The Application of Information Technology in the Teaching of Dance Psychotherapy

Information technology expands the scale of education and enriches the mode of running a school. It has become an effective means of disseminating education information because of characteristic of its extensiveness, convenience, trans-time-space, etc. In modern society, the highly developed information technology will greatly facilitate the development of dance psychotherapy disciplines to change the traditional teaching mode and optimize the whole teaching process. At the same time, Information technology will also improve it's related technologies via the cross-discipline integration of information technology and the dance therapy.


Introduction
Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) developed in 1940s.It's a treatment method to help people solve the psychological problems by dancing and movement.It's one of expressive art therapy schools.American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) defines it as "A psychological therapy which aims to promote the individual emotion, body, cognition and social integration by dancing or movement".Dance therapy develops much later compared to other psychological treatment schools.Now only the United Kingdom, the United States and other few countries have established relatively perfect systems of academic disciplines.And other countries are still in an embryonic stage.Besides, the number of therapists who have received systematic training is limited, so the transmission of the theory is restricted.In this situation, the application of modern information technology shows important and significant meanings.
The author will apply the information technology from different teaching stages in dance therapy teaching.Then the application of information technology will present this discipline in front of the students much more intuitively.The author's aim is to require the students to be able to use kinds of information resources (networks, computers, communication, technologies, etc).To achieve this goal means we teach the students to use information technology for information acquisition, processing, communication so that they have the attitude and ability of integrating information society.

The Application of information technology in the process of knowledge acquisition
Computer multimedia and network technology can provide the students with friendly and visual interactive learning environment.It will stimulate the students' interests and collaboration capabilities, vivid teaching information can stimulate all kinds of senses and it is useful for the creation of learning environment and the acquisition and maintain of the knowledge.The hypertext, hyperlink which is provided by computer technology is conducive to the subject knowledge organization and the teaching management.Information storehouse is helpful for the students to discover and explored actively.

Teaching presentation tools, the application of computer multimedia
Teachers can use the ready-made computer-aided teaching software or multimedia material library and use the appropriate part in the talks by choosing them; explain the structure of the course clearly and vividly display contents which are difficult to understand.The methods are PowerPoint or some multimedia production tools, various teaching materials; the process of change and theoretical models are displayed by graphics and animation.
In the actual teaching process, many teaching demonstrations which are difficult to operate because of the number of people and space requirements are difficult to present, such as body crawler belt, human pyramid, etc.
Then, this indirect learning shows great significance and receives good teaching results by watching the relevant video information.Image, video and other materials can present the dance treatment intuitionally.The students can form image thinking.The use of video and some other materials will be different in different stages of dance treatment.In teaching process, the students can observe intuitively how to operate the process and how it influences the visitors.This alternative learning is an integral part by watching other therapists in consultation process or fragments.It will be helpful for the students to understand the learning theory and to develop an overall framework and links.

Resource acquisition tools, the construction of teaching website
The information technology provides the subject itself rich teaching resources, as the tool of the acquisition learning content and learning resources.The construction of the websites can shorten the distance of the time and space and make the resource fully shared.The contents of website of the dance movement teaching include: Academic development: The development of academic disciplines will help the students understand the dynamics of the views at the development of disciplines, understand professional developments and master the discipline at home and abroad, arouse the interests of the students' in learning their professional knowledge and promote the discipline construction.
Network course: We set up psychology, physiology, and of course, dance therapy and some other related courses.These networks can be divided into the following three parts: the aspect of psychological, the aspects of relation between body and mind and the aspects of dance therapy.
Resources download: a variety of evaluation software, related treatment e-books and a variety of audio and video images.
Self-evaluation and learning feedback: site visitors can get their own learning feedback, in order to check the study results, improving the learning strategy to achieve the best learning results.Related links: For example: The Association for Dance Movement Therapy (UK) related links Website: www.dmtuk.demon.co.uk.The scholars can understand the latest dance therapy through the internet and learn about its current progress by the network.We can explore and innovate the therapy on the basis of our predecessors.

The Application of information technology in experiential learning progress
In the process of experimental learning, the students can take part in the group therapy or individual therapy which was led by other therapists.In this way, problems which can occur in the interpersonal communication with others in group therapy can be easily exposed.Constantly introspect and internalize through their own feelings and motion analysis.Discussions with other scholars and timely supervision of the teacher's guidance are particularly important through communications technology in the process of the dance therapy learning.

