OneNote Overview

By far and away the most striking feature of OneNote to me is the ability to seamlessly organize everything into one location. I believe that Sarah Meier mentioned on her blog how it is like a Feedly or PLN, but for your classroom. I would agree with this sentiment. Also, I like the fact that it can be synced in a manner similar to something like Gmail. This allows access from more than just, say, your computer at school. This would allow you to see student information more easily outside of school. Also, the potential benefit that this would bring to setting up, organizing, and relaying lesson schedule information cannot be understated. I have provided a screenshot that shows where this would be used in OneNote.

Acquiring Technological Knowledge

For this final week of reading, I found this chapter to be overall rather dry. This is not to say that it was not worthwhile or that the information that it contains is not useful. However, this did leave one section in particular to stand out quite noticeably. I found the section on developing various types of knowledge to be very interesting, especially in what it had to say on acquiring and developing technological knowledge. The section breaks down different types of knowledge and what they represent, including pedagogical, content, and technological knowledge, and also lays out a study in which music educators were asked how they acquired knowledge in each of these three categories. Both pedagogical and content knowledge are what make up the vast majority of learning at institutions of higher learning for music educators. However, the study showed that when it came to acquiring knowledge for music technology most teachers had to find other avenues of learning. It should be stated that the study had respondents that had been teaching for upwards of 40 years, and in the case of many current music educators the current music technology was not even around. It should also be noted that some respondents were young teachers with only a few years of experience and as such grew up with this technology readily available. The reason that I found all of this to be so interesting is because of the severe lack of exposure I had to music technology as an undergraduate. I am only 25 years old, and much of what is still cutting edge in music technology was in existence during much if not all of my undergraduate career. While I did have some exposure to Smart Music and a good amount of training on Sibelius, I had never even been made aware of many others. Even more frustrating to me is that my undergraduate institution never highlighted the potential of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or even YouTube and how these can be used to reach students. I hope that this does not seem like a tirade or rant of some kind, it is just that these last 6 weeks or so have proven to me just how useful music technology can be in just about any type of music education setting. Surely this is beginning to change, and it is wonderful that there are many professional development opportunities out there to help with this, but this nonetheless shows how reluctant or resistant some groups can be to adopt or even become familiar with a new way of doing something.

Interdisciplinary Connections

While much of what I read from this weeks chapter was interesting and informative, it was the section on interdisciplinary connections in music education that I found to be particularly interesting. This concept is something that I have encountered frequently when teaching at the elementary level, and it is something that I have often found difficult to achieve. I suppose that the reason for this is that personally I have a hard time integrating other subjects in a natural way WHEN IT MUST BE DONE IN AN EXPLICIT AND/OR OVERT MANNER. What I mean by this is when, for example, and I am asked how I incorporate other subjects into the music classroom. I suppose that to me other subjects find their way into teaching music very organically. I find myself talking about contemporary historical figures, teaching correct pronunciations, reviewing fractions (i.e. "how many eighth notes fit inside a quarter note?"), etc., just by being myself. I am not trying to suggest that every music teacher has the same experiences and abilities that I do, just that I sometimes struggle with actually describing HOW it is incorporated. I definitely appreciated the suggestions for integrating subjects in the music classroom, and I do believe that they will make more deliberate integration easier for me in the future. What I found to be more intriguing, however, was the idea that some teachers feel that this integration and feel superficial, or cheapen the actual music education (Bauer, 2014, p. 120). This made me realize that I tend to feel this way when I am asked to describe how what I teach is interdisciplinary. In a lot of ways I can completely understand wanting to know exactly how this is done. After all, we need to be held accountable for what we teach. I suppose that at the end of the day, I feel as though trying to plan out exactly how my teaching is interdisciplinary removes a great deal of humanity from my teaching, and likewise brings an uncomfortable artificiality to it. I am not saying that this is the reality of the situation, but it is certainly my own perception. And after all, whose to say that an individual's perception isn't one and the same with their own version of reality?

Week 5 Reflection

Of all the assigned reading material for this week, I found chapter 6 to be the most interesting and pertinent to my own life. Chapter 6 is centered on different forms of assessment and utilizing technology for assessment. While much of the chapter felt like an in-depth review for me, there was a considerable bit of information presented that I found to be both new and useful. By far the most useful bit was Flubaroo, which I had never heard of. I can't even begin to remember all of the times that I have wanted to find and/or make a music quiz for a general music class or an instrumental lesson group. Being a free program and allowing automatic grading makes this a truly terrific tool to use for a wide variety of situations and age levels. Outside of this information, the use of audio and video recording technology is something that has been fairly easy to accomplish for some time now, however that does not take away its usefulness to the music educator. I never thought of having students download Audacity at home to record themselves, and this would indeed be a great way for students to self-assess. Also, programs such as Smart Music track correct/incorrect pitches and rhythms, so this would be another smart use of technology in music assessment. Audio/video recording and programs like Smart Music are especially useful in my eyes because they allow for authentic assessments to be made, especially so in the case of Smart Music.

