PLN Resource Blog 13 (NPR Topics: Music)

NPR Topics: Music
URL: http://www.npr.org/music/

In the past, as I have searched my PLN resources, I have come across many excellent sites associated with the National Public Radio (NPR). I have utilized sites and programs, such as NPR Jazz Classics, and Classics for Kids. However, I have continued to discover more great sites associated with NPR and I have come to realize that there is an entire site devoted to music through NPR and it is called NPR Topics: Music (http://www.npr.org/music/). This site contains a wealth of fantastic information related to music. The site collates all the music sites and programs associated with NPR into one location making them easier to access. In addition, the site includes articles, recordings, podcasts, interviews, and more. Another outstanding feature of the website is that it includes information about all types of music ranging from classical, to jazz, to rock, to pop and hip, hop. This makes the site extremely versatile and useful to teachers and students. For example, when I went onto the site recently, I found an article about Rossini next to an article about a hip, hop artist.

With all the information and resources available on this website, it is an extremely valuable resource for music education. The website provides in-depth coverage of a wide variety of topics. In addition, it presents material in various formats, which more students will be able to relate to and associate with more easily. There is information in written text as well as quality recordings of musical pieces and information presented in informative podcasts that also are supplemented with quality musical examples. Teachers can find information to present to students so that the students may develop a better understanding of music topics. In addition, teachers can allow students to search the site to discover information on their own. In addition to the excellent information that students and teachers can gather from the site, the site can be motivating to students and encourage interest in music because of its variety. Since the website covers a broad spectrum of music topics, it is likely that students will be able to discover information on the site that they can relate to and enjoy. All in all, this is a fabulous resource with a vast amount of information related to music, making it a valuable tool to music education.

PLN Resource Blog 12 (So You Want To Teach?)

So You Want To Teach?
URL: http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/

As I was searching my PLN resources this week, I was drawn to a site called “So You Want to Teach?” (http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/). This is a site that discusses many educational topics from classroom management, to technology in education, and interesting resources on the internet, among others. I was particularly drawn to a blog posting on the site called “How do we show our students that we Love them?” (http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/how-do-we-show-our-students-that-we-love-them/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SoYouWantToTeach+%28So+You+Want+To+Teach%3F%29&utm_content=Google+Reader). This is a blog about classroom management in the music classroom. My interest was peaked by this article because I feel as though classroom management is one of the weakest areas in my teaching and I thought that it was interesting to be able to read about another person’s situation with classroom management in an ensemble setting and how that person handled the situation.

I thought that the site “So You Want To Teach?’ in general was a valuable resource for educators because it covers a wide variety of topics about teaching that many educators can relate to and learn from, helping to improve their teaching. In addition, I felt that the article about “How do we show our students that we Love them?” in particular has value for educators because it helps to put into perspective some ideas about classroom management and creating a favorable environment for learning. As the article stated, it is natural to try to develop a rapport with the students and have them like you; however, it is truly important to establish consistent classroom management that will allow the students to respect the teacher and accomplish the goals of the class. I liked the simple rules that the author established and the goals for the rules. I thought the article “How do we show our students that we Love them?” presented some valid ideas about how to approach classroom management that I could try with my students. As a result and through some of the other posts that the blog contains, I feel that it can be a valuable resource for educators.

Assistive Technology

When thinking about technology, it is easy to consider the latest advancements to make things easier, more exciting, and higher quality. However, after reading the materials about assistive technology, I was able to reevaluate what technology is and how important it can be to people with disabilities. In addition to the multimedia and other advancements that technology provides, it can provide ways to make life a little easier for people with disabilities. This type of technology is called assistive technology, which are the tools that can “help students with both learning and physical challenges.” Assistive technology can be beneficial to anyone with disabilities; however, it is also extremely important to education because it can aid in the education of students with special needs and according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), school districts may need to provide assistive technology to students. Reading the materials on assistive technology reconfirmed the importance of technology to education and what we are responsible for as educators based on IDEA, as well as it reminded me how important technology can be for people with disabilities, even in the area of music.

I think that technology is a great tool to improve the lives of everyone; however, I think that assistive technology is particularly important and beneficial, and can aid in the education of students with special needs. Students with disabilities face many challenges that others may never even consider. Therefore, assistive technology provides a vital role to helping people with special needs overcome their disabilities. Students with disabilities may lack some of life’s basic functions, but with assistive technology, students may be able to get around more efficiently, and overcome some of the learning obstacles that they face. In addition, assistive technology may help provide an outlet for an incredibly talented person whose abilities would have otherwise been masked by a disability.

I thought that this was particularly impressive in the area of music with regards to the Soundbeam technology. I have realized that there are means to utilize assistive technology for students in music, just as one may in other areas of education. However, I think that the Soundbeam technology is an excellent way to incorporate assistive technology into music education. It was heartwarming to see how the student in the YouTube video about Soundbeam was able to create an interesting musical piece despite his physical limitations. At my school, I see students who face inconceivable challenges, but who seem to have a positive outlook on life. I have been told that many of these students enjoy music and just like being exposed to music. The Soundbeam technology provides a way to supersede just exposing students with disabilities to music. It can provide a means for students with disabilities to have an interactive experience in music. The Soundbeam technology can allow a student with severe disabilities to demonstrate creative abilities and talent for music that might otherwise never be recognized. The student in the video created an excellent musical piece, and who knows what someone else might be able to do with the aid of such technology. The Soundbeam technology is a fascinating example of how powerful a resource technology can be to music and to education in general. I think that assistive technology may be some of the most important technology available because it provides a means for people with disabilities to attempt to circumvent those disabilities and work to showcase the talents and abilities that may be hidden by the challenges that they face. In addition, I believe that assistive technology can be an excellent tool in education providing students with disabilities a way to better learn, and the teacher a better way to structure learning for students with disabilities.

PLN Resource Blog 11 (Performing Arts!)

Performing Arts!
URL: http://cdnpa.blogspot.com/

As I was going through my PLN resources this week, I discovered some interesting information on a blog called Performing Arts! (http://cdnpa.blogspot.com/). The blog posts information and links pertaining to musical topics. In addition, a portion of the blog that I found particularly fascinating includes numerous YouTube video posts of musical events and interesting musical ideas. There are videos, such as graphical score analysis of musical pieces, and a performance of Giant Steps by John Coltrane showing the written music while hearing the audio, along with a variety of other videos. However, the video that particularly caught my attention was the video of Karajan conducting Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhcR1ZS2hVo&feature=player_embedded). I thought that this was an excellent video because it showed an extremely prolific conductor conducting a very powerful and famous piece of music. It was exciting to watch such a fine conductor and to see how he conducted a piece of music. In addition to seeing the video posted on the site, when you watched the video you could link to YouTube where you could watch numerous other performances of great music being conducted by some of the best conductors, such as Leonard Bernstein conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

In addition to providing excellent material to watch and hear, I think that this site, and in particular, the videos of the famous conductors can be a valuable resource for music educators. I think that this site, in general, provides teachers with interesting and different ideas about music that students can also search and see videos of the topics being displayed. I think that this is valuable because it provides a resource that students would be comfortable with and probably enjoy accessing. I think that the videos of the famous conductors would be particularly valuable. As a music educator teaching a performing ensemble, one is going to need to conduct students. These videos provide a spectacular example of some of the world’s finest conductors. In addition, these videos could be used to provide students with audio as well as video examples of fantastic music being performed very well.

Digital Citizenship, Copyright, Photography, and GIMP

Each week as I progress through the Technology-Assisted Music Teaching and Learning class, I continue to expand my knowledge about technology, and how it can best be incorporated into the music classroom. This week I discovered that there are guidelines that need to be observed when utilizing technology, as well as certain behavior that should be followed when using technology. In addition to these concepts, I was able to learn more ways that technology could benefit me as a music educator when I learned about digital photography and the program GIMP. With this information, I will be able to continue to expand my abilities with technology in order to help provide a more rewarding musical experience for my students.

