For this Fall 2010 semester, I've been working on creating an online module. This was a large assignment that was part of the CEP820 class. The final module is unfortunately not going to be online much longer, though I did save the files for later upload.
Instead, I'm going to share the developer notebook that I created as part of the class. Here is the GoogleDoc. I have also uploaded the link to my online e-portfolio.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Assessing and Evaluation
As I am always thinking of this topic in education here are two presentations found through CEP 820.
Asking Bigger Questions About Assessment (22 minutes) by Gardner Campbell
Initiating and Sustaining Conversations: Assessment and Evaluation in the Age of Networked Learning (36 minutes) by Konrad Glogowski
Here are some articles I found as well.
Asking Bigger Questions About Assessment (22 minutes) by Gardner Campbell
Initiating and Sustaining Conversations: Assessment and Evaluation in the Age of Networked Learning (36 minutes) by Konrad Glogowski
Here are some articles I found as well.
I thought I’d share this website. It’s a free site that you can use to create rubrics. Works really well.
Goolsby, T. (September, 1999). Assessment in Instrumental Music. Music Educators Journal 86 (2) p. 31.
This article outlines various assessment techniques that can be used in a performing arts ensemble. I choose this as a starting point to get me thinking about assessing in a music classroom.
Douthit, J. Assessment Techniques and Procedures in Collegiate Class Piano.
Another article about assessment in music classrooms. This one is more specific in relation to a class piano course. The article discusses various types of assessment.
Assessment in the Music Classroom
A great powerpoint discussing various challenges of assessment in the music classroom. Also has a great slide about assessing rubrics.
Scoring Rubrics: How?
A great article detailing different types of rubrics and how to develop them. Also has a list of great resources.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
CEP 800 Interview Project: Marching Band 2010
CEP 800 Interview Project MP3 (link)
Abstract:
This project was created for CEP800. For the assignment I interviewed 3 of my marching band students. The goal was to assess their learning and what they were getting out of being in marching band.
Reflection:
I was surprised as how difficult it would be to create the questions for this assignment. It also took me a surprisingly long time to select a topic to focus on. I never really thought about the creative process that was involved in creating an interview that had meaning. It’s made me really appreciate this craft.
This project was created for CEP800. For the assignment I interviewed 3 of my marching band students. The goal was to assess their learning and what they were getting out of being in marching band.
Reflection:
I was surprised as how difficult it would be to create the questions for this assignment. It also took me a surprisingly long time to select a topic to focus on. I never really thought about the creative process that was involved in creating an interview that had meaning. It’s made me really appreciate this craft.
I was glad to learn that once I had those pieces in place though, the rest of the project was relatively easy and enjoyable. Most of this I think was due to the student responses. They all gave incredible responses to the questions.
I learned from them how much the program means to them, but more how much our band family means to them. They all mentioned the idea of teamwork and how that was so important to them.
This was very different from what I was expecting. I thought most of them would talk about technical aspects such as things that didn’t go so well in the music or areas we would need to focus on visually. Only one of them even mentioned the music and marching and that was in passing.
The process of creating the podcast was relatively easy as well. I got to learn how to use Audacity a little bit better and ended up using Garageband as well. I now feel much more versed in using both of these programs and really felt accomplished in finishing this assignment.
It really recharged my teaching batteries to hear them share their ideas and their love for each other. It is those types of teaching moments that makes it all worthwhile.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
CEP 811 Final Reflection
Many of these points I made in my CEP 812 reflection, but some are worth repeating.
One of the areas I grew in the most during this course was my knowledge of web 2.0 technologies and more importantly, their applications in education. I never really thought about using a wiki before in my classroom, even though I knew about what a wiki was. Seeing it a new light has made me rethink about other technologies and their educational merits.
My perspective shifted this summer, realizing that it's more important to look at the end goal of a technology application rather than just the application of itself. As stated in CEP 810, finding a way to use technology to make a difference is so crucial. Much of what we explored in CEP 811 also fostered that thinking and perspective.
The STAIR assignment was also a great experience. I've never had to teach through a computer program before so learning how to do that was a new and growing endeavor. I learned that it takes careful planning and strategic thinking when creating a STAIR. One has to be familiar with several different styles of teaching in order to be effective.
I feel that I have accomplished my goal of becoming more versed in these technologies as well as finding ways of using them in my classroom.
A new goal for me to is to continue to add and maintain my new e-portfolio. I also want to, someday, explore ways of creating a culture of technology integration in my school. I know this will take time and a lot of teamwork as I have to get all of my colleagues on board, but I feel it's important and a worthwhile endeavor.
Overall, I'm glad to have taken the CEP courses and am feeling very ready to begin the rest of the MAET program.
One of the areas I grew in the most during this course was my knowledge of web 2.0 technologies and more importantly, their applications in education. I never really thought about using a wiki before in my classroom, even though I knew about what a wiki was. Seeing it a new light has made me rethink about other technologies and their educational merits.
My perspective shifted this summer, realizing that it's more important to look at the end goal of a technology application rather than just the application of itself. As stated in CEP 810, finding a way to use technology to make a difference is so crucial. Much of what we explored in CEP 811 also fostered that thinking and perspective.
