Music & Technology

When I think about the music classroom, I do not immediately see myself using technology a lot of the time. I think the reason is that I just do not think about technology in the classroom as often as I should. In my last post, I discussed that technology is becoming more prevalent in the lives of the youth than ever. If that is case then we should constantly be searching for ways that technology can be incorporated in the curriculum. If education is to stay relevant to our student’s lives, technology must be continuously integrated within the classroom. I’d like for this post to be a personal think-tank for ways in which technology can be easily incorporated into the average music classroom.

Basic – Level 1: Mp3, Video, & CD's

On the most basic level of adding technology we can have students access music via video, mp3, or cd. In a lesson the teacher can play listening examples through an iPod, mp3, or YouTube. Listening assignments could be a fun way for students to listen to music in a forum that they are comfortable with. This is an easy way to put a little technology in the class. But, this is far from sufficient.

Advanced - Level 2: Music software & online resources

Having the students use music notation software, like Finale, is a fun and creative way to teach notating, melody, harmony, and composition. After teaching some basic theory to students, the students could create a short composition or do their theory work, all through the program Finale. 

As a guitarist, one of my key roles is to accompany melody with chords. Teaching chords in a classical context can be, for lack of a better word, boring. Tab sites offer, with fairly decent results, a plethora of popular songs with chords, lyrics, and tabs. It could be really fun to have students pick a song of their choosing and have them learn the chords. They could perform it with themselves, someone else, or the teacher singing along!

Theory can be made into a game with the free online resource musictheory.net. There are a variety of different exercises and difficulties to choose from so, it is applicable for a wide range of students. If I wanted to assess my student’s progress I could use this as well. 

Super-Advanced! – Level 3: Protools, YouTube, Blogging, Eamir, GarageBand and beyond...

YouTube can be used in the classroom in two fun ways: watching and creating videos. A potential project could be for the student to record themselves playing a song individually or in a group and post it to YouTube to be graded. The teacher could post supplemental teaching videos for the students to access. 

Created by V.J. Manzo, Eamir takes technology and music education to new levels. I don’t understand everything (yet!) but the site offers ways to teach music in a format that is innovative, accessible to a wide array of students, and fun. One project in particular, the Guitar Eamir-o, could be used for learning melody, composition, performance, and other education goals.


Now, I have set this up in a 3-level format, which is purely for the purpose of convenience. The purpose of integration is not to use one “tech assignment” a year. Technology should be thought about, accessed, and utilized by teachers and students throughout the whole school year, if it is to be meaningful and effective. By using a combination of all of the technologies that I have mentioned, and all of the ones that I did not mention, integration might be achieved. I have not gone into the fullest detail as to how far we can take technology in the classroom, but I hope I’ve given a broad overview as to what can be done.

Do you know of a super cool technology? Do you completely disagree with me? Have I touched you in a way that you would like to express? Please tell me what you think in the comment section! 

Technology Autobiography

The popularity of communication technology has rapidly increased in the past couple of decades to the point where it is uncommon to not be in touch with some form of technology. The growing accessibility of technology has made it apparent that there is a need for effective use of technologies in the classroom. In a study done, the percentage of world internet usage has increased over 500 percent in the past 12 years. In this post I will list the three most influential communication technologies in my life, reflect on how they might have changed the way I learn, and compare/contrast them to the technologies of the youth through a video called “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn”.

The three most influential communication technologies in my life would have to be the internet and my phone. I have listed only two technologies because the internet is such a blanket term that encompasses so many different communication technologies, including instant messaging, email, social media, video chatting, etc. Under the internet I will be talking about email and instant messaging, both of which I prefer to use Gmail.

The Internet 

I. Email 
Email has been a great tool for me. Professionally, I have been able to keep in touch with people that I would otherwise not kept in touch with. I am a bit socially awkward and having nonverbal interactions with people is a lot easier than talking to a person face-to-face. This, of course, can be quite crippling if you depend on that virtual environment to communicate. Luckily, I am just awkward enough to enjoy email but, still be able to function in the physical world.
 II. Instant Messaging 
Gchat has been the main form of communication, apart from my phone, I use with my friends. Using this technology has made communication easier and fun. With this technology I can easily and comfortably talk to people I may not have. Though this technology has made communication accessible and easy, there is something about talking to a person face-to-face that just cannot be replaced. As the world progress into the digital age the human interaction suffers.

 Phone

III. Cell Phone 
My phone is the primary way I talk to everyone, besides talking face-to-face. I use it on a daily basis from casual conversations to professional communication. I used to text quite a lot: during class, at home, in the morning, or at night. Like email, the advantages and disadvantages are quite similar. Though we have this new accessible format to speak to each other, the human interaction is starting to fade and with it are people’s social skills. With phones and instant messaging I feel that it has also broken down the formal walls of typed conversation. When I text or i.m. somebody, invariable a “u” for “you” will get thrown into the conversation. My opinion of this change in formality is one of slight indifference. I wish people would not shorten their language for convenience but, I will not hold it against someone.

 “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn” 

 The technologies that I use as compared to the youth in this video are pretty similar. The things we have in common are that using these technologies have been an extension of ourselves. It is how we communicate to each other on a daily basis for better or for worse. One girl even commented on the same drawback as I did. Shortening words into phonetics is not an ideal outcome from this technology. Email was also mentioned. The girl explained as I did that having an email is a good way to communicate and organize one’s professional life through the different aspects that it can offer.

Learning New Information 

The whole online system of communication has not necessarily impacted the way I learn information. But, having an infinite amount of online resources has definitely changed how I access information. Using the internet to find an answer, using Microsoft Word to organize my ideas, planning ahead with ICal, detailing expenses with Microsoft Excel, etc. As technology continues to become more accessible, it will be paramount that educators use this tool to their advantage. How can educators justify using dated methods of communication when the entire youth is in a technological era? In order to teach most effectively we will have to be vigilant about keeping up with the most prevalent form of technology.

Welcome!

Hello there. Welcome to my new blog. I have things to share with you so I hope you will take a second to look around. Read, comment, argue, compliment, etc. Do whatever you like but keep it classy, will you? We are going to have a great time, I promise.