A New Point of View

This week I am learning a new online music creation program called Soundation, I have also gathered information concerning student technology use.  Both of these topics have given me a new point of view concerning composition and student learning.

The online music program, Soundation uses midi, loops, and even provides the opportunity to implement personal recordings to create a piece of music.  Personally I have always thought of composing music using standard music notation, but this week I am creating music through Soundation.  In this week's reading, Bauer (2012)  reminds us that some educators believe that students must learn to read and write music because it is integral to music literacy.  My past practice relates to this statement mostly because this is how I've learned and was taught.  But a large percentage of student music lovers are not literate in music notation.  By using a non-notational creative music approach like Soundation, these students have an opportunity to create music and hopefully build upon these musical experiences.

I also interviewed 5 of my high school choral students and asked for their perspectives concerning technology.  Overwhelmingly my students clearly communicated their confidence in technology.  YouTube and their iPhones are their favorite resources.  Their phones are used as a "one stop shop" for everything from social media, schoolwork, and entertainment.  Students use their iPhones for numerous activities.  The phone is used for texting, taking pictures, connecting with friends on social media, keeping track of schoolwork, google searches, shopping, and entertainment.  Entertainment includes using Spotify a music listening program and Netflix, a way to watch past movies and TV shows without commercial interruptions.  I am impressed with my students ability to adapt and learn new things.  Personally I struggle with aspects of technology.  At times it feels like I'm learning a foreign language that everyone else knows and I have make up for lost time.  This class, Technology for Music Teaching has been an encouragement to me and is given me weekly steps to acclimate myself to current technology practices.

Noteflight Crescendo

This week I have had the opportunity to learn and use the online program, Noteflight Crescendo. This program has overall been very userfriendly.  The site offers, YOUTUBE tutorials.  These tutorials have allowed me to view  a concept multiple times if I don't understand, or put the demonstration on pause.  In the past, I have used Finale and Sibelius, both programs have been very time intesive and I have had small success.  Noteflight Crescendo has been very simple.  Here is a link of Bicycle Built for Two that I copied for practice in note entry.  This assignment gave me practice in entering a melody, chord symbols, and a chordal accompaniment.

http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/c382a2a8e0593c5997d5ae34a493d4d744d4a5e9

Baby Steps in Music Technology

As I write this, I can't believe that I am actually learning how to use two music notation programs.  The first one is MuseScore and the second is Noteflight Crescendo.  In college, I briefly used Finale in order to complete a minor keyboard notation piece and then in my first music education job I used Sibelius to create a music worksheet.  Quickly I gave up using both Finale and Sibelius because they were very overwhelming. For my day to day activities it didn't make sense to spend hours writing a vocal warm-up to show my students instead of simply teaching it by rote.

This week of my graduate course, Technology for Music Teaching is encouraging me to develop proficiency in MuseScore and Noteflight Crescendo.  Both programs are user friendly and both offer tutorials via YOUTUBE.  Viewing thse tutorials has been a game changer in my own education.  YOUTUBE allows me to view the directions multiple times and also put directions on "pause" until I understand the concept.  I need a lot of repetition and learning through viewing, listening, and doing is actually making the concepts stick.  Also, MuseScore is free and I am able to use Noteflight Crescendo for about $8 per month.  

My learning this past week has also inspired me to make sure I provide my high school choral students varying ways to learn.  Within the past 2 weeks, I have recorded indivual voice parts for a barbershop and shared them with the students via email.  This gives these singers an opportunity to put a voice part on "pause" and listen and isolate their problem areas. In an effort to provide my students with varying music experiences, I have provided them with 2 varying choral clinician experiences.  Just today, a vocal group re:Voiced critiqued their performance and also performed themselves.  These men all had varying microphones and ear monitors. re:Voiced was current, talented, and had a great visual presentation.   Additionaly, a husband-wife team from UW-Madison, critiqued the choirs and then challenged the students to view additional performances on YOUTUBE.

Hello Technology, my name is Grace, let's be friends!

I teach over 400 digital natives but I myself am a 32 year-old digital immigrant.    I grew up in a family that did not have a television until I was a junior in high school.  Life was not dull or empty; I listened to a lot of music, was in sports, played the piano, and spent many hours reading.  I was not in tune to the newest pop song or the best movie that was showing in the theaters but life was simple and full.

In high school I was comfortable using a computer but email was not common and none of my friends had a cell phone until about our junior year in college.  Once I was a college students(2001-2006) it was clear that technology and internet usage was shifting in education.   Having a computer and internet in your apartment was a BIG deal.  My fellow college music majors researched music history, repertoire, and theory by going to the library, calling the librarian, or spending time in the music section at Barnes and Noble.   Composition majors spent hours in the music labs on campus instead of working from a personal computer in their own home space.  Today so much of research can be quickly accessed using wifi and various online resources.

 Technology covers such a broad scope of tools that just hearing the word can be overwhelming.  Currently I have an iPad, laptop, and a cell phone but not a smart phone.  In the classroom I am comfortable showing YOUTUBE clips and using iTunes as a tool to access music for the classroom.  Arrowhead High School, my place of employment uses Google for school email and the Google drive as a means of sharing information.  I use Facebook as a way of communicating with some of my students through a choir Facebook group.

Developing a personal learning network is brand new and exciting.  Using Feedly to subscribe to blogs on education and technology provides opportunities to learn from additional teaching resources on music education and technology in a short amount of time.  Using blogs and twitter will broaden my professional network.  Bauer (2010) says “Web 2.0 tools and resources can enhance our efficiency and effectiveness as music educators.”  I am excited to become friends with technology!