The STAIR assignment was also a great experience. I've never had to teach through a computer program before so learning how to do that was a new and growing endeavor. I learned that it takes careful planning and strategic thinking when creating a STAIR. One has to be familiar with several different styles of teaching in order to be effective.
I feel that I have accomplished my goal of becoming more versed in these technologies as well as finding ways of using them in my classroom.
A new goal for me to is to continue to add and maintain my new e-portfolio. I also want to, someday, explore ways of creating a culture of technology integration in my school. I know this will take time and a lot of teamwork as I have to get all of my colleagues on board, but I feel it's important and a worthwhile endeavor.
Overall, I'm glad to have taken the CEP courses and am feeling very ready to begin the rest of the MAET program.
CEP 812 Final Reflection
Throughout this course I have learned a great deal about various new technologies. The techquest really pushed me to think about a way to implement newer music distribution technologies into my classroom. My goal for the future is to continue implementing it and finding ways to make the process easier and more effective.
Another are that I have grown a great deal in is my web design. Before the class I had some experience doing web design/building. From this class, and experiences in CEP 811, I have grown a great deal and become much more capable at designing and building websites. My goal for the future is to continue becoming more comfortable with it and to also learn more about web design. Overall I hope that I can become more technically advanced as well as sophisticated in this area.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from this class was about the ISTE national standards for technology. This helped me to give a backbone to my work in education as well as realize what's important. It's also helped me to develop and foster strategies for teaching education. Standards based teaching makes sense to me and feels like the most effective way of teaching. ISTE provided those standards.
All of the technologies we explored in relation to web 2.0 (blogs, wikis, etc) really made me look at what's feasible in my classrooms. With the large classes that I have, it can be difficult to manage. But by using web 2.0 technologies, I hope that in the future I will be able to spend less time on logistics, and more time on teaching.
Overall, I felt that I have met my goals. I have become more versed in new technologies and how they can be implemented in education. I have also explored many applicable technologies that can be used in my classes. Another great accomplishment this session was finally getting my e-portfolio together which has been a long-time goal of mine.
My new goal is to find ways of promoting these technologies in my school. Sometime down the road, once I'm finished with the school myself, I want to devote some time to working with teachers and empowering them to use this technology themselves. My hope is that by doing that, we can create a culture in our school that is 21st century. From this class, and the other CEP courses, I have learned the importance of asking if the technology is serving a goal and using technology to meet an educational need, rather then starting with the technology first.
In closing, the CEP courses have been a wonderful experience. I feel ready to head into new territory as I start the fall semester in the MAET program. My hope is to get as much out of my future classes as I've gotten out of this class.
Another are that I have grown a great deal in is my web design. Before the class I had some experience doing web design/building. From this class, and experiences in CEP 811, I have grown a great deal and become much more capable at designing and building websites. My goal for the future is to continue becoming more comfortable with it and to also learn more about web design. Overall I hope that I can become more technically advanced as well as sophisticated in this area.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from this class was about the ISTE national standards for technology. This helped me to give a backbone to my work in education as well as realize what's important. It's also helped me to develop and foster strategies for teaching education. Standards based teaching makes sense to me and feels like the most effective way of teaching. ISTE provided those standards.
All of the technologies we explored in relation to web 2.0 (blogs, wikis, etc) really made me look at what's feasible in my classrooms. With the large classes that I have, it can be difficult to manage. But by using web 2.0 technologies, I hope that in the future I will be able to spend less time on logistics, and more time on teaching.
Overall, I felt that I have met my goals. I have become more versed in new technologies and how they can be implemented in education. I have also explored many applicable technologies that can be used in my classes. Another great accomplishment this session was finally getting my e-portfolio together which has been a long-time goal of mine.
My new goal is to find ways of promoting these technologies in my school. Sometime down the road, once I'm finished with the school myself, I want to devote some time to working with teachers and empowering them to use this technology themselves. My hope is that by doing that, we can create a culture in our school that is 21st century. From this class, and the other CEP courses, I have learned the importance of asking if the technology is serving a goal and using technology to meet an educational need, rather then starting with the technology first.
In closing, the CEP courses have been a wonderful experience. I feel ready to head into new territory as I start the fall semester in the MAET program. My hope is to get as much out of my future classes as I've gotten out of this class.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Online Teaching and Learning
Online technologies offer a plethora of opportunities for supplementing traditional classrooms. One technology that I am extremely interested in using are online discussions.
I plan to use online discussions in tandem with vodcasts. An important standard and step in the performance process in music, is evaluation of one's own performances. Due to time, this is often difficult to do. By using a discussion board I hope to foster deeper levels of discussion and thoughtful reflection.
One strategy that I would use with my students is modeling. I always do my own reflection after the students performances. Most of the time I don't have time to share it with them, but with the discussion board, it'll be available for them to see. This will provide them both an exemplar about how to reflect and also provide an opening for students to respond to.
There are a couple of technologies that would be hard to use with my students. Mostly because my classes are very large. This year I have a class that is 130+ students and another that is 85 students. Things such as webquests, research projects, and simulations would be nearly impossible and ultimately not viable.
On the flip side though, learning management technologies, such as blackboard, work wonderfully. This is also another technology I am investigating in as our school has recently picked it up. I found out last week that blackboard also has several other features such as blogs, message boards, and wikis. :)
I plan to use online discussions in tandem with vodcasts. An important standard and step in the performance process in music, is evaluation of one's own performances. Due to time, this is often difficult to do. By using a discussion board I hope to foster deeper levels of discussion and thoughtful reflection.
