Reflection on my work

My tech assignments, making my homepage, was both challenging and interesting. From this process, what I learned best is my artistic and learning styles, and somehow it revealed my personality too. I sometimes feel I am too organized and focused which I think is good generally, yet I need empty space!!! As I looked at my project, orientation of images and texts were too much like a 'textbook'. Isn't it too much like a teacher?? If I have a chance to do again, I will make my project more artistically. By the way, what is 'artistic'? and 'teacher-like? It's really dependent upon situations, right? No judgment!

Please visit my homepage to look at one of my perspectives!

Group project

Our group's theme was to show an example of unit plan for the 7nd graders' social studies which eventually shares different countries' culture and history as well as their cultural music and dance. The initial idea was drawn by FIFA World Cup and we thought it might motivate students to engage the task actively. From my experience, I think motivation is very important element in teaching and it effects the achievement of task. Having the theme of our project, my part was Korea. I focused on traditional Korean music and dance. It was hard at the beginning where to focus since I did not think I could cover all about Korea.

In terms of technical aspects, I realized that visual image is as important as the texts. When there are too many texts in one page, I feel it is hard to concentrate. I realized that "less is better than more". Also using Gif animator and Photoshop, Audacity were great help for me to work and I learned which one is required to bring effectiveness. For example, Gif animator creates a sense of dynamic!

Working with group requires much responsibility and the positive atmosphere which I think was successful in our group. I also learned different learning styles and perceived each one's personality through their works. I think the greatest part was to link each other's site to our group's page. I felt we became oneness. Feel free to visit our group page!

Bridging a gap through technology-- interaction and collaboration

My one of assignments is a collabrative project using technology. I think collaboration is sharing each other's ideas and somehow it needs a negotiation among members. Although there should be a main concept of group, individaul freedom and creativity should not be ignored. In this fashion, I feel this project is a great opportunity to show both collaboration and individuality using technology. Throughout the process, I realized technology plays a great role in connecting the world closer and closer. And I could not help relating this issue to my mission in dance education.

Having been studying in different countries, what I saw as a common problem in dance education is a lack of connection. The connection between practice and theory, connection between dance subject and other subjects, connection between school and community, connection between K-12 and higher education, and national and international connection. I believe that making connections should be conducted both horizontally (integration) and vertically (continuous growth). In order to achieve my mission, techonology seems to be a fundamental tool to increase artistic, professional, and educational connections all over the world. For example, technology would make students participate in professional conferences through the internet. Also, using resources from web, students can be encouraged to collaborate with other subjects, such as music, art, language, and science. Through the interdisciplinary, interactive, and collaborative approaches using technology as a tool, dance education is likely to make connections between practice and theory, connection between dance subject and other subjects, connection between school and community, connection between K-12 and higher education, and national and international connection.

Free, Free, Free!!!

While I am working on my assignments and projects, I am amazed by the fact there are great images, music and texts that I can just upload or download into my computer. At first I was worried if it is illegal to use some images from web; now I use them so freely. I don't need to buy postcards, photograph, CDs....I can get things for nothing! Also, if I need a software such as Photoshop elements, i-tunes, Gif animator, or Audacity, then I can simply download it free!! (I'm sure there are a lot of free softwares) Some are totally free while others have limitation of use such as Photoshop elements. I think this is such an opportunity as well as a potential problem in our technological society. I feel there is an ambiguous boundary between illegality and freedom of search in the web. Well, it really depends on how we interpret them, in my opinion.

Anyhow, I am so indulging myself to use materials freely and free. However, there is a saying in Korea,"if you too much like to have things free, you will become baldheaded!!!" :-)

You can be a movie maker. "If I can do it, you can do it."

I just learned about movie maker both in Mac and PC. I have a pc so I used window Movie maker to make a movie. At first, it looked so complicated to me since I never had this experience before. Once I knew the procedure such as collecting music and images into my movie maker, and following the order of instruction, it was not so hard to work on making a movie. I only need to choose what kinds of effects and transitions I wanto use. Actually, Movie maker does it all for me! I think this is both advantage and disadvantage for using window's Movie Maker. On one hand, I don't need to edit my photo to give an effect like zooming-in and zooming-out. On the other, there is no choice I can make other than what are given already.

I think movie making was my most favorite process that I have done so far and I am quite satisfied what I did. If anyone is interested in my movie, you can visit my movie .