Although technology is an extremely valuable tool for education, and people in general, there are appropriate behaviors and rules that need to be established, learned, and observed. With technology, information is at the fingertips of students and educators. Information can be easily and almost instantaneously accessed, as well as easily reused, which sometimes disguises the fact that the information was created by someone’s hard work and likely is even copyrighted. Therefore, as the Digital Citizenship article mentioned, certain behaviors for the use of technology must be established. When using a book, it seems that people are more aware that the information has to be cited and credit must be given to the author; however, with some information gathered through the use of technology, it seems less concrete and more vast, which possibly creates some of the difficulties in monitoring the use of technological information. In addition, the use of technology, such as cell phones and other devices such as iPods, has become so common that I believe the boundaries for when it is appropriate to use these items can be blurred for students. Therefore, with the benefits of technology, also comes a responsibility to monitor the use of technology and to establish and teach appropriate behavior for using technology. As educators, we try to shape the minds of our students and prepare them for their futures. As technology becomes a more essential part of society, I believe that educators can and should not only utilize technology to enhance education for students, but they should also incorporate appropriate behavior for the use of technology into student learning. I think that the article Digital Citizenship identifies some good areas to focus on when addressing behavior in regards to technology. For example, the areas of etiquette and communication highlighted some important issues. Through my experience, I have noticed how common it has become for students, even young students, to have technology, such as cell phones. It seems that almost every student has a cell phone, which is great for communication and other technological uses; however, the use of cell phones is often abused. Students will try to get away with using cell phones in class and are always texting each other. There are some rules in place for the use of cell phones to limit their use in inappropriate situations, such as class, and to show students when it is appropriate to have and use a phone, which I believe is great. However, I think that this needs to continue to be monitored as the capabilities of the technology continues to be advanced. I think that cell phones are just one microcosm of the technology available to students and there are many lessons for students to learn. The internet provides students with a vast amount of information and opportunities; however, just as students need to learn the appropriate behavior for cell phones, students need to learn how to properly utilize information and protect themselves when they access the internet. I believe that teachers can point out this information to students as they teach their subject curriculum, and this will help students develop an understanding about how to properly utilize technology as they advance through their educational careers.

Along with the guidelines and behaviors that are continuing to be established, and that students need to develop in order to utilize technology, it is interesting to learn about some important guidelines that have been established for the use of materials. These guidelines include copyright laws. I have known about copyright laws and that they impact the material that I can use and how I can use it. However, until reading the information about copyrights, I did not have a solid understanding of exactly what is involved with a copyright. I think that it is interesting to learn exactly what some of the guidelines are for establishing a copyright and what a copyright does. In addition, I thought that it was interesting to find that there are fair use practices that allow people to still utilize copyrighted material. For example, sections of works can be copied and used, particularly by educators for the purpose of teaching and student learning. I think that this an excellent way to help educators utilize some of the great resources that are available, while still protecting the rights of copyright holders. I also believe that by learning about copyright and fair use laws, I will be able to better utilize information in the proper manner, and therefore pass that information on to my students, helping them to become better “digital citizens.”

In addition to developing a better understanding of the appropriate behaviors for utilizing technology, and the responsibility educators have to teach students those behaviors; I think that it is interesting to continue my technological growth with the information about digital photography and the program GIMP. I think that it is interesting to discover how versatile digital photography is, and the potential it has to impact education. Digital photography provides teachers and students with photographic information that can now be accessed immediately. The information can be used by educators to do things such as display students work or performances, and it can be easily shared and disseminated. For example, our band booster newsletter uses digital photographs to display student activities. This has been an excellent way to showcase students; however, I have always had some difficulty sending photos because the files were too large. I think that it is interesting to learn how images can be altered to create smaller files can be more easily shared and better utilized for use on the internet. This will undoubtedly be beneficial in the future.

In addition, it is valuable to learn about the program GIMP. GIMP seems like a valuable tool to work with digital images and to create files that will be useable in a variety of forums, such as for print, email, and the internet. I am impressed with how many capabilities the program offers. Along with the basic photo touch-up features, the program offers a wide array of options to alter and improve photographs. For example, the program includes “paint” features, which allow users to add to photographs, as well as add text, which may be used to explain photos or provide information that may be used on a website or handout. Despite watching the videos about the features of GIMP, and learning about its value, I still found it a little challenging to use initially because there are so many options and technical terms that I must experiment with to discover their exact meanings and uses. However, even with the initial difficulty, I think that continued use of the program will help to build comfort, and make GIMP a valuable resource that will help me to more easily incorporate images into my music teaching.

PLN Resource Blog 10 (About.com: Music Education)

About.com: Music Education
URL: http://musiced.about.com/


This week, as I was searching for PLN resources, I discovered a sight called About.com, which is a sight that contains links to information about any topic you can imagine. However, it also contains a link to information and resources regarding music education, which is called About.com: music education (http://musiced.about.com/). In the music education section of the site, which is created by Espie Estrella, who is a singer and songwriter, there is basic information about a number of music topics ranging from instruments, to composers, to music theory. Also, there are links to music lesson plans that can be used with students. In addition to the information contained on the website and its links, the author of the site has a blog in which she continually updates information for the blog. For example, there are blogs that add information about composers to the site and recently there was a blog about the U.S. Navy band, as well as universities where interested students can take jazz courses.

With the information provided, I think that this website can be a valuable resource to music educators. I believe that it can be a good resource because it provides a nice overview of music education in basic terms. It can be a site for a teacher to go to find lessons plans to get ideas about teaching a musical concept, or to get a basic fact on a musical composer or instrument. However, teachers can also allow students to go to this website to learn basic facts on musical topics. This site could be a spring board for students to discover information, such as who a composer is or information about a certain instrument or how to purchase and care for an instrument. While this site may not have all the information someone is looking for, it can be a valuable starting point for educators and students, and it provides links to other music sites as well.

Technology and Education

As I continue to progress through Technology-Assisted Music Teaching and Learning class, I am learning more and more ways that technology can be incorporated into the music curriculum and how important technology is to education. After reading the articles for this week, I am again able to develop a more refined perspective on the use of technology in education. I feel that the articles highlight some interesting ideas about how technology is impacting education, as well as how technology can be incorporated into the educational process. I also think it is interesting how the articles discuss how people learn and the impact technology has on learning and ultimately on the educational process.

In particular, I think that the article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” by Marc Prensky, raises some intriguing points about the way technology has been incorporated into peoples’ lives and how it impacts how they learn. I believe that the article makes a great point that students growing up with technology (digital natives) do seem to think and process information in a different manner than the people who did not grow up in the era of digital technology. The article mentions that students who are digital natives “thrive on instant gratification.” That is something that I have noticed in my teaching as well. Anytime students have success immediately, they take to the material very well. However, if I give students a piece of music that they do not have success with immediately, they tend to turn-off to that piece of music and they need a great deal of encouragement to learn the piece, even if they eventually like the piece after they learn how to play it better. In addition, I have also noticed that students like to play games and have competitions to learn material as opposed to “serious” work. Even the simplest games and competitions seem to peek the interest of students. For example, having fifth grade students demonstrate their ability to play a note by timing how long it takes to go around the room and have everyone play seems to get the students excited, as opposed to just having them play a note to demonstrate for the teacher. Along with these concepts, I also agree that the process of teaching concepts slowly, step-by-step is often mundane to students because they want to have instant success. I also believe that it is true that students are used to being able to use technology to eliminate some of the processes that digital immigrants had to learn to complete tasks. Therefore, students today often do not see the value in learning how to complete basic steps. For example, today calculators and computers can complete many tasks that people had to do on their own before. However, I still feel that some of the processes are important for students to learn and understand. Therefore, a teacher may have to alter his/her approach to almost “sneak” the learning steps in to the educational process with activities that help students learn the basic concepts rather then just presenting material in a slow, step-by-step manner.

In addition, I think that the article demonstrates the concept that students who are digital natives learn differently than their predecessors in the way they approach learning and completing tasks. I believe that for the most part I have grown up in the digital era or at least on the brink of the digital era, and for the most part have grown up with technology around me. However, I still think that I have some tendencies of a digital immigrant because of the way I have learned information. For example, as the article mentions, digital immigrants may not start with the internet to find information, and may print out emails. I think that is an interesting point because although I feel that I have grown up in the digital era, I still print out the articles to read rather that just reading them on the computer. However, students probably would just read articles and emails on the computer, and they most certainly are comfortable with the internet and using it to find information. From my experience, students will almost always go to the internet for information first, and will rarely even use books if they are not required to do so.

