Specifically in music education, I have seen technology be both a tool and a hindrance. In the past, I think technology in the music classroom has been used effectively and ineffectively. The effectiveness of music technology is dependent upon the knowledge base of the program or software. So for example, we had a keyboard lab with Finale in my middle school growing up. Once a semester, we would go to the keyboard lab and compose! We composed duets or small ensemble pieces and then played them in class. In this situation, we were able to use the technology to facilitate the content: creativity, composition, and ensemble work.
As music technology becomes more advanced and more programs become available, as teachers, we need to discern what is going to be helpful in our classrooms and not get caught up in "new and fancy" programs. I worry that as more and more programs come out, the focus will turn to the technology and not the content. With teacher education, as long as we make sure we know how to aptly use the resources presented from music technology, we will be able to discern what works for our specific students and apply the technology that we feel is most helpful/appropriate.
When I was growing up technology in the music classroom seemed pretty limited. I remember using an overhead projector fairly often, which was kind of lame. It always had that yellowish tint to it which made it look ancient. Smart boards became very popular when I was in high school and at first it was a big novelty item for teachers but it eventually became just another requirement that teachers must incorporate into the classroom. It think sometimes new technological inventions are simply just add-ons but of course there are some really great things that come from this outlet. I used the “Elmo” a lot during my student teaching. I will say that they way over estimated the spatial skills of their consumers by making the camera in such a way that you have to put the book/picture or item upside down and when you want to move it to the left you really have to move it to the right and so on. I wasted countless minutes trying to center images on the projector. (This may just have been a dumb personal issue.) I did however think that this item was great because it allows you to project a textbook on the board, which saves the children from wasting time going to the shelves and getting their own book. And what if the school couldn’t afford a full set of textbooks? This way you technically only need one. I’m really excited about all of the work on GarageBand being done as well as all of the musical apps surfacing. I’m constantly thankful for my guitar tuning app and my iPhone keyboard. I use those apps on a daily basis and think how amazing it is that I don’t have to run and find a piano every time I need a starting pitch! I used to sing the National Anthem at my middle school basketball games and I had to record myself playing my starting pitch on the piano using a portable recorder. Technology has really made so many things easier! I think in the future we will have to be careful as musicians not to let technology overwhelm our craft. I think it can be an amazing tool but it could easily overstep its bounds and take some of the intricate parts of being a musician away.
Since the inception of technology, the music industry has made many strives in the preservation, distribution, and teaching of music. Past technology laid the foundation for many aspects of music such as the preservation of the artistry, access to music, and even new genres. From these past developments, musicians can better share their art with society. The music industry has made many remarkable strides in the teaching of music since the inception of technology. Past technology has laid the foundation for musicians to preserve their artistry, increased the accessibility to music, and has even developed new genres which make music even more inclusive in society. In turn, these changes have ultimately affected present music students. With the help of technology from both the past and present, music students are able to better study and record music. For example, in the past technology has allowed society to preserve performances through sound recording and compositions through use of copiers and computers. In the present day, we are able to study and learn these great works. In addition, technology has also allowed us to better restore recordings and pieces to allow for even better feedback and restoration of past works. In another example, technology has given more students the opportunity to study music through use of affordable online programs. Present day technology has also made music more inclusive for composers, instrumentalists, and music enthusiasts. With technology, performers can learn and be inspired through the use of video recordings and websites. In addition, musicians can share their music with a broad range of listeners throughout the world with web distribution sites (i.e. youtube, Pandora, grooveshark, itunes, etc.). In another example, much to the dismay of many artists but pleasure to listeners, is the ability to quickly copy (legally and illegally) distribute music. Perhaps a negative side effect of technology. I believe the future of music, whether we want it or not, will continuously be affected by technology. While it is a fantastic aid in preservation and teaching of our artistry, we must be careful not to let it affect the craftsmanship of our art. Presently, technology allows us to manipulate recordings to exhibit the best of our abilities. However, sometimes a manipulation can change a performance so much that we begin to question whether the work is actually original. For better or for worse, technology does not seem to be going anywhere. I believe that overall, technology has greatly aided the field and continues to do so. Without it, we could have lost many great learning tools and perhaps even musicians which have inspired and affected the music world of today.
