Microsoft One Note is a free application that is accessible to any device. It allows teachers to keep all of their materials like notes, lesson plans, homework assignments, presentations, and answer keys in one place. It can be used to distribute homework to students and for having students submit their homework. Teachers can collaborate on projects. It can be used to record audio and it can be used to draw on as well. The real advantage of this project is having everything together and easily accessible.
Although I can see the value in this program and why it would appeal to some teachers, I do not see myself using it. It did not seem intuitive to use, and I had difficulty attaching files, even a word document. I tried attaching a video and the file was too large. My classes are very hands-on in terms of music-making and there is little to no homework. I prefer paper notes and lesson plans.
Maria Wood's Music Technology Class Blog
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Week 7 Reflection
I already engage in many of the technologies that Bauer references as ones that increase teacher's productivity. Like most teachers, I use email (although sometimes I think this wastes as much time as it saves considering how many irrelevant emails I receive), texting, and Dropbox. I have a website where I communicate important dates and I enter my grades on the computer. I use Microsoft word to make a variety of teaching materials and to communicate with parents. I prefer to use pen and paper for to-do lists and for my calendar as I tend to get tired of staring at computer screens rather quickly. I use technology to register my students for festivals and when making traveling plans. Facebook even sometimes serves as an aid in my teaching since I can reach out quickly to many other music teacher contacts with a question or an idea. Thanks to this class, I even have an RSS, which will allow me to stay more up-to-date with educational trends.
Bauer also makes some suggestions that I think could be helpful to me. Creating a database for my music library and for keeping track of musical instruments would be very helpful. Perhaps I could even have some responsible students serve as choral "managers" who could help me with the initial data entry, since it would be fairly time consuming. I also liked the idea of communities of practice. There is only one other music teacher at my school and we have different specialties. Interacting regularly with others and sharing ideas could help me to keep my teaching fresh. Unfortunately I am not aware of any specific examples. (Perhaps our blogs and PLNs are two examples.)
Technology has obviously given me aid with regard to my personal professional development; I am completing my MME completely online. It was interesting to learn of the superiority of blended learning experiences over face-to-face or online only learning, but it wasn't surprising. A disadvantage is that I would really like to work on my conducting and this really does not allow for that. One aspect that I really like the discussion boards. It's easier to articulate myself in writing rather than orally, and I like that I can learn at my own pace.
Bauer also makes some suggestions that I think could be helpful to me. Creating a database for my music library and for keeping track of musical instruments would be very helpful. Perhaps I could even have some responsible students serve as choral "managers" who could help me with the initial data entry, since it would be fairly time consuming. I also liked the idea of communities of practice. There is only one other music teacher at my school and we have different specialties. Interacting regularly with others and sharing ideas could help me to keep my teaching fresh. Unfortunately I am not aware of any specific examples. (Perhaps our blogs and PLNs are two examples.)
Technology has obviously given me aid with regard to my personal professional development; I am completing my MME completely online. It was interesting to learn of the superiority of blended learning experiences over face-to-face or online only learning, but it wasn't surprising. A disadvantage is that I would really like to work on my conducting and this really does not allow for that. One aspect that I really like the discussion boards. It's easier to articulate myself in writing rather than orally, and I like that I can learn at my own pace.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
Week 6 Reflection
This week's reading on technology and responding to music caused me to reflect on what kinds of activities I am already doing that allow students to respond to music. Most of the technology I use with relation to students responding to music consists of some activity that goes along with listening to a recording or video. I expose my students to a variety of music recordings and videos and they engage in repeated listening. I have students describe the music that they hear in terms of instrumentation, dynamics, tempo, mode, etc. I have students interpret the mood of pieces and share responses both openly in class and in written form. I have also had students draw a picture of what the music reminds them of or write a short story that complements a piece of music. I also have used listening maps and notation that students follow along with on the SmartBoard. Students engage in specific movement activities that correspond to a specific sound in the music, and sometimes they simply dance freely to what they hear. They listen to music and create complementary parts. They listen to recordings of their own performances and critique them.
I also reflected on if I should be incorporating more technology into the way I have students respond to music. Certainly I am already taking advantage of the abundance of music available to me at the click of a button via internet resources such as YouTube, Spotify, Grooveshark and that is a huge advantage current technology affords music education. What more is really doing to improve the quality of my teaching? Aren't I already having students adequately respond to music? Can technology really enhance what I am already doing or does an attempt to integrate more technology distract from the "meat and potatoes"? Could the integration of more technology take away from some of the more simple and organic responsive experiences? Or am I just subconsciously making excuses because I'm too busy and stressed to burden myself with more responsibility?