One strategy that I would use with my students is modeling. I always do my own reflection after the students performances. Most of the time I don't have time to share it with them, but with the discussion board, it'll be available for them to see. This will provide them both an exemplar about how to reflect and also provide an opening for students to respond to.
There are a couple of technologies that would be hard to use with my students. Mostly because my classes are very large. This year I have a class that is 130+ students and another that is 85 students. Things such as webquests, research projects, and simulations would be nearly impossible and ultimately not viable.
On the flip side though, learning management technologies, such as blackboard, work wonderfully. This is also another technology I am investigating in as our school has recently picked it up. I found out last week that blackboard also has several other features such as blogs, message boards, and wikis. :)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Project Evaluation Blog Entry
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
After implementing the project in a trial run/stage, I've learned a couple of things. One is that while most students listen to music a lot, they don't do it at a very deep level. In the future, one thing I'll change is the preparation I do with the students before integrating the technology. Many talks about deeper listening are going to be very important for the success of this project.
Another thing I'd change is the medium I use to keep accountability. Instead of using a google form, I am thinking of using a message board. After the trial implementation, I realized that the responses that were coming in, were very one sided. My hopes is by using a message board, students can bounce ideas of each other and gain a different perspective.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
Whenever using a web based technology, I've learned that the way you communicate the links to students is important. For example, for my project, I didn't have a domain. So when I shared it, I had to copy and paste it into word and print it (w/ instructions). Many students expressed that would have rather received an email.
How we transmit instruction regarding the technology is just as important, if not more so, than what kind of content we integrate into the technology. It's like trying to cook in the woods - you have to figure out how to start the fire or else deciding what you're going to cook on it becomes moot. Same with technology - you have to teach empower students with the technology before the content can be delivered.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
I really want to do this project more in the future. I am a believer that listening is so important in music education, well in all education. I think I won't do it as often as I originally thought. I also am going to be very wary of how much music I put on each play lists. I think I might even put at most 2 pieces per a list in order to help students focus on what's important.
After implementing the project in a trial run/stage, I've learned a couple of things. One is that while most students listen to music a lot, they don't do it at a very deep level. In the future, one thing I'll change is the preparation I do with the students before integrating the technology. Many talks about deeper listening are going to be very important for the success of this project.
Another thing I'd change is the medium I use to keep accountability. Instead of using a google form, I am thinking of using a message board. After the trial implementation, I realized that the responses that were coming in, were very one sided. My hopes is by using a message board, students can bounce ideas of each other and gain a different perspective.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
Whenever using a web based technology, I've learned that the way you communicate the links to students is important. For example, for my project, I didn't have a domain. So when I shared it, I had to copy and paste it into word and print it (w/ instructions). Many students expressed that would have rather received an email.
How we transmit instruction regarding the technology is just as important, if not more so, than what kind of content we integrate into the technology. It's like trying to cook in the woods - you have to figure out how to start the fire or else deciding what you're going to cook on it becomes moot. Same with technology - you have to teach empower students with the technology before the content can be delivered.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
I really want to do this project more in the future. I am a believer that listening is so important in music education, well in all education. I think I won't do it as often as I originally thought. I also am going to be very wary of how much music I put on each play lists. I think I might even put at most 2 pieces per a list in order to help students focus on what's important.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Exploring Web-based Applications: Google Spreadsheets
Describe your experience as a user of the application. What functions did you like and what functions did you find frustrating? Why?
I am pretty familiar with the google suite of applications, spreadsheets included. It's very intuitive to use, especially for those who are familiar with Microsoft's Excel. The best part of it though is that, like the rest of the google apps, you can use it as a collaboration tool. Multiple users can input and edit information on the spreadsheet. The only frustration that I have, is that at times it can slow down a little bit. I think this is due to the fact that everything is built into the web.
What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?
Basic information about using spreadsheets is important. But like I said before, if they are experienced in using excel then this shouldn't be a problem. Learning the google interface should also come relatively easy. Understanding the idea of cloud computing would also be an important concept for them to grasp.
How can you share the products you create with this application?
Google spreadsheets can be easily turned in to graphs and other visual representations of the information. This can then be copied and pasted into other applications or printed to be shared as a hard copy.
How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?
Spreadsheets scream science to me. I guess when I was in school that's what I primarily used Excel for. If students are working on a group lab, they could use google spreadsheets to collaborate on the data input and presentation of their data. They could also use the spreadsheet to help them compute different equations.
Google spreadsheets can also be used as an organizational tool. In our music department, students are involved in helping keep track of the inventory of instruments. We call them equipment managers (EMs for short). The EMs use spreadsheets already, and with google docs they would have access to it whenever they would need to update it.
What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?
Teachers can easily adjust their lessons to include the use of google spreadsheets. Anything that involves data of any kind can be used to help promote collaboration. Another feature associated with google spreadsheets is Forms. Here students can work together to create a survey, administer it, and then analyze the data all within google spreadsheets. These activities promote collaboration and problem solving.
What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?
