HomeUpcoming OPDI Courses

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OPDI Home Course Catalog Professors Required Materials & Commitment Prerequisites Grading & Credits Refund Policy Apply to OPDI

Upcoming OPDI Courses

This page lists all upcoming Online Professional Development Institute (OPDI)™ courses open for enrollment. To see all courses in the OPDI course catalog, click here. To see the list of projected courses for upcoming semesters, click here.

15% DISCOUNT ON ALL COURSES THROUGH 12/9/21

Discount Code: OPDI-Course-15
Must register and pay for the course(s) by 12/9/21 in order to use this discount code.

Spring 2022To see course descriptions, please scroll down.
Download Spring Course Descriptions

12-week Courses:
OPDI-110: Dance Kinesiology and Applied Teaching Practice (2/14 - 5/8)

OPDI-113: Foundations of Dance Pedagogy for All Dance Environments (2/14 - 5/8)

OPDI-117: Developing Strategic Leadership in Dance and Life (2/14 - 5/8)

OPDI-123: The Dancing Brain (2/14 - 5/8)

4, 6, and 8-week Mini Courses:
OPDI-M2: Elements of Dance (2/28 - 3/27)

OPDI-M3: Rubric and Portfolio Assessments in Dance (2/28 - 3/27)

OPDI-M18: Intro. to Choreography in Dance Education: A Process to Teach Your Students How to Create Dances (2/28 - 4/10)

OPDI-M6: Introduction to Creative Dance in Early Childhood (2/28 - 4/10)

How to Enroll in Courses

NDEO Members:

To register for courses, login with your NDEO member username and password. Proceed to your Member Profile and click on the Access OPDI button. Under the Upcoming Courses tab, click on the appropriate enroll link for the course you wish to take. You must have a current NDEO membership in order to take OPDI courses. If you are not yet an OPDI student you will need to complete the OPDI Application before you can register for a course.

Registration and Tuition Payment Deadline: Two Wednesdays before course start date.

How do OPDI Courses Work

Our courses are asynchronous, so there are no required meeting dates or times but we do have a course start and end date. Every week of the course there are assignments that you will need to complete. Typically the due date is on Sunday each week but you should read the syllabus at the beginning of the course to confirm due dates.

Our “online” courses are guided by a professor and include a co-hort of students (other dance teachers) with whom you will collaborate. They also include graded assignments, feedback, final grades, and Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Our OPDI online courses require on average between 6 to 8 hours of work each week, but it all depends on the student's learning style. It could be less or could be more. You can also register as an Audit student and do as much or as little work as you want and will not receive a grade. We utilize the Sakai online learning platform to deliver the course materials and instruction. In most of our courses, the first week of the course is all about learning how to use our online platform, then you begin content in week 2.

Assignments can be done at any time during the week and may include reading, watching videos, posting answers to prompts on a discussion board, writing an essay, reading and responding to other students' posts on the discussion board, taking a cell phone video of yourself completing a particular movement, taking a quiz, or completing a final project. The professor provides written feedback and grades and you get to connect with other students (who are actually dance teachers) via our discussion board and a few optional live video chats.

Fees: OPDI Tuition & Membership Policy

Spring 2022 Course Descriptions & Information

12 Week Courses

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OPDI-110: Dance Kinesiology and Applied Teaching Practice

This course provides an introduction to the field of dance kinesiology with an emphasis on applied teaching practices. The course will provide participants with a strong foundation in anatomy and kinesiology to help maximize performance and minimize potential injuries of their students. Participants will learn how to create environments to promote healthy approaches in the training of dancers which include injury basics, developmentally safe practices, nutrition and the creation of a medical support network. The information provided in the course is based upon proven principles and methodologies gathered from current research. As an educator it is important to clearly define the anatomical potential and limitations of individual dancers in order to maximize technical training and performance. This course will provide you with the confidence that you are using safe and effective training principles to minimize injury in your students. Book required: Biel, Andrew. Trail Guide to the body (5th Edition) - amazon.com / gettextbooks.com/ booksofdiscovery.com | Morton, Jennie & Kish, Robin (2017) The Embodied Dancer: A Guide to Optimal Performance - apple ibooks or amazon/kindle. 3 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Robin Kish. Tuition: $520. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-115: Dance Integration: Re-envisioning the Creative Process

OPDI-113: Foundations of Dance Pedagogy for All Dance Environments

This course provides a survey of educational foundations in dance pedagogy with particular emphasis on social and cultural aspects of pedagogical theory in multiple settings (P-12, private studio, postsecondary education, and dance in community). Study includes the historical context of education and dance education, education theory, the art and science of teaching, the sociology of school organization and culture, and the ethical dimensions of teaching. Applied learning experiences include social immersion projects and reflexive commentaries. Consider taking this course if you are interested in 1) expanding the development of a personal pedagogy and philosophy of teaching appropriate for your dance education setting, and 2) developing theoretical and applied understandings of critical pedagogical concerns in dance education including teaching and learning theory, social and cultural issues in education, diversity, inclusion, and equity, and reflective practice. This course is appropriate for any dance educator, whether new to the field or a seasoned veteran, who is interested in answering the question: “What does it mean to be responsible for someone else’s learning? 3 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Doug Risner. Tuition: $520. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-117: Developing Strategic Leadership in Dance and Life