Technology and Multiple Intelligences

According to Howard Gardner, there are many different ways students can demonstrate their ability. There are multiple intelligences: verbal (linguistic), logical (mathematical), visual (spatial), bodily (kinesthetic), musical (rhythmic), interpersonal, and the naturalist. This shows how different learning styles learners have.

I believe teaching and learning should be encouraged where various approaches to learning are facilitated. As a person whose learning style is visual and kinesthetic, I wished I had realized my learning style and had tried to learn mathematics in visual and kinesthetic ways. I just thought that technology may be a great contributor in order to maximize an interdisciplinary approach in teaching and learning. After learning how to use i-tunes, Audacity, and Photohop elements, I realized that I had just experienced various learning styles to understand the concepts. For example, in order to edit music that had been saved in i-tunes, I used Audacity to change pitch and tempo. In this process, not only could I listen to the music, I was also able to visualize the music. Besides, there was a mathematical aspect when I changed the tempo by numbers and of course, it was hands-on exercise (kinesthetic)! Technology resources seems to me an essential tool to support multiple intelligences.

Exploring the Websites

Exploring the internet is like discovering the way in the forest. I never know what comes next and there are so many ways that I can enter. Almost everything is my choice, therefore, it is my responsibility whether the choice is made appropriately in a situation. While I am searching information on the website for developing my blog and homepage as a part of my assignments, I am often surprized by the fact that there are a great amount of information. It is not always easy to decide what to choose.

From this experience, I believe that technology is also a tool for children to develop their own decision-making. They can discover. They can explore. They can make a decision no matter what. If they found something did not work well, they could try other things. There should be other solutions, right? Isn't it like our life? Through the process, I feel I view the world from different dimensions.

My vision on Dance Education

My vision is to create a harmonious balance in and through dance education. My strong belief is everything is relative: everything can be seen dependent on contexts. Like a Mobius strip, dance and education cannot be separated, rather they live together in a dynamic balance: education through dance, and dance through education. My interest has been to look at relationships in teaching and learning: how students are involved in the materials, and how the faculty members make contribution to interactive classes. Also what would be the effective elements for students to be actively engaged in materials? For me, process is as important as product, since “what” happens is the sum of “how it happens.” I believe the teaching and learning is the whole-part-whole relationships of all members involved in teaching and learning.

A question may go what I mean by harmonious relationships. I think harmonious relationships as dynamic, growing and ever-changing process mainly between two different qualities, like yin-yang, the eastern philosophy. Sometimes we hold tension in class or we may encounter something we have never expected. I think in order to feel the sense of harmony one should experience the opposite quality as if we need to know what the sadness is in order to feel what the happiness is. Along with the yin-yang philosophy, another powerful philosophical influence in my life is to become acquainted with Laban’s studies. My experiences in movement studies and dance studies related to Laban’s theories have made me think our life as the whole-part relationships through interactive process which inspired my vision that emphasizes the harmonious balance in and through dance education.

My ultimate dream is every person thinks that dance is not so remote from our life but dance is part of life experiences. In order to integrate life experiences with dance, I think dance should be considered as a core subject in education. If someone experiences dance from his/her early age of his/her life, then dance would be familiar to him/her and therefore, he/she could take dance as part of his or her life. Throughout my past knowledge, the most attractive educational model for me has been Smith-Autard’s midway Model. I appreciate her vision of Artistic, Aesthetic, and Cultural Education through dance with strands of Creating, Performing and Appreciating. In my opinion, the role of dance education should provide students with artistic, aesthetic, and cultural experiences through the dynamic process in teaching and learning.

Technology Resources for Performing Arts Educators at NYU

Learning technology has been my recent experience in my life. I was too ignorant to use the internet for facilitating my learning. As a dancer, choreographer, and someone who would like to be an educator, I acknowledge that keeping up with the current requirement in our modern society such as technology is necessary; I was afraid of using technology.

Technology Resources for Performing Arts Educators, the class that I am taking at NYU helps me to open my perceptions to look at the world even wider than ever before. It is as if I live in the world- past, present, and future. I can search whatever I want to know and need on google, yahoo, and all kinds of browers. I can download sofewares for free. I can create my blog, my space!!! Suddenly I realize that I was isolated from our society by not knowing how to use the internet. Through this class, however, I am learning a common language that I can communicate with people in our technological society... Though, it is only a beginning!!!!