When using any of the google apps as a collaboration tool, the teacher must take into consideration accessibility. All students will need their own google accounts in order to get to the apps. Also regular internet access is required. Once everyone is plugged in, we must teach our students to be ethical. Because anyone who editing power can greatly alter/impact the documents created, students need to be made aware of responsible and respectful behaviors concerning this.
I am pretty familiar with the google suite of applications, spreadsheets included. It's very intuitive to use, especially for those who are familiar with Microsoft's Excel. The best part of it though is that, like the rest of the google apps, you can use it as a collaboration tool. Multiple users can input and edit information on the spreadsheet. The only frustration that I have, is that at times it can slow down a little bit. I think this is due to the fact that everything is built into the web.
What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?
Basic information about using spreadsheets is important. But like I said before, if they are experienced in using excel then this shouldn't be a problem. Learning the google interface should also come relatively easy. Understanding the idea of cloud computing would also be an important concept for them to grasp.
How can you share the products you create with this application?
Google spreadsheets can be easily turned in to graphs and other visual representations of the information. This can then be copied and pasted into other applications or printed to be shared as a hard copy.
How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?
Spreadsheets scream science to me. I guess when I was in school that's what I primarily used Excel for. If students are working on a group lab, they could use google spreadsheets to collaborate on the data input and presentation of their data. They could also use the spreadsheet to help them compute different equations.
Google spreadsheets can also be used as an organizational tool. In our music department, students are involved in helping keep track of the inventory of instruments. We call them equipment managers (EMs for short). The EMs use spreadsheets already, and with google docs they would have access to it whenever they would need to update it.
What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?
Teachers can easily adjust their lessons to include the use of google spreadsheets. Anything that involves data of any kind can be used to help promote collaboration. Another feature associated with google spreadsheets is Forms. Here students can work together to create a survey, administer it, and then analyze the data all within google spreadsheets. These activities promote collaboration and problem solving.
What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?
When using any of the google apps as a collaboration tool, the teacher must take into consideration accessibility. All students will need their own google accounts in order to get to the apps. Also regular internet access is required. Once everyone is plugged in, we must teach our students to be ethical. Because anyone who editing power can greatly alter/impact the documents created, students need to be made aware of responsible and respectful behaviors concerning this.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Internet Radio: Research part 2
This part of my research focuses more on why listening to music is an essential part of music education. It is my ultimate goal after all to use internet radio to aid in listening activities and promote better listening habits.
Colwell (1966) argues that just because students perform music, doesn't meant they understand it. Instead we must take a holistic approach to music education, ensuring that we provide the necessary activities that foster deep understanding of music.
This same idea same idea is echoed in an article by Margaret Barrett (1992) , "listening experiences which expose children to a variety of musical forms and styles; opportunities toparticipate in a range of musical experiences; and, perhaps most importantly, the oppor- tunity to experiment with the materials of music in order to discover their possibilities and limitations, provide children with a number of examples of how music may become meaningful to them, and a powerful part of their daily lives."
So the question then is how do we teach listening in a way that aids student understanding of music and ultimately their performance.
The first step is to give them the background information. We need to teach them musical terms and how to connect their listening to their emotions. In a book written by Nicholas Cook (1990), he states, "listeners perceive musical structures depending on their degree of training and understanding of historical and social contexts. Again, imagination is vital in this aspect of musical understanding." So in other words, we need to set our students up to succeed as listeners and treat it like we would any other skill such as writing or performing.
The next step is training. We need to train our students to be deep listeners. Patricia Campbell writes about the pedagogy of listening. The article outlines three stages: attentive listening, engaged listening, and enactive listening. The ultimate goal is to get students to the enactive listening in which they are listening to every nuance of the musical recording.
The final step is assessment. How do we know if students are listening and understanding what they are listening to? I was able to find rubrics to evaluate student listening. These were some great sample rubrics available in Cavner and Gould's article (2003).
Ultimately the goal is to improve student understanding and performance. When we think of higher levels of thinking this would be hitting to that highest level of creation or synthesis. Listening is the step below that, evaluation. This is a much more attainable step that all students in and out of a music classroom should be taught. "The most important thing that we can provide for the majority of children is to teach them how to listen intelligently, and with a growing sense of the power of music to symbolize our emotional sensibilities. Focusing so much on performance in music education, at the expense of developing sophisticated methods of teaching students to listen with intelligent involvement, fails to address the demands of the majority of students, with the result that most young people leave school with no idea at all of how to listen to music, or what to listen for." (Walker, 2005).
Through this research I learned more about the need to teach listening to students. I also picked up a few strategies and terms to help me in that process. I feel revitalized in my goal of incorporating internet radio and finding ways of broadening my music curriculum.
On a side note: I also am getting more comfortable searching for articles via the MSU library. My initial research focused mostly on google searches and google scholar searches. A few things came from so blog links as well. This post primarily came from the MSU e-sources. It's a very handy resource indeed.
References:
Barrett, M. (1992). Music Education and the Natural Learning Model. International Journal of Music Education, 27-34.
Campbell, P. (2005). Deep Listening to the Musical World. Music Educators Journal, 92 (1), 30-36.
Cavner, D., & Gould, E. (2003) Whole Language and Music-Listening Instruction: Part 2 of 2. Music Educators Journal, 89 (5), 19-25.
