- About CEE
-
Events
- Overview
- CEE Anti-Racist Pedagogies Program: HRJ
- Certificate Program in University Teaching and Learning
- Decolonization and Indigenization
- Instructional Skills Workshop
- Remote Teaching Forum 2021
- Rethinking Course Design
- Special Events
- Symposium on Teaching and Learning
- TA/TM Days: The Teaching Orientation Program
- Teaching Matters Seminar Series
- Voice and Presentation Skills
-
News
- Overview
- What will the return to campus look and feel like?
- In their own words: Faculty members talk about the return to in-person instruction
- In-person instruction: Some classes have already returned
- 813,000 Zoom meetings: How IT Services handled the move to remote instruction
- This math lecturer developed her own open textbook—now thousands of students are using it
- Three students talk about academic integrity
- A different perspective on academic integrity
- Painting the bigger picture of academic integrity
- National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
- Reflections on Inclusion in the Classroom Week
- Fostering connection and practicing kindness
- Can you teach dance remotely?
- A student’s perspective: How two instructors created connection online
- Welcome to your new Zoom classroom
- Kevin Lam: “Students appreciate every little thing we do that shows that we care”
- Sheri Fabian: “I embraced a flexible approach”
- Sarah Johnson: “The biggest change I made was to switch to asynchronous delivery”
- Nicky Didicher: “I’m finding my job less exhilarating”
- Mark Lechner: “You have to be OK with things going sideways”
- Nienke van Houten: “They really valued my clear and upfront approach”
- How can we support remote instruction at SFU?
- Crowdmark: A more efficient way to grade student assessments
- The unexpected benefits of a shorter syllabus
- Photo gallery: Talking shop at Teaching Matters
- Watch the video: Faculty members discuss SFU's new instructor-led online course model
- Bridges and booster rockets: CEE's new senior director talks about teaching support
- Meet the Centre for Educational Excellence leadership team
- A biology instructor rethought her students’ role—and her own
- Photo gallery: SFU’s 24th Annual Spring TA/TM Day
- Photo gallery: SFU's 9th Annual Winter Warm-up
- If you build it, will they come?
- “My students didn’t look like they were having fun”: Three additions to the TA/TM Stories podcast series
- View the furniture, share your thoughts—online
- An upgraded Canvas Gradebook is coming in January
- Share your thoughts on the furniture in SFU classrooms
- DEMOfest presenter slides
- Photo gallery: 5th Annual DEMOfest
- Teamwork needs to be taught
- TA/TM Stories: Three new podcasts explore the teaching experiences of grad students
- Can it be done? A math instructor attempts to indigenize her course
- Answers to your questions about SFU's new approach to online education
- Photo gallery: The CEE Open House
- Do you know your faculty teaching fellow?
- Instructor-led online courses: How one faculty member prepared for the new model
- Photo gallery: SFU's 34th Annual Fall TA/TM Day draws a crowd
- Connecting people and crossing artificial divides: An interview with Elizabeth Elle
- Sessional instructors can now be included in online course evaluations
- Don't say this to your class—a student shares his experience
- How one lecturer is using podcasts to make course concepts more real in her online course
- Photo gallery: Rain, burgers and smiles at the 2019 President's Employee BBQ
- Five questions and answers about the creation of CEE
- A redesign made this course more engaging for students—and the instructor
- CPUTL: A graduate student describes her experience
- Services
- Resources
- CEE Staff Login
Can you teach dance remotely?
Don't try this at home. Rob Kitsos has found ways to teach dance successfully despite the constraints of remote instruction. Photo credit: David Cooper.
What do you do when you teach dance and the studio space is off-limits?
That’s a question Rob Kitsos (professor and associate director, School of Contemporary Arts) has had to confront since the move to remote instruction. His response, in courses like CA 122: Contemporary Dance Technique and CA 285: Interdisciplinary Studio: Composition/Collaboration, has been to seek out the positives of the new reality.
“For dance technique, it’s a very different approach teaching online. Some of these changes are obviously frustrating—like having enough space for bigger movement and not being able to give immediate feedback to students because of limited visibility. Other aspects of online teaching I see as advantages—like each student being able to have their own focus without the competition or distraction of other people in the room or mirrors. We also seem to have more conversations as students seem to feel more open to speaking on Zoom than in the studio.”
New skills and greater resilience
The past eight months have been a time of enforced adaptation for him.
“I have […] learned to work with and use technology with more confidence and ease. From lecturing, sharing media and sound [to] talking about film and video in the context of making new work and composition.”
The result has been growth for him and his students.
“I think we have gained more resilience in managing a crisis like Covid—how to move forward and continue our practice within the parameters of a pandemic. We have lost our human/live connection when working together in the same space—which is hard—but it has forced us to look for new ways of motivating ourselves.”
Yoga and a generous dose of empathy
He recognizes the efforts of his students in the face of significant obstacles.
“In general, students have been working hard and staying positive. Challenges specific to dance have mostly to do with spaces at home. Many just don't have enough room to work. Others have connection issues.”
When it comes to self-care, Kitsos draws on familiar physical practices.
“Yoga, stretching, walking. My body takes a beating with so many hours online.”
His counsel to teaching colleagues reflects the themes of empathy and flexibility that have become prevalent in learning and teaching discussions since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Stay positive and look for the values in this new context. Be conscientious of how many hours you are asking of your students online. Give them creative ways of working on their own time—and in groups.”
F T