What have I learned?

Through this class, I've learned that technology is all around us, even though we may not realize we're utilizing it. Within this day and age, I've realized that in order to do anything normally, we have to use technology- so why not through education? Although I often feel that this course didn't really give me the foresight I could use in a music classroom, I realized towards the end that this class was more of a self-taught process. I proved myself wrong through my own practice.

Music alone relies so heavily on technology to be shared, and education often is the sharing of knowledge. Technology is extremely relevant to a classroom, be it a pencil or a laptop, a bassoon or a Smart Board!

Final Project

Technology Matrix

For my final project, I decided to create a matrix on a lesson plan that revolves around the concept of Electronic Composition. Students collaborate with each other, but they must also communicate their understanding of music-making as well as their understanding on how to use specific programs in order to make this lesson possible. This lesson plan relies heavily on how students can communicate share their knowledge with each other about several topics.

If you look at the title(Row 1) of my matrix, it lays out the educational goal for the rest of the lesson. By the end of this lesson, students should not only know what Electronic Compositions are, but they must also understand how to create them and utilize software to help them do that. This matrix is organized in the order of the lesson, and above each new standard that I put into the matrix, there is a word that describes the goal of that section of the lesson or the main concept that needs to be understood in order to move along in this lesson plan.

I divided each standard and portion of the lesson within the matrix by color, so that each “color” can be within it’s corresponding “equation”. My goal with this matrix is to have the selected technologies in addition with the identified teaching strategies produce the achievement of each standard. Each color should represent this equation.

This lesson plan begins off with a lecture by the teacher and an oral/visual presentation by the teacher. In order to help this presentation, we will utilize MAX/MSP on Smart Board. This presentation would foster the idea of previous knowledge of musical scores and have the students analyze the scores of “old-fashioned” music written by Bach. That is where the student practice/teacher intervention take place. With this, we will access prior knowledge and also begin working with the default sounds that come with a laptop. Students will then begin to unlock the NETS-S standard (see row 5, column A), by beginning to brainstorm ideas to create an original piece of work that they will later be using for their final project of the unit.

After students are presented the lecture and practice using their laptops and brainstorming, students will conduct some research on the internet and find information on short excerpts of electronic scores that they have been assigned. The students can then analyze this music like they did for the “old-fashioned” piece of music that was written by Bach. They must show their work and analysis on the notation program Finale. After doing this, the students and teacher will have a discussion of what the work should look like, depending on the type of electronic score that they chose.

We will then use the Smart Board to show everyone’s finished analysis of each score. Through this, we will hold an open student/teacher discussion to evaluate and analyze the work. If there are corrections to be made, we will make them. The idea is that through the evaluation and analysis of other scores, we will begin to understand the concepts used behind electronic composition and notation. Students will then be separated into groups and will use the internet to look up EAMIR musical instruments and how they work.

Since students were given a lecture and did analysis of electronic compositions, they will be given specific EAMIR instruments to work with and they will play around with them and begin to improvise with them in the class. Before doing so, however, students will be given a chance to exercise guided practice with one another through group work. Also, as a teacher, I would foster the guided practice by making sure that these students properly retell the information to each other that they have previously learned. After that, they will play music and improvise music with each other over loop pedals and think about how to notate this type of music while doing so.

For the last color, students should be able to practice reflectively and produce an arrangement for any of the EAMIR instruments or tools. They will use their laptops and should be able to display a full understanding of how to utilize EAMIR instruments and tools, as well as the notation software FINALE. Since this is individual work and homework, students will not be doing this in class but this assignment is integral to move on within the unit to the next lesson plan.

The equation I used throughout this matrix helped me to understand and incorporate technology and the NETS-S better than I had previously done and allowed me to come up with the best outcome possible! 

A quick little tidbit:

Hey guys! Just a quick little link here, this is for all my colleagues in Music Education. I'm posting this link because this is the website of a man who is willing to share his music lesson-plans with you! His philosophies are pretty interesting if you want to check them out. Not only are these just lesson plans, but they're lesson plans that incorporate technology!