Colwell, R. (1966, Jan). Music: Both a Performing Art and a Listening Art. Music Educators Journal, 52 (4), 45-50.
Cook, N. (1990). Music, Imagination, and Culture. Clarendon Press.
Walker, R. (2005). A worthy function for music in education. International Journal of Music Education, 23 (2), 135-138.
Colwell (1966) argues that just because students perform music, doesn't meant they understand it. Instead we must take a holistic approach to music education, ensuring that we provide the necessary activities that foster deep understanding of music.
This same idea same idea is echoed in an article by Margaret Barrett (1992) , "listening experiences which expose children to a variety of musical forms and styles; opportunities toparticipate in a range of musical experiences; and, perhaps most importantly, the oppor- tunity to experiment with the materials of music in order to discover their possibilities and limitations, provide children with a number of examples of how music may become meaningful to them, and a powerful part of their daily lives."
So the question then is how do we teach listening in a way that aids student understanding of music and ultimately their performance.
The first step is to give them the background information. We need to teach them musical terms and how to connect their listening to their emotions. In a book written by Nicholas Cook (1990), he states, "listeners perceive musical structures depending on their degree of training and understanding of historical and social contexts. Again, imagination is vital in this aspect of musical understanding." So in other words, we need to set our students up to succeed as listeners and treat it like we would any other skill such as writing or performing.
The next step is training. We need to train our students to be deep listeners. Patricia Campbell writes about the pedagogy of listening. The article outlines three stages: attentive listening, engaged listening, and enactive listening. The ultimate goal is to get students to the enactive listening in which they are listening to every nuance of the musical recording.
The final step is assessment. How do we know if students are listening and understanding what they are listening to? I was able to find rubrics to evaluate student listening. These were some great sample rubrics available in Cavner and Gould's article (2003).
Ultimately the goal is to improve student understanding and performance. When we think of higher levels of thinking this would be hitting to that highest level of creation or synthesis. Listening is the step below that, evaluation. This is a much more attainable step that all students in and out of a music classroom should be taught. "The most important thing that we can provide for the majority of children is to teach them how to listen intelligently, and with a growing sense of the power of music to symbolize our emotional sensibilities. Focusing so much on performance in music education, at the expense of developing sophisticated methods of teaching students to listen with intelligent involvement, fails to address the demands of the majority of students, with the result that most young people leave school with no idea at all of how to listen to music, or what to listen for." (Walker, 2005).
Through this research I learned more about the need to teach listening to students. I also picked up a few strategies and terms to help me in that process. I feel revitalized in my goal of incorporating internet radio and finding ways of broadening my music curriculum.
On a side note: I also am getting more comfortable searching for articles via the MSU library. My initial research focused mostly on google searches and google scholar searches. A few things came from so blog links as well. This post primarily came from the MSU e-sources. It's a very handy resource indeed.
References:
Barrett, M. (1992). Music Education and the Natural Learning Model. International Journal of Music Education, 27-34.
Campbell, P. (2005). Deep Listening to the Musical World. Music Educators Journal, 92 (1), 30-36.
Cavner, D., & Gould, E. (2003) Whole Language and Music-Listening Instruction: Part 2 of 2. Music Educators Journal, 89 (5), 19-25.
Colwell, R. (1966, Jan). Music: Both a Performing Art and a Listening Art. Music Educators Journal, 52 (4), 45-50.
Cook, N. (1990). Music, Imagination, and Culture. Clarendon Press.
Walker, R. (2005). A worthy function for music in education. International Journal of Music Education, 23 (2), 135-138.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wiki!
As part of my wiki assignment this week, I updated the Moanalua High School's page. I just added some info about the band's recent trip to the Fiesta Bowl and made sure that everything else was still current.
I also created a wiki to be used to support the marching band. Didn't get a chance to add much to it yet, but I will be collaborating with my marching staff to create a marching handbook, drumline handbook, and brass handbook. Currently the brass handbook exist in hard copy and the drumline handbook is under development. I'm hoping the wiki will facilitate the collaboration more.
I also created a wiki to be used to support the marching band. Didn't get a chance to add much to it yet, but I will be collaborating with my marching staff to create a marching handbook, drumline handbook, and brass handbook. Currently the brass handbook exist in hard copy and the drumline handbook is under development. I'm hoping the wiki will facilitate the collaboration more.
Internet Radio... not a new idea?
Here I thought that the internet radio idea was a relatively new idea... one full of great potential that has just yet to be tapped. Upon researching this topic more, I found that I was wrong... well sorta.
In 2007, a research article published in the International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, by E. Menduni, outlines the history of internet radio and also the history of pod-casting. The article states that internet radio dates back to the early nineties and that it never caught on due to a couple of reasons:
1) lack of portability
2) lack of accessibility
The article examines the idea that pod-casting was a better alternative and replacement to internet radio.
I think though, that this article is already outdated in its thinking. A couple of recent developments and advancements makes the internet radio of today very different from the past. 1) Mobile internet capable devices now make internet radio much more portable and accessible. 2) Web 2.0 technologies, such as tagging and social networking, make internet radio a safe & legal way of sharing music with peers, and ultimately with my students.
