Technology in Opera

This isn't really new since it was over a year ago, but I just discovered this incredibly cool opera that MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) put on involving all sorts of outrageous music objects (including singing robots!!). The story line involves the antagonist, an inventor, essentially downloading himself into the physical world, and once that happens he is not seen anymore in the opera, but he is present in the objects he inhabits. I think this is a really abstract idea, not only because it uses all sorts of unheard of technologies that are incorporated into the opera, but the idea of one's self living on in physical objects is something I found interesting. Since this opera has been out for some time, I'm wondering if anyone has actually seen the opera, and if so, I'm curious to know if the technology they use actually serves a purpose to the opera and the story line itself or if it's really "gimmicky" and unnecessary.

 "Disembodied Performance"

Interactivity #4, Lesson Plan Analysis

The lesson plan I chose to analyze was from the same class I just recently posted about in my blog. The author, Ms. Garrett, is a music tech teacher and extends her classes and lessons with the website Musictechteacher.com. I chose this lesson because I am amazed by how the use of technology (like the Midi keyboards and use of Sibelius) can make a lesson, which might otherwise seem a bit bland to students, into a fun and engaging activity. The use of technology, although not necessary to teach the overall skill of composing a phrase, also enables this lesson to reach more students at once and may even help some students understand the topic more. I also really liked the implantation of group work with composing phrases as well as the idea of recording individual students to model for the rest of the class. One thing I think would need to be addressed that was not mentioned in the lesson plan, however, is the use of scale degree names. The worksheet that this lesson uses (which is available for download on the same website) mentions the words tonic and dominate in reference to the 1^st scale degree and the 5^th. I think it might benefit the class for the teacher to take even just a few minutes after going over this sheet to explain to the students about these terms (or have scale numbers and corresponding degree names on the overhead). I also think maybe the teacher could compose a phrase with the class before having them compose their own, so they have an idea of what they are doing. As far as gaps between the curriculum goals and the strategies and technologies; I think this lesson plan does a good job of not having any, and I think that the school is extremely fortunate that they have access to this technology to do so. I think this lesson plan had just the right amount of lecturing to educate the students on the building blocks of the lesson, individual work for them to become better acquainted with these skills, and group/partner work to implement what they have learned on a larger scale and to assess and be assessed with and by their peers.

Here is the link to the lesson plan

Here is the link to my spreadsheet