Therefore, as I read the article, I came to the realization that students do learn differently then their predecessors, and a different approach to education may need to be taken to better present material to our students. I have considered how I have presented concepts to students and how I could do so more effectively. I do not believe, that teachers necessarily need to completely change what is being taught, rather they need to restructure the way the information is presented. I think that incorporating technology and the materials available today can make learning more interesting for students and ultimately more effective.

I also feel that the article, “How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have to Do with It),” by Marcy Driscoll presents some approaches to help consider how to better integrate technology into the learning process. I think the article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” presents a great case as to why teaching strategies may need to be updated, and I think that this article helps to reinforce the concept and show how technology has impacted the learning process. For example, the article mentions learning occurs in context, learning is active, learning is social, and learning is reflective. As a result, technology can support these concepts in many ways. For example, technology can be used to help students be active in the learning process by using music software to help learn and practice musical concepts. In addition, technology can be used to help connect students and it can be used to capture events through recording so that students can reflect on what they have learned. I agree, as the articles mentions, that technology is important to learning and that it is impacting how students learn and the approaches that teachers must use to teach students. However, as the article by Marcy Driscoll mentions, no matter how much technology is available, it is how the teachers and students use the technology that makes it beneficial to the learning process. It helped me to realize how I can reconsider my own teaching methods to best incorporate technology to help students learn.

PLN Resource Blog 9 (MENC-Teaching Music)

MENC-Teaching Music

URL: http://www.menc.org/resources/view/teaching-music-magazine

As I have highlighted in the past, the MENC website is an extremely valuable tool and resource for music educators. The MENC is the National Association for Music Education, and the website provides a great deal of music education related topics. As I was searching my PLN this week, I discovered a post on the MENC website about the periodical Teaching Music. Teaching Music is a monthly periodical produced by MENC that all members of the organization receive. Therefore, as a member of OMEA and therefore MENC, I receive this publication as many others do as well. Through my PLN, I discovered a section on the MENC website that highlights the information that is contained in an issue of Teaching Music (http://www.menc.org/resources/view/teaching-music-magazine), and the website even has full featured articles on the website. I happened to view the highlights for the October issue of the magazine, and I was pleased to discover some very interesting articles, such as articles about a guide to score study, and time management tips for teachers. I thought that this was interesting and valuable because it helped to make me aware of what was available in the Teaching Music periodical. In addition, the website contained links to additional resources such as video, photos, and lesson plans.

I thought that this was a valuable resource because it helped to highlight the information available in the Teaching Music periodical. Although I do receive this periodical, I have a very busy schedule; therefore, I do not always have a chance to read periodicals in a timely manner. Therefore, I feel this website is valuable to me and other educators because it highlights the articles and provides a summary of the articles to let readers know what is available to them in the periodical. This helped me to focus more easily on the information that was pertinent to me and even made me go back to the periodical to read interesting articles, such as the article on score study and time management tips for teachers. Again, I thought that this sight was a good reminder of a great resource that is available to members of MENC and it was a great way to highlight the information available to teachers that can be used to help make one a better teacher, as well as to provide ancillary resources.

Sound and the Computer

I often take for granted hearing sound, and being able to go onto a computer or the internet and being able to hear a recording. In addition, going to a website and being able to read information and download files, such as recordings, is something that I have rarely considered. These are tasks that I just expect to be available and I have taken them for granted. However, after reading the articles “worldwidewaveforms,” “Multimedia Basics: Understanding Text,” and “Multimedia Basics: Understanding Sound,” I have come to realize that even though in the end the tasks are fairly common, the process to produce the information and media is far more complex than I had ever imagined. I did not realize how involved it is and how many options there are when creating sound files or recordings and then to put them on the internet.

Although, more complex than anticipated, it was interesting to learn what is involved in the sound production process and the many ways that sound can be put onto the internet. Learning about these processes helped me to better appreciate the sound and internet resources available to me, as well as to consider the implications that these processes have on education. I thought that it was interesting to learn how mathematical the sound process can be, and how precise creating digital audio is. In addition, I thought that it was intriguing to learn how humans perceive sound and how that impacts how sound is recorded and transmitted. It is mind boggling how quickly information is gathered, encoded and decoded to produce the sounds and recordings that we hear. In addition to gaining a better understanding of how sound is created, recorded, and then reproduced, I thought that it was beneficial to learn about the different quality levels of sound recordings and the reasons for different levels of sound recordings. I have heard the terms 8-bit and 16-bit sound quality, but I never really knew what they meant. Learning how they affect the quality of recording was interesting because now I can utilize that information to create recordings that have higher quality, or if I would like to disseminate recordings to students over the internet, how I can alter the file size to make the recordings more accessible to the students.

Being able to share information, such as recordings, with students is an extremely important endeavor. In addition, the goal is to provide students with the best possible audio quality available; however, after studying the readings, I realized that sometimes in order to make recordings more accessible, particularly on the internet, sometimes quality has to be slightly compromised in order to create a smaller file size which can be put on the internet and more easily accessed by all people. Although, there are many ways to present recordings to students, one great way to make recordings available to students is through the internet. That is why it is import to discover how to put sound files on the internet. I thought that it was interesting to learn how audio files can be compressed to meet these needs. With the ability to convert and compress audio files, a teacher can make a greater amount of material available to students. Therefore, students may be able to hear recordings of their performances or have audio available on the internet to help them practice. I also thought that it was valuable to learn about the various ways that audio could be put onto a webpage, such as a file to download, or by embedding the audio into a webpage. This can help create websites that a teacher can use to provide examples for students or just for a webpage to showcase the music program to parents and the community.

In addition, it was interesting to learn how text is created and used, and much like audio, it was far more complex than I anticipated. However, with the text options available, a teacher can also work to create files and websites that can be used to display the audio for a class. After reading the articles, I realized how involved creating a task that I had come to think of as fairly simple really is. This helps me to better appreciate the ingenuity involved in technology, but also to realize how to make better choices in regards to audio recordings and files when I want to create examples. In addition, I was able to see how the background information about sound could be utilized to help more information be accessible to students.

PLN Resource Blog 8 (Aviary Audio Editor: Myna)

Aviary Audio Editor: Myna
URL: http://aviary.com/tools/Myna


As I was searching my PLN resources this week, I came across a post for the Aviary Audio Editor, Myna (http://aviary.com/tools/Myna), on the Aviary website (http://aviary.com/). Aviary is a site that provides online applications for tasks such as photo-editing, logos, web template, and more, including its newest release, an audio editor called Myna. Myna is an online application for remixing sound tracks and audio clips, as well as providing the ability to record in sound and add effects and loops. I thought this site was interesting because the audio editor is similar in nature to Garage Band, which we are currently working with in class.

The Aviary Audio Editor, Myna, is not as powerful as Garage Band; however, I still think that it can be a valuable tool for music education. I feel that Myna can be valuable because it is an online application, which anyone can access, and it can be used for free. This is an advantage because even though Garage Band offers greater capabilities, it is only available on Mac computers, which not everyone has access to use. Therefore, I feel that Myna could be a valuable educational tool because it can provide students with a basic experience with audio editing and mixing. I think that Garage Band is a program that students would really enjoy using, but without Mac computers it is challenging to provide them with the experience, and I think Myna can be a way to give students a sampling of a similar program.

Del.icio.us, Wikis, and Social Bookmarking

In regards to the internet and web resources, I have always been a little overwhelmed with the amount of information available and how to sift through the information to find valuable resources. However, as I continue to proceed through this class, I am discovering that there are ways to better handle and sort through the vast amount of information that is available through the internet. Earlier in the class I discovered Google Reader and how it can help to organize information. Then more recently, through the article about del.icio.us and the activities about wikis and social bookmarking that I have been going through, I am realizing that there are many tools available to help organize and extrapolate the value of web resources to enhance searching the internet for valuable information.

