Dance teachers can use technology to teach all four strands of the Dance TEKS: perception, creative expression/performance, cultural/historical heritage, and response/evaluation. Students can use video to observe correct technique, review professional performances, watch documentaries on dance, and record student performances. In the last decade, many new technologies, such as the Internet and multimedia CD-ROMs, have become widely available for fast, efficient research and communication. The following project is intended to stimulate thinking on technology-supported activities that can help students learn the Dance TEKS.

As a way of integrating technology into your classroom, investigate the possibility of connecting your students, via the Internet, with high school dance students in another part of the world. Find a public school dance program that has access to an e-mail account for use by its students. Set up an e-mail account for your class to use to communicate with the partner school. Have the students introduce themselves through e-mail, and guide them in the process of exploring what it's like to be a dance student in the partner school's culture. Have your students ask questions about technique, the history of particular genres or styles the partner school is studying, and dancers and/or choreographers who have been important to them. Encourage questions about how students became involved in dance. How long have they been dancing? What are the elements of their training? What are the traditions, styles, and schools of dance that have been important to them? What, specifically, have they learned from other dancers and dance movements? How have they applied what they've learned to their own studies?

The class could photograph or video elements of their performances such as an important configuration of performers or a costume/set design, and e-mail the images to the partner school. A more challenging task might be learning to upload video to a Web site. The class could explain a lesson on their site and invite the partner school to collaborate on the planning and design of a future performance.

Teachers should discuss proper e-mail etiquette with students and relate online conversations to the curriculum. Encourage students to share what they've discussed with the partner school. Class dialogue about the e-mail project will give students a stronger context for what they learn. Be flexible in directing the project. It's useful to set goals and guidelines, but be open to changing them based on how the project takes shape.