One way NDEO works to benefit dancers is through a variety of online dance education courses specifically designed for dance teachers, through our Online Professional Development Institute (OPDI). We continually evaluate and adapt courses to meet the needs of the dance teaching population.

OPDI offers online dance education courses featuring pedagogy, teaching methods, history, assessments, research, and much more. OPDI benefits the vast majority of dance educators, teaching artists, and administrators who are working in private studios and schools of dance, community and cultural centers, higher education, and K-12 education seeking professional development. The courses are designed to appeal to those professionals who want to learn more, enhance domains of knowledge, learn new content areas, and strengthen their own teaching and learning skills for the benefit of their students.

Since 2012, more than 1,600 teachers have taken at least one of our many online courses. This translates into tens of thousands of students benefitting from their teacher's enhanced knowledge, skills, and experiences.

NDEO’s goal is to develop 10 new OPDI courses a year and continue that pace for the coming years. To that end, in late 2023, we launched a Call for OPDI Course Proposals and Professors and received over 40 submissions from our members. To meet our course development goals, we bring attention to the Bonbright OPDI Fund in honor of Dr. Jane Bonbright to support new OPDI course development that reflects a diversity of professors and content. Dr. Bonbright was not only the Founding Executive Director of NDEO but also the visionary behind NDEO’s Online Professional Development Institute (OPDI). 

NDEO values the expertise and commitment of our course developers. OPDI course development fees range between $1,000 and $2,700 per course depending on the length. OPDI teaching fees range between $1,100 and $3,300 per course depending on length.

The education, inspiration, and peer-to-peer connection each participant receives from taking an NDEO OPDI course flows through to impact every class they lead, and every student they teach. Thousands of dance students have benefitted from their teacher participating in OPDI coursework.