This course looks at leadership as a complex process that has multiple dimensions. We begin with questioning: What is the role of ethics, integrity, and character in the leadership process? Is leadership more dependent on innate traits, skills and characteristics, or is it more learned behavior and strategy? This course focuses on the latter – learned behavior that requires one formulate and execute strategy. In narrowing our focus to lead with strategic thinking, we examine four ways effective leaders gain insight, drive change, and get results. In this journey, we draw on aspects of cognitive psychology, systems thinking, and game theory to inform strategy – a truly fascinating concept. When we integrate formulating strategy with executing strategy and apply intent to those functions, leadership types emerge – visionary, directive, incubating, and collaborate. We examine these in detail looking at core and applied competencies associated with strategic leadership. Case studies allow us to deconstruct and reconstruct concepts learned; ultimately understanding how formulating and implementing strategic thinking is critical to effective and successful leadership. In each module, students apply course content to personal and professional situations through doing many self-reflective inventories to provide base-line information about their own innate or acquired abilities; and building a Learning Opportunity case study applying lesson learned. Indeed the course provides the dance educator and administrator with important and practical ways to develop critical skills sets, develop actionable approaches to solving problems, and capitalize on innate strengths Book Required: Olson, Aaron K. & Simerson, B. Keith. (2015). Leading with Strategic Thinking: For Ways Effective Leaders Gain Insight, Drive Change, and Get Results. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Dr. Jane Bonbright. Tuition: $520. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-123: The Dancing Brain

This course examines the mind in action as it orchestrates skilled movement and how it understands the kinesthetic, symbolic language of dance. Brain function is approached from inside the body as embodiment of thought as experienced in the 12 modes neuro-cognition: observation, engagement, high-level thinking, emotions, memory, imagination and imagery, learning, problem-solving, communication, and creativity. Research about thought processes in learning and performing dance encompasses a vision of dance as creative art, communication, education, and life. Theoretical knowledge is experienced in movement throughout the course. Kinesthetic understanding about how the brain functions while dancers create, perform, or teach dance helps to provides broader comprehension about how audiences perceive movement, how choreographers development ideas, and how students learn dance. EVERYONE who wants to know why we love dance should take the course. Book Required: Thinking with the Dancing Brain, co-authored by Rima Faber and Sandra Cerny Minton. Book Required: Thinking with the Dancing Brain, co-authored by Rima Faber and Sandra Cerny Minton. 3 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Dr. Rima Faber. Tuition: $520. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

Mini Courses: 4-8 Weeks Long

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OPDI–M2: Elements of Dance (4 weeks)

This course explores the language we use to describe movement, and dance in particular. Through movement and discussion we will examine how the body moves in space, in time, and with energy (dynamics). A working knowledge of this material allows us to identify and describe movement with specificity and clarity, which serves both teachers and students. Ultimately, the goal of movement is to communicate meaning. We will explore the tools with which the body communicates. We call these tools the elements of movement. Our bodies are the instruments of communication. We will examine what moves, where, how, and when it moves in space, and with certain qualities that enhance meaning. 1 NDEO CEU. Professor: Patricia Cohen. Tuition: $200. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-M3: Rubric and Portfolio Assessments in Dance (4 weeks)

This course is the process of gathering evidence that may be used to effectively measure student learning. Assessments may be used in any dance education environment: private school of dance, conservatory, recreation center, preK-12, or post-secondary education. We can both monitor students’ progress during the learning process (formative assessment) and at the end of a period of time (summative assessment), perhaps a semester, a season, or a year. This 1 unit course will give participants a basic understanding of assessment as it pertains to dance education and understand how to use rubrics and portfolios as tools for assessments. 1 NDEO CEU. Professor: Susan McGreevy-Nichols. Tuition: $200. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-M18: Intro. to Choreography in Dance Education: A Process to Teach Your Students How to Create Dances (6 weeks)

