Mobile Teaching and Learning Technologies: Ukrainian Dance Instruction in Canada

Abstract

This paper explores the process of introducing iPods into the context of Ukrainian dance instruction. In particular we focus on how one teacher incorporated these tools to support student and instructor learning. Further we explore the affordances of the tool identified by the teachers to support dance instruction and learning. In this research, the teacher identified a focus on demonstration and mobility strategies as a meaningful starting point for the use of the technology. They acknowledge that dance choreography and composition are complex and often identified as difficult to teach. The incorporation of iPods solved many long-standing challenges for the teacher who incorporated these within meaningful educational experiences. However, the planning and incorporation of these in educational contexts was a long and challenging process. This paper explores this planning and implementation process and the challenges it overcame to support the incorporation of the technology within the dance class context.