Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

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.

Monday, February 13, 2012

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)