Instructional Multimedia Project

The Joy of the Dance

EDET793 Jennifer Spann Spring 2014

Analysis of Need
Habiba Divas of Dance Troupe is a troupe of belly dancers that serves to teach new comers the intricacy of the art and provide entertainment to those of the area. There is a need to find a way to ensure that the members have a way to share dance numbers for upcoming performances and changes that are made at classes that are not attended. New comers to the class need to have access to the basic moves that make up the more advanced dance moves. I proposed to the instructor, Donna Alsbrooks, that we create a website that would include an Introductory page that explains what the troupe and class is about, a page for the basic moves, a brief history of the dance, a calendar of events and a (hopefully secure) area that will include a page for the bios of the members of the troupe and a page with the current and past dance numbers. If time permits, Ill also create a page that showcases performances of individual members and of the troupe (we have a show coming up in March that I could get a few of these videos from). Currently we are using Facebook to house this information but it is not an ideal location to store the videos and music that we use in the class. It is possible for us to upload our bios and bio pictures on Facebook but organizing and editing them is a nightmare. Facebook does not have a calendar feature that would allow for flexible scheduling and easy program dates. In short, Habibas needs a more efficient and flexible alternative to publicizing and servicing the troupes needs for practice.

Target Audience
The target audience for this website would be both the current members of the troupe, experienced dancers who want to join a dance troupe, and anyone in the area who would like to learn this beautiful art form. Beginning dancers can learn the basic moves of the dance by watching the videos placed on the beginners page. Understanding of the basic moves are very important as the more advanced dance moves build out of the basic moves and if the dancer cannot perform these moves proficiently, the advanced moves will not look as good. Experienced dancers can brush up on basic moves they may not be as comfortable with in order to prepare for more advanced moves. This site will also allow the more experienced dancers to work with routines the troupe and classes are working on. The troupe will be able to use the site to learn new dances, prepare ideas for dances that they are working on, and to practice in preparation for upcoming performances. This website will also be a

great place for dancers to post videos of individual routines so they can critique them and to allow other members of the troupe to offer constructive criticism so that they can improve their performance. The intended audience would either find the site by performing a search in a search engine or by being directed there by a current participant in the class/troupe.

Learning Objectives
There are 2 areas that will be addressed by the website: dance moves/choreography and costuming. Under these areas these are the objectives that will be address specifically: Support the beginner dancers by providing examples of basic moves Support experienced dancers by providing examples of more advanced routines Support the troupe by providing videos of current routines for practice Support troupe activities by providing an outlet for constructive criticism Support understanding of costuming by providing the names and examples of different types of costuming.

Dance Objectives
This web site will be available for both students new to the art of belly dance to learn the basic moves and practice them between classes and for seasoned dancers to practice more advanced moves. Dancers with the troupe would have access to current dance numbers to watch, reflect on, and work with as they practice for upcoming performances. Since most dances are worked on in class, videos would have to be updated on an almost weekly basis to ensure the most current version of the dance is available until the number itself is finalized. At that point, it is a matter of the dancer watching the video to ensure she understands and can perform the dance with ease. Dancers should also be able to watch themselves in the existing videos to see what moves they are weak in so they can improve their performance. Videos will be captured using a camcorder when one is available, though if a teachable moment comes available, we will use a cell phone if need be. Videos will be edited and produced using the program Camtasia, which will allow for onscreen directions and captioning as necessary. Videos will be hosted on either YouTube or SchoolTube.

Dance Costuming
Though the dance on its own is beautiful and does not really need much help, the costuming is as beautiful as the dance itself. Newcomers need to know what the different pieces of costuming are called (at least by this troupe) and what it looks like. The client, Donna, would also like for some of the more common costumes to be modeled so we will post some pictures demonstrating this. There will be some regional information on the different pieces included in this as available; as well as suggestions for how a dancer could obtain the appropriate costume pieces. This page will also include suggestions for what to wear to an average class.

Instructor Blogs
The client, Donna, has expressed an interest in sharing her thoughts on the class and costuming in a blog in order to further support the needs of both the basic and more advanced students. She also would like a way to share her thoughts and instructions on performances, past and futures, with members of the troop. This would allow the students and troupe another outlet for instructional support from Donna. For instance, an individual dancer could ask Donna to post a video of their individual performance with her thoughts. Other dancers could then watch it and give her feedback that she could use to improve both the dance and the costuming before a performance.

Delivery Options
For the most part, dance instruction will be done in the classroom at assigned time as it always has been. The site is more for educational support and should be used as supplementary not as a substitution. The delivery of the supplemental instruction for the basic moves will be both video and drawn diagram. For the troupe and more experienced users, the delivery will be done strictly as video unless more instruction is requested. The biggest drawback of the chosen form of delivery is that since it is a web site it will not be easily accessible to anyone who does not have access to the Internet via computer or smart phone.

Existing Constraints
Currently there are no videos available for the basic moves or of the current routine. All of these will need to be created from scratch. Due to time constraints many videos will not be able to be completed before the end of the project time but enough videos will be created and produced to support the needs of the project. Other videos will be created and produced as the client has time to film them.

Assessing User Competency

The beginning dancer should be able to move to the more advanced moves quicker. They will understand how the body should move to create the moves required. They will also be more comfortable dancing with the more experienced dancers. Competency for the troupe will be assessed by an improvement in the appearance of routines and the ability to have a more polished number when performance time comes. For the individual dancers, competency will be measured by the presentation of a beautiful and well turned out individual performance. User competency will be assessed by each dancers increase in confidence in the art. Since this instruction is expected to support classroom learning, students who use this outlet will bring to class a more secure demeanor and be able to offer better input on costuming for the needs of specific numbers.

A further assessment will be an online rater-response survey students will be asked to take reflecting on what they learned and ways that the videos can be improved to help understanding of moves.

References
Leijen, ., Lam, I., Wildschut, L., Robert-Jan Simons, P., & Admiraal, W. (2009). Streaming video to enhance students reflection in dance education. Computers & Education, 52(1), 169-176. Magnenat-Thalmann, N., & Joslin, C. (2007, August). Learning how to Dance on the Internet. In Interface Conference, Hamburg (October 2000). Ranganathan, C., & Ganapathy, S. (2002). Key dimensions of business-to-consumer web sites. Information & Management, 39(6), 457-465. Schaller, D. T., & Allison-Bunnell, S. (2003). Practicing what we teach: How learning theory can guide development of online educational activities. In Museums and the Web.