I felt that the article on del.icio.us and the activities related to wikis and social bookmarking provided an excellent introduction into the value and uses of wikis, and social bookmarking and del.icio.us in particular. I thought that it was interesting to discover how easy it is to connect so many people in an organized manner to share information. With some background on how to use these resources, as we are currently receiving, these tools can be valuable assets to me and other educators for years to come. In particular, wikis and social bookmarking tools, such as del.icio.us, can provide music educators with a means to identify and sort through important music related websites and software. Not only do these tools help to gather and determine the value of resources, they also provide the ability to continually update and refine information so that music educators can remain current and follow the latest trends and resources available to music educators.

As I am learning, wikis are one of the valuable tools that can have many applications in music education. Wikis provide an easy way to collect and share information amongst many people. As we are doing in class, by creating a wiki of music software, wikis provide music educators with a means to share information and organize knowledge that they gain with others. This helps create a set of resources that music educators can access to discover the resources that will best aid them and their students. In addition to creating a list of resources, as we are doing for our software project, a wiki can provide music educators with the opportunity to share ideas such as lesson plans. For example, a music educator can create a lesson plan that can be shared with other music teachers, or a group of music teachers may work together to create a lesson on a particular music topic through the continual update of the wiki. Along with the ability to provide and share information on a wiki, they provide the opportunity to continually update and improve information. Again, for example, if music educators were creating a lesson plan, after attempting the lesson, music teachers could go back to the lesson and edit it to reflect the ideas that worked well and the areas that needed improvement, which will help all the teachers that are working with the lesson. In addition to concepts such as creating music lesson plans and sharing ideas about music software, wikis could be used to create a source of information for many other music related topics. For example, it could be used as a database of information about musical repertoire that could continue to grow and be used by music teachers to help select the best materials to use to teach their students.

Along with wikis, social bookmarking sites, such as del.icio.us, can provide innumerable applications in the area of music education. Like wikis, social bookmarking sites provide a valuable way for music educators to organize and share information. I think that del.icio.us, and social bookmarking in general, provide music educators with a great way to sift through the vast amount of information available on the internet. As I stated earlier, the information found on the internet can be overwhelming; however, with social bookmarking, music educators can better discover resources that will be helpful to them because they can search through a site such as del.icio.us and discover the resources that other music educators also deemed valuable or useful. This helps to improve and limit the resources that one discovers. In addition, with the ability to add tags and descriptions of websites, a music educator can more easily search and discover the sites and information for which he/she is looking. Also, the feature to sort tags by frequency helps to establish the importance of concepts for someone searching the site. Therefore, if a music educator wants to access information about a particular topic, he/she can more easily discover important information, and perhaps more importantly, information that other music educators have established as pertinent. Like wikis, another advantage of social bookmarking is the ability to share information and continually enhance and update the information that is available. Through social bookmarking, one is not only creating a source of information for himself/herself, he/she is able to share that information with others. Therefore, music educators can also see what resources other music educators are collecting. Social bookmarking also provides the opportunity to continually add and remove links as well as tags and descriptions and to continue to expand networks, which will ultimately provide an advancing resource for all involved over time. For example, social bookmarking can be used by music educators to discover the best resources and materials available to create music lessons, or to discover the best ways to teach students particular performance skills or highlight the materials available for student practice. With the time constraints that all music educators face, and the vast amount of information available, social bookmarking sites, such as del.icio.us, and wikis provide music educators with more efficient ways to manage material and search for information. This ability will help music educators refine their teaching and provide students with the best possible music education that they can.

PLN Resource 7 (TEDtalks Performances)

TEDtalks Performances
URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/browse


Last week, as I was researching my PLN resources, I found the resource “TEDtalks” to be an extremely valuable resource containing video presentations on a variety of topics including music. As I was searching my PLN resources this week, I was once again drawn to “TEDtalks” (http://www.ted.com/talks/browse); however, not for lecture presentations, but for videos of musical performances. On the “TEDtalks” website there is a section devoted to musical performances, and included are performances from a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from classical music, to jazz music, to world music and more. As I searched the site, I was able to see many interesting performances. For example, I saw a performance of Indian music by Vishal Vaid called “Hypnotic Song” (http://www.ted.com/talks/vishal_vaid_s_hypnotic_song.html). I was intrigued by this piece because it was a different piece with a nice groove, and a “hypnotic,” ethereal melody performed on ethnic instruments. In addition, I experienced a smooth and upbeat guitar piece with vocals performed by South African singer, Vusi Mahlasela (http://www.ted.com/talks/vusi_mahlasela_s_encore_at_tedglobal2007.html).

As a music educator, I am always looking for ways to expose my students to a wide variety of music, and to help them to develop an appreciation for all types of music. From my experience, students are usually comfortable with popular music or another type of music that they enjoy, and they do not typically leave their comfort zone to experience different types of music. That is why I believe the site “TEDtalks” is such a valuable resource. The site contains music from numerous musical genres. Therefore, the “TEDtalks” performances can be used to expose students to a wide variety of music, including world music performances as I saw this week. This may lead students to discover different types of music that they may enjoy, and it would even help them learn about different cultures of the world and the various types of music that people listen to and create. In addition, having a resource with videos of world music and other music performances could lead to cross-curricular activities where students may learn about world cultures along with hearing their music.

Music Education Technology

As I read through the week’s articles, I came to realize that there are a plethora of options in regards to music software, and ways to present that software to students. When I was reading the articles, I was able to recognize many of the technologies presented; however, it was also interesting to learn about other technologies in music and to get a more in-depth concept of the materials that I have heard of in the past. Reading about all the options from drill-and-practice software to game-based software and internet-based resources available to help students learn music made me even more aware that there endless possibilities for presenting musical concepts to students.

As I discovered some of the technology options available, I was able to think about how those options could enhance my students’ musical experiences and how they may respond to such technologies. Through the information provided in the readings, and from my experience, I think that music technology programs that are available to help learn music would present exciting ways to enrich musical experiences for students. From my experiences, as the articles mentioned, students seem to connect with technology, and they seem to focus better when they are presented material using technology. Anytime I have presented material to students utilizing technology, the students seem to respond positively. For example, when I mention that we will go to the computer lab to work with Finale Notepad, the students get excited. In addition, when I presented a piece of music using Sibelius, the students were more focused and engaged than when I just gave them a piece of music. Therefore, I think that utilizing some of the technology options mentioned in the articles would greatly benefit the students.

As mentioned in the articles, there are software options that can enhance music learning for almost any music topic imaginable. The technologies can provide practice and reinforcement of the concepts that a teacher presents to the students. Even though almost all the options available seemed as if they could be useful in some manner, there were a few pieces of software that caught my attention in particular. One such piece of software, which was mentioned in the articles “Automatic Accompaniment Generators,” and in the computer-aided instruction article, was Smart Music. As an educator, I am constantly seeking better ways to assess my students. The Smart Music program provides a means for students to evaluate themselves as well as provides evidence to the teacher for assessment purposes. In addition, the program can provide tools to help motivate students to practice their instruments, which is always a constant challenge, and to provide the students with support when they are practicing. Students can access accompaniments and other musical devices, such as tuners, that can help them to develop their musical skills. The students can also record their practice and have the program analyze their playing. These are all ideas that I believe would be extremely valuable to an instrumental music student’s development. The one downfall that I did notice was that students must have a subscription, which would cost about twenty dollars a student. Another set of resources that was particularly appealing were the internet-based resources. Many of these resources are free, unlike some of the other products. This attribute makes the internet-based resources easily accessible to students and easier for teachers to utilize. I have had personal experience using some of the web-based resources, such as the New York Philharmonic KidsZone and Arts Edge and they provide quality information that is presented in an appealing manner for students. In addition to the aforementioned resources, I also found it interesting to discover the many other products that are available, and how I may be able to use those products to make music learning more interesting as well as to discover more and varied means to teach material through the teacher resources.

Along with the software available to enhance music teaching and learning, I thought that it was interesting to learn more about some of the means that are available to present the music products to the students. I found the articles on interactive white boards interesting. In my school system many of the classroom teachers have interactive white boards and there are many training sessions to help those teachers utilize the technology. Unfortunately, I have not been able to acquire interactive white board technology for my classroom; therefore, I have not been able to experience some of the seminars on the technology. As a result, I thought that it was interesting to learn about the many different types of interactive white boards available. I have seen Smart Boards and Mimio Boards at my school, but I did not realize that there are so many other options available. Also, it was exciting to learn about some of the applications of interactive white boards, and I think they could be valuable tools. Interactive white boards provide another form of technology to help engage the students. With interactive white boards, students can be exposed to musical concepts, such as notation and composition, and then interact with software in the classroom setting. Interactive white boards allow the music teacher to add a visual element to their teaching, in addition to the auditory modality that is typically utilized. This will only help enhance student learning.

