In Block 1, I made a connection between online learning and dance as a subject that is physical. To embody the movement, one must master the steps, quality, rhythm and space. If we were to use 360 degree footage would it bring another layer to the learning experience ?

Now, this video can be viewed either on a smartphone or a laptop but I suggest viewing with your phone. I guarantee you will need room to move in order to follow Vince (the dancer) as he moves around the dance studio. It is a feel good video and I know Thomas and Vince had great fun creating it. Technology is something that Shaper/Caper, a dance company I work for, value as a tool to connect with their audience. Whether it’s live stream footage of a workshop/performance or an interactive performance, technology enables Shaper/Caper to reach an online community that goes further than the location of the company. Here, we have a moment where the viewer can interact with the performer. In order to view the footage the viewer has to move, get up and turn. The movement begins to resemble a dance sequence. I let my mother watch the footage on my smartphone this week and I really wish I had recorded her experience. She began to bounce in time with the music, feeling the beat and swaying with Vince. She had a smile from cheek to cheek until she began singing along escalating to a full rendition of ‘Young Heart’. Now I’m not sure if the connection was enhanced through my mother and I having a personal relationship with Vince or if we would have reacted the same without that connection. If you stumble on this lifestream post I would love to hear your experience……

This post connects with a reading of Hayes (1999) and Valverde & Cochrane (2014) where I consider the body-mind skill through online learning and a computer/smartphone function to interconnect environments, channels of communication and perceptive experiences.

References:

Hayes, N.K (1999) How we become Post-humans: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press

Valvarde, I., & Cochrane, T. (2014). Innovative dance-technology educational practices within senses places. Procedia Technology, 13, 122-129. do:10.1016/j.protcy.2014.02.016

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