All modern instruments, are, effectively, music technology. The piano especially is an evolutionary case study from its roots to the modern mass-produced acoustic instrument, to say nothing of the dizzying menagerie of keyboard instruments. So 'music technology' has already played a role in any instrumental education, whether other technologies are involved or not.
The presence of 21st century information technology represents the next great leap for music educators. Just as traditional pianists must consider their relevance in the face of the versatility of the synthesizer, music educators must consider their use of technologies that are relevant to today's student. Indeed, the modern school is likely to consider technological education to be a necessity in nearly every academic area, so why should music be exempt? This is a battle that is already lost to traditionalists: a teacher that had an interest in synthesizers or electronic music in the 80s and 90s was still likely to find it to be prohibitively expensive to incorporate these technologies into the average classroom, but even very basic tech -- tablets, laptops, even obsolete desktops -- can be used effectively and musically.
That begs the question: what is the limit of 'music technology'? When every phone can be a basic studio, with its voice recorder -- get a classroom full of phones, and that's more tracks than the Beatles ever had. Music technology levels the playing field for young composers the way the printing press did for young readers. The permanence of recorded sound is a supreme lure for students -- maybe their pretty macaroni drawing hangs on the fridge for a week, but their first track from music class will stick around a hard drive for ever, to be stumbled upon while cleaning out a desk drawer years later.
In the past, a student depended on a teacher as a sort of amanuensis until she reached the point where her theory knowledge allowed her to commit her ideas to paper. Now, literally anything she plays into a GarageBand cognate can be saved, played back, re-recorded -- completely unsupervised, like a musical Etch-a-Sketch but with a full palate of colors and without the bothersome shaking.
What do I think about all this? I say game on. The thing to realize is that music tech makes my job a heck of a lot easier, in lots of really excellent ways. Results are easier to show to parents in between the still-basically-required winter and spring concerts. I can type a score with speed in the same ballpark as typing this response. The world today's students inhabit is largely contained in tech anyway, and as much as I (being from the guinea-pig generation w/r/t Facebook et al) try to keep a big brick wall between tech-me and real-me, that separation has never existed for my students. If I can weasel some music into that world, and especially if it's worthwhile music, then so much the better. If the goal of music education is to get students to love music as much as the teacher does (which, given the current challenges of being an educator, had better be a hell of a lot), then that foothold in the virtual life of the student is non-negotiable if music is to play a role in the student's future. And if we want that future to include attendance at concerts, meaningful engagement with music as a consumer, or any of the societal benefits of having musically literate citizens, then it’s tech or go home.
When I was in high school, I remember my music classes to be fairly standard in that there was no technology. Then I moved on to college where suddenly the use of technology was rather vital for me as a student and performer of an art form I had never been exposed to but was beginning to study. Sources like YouTube and Naxos allowed me to listen to the works of many composers which were interpreted by a variety of performers. I was able to hear how I was supposed to sound in the style I was studying. Then came composition classes. Sometimes the pieces that I wrote for piano went faster than my fingers could play. I found Noteflight and suddenly my pieces came to life the way I needed them to. I was able to hear my compositions, although rather crudely, and decide what sounded right and what needed to change. I still use this program today.
Especially as a classical vocalist, one is required to sing in many languages. For most people who don't have time to learn the language for one song, there are convenient resources out there that have already translated and written the songs out phonetically. Not to mention the fantastic resources for musicians out there looking for music old and new. Want old choral pieces based on composer or genre or parts? CPDL.org. Want choral, piano, flute, or oboe pieces, maybe you want to study a specific composer or style of music? IMSLP.org Need tabs for your guitar? Just search any title with "guitar tabs" next to it and you have tons of free content waiting to be explored. Music has become a technology based art form anyway. Soundboards, mixers, auto-tuning, amplifiers, effects pedals, apps on your phone that can tune instruments or make your phone into a piano or guitar; These are things that children will eventually use some day.