In addition to the ways that interactive white boards are used to present music material, I found it interesting to learn how “One Computer Can Deliver Whole-Class Instruction.” Funding is often a problem for music educators, and although a great deal of the music software mentioned is extremely appealing and can be extremely valuable, it is not always affordable and practical with the budget limitations in many schools today. Therefore, it was interesting to learn how music technology can be made available to music students even when there is only one computer available in the classroom. I thought the ideas Kirk Kassner provided were very engaging and entertaining for students. In the article Kassner mentioned creating games to help engage the students in music learning with a single computer. I think that this is an excellent approach because it helps keep all the students involved, despite the fact that not all students are directly working with a program at every moment. I thought that the game ideas as well as the learning station strategies provided excellent ways to help make a situation with limited resources valuable and manageable. I thought the ideas were practical and could provide students in schools with limited resources a way to expose students to all the valuable music technology that is available today.

PLN Resource 6 (TEDtalks)

TEDtalks
URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/browse
URL for Benjamin Zander video on music and passion: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html


As I was searching my PLN resources, I discovered an extremely interesting resource. The resource that I discovered was “TEDtalks” (http://www.ted.com/talks/browse). “TEDtalks” is a website that contains video archives of presentations on numerous subjects with “ideas worth spreading.” “TED” is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Although the acronym is for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, the scope of the talks are far vaster. Since the site encompasses a broad range of topics, I focused on the “Arts” section of the site that provided talks and performance related to music. Through my search, I discovered a particularly interesting video presentation by Benjamin Zander on music and passion. The discussion was about different types of music, leading into a discussion about classical music, and how everyone can have a passion for classical music. The presentation was a lecture type discussion; however, it was a very entertaining program in which Benjamin Zander was able to appeal to the entire audience, making an incredibly persuasive case for how everyone can relate to and have a passion for classical music.

As an educator and an advocate for helping students develop an appreciation for all types of music, I thought that the TEDtalks video presentation by Benjamin Zander was an extremely valuable resource. The video gave me a new perspective on classical music and how it can relate to everyone, and this is something I believe could appeal to students as well. I really appreciated how Benjamin Zander did not “sugarcoat” classical music to make it appealing, but he drew on the emotion of the music to make it relate to everyone. I think that this concept is important because it can give people a better appreciation for the music.

From my experience, students seem to be “turned-off” to classical music before they even give it a chance. If I give students an opportunity to play recordings for the class, I almost always get examples of pop music or rock music. In addition, when I play musical examples for students, they almost always enjoy the rock and pop music examples, and dislike the classical music example. However, I feel that the students do not even give classical music a chance. Students will sigh with dismay at having to listen to classical music. However, I think if someone can show students how the music relates to them, as was done in the video, the students can develop a passion for the music. I also think that this could apply to any type of music, including pieces that students are performing in class. For this reason, I think that it would even be valuable to show students the presentation by Benjamin Zander to help them open up to different types of music. I also think that teachers could learn from the passion and leadership that Benjamin Zander displays in this video to help convey passion about music to their own students. If you would like to see the Benjamin Zander video on TEDtalks, go to the following URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

Recording

One of the tools that I have always found extremely valuable in my teaching and in music education in general is audio recording. I have found it valuable to record yourself or an ensemble in order to listen to the recording and to analyze it and critique it to help understand musical concepts and improve performance abilities. As I read the articles, “Picture This” and “Capturing Your Sound: A Guide to Live Recording,” it was nice to be able to reconfirm the value of audio recording and its uses in music education. The articles reconfirmed that recording students can provide them with the opportunity to hear themselves and self-critique their performance in an effort to better understand the music and their abilities as well as how they may improve for the future. In addition to showing students what they are doing well and how they can improve, students seem to be intrigued by recording themselves. Through my experience, and as the article “Picture This” says, students enjoy the opportunity to perform and “Kids love hearing themselves” (Watson 33). From my experience with recording students, they seem to give a better effort when they are making a recording, and they are always excited to hear the results of their efforts, whether it is good or it still needs a great deal of improvement.

In addition to the values of audio recording that I have experienced myself, it was interesting to learn the many other ways that audio recording can be used for music education. I appreciated some of the creative ways that recording could be used to enhance music learning. For example, I thought that it was interesting to learn about using audio recording and audio-editing software to provide visual representations of musical concepts to go along with the audio recording. I can see the value of showing students how they are playing a note. For example, sometimes students will not understand or maybe not even believe you when you tell them that they are not holding a note the correct value. However, when they hear their performance and see a visual representation of their performance they cannot argue with the facts, and they tend to grasp the concept more effectively. I also thought that the idea of using recordings to demonstrate progress to students over time was an excellent idea. I have considered showing students their progress; however, I have not been able to incorporate it into my teaching up to this point due to time constraints. However, I think that demonstrating progress would be something that would be valuable to take the time to include into my plans in the future. Students are usually very critical of themselves, and I think it is important to show them how well they are doing and how they have progressed from time to time. In addition, I also think that it is a valuable idea to use recording to demonstrate progress for the purpose of grading. Often times when students perform in rehearsal or for a quiz, they are not able to revisit their performance to critique it. However, with recordings one has the ability to preserve the sounds that were created so that students can review what they have created, giving them the ability to critique themselves, and giving the teacher a concrete piece of evidence for grading purposes.

Along with the ability to record students for educational use in the classroom, it is also important to be able to record student performances at events such as concerts. This is important because it preserves the concert experience for students as well as for the teacher, which can be used to show the growth in a music program over time. For example, if I were to record my concerts, I would be able to check back in a few years to see if the groups have improved in overall quality and to see what areas need continual improvement. As the article stated, in order to create recordings of concerts, one has to either hire professionals to do the recording or he/she must do the recording on his/her own. I thought that the article, “Capturing Your Sound: A Guide to Live Recording,” was a good guide to show someone how to make a recording on your own in an economical manner. This is important because it is not always feasible to hire someone to create recordings. Throughout my own musical education and teaching, I have seen many recordings being made and the microphones used for the recording; however, I never knew exactly what went into the process. Reading the article “Capturing Your Sound: A Guide to Live Recording” provided a good fundamental explanation of how to create your own recordings. In addition, I felt that one of the more valuable parts of the guide was how one can get the students involved in the process. I think that getting the students involved in the recording process shows the students another aspect of music and as the article mentioned, it can even help students develop their critical listening skills. I also thought that the article had helpful information because it gave me a better understanding of how I may use the equipment that is available to me in a more effective manner to help preserve the performances of my students. For example, I may have been able to record a performance, but the article helped me to better understand how I could edit and then duplicate the performance more effectively. In general, I believe that audio recording is a technology that is invaluable to music education and it can provide many opportunities for the teacher and students.

PLN Resource 5 (Classics for Kids)

Classics for Kids
URL: http://www.classicsforkids.com/

A couple of weeks back, as I was browsing my PLN resources, I was extremely intrigued by the source NPR: Jazz Classics. I found the source to be extremely valuable because it provided a quality podcast with excellent information and high quality musical examples. This week I discovered another source that is similar, and that I also found to be extremely valuable. As I was searching my PLN resources, I came across the site Classics for Kids (http://www.classicsforkids.com/). “Classics for Kids” is an extremely interesting website that provides a plethora of information about classical music and composers. The website includes information ranging from information about composers and their pieces to games, recordings, and even lesson plans for teachers. Despite the wealth of information available at the website, the item that I was intrigued by the most was the ability to hear the podcast “Classics for Kids.” In addition to providing a great deal of musical information, the source is the website for the radio show “Classics for Kids.” The radio show is an informational program about various classical music topics and composers. Much like Jazz Classics, “Classics for Kids” is a radio program that provides valuable information on a topic, but also supplements the discussion with high quality musical examples. The program from this week’s show featured the composer Zoltan Kodaly and folk music. It was a very creative discussion with many musical examples that kept my interest, and I think that it would be appealing to even young listeners.