There were some ideas in this weeks reading that sound promising, and there are many I had never heard of before. I like the idea of using software to create graphical representations of music. (I already do so to some extent with some YouTube.) I wasn't aware that programs like Audacity could create spectrograms of music. I am not familiar with SoundCloud at all, but it sounds promising as a source for listening maps.I am particularly interested in the music theory and aural skills websites like Teoria and MusicTheory.net. It is easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of resources available, but I am glad that I am receiving some direction in our text, and these three seem like a good place to begin.
I also reflected on if I should be incorporating more technology into the way I have students respond to music. Certainly I am already taking advantage of the abundance of music available to me at the click of a button via internet resources such as YouTube, Spotify, Grooveshark and that is a huge advantage current technology affords music education. What more is really doing to improve the quality of my teaching? Aren't I already having students adequately respond to music? Can technology really enhance what I am already doing or does an attempt to integrate more technology distract from the "meat and potatoes"? Could the integration of more technology take away from some of the more simple and organic responsive experiences? Or am I just subconsciously making excuses because I'm too busy and stressed to burden myself with more responsibility?
There were some ideas in this weeks reading that sound promising, and there are many I had never heard of before. I like the idea of using software to create graphical representations of music. (I already do so to some extent with some YouTube.) I wasn't aware that programs like Audacity could create spectrograms of music. I am not familiar with SoundCloud at all, but it sounds promising as a source for listening maps.I am particularly interested in the music theory and aural skills websites like Teoria and MusicTheory.net. It is easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of resources available, but I am glad that I am receiving some direction in our text, and these three seem like a good place to begin.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Week 5 Reflection
In
general, this week’s reading on assessment left me feeling a bit glazed over,
as these kinds of readings always have. I always tend to get concepts like
validity and reliability mixed up, even if I studied them and got them correct
on assessment in college. The concepts of formative
and summative are familiar and
straight forward and I include both types in my teaching. In my general music
classes, I use a combination of written tests and performance tests that I
grade with a rubric. I use fewer performance tests because they are extremely
time consuming, even though I think they are very valuable.
I am
overwhelmed by all the ways to use technology in assessment and left feeling
discouraged. There are certainly many possibilities, but my time is very
limited, and our school has a limited amount of technology and even less
support. I would be trying to navigate all of these assessment tools on my own,
and there would inevitably be glitches. I suppose the key is to take baby
steps.
I like
the idea of using Google Forms to create online quizzes that can be graded
automatically, even though with our limited number of computers, it might be difficult
to have access to computers to complete these kinds of assessments. The idea of
using clickers in student response systems is appearling. I
would like to be able to see how many of my students understand with the safety
of anonymity. The challenge is, again, lack of technology. We simply don’t have
enough computers to make this a normal part of instruction, and in our school,
students are not permitted to use cell phones. I also like the idea of using
technology to assess musical performance. If I could assess pitch and rhythmic
accuracy outside the classroom, this would save considerable time correcting
errors in class and it could motivate students to achieve benchmarks at a
faster pace.
I
already use some technology for assessment, so perhaps I shouldn’t be too
discouraged. I use video and audio
recording so that my students can observe and evaluate their own performances,
although this is more informal. Also,
the students and parents in my school have access to their grades at all times
via our district-wide gradebook that they can access online.
In the
reading on instructional design, I was particularly struck with the idea of
backward design, and would like to use this more in my teaching. I have heard
of this before and it makes so much sense as an educational model. Yet I tend to go about it as teachers often do—first
with learning activities, then with a desired outcome, then with an assessment.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Chromatik vs. SmartMusic
Chromatik is an online program for musicians that is
designed to help them practice, perform and share music. It can be used on Web,
Android, iOS, and Amazon devices and there are not currently any options to
print or download music. It offers a free catalogue of reference tracks, annotation tools, and
recording options. The basic version is free, but there are frequent ads that
are of minor annoyance, and one only has access to three “plays” or pieces of
sheet music per day. There is an option to upgrade to Chromatic Pro, which
allows for an ad-free experience and unlimited access to their music. If you
are unable to find a piece of music, you can make a request for that piece,
although there is already a variety of music styles already available for many
different instruments. There are lead sheets with lyrics and chords, guitar
tabs with intro-to-guitar information, as well as easy versions of pieces for
beginners. There is an option to find scales, but this was sub-par. For
example, the “advanced” piano scales included no bass clef and included no
fingering, but these could be annotated. Perhaps the greatest advantage of this
program is that students can record and share their music with others and
receive feedback. One weakness is that there are not many help features.