In fact, in that same year 2007, J. Knowles published an article titled: "A survey of Web 2.0 music trends and some implications for tertiary music communities." Knowles details services such as Pandora radio and lastfm.com and writes about the power that Web 2.0 technologies brings to these services. One thing that I learned from this was that lastfm.com allows users to publish their own music to the site... great potential in a music classroom for sure!
So I began to look for a site with tips/steps on how to do this and found a jumping off point.
What I couldn't find, were projects like my idea. I am beginning to think it's a bit narrow in its scope so finding others who are doing similar projects will be difficult if not impossible.
On another tangent, my new school had new teacher orientation this week. Part of that orientation was us revisiting a district wide initiative of including rigor, relevance, and relationships in our curriculum. I began to think about my project and how it was related. So I dug a bit deeper on International Center for Leadership in Education website.
I began to realize that this activity fostered a high level of all 3 rigor, relevance, and relationships (a big eureka moment for me):
Rigor - promoting higher level thinking skills of evaluating existing musical performances, and then applying that evaluation to their own creation/synthesis of music.
Relevance - Making real-world connections with unpredictable situations (new music) and having to use their knowledge of music to make informed decisions and opinions
Relationship - Because I build the radio stations, I foster a new connection with my students that goes beyond the classroom.
The last article I'll share dives into how music affects the mind and learning. This ties back to the idea of rigor (higher levels of thinking). I realized from reading this article how powerful this tool of using internet radio can be. It not only can serve my needs in providing exemplars to my students for performance, but might ultimately affect their cognitive abilities and stretch their thinking in new directions.
UPDATED: Continued my research in... part 2.
In 2007, a research article published in the International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, by E. Menduni, outlines the history of internet radio and also the history of pod-casting. The article states that internet radio dates back to the early nineties and that it never caught on due to a couple of reasons:
1) lack of portability
2) lack of accessibility
The article examines the idea that pod-casting was a better alternative and replacement to internet radio.
I think though, that this article is already outdated in its thinking. A couple of recent developments and advancements makes the internet radio of today very different from the past. 1) Mobile internet capable devices now make internet radio much more portable and accessible. 2) Web 2.0 technologies, such as tagging and social networking, make internet radio a safe & legal way of sharing music with peers, and ultimately with my students.
In fact, in that same year 2007, J. Knowles published an article titled: "A survey of Web 2.0 music trends and some implications for tertiary music communities." Knowles details services such as Pandora radio and lastfm.com and writes about the power that Web 2.0 technologies brings to these services. One thing that I learned from this was that lastfm.com allows users to publish their own music to the site... great potential in a music classroom for sure!
So I began to look for a site with tips/steps on how to do this and found a jumping off point.
What I couldn't find, were projects like my idea. I am beginning to think it's a bit narrow in its scope so finding others who are doing similar projects will be difficult if not impossible.
On another tangent, my new school had new teacher orientation this week. Part of that orientation was us revisiting a district wide initiative of including rigor, relevance, and relationships in our curriculum. I began to think about my project and how it was related. So I dug a bit deeper on International Center for Leadership in Education website.
I began to realize that this activity fostered a high level of all 3 rigor, relevance, and relationships (a big eureka moment for me):
Rigor - promoting higher level thinking skills of evaluating existing musical performances, and then applying that evaluation to their own creation/synthesis of music.
Relevance - Making real-world connections with unpredictable situations (new music) and having to use their knowledge of music to make informed decisions and opinions
Relationship - Because I build the radio stations, I foster a new connection with my students that goes beyond the classroom.
The last article I'll share dives into how music affects the mind and learning. This ties back to the idea of rigor (higher levels of thinking). I realized from reading this article how powerful this tool of using internet radio can be. It not only can serve my needs in providing exemplars to my students for performance, but might ultimately affect their cognitive abilities and stretch their thinking in new directions.
UPDATED: Continued my research in... part 2.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Web 2.0 in the classroom
What instructional strategies would fit well with using blogs in the classroom? Why?
I think that blogs can be used with a variety of strategies. If using a more traditional didactic approach, blogs can be used as a channel for students to reflect on their learning. Teachers can then use this as an assessment tool to check on student understanding.
If working on a more inquiry-based method, students can use a blog to report and reflect on their progress throughout the project. Teachers can then provide feedback via comments.
What instructional strategies would not fit well with using blogs in the classroom? Why?
If using a more collaborative approach, blogs are probably not the best tool to use. Wikis would provide a much more team-based setting for working.
How could you see Blogs being used in your classroom with your subject matter?
In a music classroom I can see blogs being used in a couple of ways. From a teacher standpoint, I could use a blog to communicate announcements, feedback/reflection, and other important ideas to my students.
Students can use a blog as a reflective tool or even as a practice log. They blog about how their practicing is going, what kind of music they are listening to, and even their opinions on various concerts. At the end of each semester, the blogs can be used as a tool for them to reflect on their progress and even on how well they did at a concert.
Bonus Question: Sometimes it is not the technology that imposes the limitations but our own imaginations and ability to adapt technology to fit our needs-- How could you adapt a Web 2.0 technology to support an instructional strategy that you feel it doesn't easily support? (e.g., using a blog to help students understand their math facts.)
Many people may think that marching band and technology don't really go together. Recently though, I began to think about a way to utilize a wiki into our music department. My goal this season is to create a marching handbook that our staff and students can all have input into creating. That way next year students can use it as a reference.
