that for a few years and who knows how expensive that will be. I also don't live in a Uni area. I am not sure how open to the public they are these days as well and if it is open it would certainly not be cheap.

So I think for me DVDs are the better option.
~Mosaic

I am lucky to have fast internet at the mo, but i know my parents pay way too much for a slow and capped line...

I dont have a TV or have a big social life, so I feel totally helpless without my internet, and get withdrawal sypmtoms.... LOL

Kashmir said:

And how available is high speed internet to non-students? To people who don't live in a university town?

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I don't know, I thought I said that

karena said:

I don't know, I thought I said that

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I should have added the sarcasm icon. Basically around here - no access for non-students - which means fee paying students - so hardly a cheap way to get broadband (a few years back one 6 month unit cost more than a year's (city) broadband - and I know the 'varsity fees have gone up). If you are rural though it could be worth it as broadband can be extremely expensive the time you buy your own dish etc.