So where does technology have a place in the past, present, and future of music education? Music education is about teaching children the past, present and future of music. Technology has helped us remember our past by giving us a recorded history of our musical achievements. Some are remembered better than others but they're still there, and we can relive every moment of it if we so choose. Technology keeps tabs with what is new and cool in today's society. We use technology to record our rhythms and songs, our little musical phrases, to change the way things sounds to be unique, exciting, and relevant to the music that we will produce, use it as a way to share and maybe even travel through time. That’s how we’ll use music technology in the future.
Virtually no technology was utilized by any of my music teachers, in both private lessons and classroom settings. There are probably many reasons for this, and I can really only speculate as to why not. In my private violin lessons, "traditional" methods of learning the instrument carried significant and obvious weight. For hundreds of years students have learned to play the violin without any form of technology more advanced than a metronome. Undoubtedly my teachers were also unfamiliar, uninterested, and some were even against incorporating technology into private lessons. I'm not sure that I mind; if technology is a tool, what can we point to that it can "do" that a teacher cannot? It can't simply be a question of convenience, right? In my own teaching now I sometimes use my iPhone to take videos and make recordings of my students. I play them clips from youtube and show them tuning or music game aps. I would love to have more techy angles to come from, and more technology to utilize in the classroom, but I am always bothered by the monetary aspect connected with doing so. I've mostly taught in inner city, less affluent school settings. Lots of kids have iPhones, and I'm sure there are things we could do with them, but what about the kid who doesn't have one? I think that technology is an inevitable part of our human lives now, and I don't think that anyone can argue convincingly that it's not. It is still however exclusive. The majority of people that use technology don't have any idea how it works at all, and with constant updates and advances I personally get overwhelmed. I sound like an old lady, I know. I absolutely think we should be utilizing technology in our music education classrooms. Our students identify with it and it's totally exciting to learn about. I think that, as we try to find the best ways for communicating and serving our students, technology must play a significant role. And like any tool we use for teaching, a responsible use of technology requires a thoughtful approach based on our own experiences.
When I first think back to my musical past, I do not immediately think of any conspicuous technology being used in my primary education. Actually, technology was used in a number of ways, particularly in high school. In high school band, for example, we would often record our rehearsals, performances, or marching band shows, and then watch them and discuss them together. This requires technology. To help us play in time, our band director would pull out a Dr. Beat (for our purposes here, a fancy metronome) set it to the grating "ONE eeee and uh TWO eee and uh" setting, and blast it over the classroom sound system to literally annoy us into playing in time. This requires technology as well (it just wouldn't have had the same effect with a traditional metronome!) In short, technology was used fairly often in my musical past, but always in an unobtrusive way. Rather than drawing attention to itself, it was always used to serve a musical goal. It also enabled us to focus not only on performance, but on listening as well (composition, unfortunately, received virtually no focus)
There have obviously been considerable advances in technology since I was in high school seven years ago. Perhaps the biggest change I have noticed personally is an increased emphasis on composition. Composition was the most underemphasized of Morton Subotnick's "Three Person" model in my high school band setting (and, I suspect, many other band settings) perhaps because it is assumed that students need a strong theory background before they can attempt to compose. What really fascinates me about some of the new apps I have found is that they each create new ways to visualize music rather than the standard notation model. I recently downloaded an app called NodeBeat, for example. Notes are represented by small colored circles, with the color representing the pitch (rather than their location). There are also larger circles called Generators, which send out regular pulses to each of the neighboring notes. Rather than picturing music linearly, with a constant beat that is perpetually moving forward down the line, music is pictured circularly, with a beat expanding outward in not one but two dimensions. I've used apps like this to come up with motives or melodies for some of my own compositions (which I then translate into standard notation). What is most powerful about these apps is that they are interesting not only to people like me who have a strong theory background and can overanalyze the app's unique notational style, as I just did, but that they are equally interesting and accessible to people who are not as strong with theory or standard notation. With apps like these, everyone has the ability to compose - perhaps they could be used to bring composition even into performance-heavy music classes.