Enjoy!!


http://wrightstuffmusic.com/

Right here in little ol' Montclair...

Right here at Montclair State University, we have an amazing music-technology professor who is constantly doing research on how to incorporate technology into a musical-setting. He is  the Oxford University Press author of the book MAX/MSP/Jitter for Music, and he has tons of videos out on youtube that demonstrate his programming skills.

This is all just a fancy introduction to his brainchild: EAMIR. EAMIR is an open-source interactive music system project involving technology for composition, performance, and education. It involves alternate controllers, sensors, and adaptive instruments to facilitate music composition, performance, and instruction through a collection of interactive music systems. Neat, isn't it?

Check him/it out in action:

Guitar EAMIR-o!

The "Language" of Technology

Heyyyyy! wsup!
Yo wdup
@------- - Dat was sooooooo c00L da otha day..

(These are directly copied and pasted from facebook & twitter!)

It's a little scary when this "language" of technology invades the classroom setting. I'm currently taking a language and literacy course, and it's really opened my eyes to the different forms of communication used in different classroom settings. However, one type of language we've never spoken about is the language of technology and how it somehow sneaks its way into students' papers.

The commonly accepted misuse of capital letters, extremely slang-based vernacular, misuse of punctuation marks, and often times, horrible grammar, is affecting students left and right. As I grew older, I saw a lot less of this behavior, but once in a while a young acquaintance will friend me on facebook and I will see the way they type to each other.

Aside from the graphic language itself, there is an actual vocabulary used to connect with others on the internet, essentially creating a language of technology. Some of the following words are: memes, forums, FAQ, AIM, yahoo, google, etc.

I find it fascinating that the internet and the world of technology sort of created this new language. The trouble I'm finding here, though, is what do we do when it finds it's way into places they don't belong? How should we address this? If I were in the situation as a teacher, should I condone the usage of this type of language because it's influenced by technology? I really would hope that I shouldn't have to. However, I don't want to discredit the use of it, because... well, it is in fact a type of language!

What do you guys think?

Appademia

Another partner I found on the website of TI:ME (see previous blog) was this website for a company called "Appademia". It's a company that creates applications for either your phone, ipod touch, ipad, etc. for an educational purpose. I'll leave the link here so that you guys can go to it and see what it's about and if you like it, let me know! I'll keep doing some research to find you guys some cool things for music education and technology!

Twelve-Tone Matrix Generator

PST! A quick tip, they have some blogs that are really interesting read about some of the effects of technology on education. The link I will post at the bottom of this post will lead you to a post about the common problems with e-learning and what to look out for when delving into the world of e-learning!

The Future of Education: E-Learning?

OnMusic Series

Today, I squandered about the internet to find topics to write about for one of my blog posts that wasn't an interactivity. I came across this website and saw that it was a 501-c3 non-profit educational organization (TI:ME - Technology for Music Education)... specifically for integrating technology into a music classroom! I was really excited because I work at a non-profit organization for jazz-education and was hoping to see if I could find some fresh ideas for working with the students there.

It seemed to have chapters that you can become a part of, much like our regular NAFME (national association for music educators) and ASTA (American String Teachers Association).  However, the website itself wasn't as fruitful as I had hoped. I searched through the website itself and found mostly nothing...except this, in it's partners list was this link:

Connect4Education: OnMusic Series

This website was another story! Basically, it's a bunch of online text books that have assignments and information that is content-specific, and you can teach through your computer. It has a bunch of textbooks that are specific to online teaching and technology. The great thing about these books and programs is that once you purchase them, you keep using them.. So the school district really would just pay once, and there it is! You've got yourself a new way of integrating technology into a classroom setting with music! It teaches music history, comprehension, composition, theory, appreciation, and even- get this- it has one on HOW to teach music! Good for us, isn't it? 