Fortunately, navigating the website is fairly intuitive. For example, if you
are looking for classical music to play, you can click “Classical”, and then
select your instrument. Below is a link to piano classics.
https://www.chromatik.com/piano
SmartMusic is another online sheet music library with many other
features. It is larger than that of Chromatic, and it is geared more
specifically to music educators and their students. Students can play a piece
of music in context of the ensemble with professional accompaniments. They
receive immediate feedback as the program lets students know of pitch or
rhythmic inaccuracies, which will inevitably save time in lessons. In addition,
students can record themselves for their teachers who can listen to the
performance on a mobile device or computer and give feedback. Students can send
recordings of their performances to family and friends. Portfolios can be
created of individual students performances, and there are other options for
music educators like assignments and assessments and rubrics, that can be
tailored for specific instruments and students. In addition, there are many
exercises including scales, intervals, arpeggios, vocalises, and more. There
are also practice tools such as a metronome, tuner, on-screen piano, and
digital recorder. There are online training classes that users can take for a
fee that will help them navigate the program. There is a free trial for
educators, and there is an annual fee for students and music educators. See the "Discover SmartMusic" video at the link below for more information.
http://www.smartmusic.com/
Both
of these programs have implications for music education. Chromatic is seems to
be geared for more informal study that motivates students. Being able to access
the library for free is also a benefit of Chromatic. SmartMusic, while
requiring an annual subscription fee, is
tailored more specifically for music educators with its capacity for creating
assignments, assessments, and for grading performances. Its ability to helps
students recognize their own errors without assistance from the teacher is of
enormous benefit and has the potential to save a great amount of time in
lessons and large group ensmebles, freeing the director to focus on other
aspects of musicianship.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Week 4 Reflection
In the section of
"Other Media", in this week's reading, I mostly encountered material
that I was already familiar with, some of it more relevant to my teaching than
others. Graphics seemed the least relevant to my teaching. I already use videos
in my classrooms, mostly short videos from Youtube for instructional purposes.
The idea of video editing is a bit daunting, and I don't see much need to use
it for instructional purposes. It has potential use for recording and editing
student performances so that they can self-evaluate. It might be nice to embed
some of these videos on a school website for my students.
As I read through the section on "Instructional
Software" I reflected on what I already use in my teaching and I thought
about which category some of the programs I have learned about would be
categorized. The four types were tutorial, practice, creativity, and games.
Smartmusic and Chromatic appear to be examples of practice instructional
software since prerequisite knowledge is required and these allow students to
practice their instrument and learn about areas where they need to improve.
Soundation is an example of creativity instructional software. I use tutorials
more than any of the others, mostly because my students are beginners. However
I see a lot of potential and value in some of the others, especially creativity
software. Games can be fun and have potential to reinforce previous knowledge
in a fun way, but I think they should be used sparingly, maybe at the end of
the school year, when it is particularly difficult to maintain student
interest.
I was a bit
overwhelmed by the reading on pages 76-78, where a day in the work life of a
band teacher named Michael is described. It would to me years to learn how to
work all of the technology that he is using, and who has time to spend hours
after work learning new technology? Although I think some of the technologies
described in this section, like recording students with audacity, can enhance
instruction, I think we need to guard against how too much technology in the
classroom. I think it also has the potential to
distance us from our students. One thing that was particularly appealing
to me (mainly for personal reasons) was when Michael discusses “the purchase of
an electronic mute system that will allow her to practice in the apartment
where she lives without disturbing the neighbors” (p. 78). I live in an
apartment and my skills are definitely suffering because I can’t practice there
without disturbing others.
Another excerpt
from our reading that stood out to me was where Bauer discusses accompaniment. “Researchers
have found that students generally prefer to practice with accompaniment” (p.
82). This is consistent with my own experience. However, when I am teaching, my
attention is divided between playing the accompaniment and listening to my
ensembles so that I can give them feedback. It’s really difficult to do both
things well. I think the best solution is to hire an accompanist, but this is
not very practical financially for many schools. Technology offers wonderful
solutions for this.
After reading
the section on SmartMusic, I was impressed with its potential for aiding band
students but left wondering if it was relevant to the choral practice room. The
most appealing thing was that it “can be used to sing one’s part along with the
other accompanying instruments, including a full ensemble or piano
accompaniment” (p. 83). I am also
curious about how it works with regard to sight reading. Is this software
expensive, and are there free alternatives that can do what I want since I
probably won’t use the full range of features on the program with my general
music and choral classes?
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