(Apparently posts can't be more than 4,096 characters, so I'll post my last paragraph in a reply to this one)
My biggest worry for the future of technology in music is that it's novelty will overshadow the fundamental musical concepts it can teach. Continuing my discussion of composition apps, there is an initial tendency to use them for play rather than for serious, thoughtful composition. This is a good thing - anyone who has taken a class with Dr. Custodero will know the importance of exploring an instrument before being instructed on precisely how to use it. When I first got Finale, for example, the first thing I did was rapidly click everywhere on the screen until I had amassed dozens of sixteenth notes in ridiculously unplayable combinations, and then listened with glee as the program played back what I told it to. I have seen this happen with many other people who get to try Finale for the first time. The problem comes when play becomes the ONLY focus of the technology - when it becomes not a tool, but a toy. Students may make a random click piece or two on Finale, then get bored and move onto one of the thousands (and counting) new apps they have available, without actually gaining any musical knowledge in the process. The solution to this problem, I think, lies in the past. Teachers need to continue to make sure that the focus is not on the technology, but on the underlying concepts it can teach. They must be able to make even the flashiest and most toy-like apps as unobtrusive as the video camera or audio recorder was in my high school band. In this way, teachers can help foster the students' natural enthusiasm and interest in the app to a prolonged and more thoughtful understanding of the musical concepts it contains.
In present day, music educators are still discovering effective ways to incorporate technology into their classroom. I find technology to be most advantageous in the general music classroom, the composition process and in the process of student evaluation. Technology has given music teachers a plethora of resources and repertoire available right at their fingertips. Past music educators have had to venture out to music stores in order to obtain sheet music, while most music is now available, whether by purchase or by public domain, to search, select, download and print. Resources for effective lesson materials are also available on websites and group forums for music educators. Programs such as Sibelius and Finale have made music writing systematic, easier to read, and reviewable for error with the use of Midi playback instruments. The programs also limits inaccuracies, ex. writing too many beats per measure by not allowing the extra note to be implemented. These features make music writing faster, simpler and more accessible to teachers and students alike. Blog forums allow students and teachers to communicate about music at home, view each other’s responses and learn in a more communal way. With programs such as SmartMusic, it has become easier to assess the progress and practice habits of individual students within a large ensemble. Before this technology, one-on-one evaluation was based upon scheduling. Now teachers may listen to work a student produces at home and reply with notes. These examples are some of many ways that technology has been an aid to music education. However, there is one part of music technology that I believe is detrimental to the music industry: auto-tune. Auto-tune has made it possible for anyone, without talent or proper training, to sing or play into a recording device and later adjust the sound to the desired quality. This is making the popular music business more shallow and less talent-based than ever before. Anyone can be picked off of the street, sing, and be edited into a star. This almost eliminates any need to study proper technique in order to be deemed a “singer” and sets a poor example for young people. Technology will continue to advance in the future. It is our job as music educators to use resources as a tool to create effective lessons, but never to use technology for the sake of its availability. We need to use technology to create critical musicians and keep them interested in enhancing their natural talents, despite what the pop industry is producing.
I can't say that I had a particularly technology enhanced classroom when it comes to music. We used computers in every other class in middle and high school, but when I got to music school, the only technology that I mastered was putting CD's from the music library onto my IPod as I was working. In my professional life, I have found many online tools to utilize like Google Sites and Blogger, but still don't use a ton of technology in my day to day practicing/performing.