Movement analysis tool, movement analysis system on computer
We use video technology to record and storage the members' behaviors and use motion analysis theory (it is based on the system of Laban movement analysis including body movement, movement effort and body shape/space use) to processing information by computer analysis of motion.They classify them according to information and print them out.At the same time, the automatic printer prints the appropriate report card in order to observe the action side of the visitor's behavior.It makes the result more accurately and objectively, and records more action side of the visitors.By doing so, it increased the efficiency of the work and makes the whole treatment process more systematic and scientific.
Through this technology, the analysis of the movement will be more precise.After the treatment we should reflect how the therapists carry out the work, at the same time we will think how to deal with these various problems arising in the process and under what kind of circumstances interventions are needed.In looking at their reports we can review our own inner journey on the time, and then we watch analysis report and video of other participants, and analysis the movements using our own experience and learning theory.
It is not only for physical movement analysis, but also for facial expression analysis.The analysis will even reach at micro-expression analysis and even at minutes and seconds.In dance therapy, the therapists can not observe the micro-expression, so these judgments and feedbacks which are from personal projection are non-scientific nature.We can seize the one twenty-fifths second instantaneous expression of the visitors by computer amplification processing and transient keeping drawings technology.Analyzing internal mental activity will provide more information for therapy.The application of this technology is as like the key which presents a true portrayal of the heart by the body of the mask to open the inner world.

Communication of learning tools, construction of the network communication platform
Dance therapy is still at an embryonic stage in most countries.So for most of scientific research lovers who want to research and practice in this area, they lack of resources in this aspect.Most of the people don't have chance to go abroad to take training and study, adding it takes even 7 or 8 years to accept this special training.The network plays an important role.It will be helpful for more countries to know this knowledge and technology so that therapists of different regions can study and grow together.
It's necessary to steer by experienced supervision by remote communication technologies in early study.However the disadvantages is that the number of professional recognized therapists is relatively limited and most learners of other countries can not get the supervision of professional therapists.We can communicate with the professional qualified dance therapists by network.And we can talk with the master or learners abroad by BBS, email, QQ, msn or other communication software.At last we can make this internalization, form its own subject system.And also we can get constant development and innovation, breaking through the traditional therapy framework and building our own effective treatment in our own consultation process.
Common growth with other therapists who are at the same level is surely necessarily too.To achieve the above goal, we don't need complicated information technology.We need only some simple chatting room tools under the internet or LAN hard ware environment.And the teachers can build up some special subject internet meeting according to the need of the teaching requirement or the students' interests and give them the ability to freely establish special subject meeting room.As a result, by providing the students with communicating platform and founding chatting room, the teachers can make progress together with the students.

The Application of information technology at the practice and study stage
Dance therapy learning is different from other psychological theories learning.It needs more practice & operation.Therefore, we should make theoretical study combine with practice.In practice, we should improve the theory.

Audio-visual playing tools, the application of computer media
Dance can be the key to open the inner world so that people can express all kinds of their states of mind by dancing.It can reach a certain therapeutic effect when the rhythm matches the state of mind.Most dances have the music background, it attracts the people's common emotion from the 2 dimensions of visual and hearing.Computer software creates and works out all kinds visual and audio effects with the changes of melody.The visitors can dance with all kinds of music from the classical music to folk/country music, from pop/R&B to rap/hip-hop, from metal music to electronic music, from jazz to rock.
Warm-up stage: we can feel every corner and dance in music.Using multimedia computer to play all types of music, we can finish a series of warming-up activities with the group members.And also the visitors can choose the music by themselves and create their favorite music melody by kinds of computer software right now.This creative progress is part of the therapy, which can transform the psychological trauma to artistic creation.All kinds of computer software provide with good platform.
Working stage: we can also make sorts of musical effects together and control the light affects using computer.At the same time, we can reconcile immersive music and lighting effects, such as soft music about grassland and orange lighting effects.We can make people sit together or lie down comfortably, adjust the breath to achieve effect of relaxation therapy.
End stage: We can use the same kinds of technology by the end of therapy.In the proper music the people form a circle and say goodbye to each other at last.

Evaluation tools, the application of evaluation software
It includes the evaluation to visitors and to treatment effects.
It's very low efficient that therapists and visitors do face-to-face evaluation.It will cost the visitors a lot of time and energy to go to the consulting room to do assessment.Prevents from this, we'll transform the information of evaluation into evaluation software.It includes the following aspects of assessment: Information about dance therapy, history about visitors, risk assessment, etc. Evaluation software will do direct analysis and print the report out, which improve the efficiency greatly.

Finally
, it's more necessary to record and analyze the information by computer technology in individual's work stage.People can analyze the problems which occurred in treatment progress and form their own treatment system.