Interactivity #5

Spreadsheet from Interactivity #4

The teacher I interviewed works in the Ridgefield School District as a music teacher for grades 10-12, but also works with the marching band that encompasses grades 8-12.  This teacher was not knowledgeable about the NETS-S or the NETS-T.

Initially, The teacher I interviewed was trying to figure out what the acronym stood for and almost made it, but didn't ever actually get it. He actually thought that the acronym stood for a type of standardized testing! His initial reaction to the standards was actually “understanding”. The teacher began to speak about how he did not know that these standards existed at all and wishes to know more. However, the teacher went on to explain that he implements some of these standards without really knowing what they are because he uses technology in his classroom frequently. >During the interview, I asked the teacher what would happen if he were to be handed the NETS-T or the NETS-S and if he would implement all those standards within the classroom.

The teacher replied: "Absolutely! I'm always looking for new ways to teach and for ways to improve my teaching. If I'm handed a list of standards I haven't seen before I'd use them in my classroom." That's when I told the teacher the main idea of each standard and asked him to reflect on whether or not he has seen it used throughout the school and/or the district. The teacher said yes, and began to speak about the smart-boards that he used within his classroom and how other teachers like to take their students to the computer lab and have them create things using computer programs on their own. However, because of the financial state of most of the families that come from this area, they cannot expect to assign homework that utilizes technology to this extent.

Another thing he added was that he would be able to teach his class without technology, but it wouldn't be as enjoyable for his students, and the assignments wouldn't go by as quickly. I was not surprised with any of this teacher's answers, but I was happy to find that despite not knowing what the specific and proper names of these standards were, he was still having the students compose music and creating and learning to be literate with technology via research projects and being able to evaluate what is useful and what is not about technology.

As a future educator, I would speak to others within my school by first getting in touch with the computer teachers within the district because I would like to get as much information as I could about implementing the use of technology and all of its possibilities. I would also insist on collaborating with teachers from other content-areas so that we could utilize the idea of collaboration and communication through technology. I would try and bring up the importance of not only utilizing technology to increase the fluidity of classroom time but also the practical uses for it!

Interactivity #4

My Lesson Plan Analysis Map

I chose this lesson plan about saxophones because I find it important for young students to understand and know which instruments are which by their timbre, dynamic range, physical look, and to also know their basic history and their use in different genres of music. Also, it is a really good lesson plan to use in my future career as a teacher in a general-music setting.

A very important part that was missing/should have been changed about this lesson plan was the grade-level. I believe that it should be pushed down to about the 4^th or 5^th grade, because the curriculum goals and NJ standardized goals were very out of touch with each other.

I think this is a good lesson to demonstrate the use of technology to show the movement of sound and the affects of physicality on the sound. If an instrument, namely the saxophone and any other wind instrument, has longer tubing, then it sounds lower. This lesson plan also emphasizes CD players and the use of computers and preferably smart boards.

This is where this lesson plan was lacking; I really feel that the use of a smartboard and the program MAX-MSP would serve as a really good medium of demonstration in this setting. The students would have been able to see a physical manifestation of the dynamic ranges on the board as the music would pass by, and they would be able to make comparisons between the different types of saxophones. This would be easier than conceptualizing timbre and dynamic range as an abstract idea. Without the specific technologies listed, we would not be able to listen to the recordings that use the saxophone. This would probably defeat the purpose of this lesson entirely, so the technology that is used in this lesson is integral. 

Interactivity #3: Authentic Online Collaboration

Overall, I would like to think we did a generally good job collaborating with this interactivity concerning our circumstances. Although we were all busy, at some points we would find each other online and explain to each other what was happening, our opinions, and if someone posted one of your ideas of technology already, then we just had to find another one. I think it was an unspoken rule that we couldn't take someone else's technology (for the most part, I DID see a little bit of repetition here and there). Although some people had some difficulty editing (which got fixed) due to the fact that "mail.montclair.edu" was not a supported domain-name by google.docs, we found our way around to help everyone that we could to log in and contribute! Another issue that arose was that some students' blogs were nowhere to found, or some other students had little-to-no information or communication when we first began to embark on this interactivity.