As an educator, I again think that it is extremely valuable for students to hear and experience music. I think that the program “Classics for Kids provides a creative and interesting way for students to listen to music and learn information about the music in the process. With this website, an educator could have students hear podcasts about classical music. This is something students may prefer doing over just reading about a topic. For example, through this week’s “Classics for Kids” show, students could learn about Zoltan Kodaly and folk music and realize how important folk music is for many composers and people. They would also learn how recognizable folk music can be and how they probably already know many folk tunes. In addition, after hearing and learning from the podcast, the website had questions that were related to the podcast. Students could go through the questions, and the questions could also be used as a basis for a discussion or class lesson based on the topic presented in the podcast. Through all podcasts, and all the information available through the website “Classics for Kids,” there are numerous applications for the music educator. The website provides a means for students to experience and learn about music as well as explore and have fun with music.

MIDI, Sequencing, and their Use in Music Learning

A couple of weeks ago, the term MIDI was merely a word that I had heard of, but I really did not know anything about it. As I continue to read and learn about MIDI, I am beginning to develop a better concept about MIDI and I am seeing ways that MIDI can be used for music in general and how it can be applied for use in the music classroom. Reading the articles “Sequence-Stration” and “Using MIDI Accompaniments for Music Learning at School and at Home” was interesting because they allowed me to see how MIDI can be a valuable tool for student learning. One major way that MIDI can be a valuable tool is through the use of MIDI for accompaniment, which can help students learn music and become better performers. A way that MIDI can be used for accompaniments is by using a sequencing program. In order to create a valuable accompaniment or composition using a sequencing program, it is useful to know some tips about how to create a quality piece using a sequencing program. That is why I thought it was interesting to read the article “Sequence-Stration.” I agree that the more realistic a piece can be, the more students will appreciate it and the more responsive they will be to the sequence created. Therefore, as I delve into sequencing programs it is good to learn which sounds create the best productions and how to make musical choices that will create the best sounding result. In addition to the value of learning how to create better sounding sequences, it was also exciting to realize how one can benefit from having an understanding of musical concepts when creating a sequence. In order to create a better sounding sequence one can apply musical knowledge to help facilitate creating a sequence. Concepts, such as an understanding of instruments and their sounds, as well as basic compositional techniques, such as octave doubling, can help one create a better sounding sequence. This could also be valuable for students experimenting with sequencing. Not only can they experiment with composition; however, they can take musical concepts that they have learned to help improve their compositions and move beyond simple experimentation.

In addition to learning some of the techniques that can be helpful in creating compositions and accompaniments, it was even more appealing to learn how the concepts of MIDI and sequencing could be used to aid in student learning. It is extremely valuable to have students play and learn their music with the other parts of the piece available for them to hear. However, a full ensemble setting is not typically available for student practice outside of the general rehearsal, and in younger ensembles students are not always ready to have independent parts. Through the use of MIDI, it is possible to create accompaniments that students can use for practice, which can ultimately help them to become better performers themselves. I have often utilized CD accompaniments and recordings in my classroom to help students learn a piece of music or to use as an accompaniment for pieces in younger band classes. As the articles mentioned, a downfall to using a CD recording is that you cannot alter the piece to meet the needs of the students. With MIDI accompaniments, that is not the case. When using MIDI accompaniments one can slow down tempos for the earlier stages of practice without changing pitch or overly distorting the sound quality, which can occur if one tried the same technique with a real audio recording. In addition, MIDI provides the capability to allow students to hear all parts playing to help students understand how a piece is to be played, as well as having the option to mute parts so that the students may develop independence with performance. Along with the practice value that MIDI can provide to students, MIDI and sequencing can help a teacher create accompaniment tools that can be beneficial for use in the classroom. In younger grade levels, such as fifth and sixth grade, I try to utilize a keyboard to help provide an accompaniment and steady beat for the students. However, I have found this a bit challenging since I am not an accomplished keyboard player, and it does not allow me to move around and interact more with the students. Being able to use a MIDI accompaniment that I could make adjustments to would be an extremely valuable tool to aid in my teaching. I could create better accompaniments than I could play myself, and I would also be freed from the piano to move around and help students and I would be able to pay more attention to them. An accompaniment could also be useful in helping students to learn improvisation. A MIDI accompaniment could provide students with a tool to practice on their own as well as to better help them understand what a chord progression may involve. Along with the benefits that MIDI can provide for student practice, it was also great to see how easy it could be to make the practice tools available to students when using MIDI. As I have been learning, and which was emphasized again in the readings this week, MIDI files are much smaller than real audio files, which allows them to be posted to websites that students can easily access. This potential just increases the possibility for student practice and involvement in their music class. A point that was made in the article “Using MIDI Accompaniments for Music Learning at School and at Home,” that I found very intriguing was that when these materials are made available to students at home through the internet, students may be more inclined to utilize them at their own leisure because they do not have to worry about being self-conscious or other social pressures that may make them fearful of practicing at school. I think that this is an extremely interesting concept, because I have had students with a great deal of talent, but who are hesitant to enhance their abilities because they do not think it is “cool” to practice or show their abilities. I think the capabilities of MIDI and home practice tools could alleviate some of these pressures and help these students get more involved in their music programs. I also thought that it was fascinating to learn about the possibilities of MIDI files to be downloaded and then used in a notation program or a sequencing program. It is an excellent opportunity to allow students to experiment with composition; however, when you can have students use a MIDI file to provide scaffolding to the composition process it is great. Students do not have to start from scratch, but they can experiment with composition by taking a MIDI and then creating their own arrangement of a piece by altering different musical elements such as dynamics and tempo. MIDI even allows students to easily change instrumentation. This could provide fun and exciting ways for students to explore music on the internet and then experiment with composition. Along with the educational suggestions for MIDI made in the articles, it was interesting to see how many valuable online resources are available for music learning and how those sources make use of MIDI to contribute to the learning process. As I continue to learn and explore MIDI and its capabilities, it is fascinating to see how it can be used for education and advancement in music learning. I am intrigued by how valuable this technological tool can be to me in teaching music, and I look forward to trying to implement some of these suggestions into my own teaching as well as learning the many other ways that MIDI can be used in music and music education.

PLN Resource 4 (Music Matters: A Blog On Music Cognition)

Music Matters: A Blog On Music Cognition
URL: http://www.musiccognition.nl/blog/

As I was going through my PLN resources, I discovered some interesting information on the site Music Matters: A Blog On Music Cognition (http://www.musiccognition.nl/blog/). Music Matters is a blog about music cognition. The author is an associate professor in music cognition at the University of Amsterdam. He provides information in his blogs that discuss how music impacts the brain and thinking. This is an interesting blog because it provides information about the effect that music has on the human brain and how people respond to music, showing the importance of music. The blog takes a scientific approach to providing this information, which could ultimately help music educators develop a better understanding of how music impacts people and how it could impact how people teach music. As I was reading through the blog, there were two posts in particular that caught my attention. The first post was about why music sticks in peoples heads. I thought it was interesting to discover that although there is no answer to this question at this point in time, it is the songs with simple harmonic structure and a striking moment that seem to catch people’s attention. The second post that I found interesting was a video posting from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which included an interview with Oliver Sacks. I found the second post fascinating because it showed the impacts of music on the brain in a comical manner that people can relate to, enjoy, and even better understand. I think the blog can touch on intriguing information through its posts that will provide topics that can relate music to thinking, as well as provide a scientific link to the information.

As an educator, it is important to be able to understand how your content area impacts people and how they think. I believe through this blog ideas are given to help people think about how music impacts people and how they think. These topics can provide valuable material for the reader to consider. However, it can also help educators understand how music impacts thoughts; therefore, helping educators realize what material is important to teach and why it is important to teach music. The topics in the blog could help music educator’s use the blog to learn what about music stimulates thinking and brain activity, which could help an educator realize what might have the best impact on student learning.