I think that blogs can be used with a variety of strategies. If using a more traditional didactic approach, blogs can be used as a channel for students to reflect on their learning. Teachers can then use this as an assessment tool to check on student understanding.
If working on a more inquiry-based method, students can use a blog to report and reflect on their progress throughout the project. Teachers can then provide feedback via comments.
What instructional strategies would not fit well with using blogs in the classroom? Why?
If using a more collaborative approach, blogs are probably not the best tool to use. Wikis would provide a much more team-based setting for working.
How could you see Blogs being used in your classroom with your subject matter?
In a music classroom I can see blogs being used in a couple of ways. From a teacher standpoint, I could use a blog to communicate announcements, feedback/reflection, and other important ideas to my students.
Students can use a blog as a reflective tool or even as a practice log. They blog about how their practicing is going, what kind of music they are listening to, and even their opinions on various concerts. At the end of each semester, the blogs can be used as a tool for them to reflect on their progress and even on how well they did at a concert.
Bonus Question: Sometimes it is not the technology that imposes the limitations but our own imaginations and ability to adapt technology to fit our needs-- How could you adapt a Web 2.0 technology to support an instructional strategy that you feel it doesn't easily support? (e.g., using a blog to help students understand their math facts.)
Many people may think that marching band and technology don't really go together. Recently though, I began to think about a way to utilize a wiki into our music department. My goal this season is to create a marching handbook that our staff and students can all have input into creating. That way next year students can use it as a reference.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Project Description Entry
Educational Need: The national standards of music include 2 areas that are essential to a well-rounded music education:
Technology: I believe Internet radios, such as Pandora and lastfm.com, provide an answer. Students can listen to music streamed through their computers online. This is not only free but also legal. Teachers can create their own ‘stations’ that students can then go home to listen to.
Online forms/surveys, such as those created through google docs, can help to hold students accountable for their listening activities. These forms can also be used to help guide students through the listening process and focus them what’s important.
Research: The following article talks about research regarding listening and how it affects brain development (http://128.200.122.84/weinberger/publications/Weinberger,%201998e.pdf). Of course when I talk about listening I am talking about listening at a higher level, rather than just casual in the background listening. This blog outlines the importance of deep listening and pointers when teaching it students (http://musiciansway.com/blog/?p=2636)
I had a difficult time finding currently existing applications of this technology. I think in part because it is pretty brand new. I did find a few teachers from other subjects that talked about their uses/benefits of using Internet radio in the classroom:
http://scottangle23ed4766.blogspot.com/2006/02/internet-radio-and-classroom.html
http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/using-pandora-radio-in-the
The Plan: To implement it over the summer, I am going to create a radio station that relates to our marching bands field show. I will share this station with a group of my student leaders along with a short online survey for them to take. In that survey I will ask about how they felt listening affected them and if it helped to improve their understanding of the music, etc.
Once I get their feedback, I will continue with this implementation in the school year. I hope to create several stations that I will share with my students throughout the year. During down times, away from performances, I will also create surveys for them to fill out about their listening. During the year I hope to use blackboard to create these online quizzes/surveys.
Common Places in Education:
Teacher – The teacher’s role in all of this is facilitation. They are the sage the guides students through and to listening experiences. The Internet frees up valuable class time and allows for teachers to focus on what’s important. It is easy to set-up and monitor.
Student – The students will be exposed to new music and gain deeper understanding through listening. This will hopefully improve students’ appreciation of music as well as performance. They should have a very easy time with the technology since it is something that most of them are familiar with. For those without Internet access, school computers will be made available.
Subject Matter – Listening is an essential skill in the music classroom and thus incredibly important. It can also help to develop deeper listening abilities that will cross all subject matters.
Setting/Context – This plan/technology opens up the music classroom to the home. Students are already plugged into their listening technology, like iPods, so this helps for us to bridge that gap.
- 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
- 7. Evaluating music and music performances.
Technology: I believe Internet radios, such as Pandora and lastfm.com, provide an answer. Students can listen to music streamed through their computers online. This is not only free but also legal. Teachers can create their own ‘stations’ that students can then go home to listen to.
Online forms/surveys, such as those created through google docs, can help to hold students accountable for their listening activities. These forms can also be used to help guide students through the listening process and focus them what’s important.
Research: The following article talks about research regarding listening and how it affects brain development (http://128.200.122.84/weinberger/publications/Weinberger,%201998e.pdf). Of course when I talk about listening I am talking about listening at a higher level, rather than just casual in the background listening. This blog outlines the importance of deep listening and pointers when teaching it students (http://musiciansway.com/blog/?p=2636)
I had a difficult time finding currently existing applications of this technology. I think in part because it is pretty brand new. I did find a few teachers from other subjects that talked about their uses/benefits of using Internet radio in the classroom:
http://scottangle23ed4766.blogspot.com/2006/02/internet-radio-and-classroom.html
http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/using-pandora-radio-in-the
The Plan: To implement it over the summer, I am going to create a radio station that relates to our marching bands field show. I will share this station with a group of my student leaders along with a short online survey for them to take. In that survey I will ask about how they felt listening affected them and if it helped to improve their understanding of the music, etc.
