How Cool is This?!

To further continue some cool things I found regarding using technology in music classes, I found this site which is an extension of a music technoloy class in Alabama. What I found interesting was the entire set up of the class and how young the students are. The students this class teaches are from 2-5 grade and have a general music class as well as a muic technology class. How awesome is that?! My elementary schools or high school had absolutely nothing dealing with music technology so I find it amazing that these studetns are being exposed to it at such a young age. If you further read through the site, the teacher mentions that many students take the mnusic technology class because the school does not have the funding to have many students take band (not enough instruments, etc). I think it's great that there is an alternative for these students because I know in many schools, if students can't take band there is no other realy music class other than the general music classroom. This still allows students to further their knowledge of music and I find that inspiring!

Here's the Link!

Using YouTube in Formal music Education.

I found this really great article in a magazine called School Band Orchestra about using YouTube as a tool to enhance music teaching. Maybe it's a little redundant to post about because I feel like most students do this already and it's old news but I still found it interesting that using YouTube as a means for education is becoming more legitimized all the time. It talks about using the site in a number of ways such as extra lessons for students to look up, to learning yourself (as a teacher) in a scenario that calls for you to teach an instrument you may not remember how to play. There's actually a lot of really cool articles in this magazine other than the YouTube one, this one just caught my eye. The site I got it from lets you look at the virtual magazine (which I also thought was really neat) so I think you guys should check it out and let me know what you think!

Click here to go to the virtual copy of the magazine!

Music Technologies (Interactivity 3)

 Normally, I hate group projects because I usually end up doing most of the work and put everyones' name on the finished result. However, the people in my group amazed me at how proficient they all were together. The spreadsheet was already made and shared before I had a chance to do anything myself and there were so many contributions on the spreadsheet. I also thought that the way we could share the spreadsheet through google accounts was really neat! As far as the technologies listed, my mind is in awe. There are so many that allow music education to be brought to new levels, and most of the ones listed, I've never heard of, or have heard of but have never used. I think this list can definitely have an impact in our CURR 314 class because many of these technologies can be used for assessment purposes. For example, someone put music theory websites on our document and that may be one way to assess what students are taking from a theory class. Max/MSP is also a great program mentioned because you can create almost anything you want if you're advanced enough with it. Creating a virtual assessment tool is completely within the means of this program if you're willing to be creative and put in enough time. As far as how it can help with our READ 411 class, well that's a tough one! I am honestly unsure of how I would use these technologies to help students become better readers in a literal sense, however, taking the READ-411 class has made me realize that identifying struggles with reading actual text is extremely similar to identifying struggles with reading music. One example (and there are many) I can think of is how a struggling reader of text will not use context clues to make inferences about a text. This made me think of how a struggling reader of music may struggle to read or play something because they are unaware or unfamiliar with a key or scale, therefore they are prone to making more mistakes since music is based off of scales/keys. So, although it may be a stretch from what the assignment was actually asking, I think using the strategies we learned in Read-411 can help us identify struggling readers of music and most of these technologies can assist us with fixing those struggles (any of the music notating softwares, the music theory websites, Max/MSP, etc.). The possibilities are endless!

Influential Technology

I would say the most influential technology in the video for my content area was the radio they showed being used to broadcast music education programs. Many people believe that musical talent or appreciation is something that someone either has or does not have. I think that is completely false, I believe that musical talent and especially music appreciation is something that everyone has the ability to have, but must be exposed to the right atmosphere of it. I picked the radio because using it in classrooms helped improve the musicality of those who may not have had access to things like learning an instrument, studying privately, or going to performances. The radio, in a sense, provided some of the atmosphere needed to become a better musician, or to have a greater appreciation of music…or both!
            I believe the one technology that has had the most impact on schooling in my content area is the phonograph. This device was the first practical device used to record and playback sound and was most often used for music recording and playing. The phonograph, invented in 1877, gave a new meaning to listening to music. It was no longer required to be at a live performance to experience the music. Although phonographs were used in schools for subjects other than music, I believe it’s impacted music education the most since it made music accessible anywhere that had electricity. It was used in many music classes as a music appreciation tool or an instructional tool. Another reason I believe the phonograph is significant is because it is the father technology to most of the music recording/playing technologies we know today such as the radio, CD, MP3 players, etc. These devices are used endlessly in music education because it brings a world of music to our fingertips. Whether it’s listening to a composition a class is learning so they can experience a finished result, listening to examples of music theory in use, recording one’s self or a class to improve their performance, or exploring musics from other parts of the world, music educators rely on these devices. Without them, music would not be an easy thing to access and much of it would sadly be confined to its origin. With the invention of the phonograph, the concept of music changed and was brought home to countless amounts of people and schools that may have otherwise never been able to experience it.

Music At Your Fingertips

It's easy to forget how fascinating it really is to be able to listen to all the music we want, anywhere, anytime.

Photo Link
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=2&pg=1&krequest=subjects+contains+Jason+Lee+Junior+High+School+and+Tacoma+&stemming=&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=

Should Teachers be Required to Learn New Technologies for the Classroom?

I was reading a news article about how a university just installed various types of technologies in 31 different classrooms but are having problems getting professors to use them. The article explained how the school has a number of different workshops and teams dedicated to helping professors learn how to use and incorporate these technologies in the classroom, however there are many professors that claim they don't have the time to do this. Other professors have a type of "if it's not broken, don't fix it" kind of attitude, meaning, they don't see anything wrong with the way they've conducted their classes so far, so why change it by using additional technology? I personally feel this is an ignorant approach to technology because, as we've been posting about, technology can really enhance the way we teach and learn. As many of us have also mentioned, when a professor is horribly disconnected from technology, it leads the students to be disconnected from the professor. I'm wondering what other people think about this subject, I personally think it might be a good idea for this university to implement some sort of requirement for professors to attend at least one workshop on the new technologies they have access to. I just feel it's absurd to not utilize the recourses provided by the university just because someone may not know how to use them, so I think a requirement like that may help improve that issue.


Here is the link to the article:
http://dailytrojan.com/2011/09/29/professors-still-adapting-to-classroom-renovations/