This interactivity had me questioning the concept of working with others online and whether it was really effective in getting things finished. I mean, I almost feel like this assignment would've taken more time in person because we would've had to argue all of our points and come up with, but I do think we collaborated our ideas and created one large spreadsheet! It was easy to set up, it was organic, and it was quick- which is what I would like to think is the point of using technology within a classroom.

Another part that I questioned was: How do we work through situations where we are made to work with people who do not communicate via e-mail at all? It goes to show how much the world has changed because of technology. This made me really grateful that all of our contributors (or most, rather) were willing to work with us and if most of them weren't e-mailed, they immediately e-mailed us to find out what was happening!

I really believe that with what we had, this was a much better result than I had expected!

The Phonograph -> The Radio -> iPod (?)

One piece of technology that I believe had a huge impact in the world of music, nonetheless the world of music education, is the phonograph. The phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison. Although there were other inventors that created devices that could record sounds, Thomas Edison's phonograph was the first to be able to reproduce the recorded sound. The phonograph gave a new medium of listening and experiencing to music.

Phonographs were definitely used in classrooms for things that weren't music related, but I would like to believe that it made a huge impact in the world of music-education. If there was a classroom learning music that had any access to electricity, they had access to classical music performances, or any type of music performance. They could record and hear their own performances and hear the mistakes that they didn't hear while they were making music. This device would also give students access to music that they've never heard before, because the phonograph was able to take an imprint of something that naturally passes in time and bring it into the classroom.  Another thing that was great about this invention was that it is the precursor to any type of recording-technology/music-player technology that we have today.  Any mp3 players we have, any Zoom-recording devices, and even the parts of our laptops and whatnot that help us to listen to music branched off of the phonograph!

As for this video, the first thing I immediately thought of as influential in a Music education setting is the radio. Not just music-education radio, but even just listening to music and things for enjoyment. There is a difference between pleasure and enjoyment. Pleasure is something that occurs naturally, and enjoyment is something that people go out and seek, and I believe that when a student listens to the radio for enjoyment, especially when they're listening to music, it exhibits a behavior within the students to go out and search for music that they enjoy. If they know how to utilize the radio within the classroom setting, they may be able to go out and utilize the radio at home to their own enjoyment, and maybe turn on some music. In Music Education, listening is important, and the radio allows students to do just that. There are no visual distractions, which is a good thing. It forces students to utilize their ears to know what is happening, just like they would need to do in music.

Without either of these inventions, we could not share music with each other, and that is a huge part of music-education!

On the contrary, if the students did NOT have the technology at home, like a radio, they could have had the exposure at school. They can experience great music in all forms and be able to appreciate everything that is happening within it, without having to spend the money to go and actually see it. The radio brought things to people, nonetheless students, that they did not experience before. Therefore, the radio played a large role in the world of music education. Speaking to other music majors, you can ask them about the radio and it's importance in their lives. Music students are constantly surrounded by music-making and rarely get a chance to listen to music, which is probably what initially captured their attention about the subject. Since the radio has evolved, it has really become so much more accessible and has become an easily-accessed journey to enjoyment for musicians.

Interactiviy #2: Influential in Music Education

Think about it: Without the Phonograph, where would our classrooms be today? 

Website for this picture is linked through this text!
(I had to slice the picture into 3 parts so that it would be able to be seen)

Not necessarily integrating it into the classroom...

But this woman is definitely using it to engage her brain and is using it for an educational purpose! What do you guys think?!

Interactivity #1

1. My phone.

2. My phone.

3. My phone.

This may seem like a cop-out, but this is the truth: the three most influential communications-technologies in my life right now happen to be my phone, my phone, and my phone. I was about to write down other things, but as I looked at my list, I realized that my phone was capable of doing what the other two objects could.