MIDI

As I was reading the articles, I was fascinated to learn about MIDI. I have known of the term MIDI, and that it involves technology and music; however, I have never really known what MIDI is. It was interesting to discover that MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and it is not a form of audio. Instead, it is a “non-proprietary hardware and software protocol for data communications among electronic musical instruments and computer” (Estrella 1). Therefore, rather than being a form of audio, it is more a language, or a set of instructions to tell an electronic device how to and what sound to create. By learning this information, it helped me to better understand how and why MIDI is used. It was also interesting to discover how MIDI works. I thought that it was fascinating to see how mathematical the MIDI process is and to learn how the code creates the interaction in and between MIDI devices to create sounds and music. In addition, reading the article gave me a better understanding of how to setup MIDI devices for use. Even though it was very interesting to learn the basics about how MIDI works and to see how the code is created, the explanations were extremely technical and seemed slightly challenging for me to follow without a more in-depth study of the programming of the code. I found it more intriguing to see the results of the MIDI process. For example, it was interesting to discover that there are standard MIDI assignments for sounds. For example, on a synthesizer certain instrument sounds are assigned to particular numbers and certain percussion sounds to particular keys on a keyboard. I found this interesting because at the school where I teach we have a synthesizer, and as I thought about all the sounds it creates it was fascinating to see how they all lined-up and matched what the articles had mentioned.

Although the discussions on MIDI were very technical, as I learned about MIDI it was interesting to discover some of the applications for MIDI. As I found out that MIDI is more a code, I could see why it is used for notation software and sequencing programs as well as many other musical applications. Its mathematical format makes it lend well to working with other technology. In addition, it was interesting to find the difference between MIDI and digital audio. Although I always appreciate actual sounds from audio, I could see how MIDI could be a valuable tool. As was mentioned in the article, “The MIDI-Digital Audio Shuffle,” the fact that MIDI files could be much smaller than digital audio files could allow for much easier sharing and dissemination of information. For example, if a teacher wanted to share or send a MIDI file to students it would be possible. In addition, MIDI files could be put onto a website for others to see. The format of MIDI also allows it to transfer code to create sounds into notation as well, which could ultimately help students better understand a piece of music by converting sound into notation. Again, it was extremely interesting to finally discover what MIDI truly is. Through that discovery, I was able to learn how MIDI works and its many benefits to creating sounds and music. Although I did not feel that the articles gave direct applications for the use of MIDI in music education. I could see how the use of MIDI in many programs, such as notation software and sequencing programs, could be extremely valuable in music education. MIDI also provides the opportunity for electronic sounds and music to be created. Through the potential and capabilities of MIDI, it provides the vehicle that drives many tools that aid in the music education process to help make learning about music more interesting and diverse.

PLN Resource 3 (NPR: Jazz Profiles)

NPR: Jazz Profiles
URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10208861

As I was searching my PLN resources, I was intrigued by the site NPR: Jazz Profiles (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10208861). NPR is National Public Radio, and Jazz Profiles is a show on NPR. This is an excellent source because the website allows you to download entire podcasts of the show for free. The podcasts are documentaries about famous jazz musicians and jazz topics. By listening to the programs you can learn a great deal about the topic being presented from a historical perspective and through the perspective of key jazz figures. For example, Wynton Marsalis was included in a discussion about Duke Ellington. In addition to hearing information about a topic, the listener gets the opportunity to hear music that relates to the topic. Along with the ability to hear podcasts of the program, the website for NPR: Jazz Profiles is an excellent resource as well. On the website, one can find a text article about the person or topic being featured along with pictures to help convey the message. On the website, one can also find an archive of the programs that have been done in the past.

As a music educator, and a teacher of a jazz ensemble in particular, this is an extremely valuable resource. When learning about a style of music, like jazz, it is nice to be able to provide resources for students to search and gain information. Through this website a music educator can provide students with an opportunity to learn about the historical contexts of jazz music and many of its important musicians. Not only can students learn information in the traditional manner by reading the text on the website, but they can also hear a podcast with the information as well as hear quality musical examples. This provides students with a media resource that may be more intriguing to students then just an article on a website. In my experience listening to music is a great way for students to experience and learn about music, in this case jazz music. This can help the students learn about the style of the music and how to better perform the music. In addition, another feature of this resource that I found valuable for educational purposes was the fact that you could download the podcasts to a program such as iTunes, and you could even put it on an iPod, which could be played over a class stereo system. In addition, it seems that most students have an mp3 player; therefore, students can download a podcast, put it on their mp3 player and listen to the program whenever they like, giving them even more opportunity to learn about and hear the music. I believe that with all the information that NPR: Jazz Profiles provides, it can be an extremely valuable and interesting resource for music education.

Creative Thinking and Music Technology

As a music educator, I am constantly seeking new ways to engage and motivate my students to learn about music. In my music classes I focus on music performance and I attempt to provide creative and fun opportunities to perform music. However, as I continue to gain knowledge through this course and readings, I am finding that there are countless options that I can explore to enhance and supplement the activities in which my students participate. I believe that I have always realized that technology is available to me as an educator; however, I have not realized the true potential that technology can provide to the music educator and to music students. Reading about some of the creative uses for technology in music education provided me with ideas about how to utilize technology in music more effectively, how others are using technology in music in exciting ways, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm about how to incorporate technology into my teaching to help make music more exciting for my students.

As I read the article, “Creative Thinking and Music Technology,” I was thrilled to find that I have utilized some of the suggestions for using technology in my own music classes. For example, I have always found it extremely useful to play recordings of pieces that students are playing in order to help them to develop ideas about how to perform the pieces of music. I liked the idea of using an mp3 player to play audio clips for the students. In addition, I am currently trying to start a listening log for my students, so that they can hear a variety of music in order to expand their musical concepts in hopes of making them better performers. My idea is to begin by playing recordings from a variety of music genres on a weekly basis to expose students to different types of music to help develop their appreciation of music. This is a basic start to the idea, so hopefully it can evolve over time. Along with exposing my students to recordings, I have found it extremely valuable to record my ensembles so that I may more critically critique them, as well as to allow the students to self-critique themselves. I have found this idea valuable because it allows students to more easily recognize their proficiencies and deficiencies, which ultimately helps them to improve. However, another aspect that the article mentioned that would be a great extension to this concept would be to do a comparison of a recording that was done early in the rehearsal process versus a polished recording to show the students the progress they had made, which may help to build confidence in their abilities. Also, as the article mentioned about email and course management systems, I have found email to be an invaluable form of communication with students and parents. In addition, although I have not used a course management system such as Blackboard or WebCT to teach a course, I have found it helpful to use a digital grade book, Progressbook, to communicate information about grades and the classes to students and parents. Email and a digital grade system have seemed to help keep everyone more informed.

Along with some of the aforementioned ideas that were highlighted in the article, I have had some basic experience with using notation software, for music education. I have experimented with some of the basic uses of notation software such as using it to write parts, or have students experiment with composition. However, it was interesting to discover how many ways that notation software can be used. For example, the article “Creative Thinking and Music Technology” mentioned the use of the playback feature of notation software to demonstrate musicality to students. In addition to this concept, I was impressed with the capabilities of Sibelius for the music educator. I have understood the basic notation features of Sibelius; however, after reading about the music education applications of Sibelius through the Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide to Sibelius Music Notation Software, I was amazed by the capabilities of Sibelius and all the items that I could use to enhance the musical experiences of my students. Features such as the ability to add note names and fingering, and the ability to re-orchestrate parts and create accompaniment parts could have a vital role in a performance-based music class. The ability to add note names and fingerings could provide an opportunity to make accommodations for special needs students or to help provide scaffolding for struggling students or students who have just switched to a new instrument. It could also provide students with the experience of performing in a small ensemble by using the feature of creating an arrangement for student performance. It also seems fun to have the students try to create their own arrangements. I was also amazed to see how many options there are for creating exercises and worksheets. With these abilities in Sibelius, it makes it relatively easy for an educator to provide solutions to areas of difficulty for students. As I continue to explore Sibelius, it will be enlightening to experiment with all the features that are available and to see how they may help enhance the music learning process.