This course offers participants experience with a system that can be used to teach basic elements and principles of choreography and explores how to encourage self-expression through dance making. Many dancers have not formally studied the art of choreography. Perhaps someone is experienced in making dances but now wants support learning how to teach others. How does the studio teacher, or performing arts center instructor, teach the choreographic process to young performers? How does the education director of a dance company structure dance-making activities within school residencies? How does one teach pre- and in-service teachers, or instructors in community recreational programs, how to teach this process to students with little or no dance experience? In this course, participants will walk through, or model, a process that they can use to teach students how to create their own choreography. The course text is actually a student textbook and so it will be a small “leap” from course participation to application of this methodology in one’s teaching practice. Peer discussions, journal reflections and reflective essays will help in this application. Book Required: Experiencing Dance: from Student to Dance Artist by Helene Scheff, Marty Sprague, and Susan McGreevy-Nichols. (2nd Edition). Can be ordered from Human Kinetics, us.humankinetics.com. Hardcover or e-book available, both with online materials – be sure to request access to the online materials. 1.5 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Marty Sprague. Tuition: $295. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

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OPDI-M6: Introduction to Creative Dance in Early Childhood (6 weeks)

This course explores the concepts and content essential for quality teaching and learning for creative dance for early childhood. Cognitive and child development, standards, assessment, pedagogy and the foundations of curriculum development will be investigated through readings, research, observation and interactive projects. The course will explore BrainDance, developed by Anne Green Gilbert, and its 8 patterns of movement (Breath, Tactile, Core-Distal, Head-Tail, Upper-Lower, Body Side, Cross Lateral, and Vestibular) to show how it addresses child development principles and current brain research. Participants will grapple with essential questions, and learn the skills to be able to develop and implement a creative dance curriculum outline for either 3-5 or 6-8 years of age 1.5 NDEO CEUs. Professor: Lynn Monson. Tuition: $295. **Save 15% when you register and pay with code OPDI-Course-15 by 12/9/21**

Information for All Courses

Required Materials and Commitment

Computer and high speed internet access is mandatory for successful completion of these courses. It is expected that students will spend up to 8 hours each week completing assignments.

General Prerequisites

Before registering for these course, students must be formally accepted into OPDI and have a current NDEO membership. If you have an individual membership (Professional, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student, PhD/EdD, Young Professional, or Retiree), you will be able to complete the OPDI application and register for courses from your member profile. If you are the contact name on an institutional membership with NDEO, please call 301-585-2880 or email opdi@ndeo.org and we will set you up with a complimentary OPDI membership.

Grading and Credits

Students will receive a Pass with Distinction or Pass and the appropriate number of NDEO-endorsed continuing education units (CEU) upon the successful completion of the course. Students who do not complete the course or who receive a failing grade will receive an audit status. Alternatively, students can register to audit the course, allowing them to participate as much or as little as they want with no consequences. Students with an audit status will not receive a grade or CEUs, and the course will not count towards to completion of a Certificate in Dance Education. Students can inform NDEO and their professor of their intention to audit at any time during the course, although we prefer you register at the beginning as an audit if that meets your needs. It is up to the student to notify NDEO of their audit status by emailing opdi@ndeo.org.

Information on Additional Course Credit
This program is on-hold. Select OPDI courses (indicated above in course description) are available for either undergraduate or graduate college credit through our partner, the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG), at $495 per course. Please note that you cannot audit the course if taken for UNCG college credit, and you will receive a letter grade and can order an official transcript from UNCG after the course is over. During course registration, you will have the option to add UNCG credits to courses where available. Courses with College Credit

Refund Policy

For 12-week courses:
In order to be eligible for a refund or credit, the student must notify NDEO by email at opdi@ndeo.org and confirm that the email was received. The $50 administration fee is subtracted from all tuition refunds. If the request is received before the start date of the course and before the student has accessed materials or the course, 100% refund or credit of all tuition is granted. If the request is received by day 7 (end of the first week) of the course, 75% refund or credit of tuition is granted. If the request is received by day 14 (end of the second week) of the course, 50% refund or credit of tuition is granted. No refunds or credits after the end of the 2nd week of the course. Refunds will be sent to the student in the form of a check or credit card depending on mode of initial payment, while credits will be placed in the student’s NDEO membership account and can be used against future NDEO transactions. There are NO refunds of college credit fees from University of North Carolina/Greensboro.

For 4-week, 6-week, or 8-week Mini Courses:
In order to be eligible for a refund or credit, the student must notify NDEO by email at opdi@ndeo.org and confirm that the email was received. The $50 administration fee is subtracted from all tuition refunds. If the request is received before the start date of the course and before the student has accessed the materials or the course, 100% refund or credit of tuition is granted. If the request is received by day 7 (end of the first week) of the course, 75% refund or credit is granted. Refunds will be sent to the student in the form of a check or credit card depending on mode of initial payment, while credits will be placed in the student’s NDEO membership account and can be used against future NDEO transactions. Refunds will be sent to student in the form of a check while credits will be placed in the student’s NDEO membership account and can be used against future NDEO transactions.

Online Course Disclaimer: Online courses are delivered and completed solely through online means (computer; Sakai site; and email). There are no face to face class meetings. Students should be proactive, motivated, and fully responsible for their own coursework and assignments in a timely way. Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to work ahead of schedule and anticipate/plan for future assignments.