Once I get their feedback, I will continue with this implementation in the school year. I hope to create several stations that I will share with my students throughout the year. During down times, away from performances, I will also create surveys for them to fill out about their listening. During the year I hope to use blackboard to create these online quizzes/surveys.
Common Places in Education:
Teacher – The teacher’s role in all of this is facilitation. They are the sage the guides students through and to listening experiences. The Internet frees up valuable class time and allows for teachers to focus on what’s important. It is easy to set-up and monitor.
Student – The students will be exposed to new music and gain deeper understanding through listening. This will hopefully improve students’ appreciation of music as well as performance. They should have a very easy time with the technology since it is something that most of them are familiar with. For those without Internet access, school computers will be made available.
Subject Matter – Listening is an essential skill in the music classroom and thus incredibly important. It can also help to develop deeper listening abilities that will cross all subject matters.
Setting/Context – This plan/technology opens up the music classroom to the home. Students are already plugged into their listening technology, like iPods, so this helps for us to bridge that gap.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Problem of Practice preview
One of the most important activities that music educators need to do is encourage our students to listen to music and to expose them to new music. Listening to music provides exemplars and a target for students to reach for. It also fosters musical maturity and appreciation. The difficulty is that this takes time.
Like most classrooms, time in a music ensemble rehearsal is a very precious commodity. It is a struggle to determine what is the best way to spend that time as we need to divide it between warm-ups, rehearsing, announcements, and various other activities and discussions, such as listening activities.
Technology could hold the answer to this dilemma. Music has come to exist mainly online now, rather than in record stores, and thus it has become much more accessible. Increased Internet speeds and technologies, such as the iPod, have increased accessibility and changed the way that we are able to listen to music.
This means that these listening activities could occur at home without the need to spend precious rehearsal time doing so. This however creates a crop of new issues/problems:
· What if a student doesn’t have access?
· What technology is the most effective to use? Podcasts? Internet radios?
· How do we monitor and hold students accountable for listening?
· How can we assess their understanding of what they are listening to?
· Copyright and fair use issues
I believe in the end, the solution must address these issues for it to be a worthwhile and truly make a difference. The ultimate goal is to expose our students to new music and develop a deep understanding of music.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Computer-Based Instruction
I think the biggest consideration we have to take into account when designing these computer-based instructions, is the idea of inflexibility. What do I mean? When we teach a normal lesson, we can easily adjust it to match what is going on. We can move faster, move slower, add content, delete content, question for understanding, etc. In these computer-based instructions however, we cannot.
So that means we must plan, and plan very well. We have to take into consideration the vary levels of our students, of our given audience. We have to provide more than we would normally think is necessary in order to prepare for the unexpected.
Of course, these Computer-based instructions provide many unique advantages too. They give students freedom to choose their pace. They can provide interactivity, instant feedback, and individually tailored lessons. But... all of this means more planning on our side, on the design side.
Webquests like this one about Composers and Time periods, are a good example. I chose this one because overall it provides a good introductory activity into classical composers/time periods. It's also nice because it is relatively short in regards to demands and has a slight whimsical feel to it.
Here is one that can be incorporated into our concert/performing ensembles. The design isn't the greatest, but the idea of having students formulate their own concert program is a powerful activity and can sometimes yield great results. If not, then at least they gain some insight into how difficult a process it can be for us.
The last one I'll share for today is about selecting orchestral instruments. The idea being you have to help your friend figure out what they are going to play next year when they join orchestra. Again some design issues. But it does have a great list of resources and also some links to some really cool interactive activities.
So that means we must plan, and plan very well. We have to take into consideration the vary levels of our students, of our given audience. We have to provide more than we would normally think is necessary in order to prepare for the unexpected.
Of course, these Computer-based instructions provide many unique advantages too. They give students freedom to choose their pace. They can provide interactivity, instant feedback, and individually tailored lessons. But... all of this means more planning on our side, on the design side.
Webquests like this one about Composers and Time periods, are a good example. I chose this one because overall it provides a good introductory activity into classical composers/time periods. It's also nice because it is relatively short in regards to demands and has a slight whimsical feel to it.
Here is one that can be incorporated into our concert/performing ensembles. The design isn't the greatest, but the idea of having students formulate their own concert program is a powerful activity and can sometimes yield great results. If not, then at least they gain some insight into how difficult a process it can be for us.
The last one I'll share for today is about selecting orchestral instruments. The idea being you have to help your friend figure out what they are going to play next year when they join orchestra. Again some design issues. But it does have a great list of resources and also some links to some really cool interactive activities.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Web 2.0 Video + Web design
Very cool video about web 2.0. I'm blogging it so that I can remember where it is for future use. Watch it if you haven't yet! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&feature=player_embedded
Below are the suggested online web composers:
Google Sites
Weebly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&feature=player_embedded
Below are the suggested online web composers:
Google Sites
Weebly
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Traditional Website vs Blogs
A traditional website differs from a blog in several ways. Traditional site's content is normally formal whereas blogs tend to be on the less formal side. Blogs serve more like a journal of thoughts/ideas that can be edited and added upon easily, whereas a traditional website is more of a published book. Blogs also allow for user interaction in the form of comments and sometimes other options (such as diggs or likes). Blogs provide an outlet that is quick and easy and doesn't require the time/energy that a traditional website would.
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