In addition to the many ideas that I have had some experience with through my own teaching, it was interesting to see the numerous other ways that technology has been used or could be used in music education. I thought the idea to use technology to create a film score was an interesting idea. Students seem to enjoy performing movie music, and this would be an excellent opportunity for them to create and possibly even perform their own movie music. This might even provide a chance to create an interdisciplinary lesson. Another opportunity to utilize technology could be through creating multimedia presentations. As the article on “Creative Thinking and Music Technology” mentioned, students could create a presentation on a composer. However, students may also be able to incorporate their own performance into a multimedia presentation that could be used for assessment, or maybe even to create a great memory for the students in the future. Along with some of the creative ideas mentioned in the article, “Creative Thinking and Music Technology,” it was also interesting to learn about some uses of technology in music education that have been extremely successful. The example that I was able to explore through my reading was the Vermont MIDI Project. I appreciated how I was able to learn about the Vermont MIDI Project, as well as how it was established, and how it has evolved over time into a very successful project in music education. It is amazing how technology through the Vermont MIDI Project has allowed so many students to have a unique musical experience. I particularly liked how the article mentioned that through the project, “students acquire confidence in a new mode of self-expression, enjoy greater self-esteem, and gain greater respect for the effort that goes into creating the music they hear every day” (Estrella 5), as well as learning how to accept constructive criticism. These are excellent qualities because, even if students do not make music a career, they are gaining an appreciation for music and learning lessons that will benefit them in all aspects of life. I think that the Vermont MIDI Project is one of many examples of how great a resource that technology can be in music education. With creativity, the possibilities for enhancing and meeting the standards of a music education are endless as one considers the many ways that technology can be utilized in music.

PLN Resource 2 (MENC: The National Association for Music Education)

MENC: The National Association for Music Education
URL: http://menc.org/

As I was reading through my PLN resources, my attention was continually focused on the MENC website (http://menc.org/). MENC is the National Association for Music Educators. Although this is an organization that I am familiar with, as I am sure many other students and educators are familiar with as well as, I still found it to be an excellent resource. The MENC website has a plethora of information regarding music education as well as opportunities for students and educators. As I was reading through the articles that come into the Google Reader, I saw an article about the All American Marching Band, a group that one of the students at our high school will be involved in and is extremely excited about. This example demonstrated just one of the many opportunities that educators can expose their students to through the MENC website. In addition, the website can provide educators with references and information about many topics related to music education. There are links to information about band, choir, jazz, general music and much more. In addition, the website lets music teachers see and learn about how other music educators teach music. There are ideas for lessons as well as concepts that worked well for others. This is a great way for educators to expand their horizons and try to implement new concepts into their own teaching. Along with reading about other lessons, one can interact with other teachers and discuss music education issues. There are music forums, as well as links to contact mentor teachers to discuss issues. Along with the many educational benefits of the website, there are also many resources supporting and advocating music education. With the tough economic times that our nation is currently facing, a resource could prove to be invaluable in helping to promote and defend a music education program. Although this is a source that I have been exposed to in the past, I continue to be impressed with the new information that I can find at the MENC website and I am sure it will continue to be a valuable resource in the future.

Notation Software

Having utilized notation software in my education and teaching experiences, it was interesting to read about and to gain more knowledge about the capabilities and uses of notation software in music education. It was fascinating to find how all three articles provided similar uses for notation software, as well as some of their own unique ideas. It was also exciting and reassuring for me to discover that many of the uses that the authors describe for notation software are concepts that I have used or that I am currently utilizing in my own teaching. However, it was also interesting to learn about some of the different ways that notation programs are being utilized for music education and how I may be able to incorporate them into my own teaching. Also, through reading the articles, I believe that I have been opened up to a great deal more possibilities as I continue to use and learn about music notation software.

As I read the articles about notation software, I discovered that many of the uses the authors provide for notation software are ideas that I am already using myself. Although many of the uses are basic and obvious uses for notation software, it was nice to see that I am making some productive use of my notation software. For example, the authors mentioned using notation software to rewrite, or to create new or more legible parts for students to use. I have found myself doing this many times. I have come across many pieces in my music library that are missing a part. Therefore, to have parts for all the students to play, I have utilized notation software to create parts from the score so that all the parts are available to students. In addition, it has been helpful to cover parts for instruments that I do not have in my ensemble or have a limited number of in my ensemble. For example, I have used notation software to create a part for a different instrument to help fill out all the parts in a piece. With notation software, I have found this to be a much easier task than transposing or converting music by hand. In addition, I have found the articles to be particularly relevant as I am preparing my eighth grade band for a performance with the high school marching band. A concept that was mentioned by the articles, and I have considered myself, but not taken full advantage of, is using notation software to create more legible parts for students to read. In my preparation for our marching band performance, some of the music is hand-written and I have found that many of the students are asking questions about notes because they are not used to reading hand-written manuscript. With notation software I could re-write the parts to make them easier for the students to read, which would probably eliminate many questions about notes and help to make more efficient use of rehearsal time. In addition, through the marching band performance preparation, I have seen how valuable notation software can be when having an instrument that is not typically written for in marching band music. I have an oboe player in my eighth grade band, which is great; however, there are no oboe parts in any of the arrangements that we will be performing. Therefore, notation software has made it easier to create an oboe part from an already existing part through the input and transposition features of my music notation program. In addition to the re-writing and creating of new parts, I have also found some of the other features of notation software that were mentioned to be very useful in my education and teaching experiences. For example, I have found notation software useful when I have had to do composition projects because I was able to use notation software to more easily write the music as well as for playback to hear what I was composing. In addition, notation software has been useful in arranging music. I have found a melody to a song and I have been able to create arrangements for small ensembles. This has been particularly useful when we have students play holiday carols in small groups and we need different instrumentations of the music to meet class needs. I have also found notation software to be extremely useful, as the articles mentioned, for the creation of warm-up exercises and worksheets for the students. In order to facilitate the warm-up process for my ensembles, I have used notation software to create warm-up exercises that meet the specific needs of my ensembles. I have also used the worksheet features of Sibelius to create worksheets to use for my students. For example, it has been easy to quickly create exercises and worksheets about note reading and rhythm values that I have used with my fifth grade students to help them learn basic musical concepts. Along with my own uses for notation software, I have also attempted to use notation software for student learning and composition. As the articles mentioned, I think a valuable use of notation software is for teaching musical concepts such as composition to students. Although my experience is limited, I have taken students to the computer lab to learn about and experiment with notational software. The students always seem to have fun with this activity.

Through my experiences, I have already found notation software to be extremely valuable; however, after reading the articles, I learned that there are many other ways that I could be using music notation software for music education. There are many features of music notation software that I think I take for granted, such as the music playback feature. However, after reading the articles I have realized that there are many more possibilities for music notation software than I have already experimented with in my experience. For example, the articles mentioned using the playback features of the software for listening activities. Students may have to listen to musical excerpts and then write out a portion of the melody that has been hidden from their view, helping with ear-training. In addition, playback features could be used for practice and testing. Through my experience, it has been helpful to have a recording to use as scaffolding for the students. With the playback features, tempos and expression can be added that the students could match in practice or for a playing test. In addition, I think that it could be valuable to use notation software to show students how their parts fit together in a piece of music. A teacher could show the students a score and then play the music for the students, showing them how the parts fit together. I also thought that it was interesting to find that notation software could be used to analyze pieces. I did not realize that notation software could search and find like features in pieces. This could also be helpful in performance because it could allow students to identify like parts in music so that they could practice the music more efficiently, helping them to build confidence. In addition, students could have the valuable experience of experimenting with arranging and musical timbres through the copy and paste and transposition features of notation programs. I also think that it could be valuable to give students a more in-depth experience with composition. Additionally, I thought that it was interesting to learn about the capabilities of notation software to create musical selections for use in other documents or to even create written documents in the notation software in the music itself. This is a tool that could be invaluable to me as I continue my education and teaching.

With all the capabilities that music notation software has, it truly can be an invaluable tool. As the articles stated, there are many ways that notation programs can be used in music education to simplify the process of creating and learning about music. However, as with all technology, it takes time to learn and utilize, but once one learns about the many features of these programs, the possibilities are limitless. I look forward to continuing to utilize music notation software for the many tasks that I already use it for as well as to learn and implement many of the other features that could be beneficial in music education.