I consider my phone to be an amazing and essential part of my life. I am extremely grateful for my phone for the mere fact that it can stand alone. I had originally written down; "The Radio, My phone, and E-mail." Well, my "phone" -- if you could simply call it that... can send e-mails, make crystal clear phone calls, send and receive text messages, take pictures, make videos, make music, play games, listen to the radio, detect what the name of songs are on the radio, sensor my sleeping patterns, tell me how much money is in my bank account, tell me how the weather is, it can tell me where I am, it can be my metronome, my tuner, my recorder, it can tell me what direction I'm walking in, it can remind me to blog for my class at a specific time, it can wake me up in the mornings to get to class on time, and I can BLOG from it! That's not even the completed list of things that my phone can do.... but, you get the point.

I can communicate in all ways with this thing. I can literally call someone and communicate with them verbally, communicate through videos and pictures, and I can go on the internet and post my contributions onto a forum discussing specific topics. I can write my papers on it, I can e-mail my professors, and I can take over the world... Just joking. hah!

But seriously though, I don't remember what it's like to have to go and sit down on a computer. It's a crazy new medium. The more I think about it, the more amazing it is. A computer used to be the "end all - be all" of communication. Of course, of course, there ARE things that a computer can do that my phone can't, but not much. People would talk about how insane computers are and how they're sucking the life out of people because they have to sit down to use it. iPhones, like mine, are light, compact, and easy to take on-the-go. I really, truly believe that technology is evolving with the needs of humans. Learning new information is easy- it's at the tip of my fingertips. If I need to know the answer to a quick question, I can literally type in my question into google on my browser and it allows me to just arrive at my desired destination immediately!

The thing about Olivia’s relationship with technology is that although it’s not something that she has consistent access to, she is able to do all the things she does. She knows how to find different layouts for myspace, and she knows how to copy and paste. These are simple and basic functions on a computer that most students would know how to do if they have had a computer class and/or own a computer at home. The most important part about her relationship with technology is that it’s not consistent. As a teacher, it’s important to know that not all students are as, dare we say it, privileged as Olivia. Even having access to a computer in the building she lives in is more exposure than other kids could imagine! Imagine living in a world like that? I can’t just expect students to use technology right away and understand it intuitively the way she does. I don't expect students to have the same access to technology the way I do to my objects. 

As for the other kids, I don’t really find some of their mediums for conversing to be my most favorite forms of communication. To me, text messaging, tweeting, and social-networking sites are really detrimental to….dare I say it?: learning with actual social interactions. Social-networking websites should be used for just that: social- NETWORKING. It should be used for businesses, and sure, facebook is a great thing to use to keep in touch with old friends. However, because of facebook and blogs like tumblr and the internet in general, a lot of students have a ton of exposure to things that I don’t really agree with. Also, as an artist, I don’t believe in pirating or stealing music. Many people may disagree, but along with a ton of pros- technology definitely has it’s downfalls.

Here’s an essential breakdown of the wall of text I just wrote:

My favorite communications object: Phone.

Reason: It does everything that every other technological device does. Trust me.

My thoughts on Olivia: She’s a great example of what it’s like to teach in a more urban setting: not all students will have access to technology.

My thoughts on the 2^nd video: Kids need to talk to each other face-to-face more often. Tweeting is not beneficial in my classroom, neither is text messaging in my classroom. Having access to the internet is as helpful as it is dangerous. 

My conclusion: The best thing about technology, as stated in the second video, is simultaneous thought to an actual sensory object. Seeing what you're writing is immediate on most technological devices, and that is EXTREMELY helpful in a classroom setting. 

First Post!

Hello, all!
Welcome to my blog for my Education course: CUPR 316!
Which is also known as Integrating Technology into the Classroom,
I'm very, very excited to see what this will be like. :)