Blog Post #1
Blog Post #1
Topic:
Summarize and reflect on what you've
learned this week.
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As a child raised deep
in the Appalachian mountains my technological world consisted
of a television, which I first began watching at the age of 8, a radio, a
cassette recorder and a few brief encounters with an Atari. There were two television
channels that came in with “rabbit ears” wrapped in tin foil and even telephone
lines weren’t wired into my neck of the woods.
I enthusiastically read an entire set of encyclopedias for entertainment
if that tells you how void of the outside world my mountain world really was. Many of the technological advances that were
revealed in my youth were not only fascinating, they were magical. After all, Arthur C. Clarke (1983), a science writer and futurist did say that a sufficiently advanced technology is indeed indistinguishable from magic. The magic microwave at a friends house, their magic telephone without
a curly wire, the VCR , the remote control,
the hand held gaming devices...whew, all so casual to them yet so intriguing to
me. School was really the only place I
could interact with technology. I believe that is the case in many children's lives today so it is not only my duty to keep up with what they know but to show them what is out there that they have not yet explored.
As I grew older, technology was more of an accent or supplement to instruction. Now, technology has become the
center of instruction in many classrooms. Though technology is not being
actively implemented in many music classrooms (Bauer, 2014, pg. 9), the use of
technology as an instructional tool should be at the forefront of music
educators instructional efforts. There is so much software out there for music
instruction and music making. Though we may not readily see a way to implement
technology outside our performance based “hardware” instruments in our band and
orchestral settings or aside from our vocal apparatus, there are many ways we
can utilize technology to make our instruction better and current. As this
module pointed out, technology is only useful if educators can combine their
technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge
(CK) into one concept known as Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge
(TPACK) (Bauer, 2014, pg. 15). Then we may truly incorporate technology to its
fullest and most beneficial potential as well as bring our educational efforts
to the modern music classroom.
This week I also
explored a web-based musical app called "Incredibox" found here http://www.incredibox.com/ . This website offers users the quick
simplicity of drag and drop features to assemble and arrange seven beatboxers. I
would imagine that past entertainment and pure amusement at the instant beauty
the samples mix into, creators must have known that music educators could use
this website to introduce both rhythms and musical elements to their students.
The user simply chooses from icons that represent various musical samples and
drag them onto the beatboxing "dudes" to create a mix. You can add up
to seven "dudes" assigning each one a different effect while the app
automatically loops the segments. The samples are divided into four color coded
or geometric categories; beats, effects, melodies, and voices. I was so enamored with the app that I
downloaded the $3.99 version to my phone and have had a great time exploring
its possibilities and educational potential. My students loved trying out the
site this week and I look forward to reading their journal entries detailing
their experiences.
As far as the logistical
elements of the site, I was completely engrossed in the highly interactive
interface on Incredibox, It was fun, simple and instant gratification. My prior
understanding of software elements were literally transferred and I could
immediately take advantage of the mixing, recording, sharing and accessing bonus
features offered in the application. I can see this website being used to teach
students terminology about the modern DJ, musical form, rhythmic and meliodic
dictation, syncopation and really the list goes on. The nature of the program
greatly reduces the amount of technological understanding needed on behalf of
the educator (Bauer, 2014, pg. 22), making it easy for anyone to incorporate
into their lessons. Because of the knowledge transfer and skill most users
will have from other technological usage, I believe that music educators would
be able to fully utilize the concept of TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and
Content Knowledge) to greatly enhance the learning both the concepts and the
learning of their students.
Here is the link to my composition, "Gotta Get
Up!"
iPhone version:
Website version:
Another
way educators can network with other educators, colleagues and make new
connections with people, professionally and personally, is to develop a
Personal Learning Network. Collaboration and networking is not only important
to the modern educator but essential in order to keep up with trends, both
technological and scientific. I have set up my own PLN with a Twitter account
(@amberdette), as well as this blog. Throughout this course and hopefully after,
I will utilize this blog to detail my technological journey through this course
as well as to suggest software and technological usage I find particularly
helpful in my teaching or interesting.
References
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
Clarke, A. C. (1983).Profiles of the future: an enquiry into the limits of the possible. London: Pan.
Incredibox - Express your musicality!
(n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2015.
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