After getting a basic familiarization with both Chromatik and Smart Music, I think that I can comment on both programs with a music educator's perspective. As far as actually implementing each program is concerned, I think that Chromatik would be a much easier sell here. Especially for music districts that may not have the resources to pay for a subscription to Smart Music or things like a new overhead projector and the like, Chromatik would be the far more attractive option. I could certainly be assuming here, but it just seems as though there is less extra equipment to purchase to get the most out of Chromatik. As far as ease of use and intuitiveness is concerned, I think they are both on a fairly equal level. The beauty of Smart Music certainly lies in its ability to give feedback in real time, and also to keep track of rhythm and pitch in real time. Additionally, it provides a realistic accompaniment for the student that makes the practicing experience that much more realistic to an actual performance. For Chromatik, I LOVED the fact that it could present sheet music in the clef AND key of any instrument. Just to be sure, I switched from Bb Tenor Saxophone to Eb Alto Saxophone, and sure enough the key changed from Eb major to Bb major just as it should have. I also love that it links to a professional (and in many cases famous) recording of the song in question for students to listen and play along with. As far as available materials is concerned, I do think that Smart Music may have the edge here. I could be wrong because I have never used the full version of Chromatik, but the ability to make assignments and have them available to students on their own Smart Music account is a tremendous feature. To go along with that, the built-in grade book and assessment tools are also a huge plus, as are the readily available and varied warm-up exercises. Chromatik seems to be geared a bit more towards popular music, if you were to go into their library it includes many current popular artists such as Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson to name a few. However, it does also include well-known classical composers such as Beethoven and Debussy, as well as some jazz compositions as well. The educational implications of both Chromatik and Smart Music are potentially enormous. Smart Music has the potential to change the way that we approach instruction (practice in particular) with our students. I imagine that this has already happened at a vast number of school districts around the country, and surely there are others that may join their ranks. Additionally, it is a possibility that a number of similar programs will also become available with their own unique offerings and features. Perhaps more than anything, Smart Music is able to make music education something that happens OUTSIDE of the classroom more seamlessly and effectively than perhaps any other technology or methodology previously available. This also extends to Chromatik. Chromatik has the ability to provide students with a more authentic music experience, just as Smart Music does. However, what programs like Chromatik offer is a connection to current music that will likely be of far greater relevance to students. Oftentimes teachers are frustrated by a disconnect between music curriculum and the musical reality of many students. By offering students a chance to become more familiar and connected with music that is likely to be relevant to their own lives, we are bringing music education into the everyday lives of more students than ever before.

Technology & Practice

Of all the topics covered this week, I found the reading on technology and practice to be both the most interesting and the most informative. Some of what was said was somewhat intuitive to me, such as the finding that students generally prefer to practice with an accompaniment. Personally, I can remember being a student in junior high and high school and hating practicing the saxophone most of the time. Looking back on it, I enjoyed playing in school so much because being able to hear other instruments and other parts made the experience more immersive and enjoyable. In college a discovered play-along CDs and recordings that provided a professional rhythm section to the student as he/she played the melody and improvised. This however was (and largely still is) only confined to jazz standards and well-known/popular songs. SmartMusic, however, seems to be remedying this somewhat through their library of accompaniments for popular method books, solos, and band/orchestra/choir pieces. I must admit that I have never had the opportunity to use SmartMusic, and many of the features seem well-suited to teaching instrumental and choral music. I truly believe that many music students would have a far greater motivation to practice (and enjoy it) if they could practice along with an accompaniment. Also, being able to actually get feedback about a piece of music immediately may lead to better and more accurate self-assessment by students. This program would also be helpful in teaching students how to effectively practice. Almost every student that I have ever taught simply runs through an entire piece without spending time and "woodshedding" a difficult part. When I have them loop a part that is difficult at a slower tempo, they react as though they have never even considered such an idea. Having a looping function makes this go beyond school and into their practice routine at home.

The More Technical Side of Digital Audio

I found both the lecture and the reading reinforcing concepts introduced in the lecture to be most useful. One concept that was explained extensively in both was the meaning and difference of bit depth and sample rate. I can remember many a time going into Audacity and being presented with both of these terms and not knowing exactly what they meant. I knew that on a basic level they influenced the overall quality of the recording, but I did not know how. Understanding that bit depth and sample rate are both representations of information in the file has really helped to clarify this. Also, knowing that with greater bit depth and sample rate comes larger file sizes was also very helpful. Depending on what the file needs to be used for, higher or lower bit depth and sample rate will greatly influence the overall experience. For example, if it is a file that is meant to be played for a project or presentation, the quality will likely need to be at least CD quality. However, if attempting to transfer multiple files via email, a lower bit depth and sample rate may be in order so that the delivery of the files can take place, as many email services do not allow files larger than 10 MB or 25 MB from being transferred. Another aspect of the lecture and reading that I found to be helpful was the explanation of different types of audio files. For example, I never realized that Wav files are raw audio files that have yet to be compressed. Also, while I knew that AAC files were Apple only audio files, I did not realize that they can be incompatible in certain applications on PCs, and vice versa with WMA files. Additionally, I was unaware that MP3 files are universal across all platforms. Considering that I am significantly more comfortable with PCs, it is useful to know that I should stick to MP3 as the format of choice to avoid any issues across platforms.