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?
Monday, April 9, 2012
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!
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!
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:
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?
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Interactivity #5
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!
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