One thing that I have noticed a big difference in is my private teaching. It is so much easier to access information on the fly that may come up during the course of an hour lesson. I frequently use YouTube or SoundCloud to bring up recording examples when I am trying to illustrate a point. I have also found that keeping notes in an email during a lesson and sending it at the end is a good way to keep both myself and my student up to date on what is being covered. I do wish that I would use Finale/Sibelius to write out some of the exercises that we work on in lessons and save in a book for the future. I don't typically use one etude or exercise book, and have been thinking for a few years that making my own book would be a great project.
Another great tool for private lessons has been the use of simple recording devices. It is an interesting tool to use with young students in my experience because the respond to it in a way that I wouldn't imagine. I always use the sound/video recordings as a device to critique my own playing and technique, but I have found that my young students get a lot of pride and excitement from seeing or hearing themselves perform. In a culture where that sort of "instant production" is the norm, leveraging their enthusiasm to produce for a recording is a great way to motivate these younger students to continue working hard. I haven't had the same response from adult students, most of which cringe at the idea of seeing or hearing themselves on a recording.
I have thought of putting a video blog on my personal website that could deal with common clarinet or musical issues as part of a "video etude book" (but will probably put it off until I am not in school). I am curious if there is a website where I could put video clips and insert mini quizzes, sheet music, or other extra information to make a lesson?
There are two things that came out of your presentation that struck me as being really necessary and quite simple especially in talking about the future role of technology. First, the role of technology is a means or a facilitator to do music rather than technology is the end result. Second, students want to create content in the same way that they consume it. For me, these are two things that seem to be really important and I think that moving forward as an educator they would be great guiding principals. I believe we need to create classrooms and music programs that meet the needs of the modern day child, tween, and teenager and if that’s using Facebook, Youtube, Garage Band, Sibelius, etc. then I’m more than excited to jump in headfirst. Technology is not going away and music education needs to join forces with technology to cement its place in the overall curriculum.
In terms of the present day, I don’t know much about the current role of technology in the classroom. I know for me it feels like it’s being shoved to the side and then becomes outta sight, outta mind. The great optimist in me feels that music educators are currently on the cusp of being able to make great change and stride in music education programs, which is why I’m here. And do I believe that technology is an important role in that? Absolutely. Do I think that’s the only change necessary? Certainly not. I think the role of music in the overall curriculum needs to branch out. At the very minimum it should involve creating, listening, and performing (going back to the presentation). But how could music education enhance reading, writing, and speaking? How would music education help students better understand history and science? I think music education with the interconnection of technology could be another way for students to document their learning.
Based on my high school music education, the role of technology in the past feels like a joke. We wrote two or three papers for choir and they were required to be typed up. Is that an intersection of music education and technology? Kind of a stretch probably. But in all fairness, my undergraduate college applications were hand-written, so it’s not as if music was the only area that was lacking a technological facilitator. So my opinion on the role of technology in music education in the past is that there wasn’t a role.
I think the music education community seems apprehensive about inviting technology into the classroom for some reason. Maybe educators are scared that technology will simply replace music education since kids can just look up pieces and songs on YouTube and can use synthesized instruments instead of learning the techniques of an actual instrument. If that’s the case, my answer is ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But more pointedly, these changes need to take place otherwise the percentage of students that are not involved in music programs is going to go up and there isn’t a whole lot of wriggle room before music education in public schools could be a thing of the past.
If music education consists of teaching, learning, and expressing processes, then my opinions about technology's role are: (1) in the past, technology has nothing to do with music education, (2) in the present, technology has expedited my teaching and learning processes, and (3) in the future, technology should be a powerful tool to unify all three processes, so that students' thoughts and emotions are effectively and freely expressed.
The main reason caused the changing role of technology is the reduction of cost. As I recall, 20 years ago in Vietnam, the only way that I could listen to a Bach recording was to go to my teacher's house, and he would carefully took out a big LP disc and we all listened together. Only a few affluent families could afford a music player of any kind, but whether they had a collection of good recordings was another completely story. In other words, my childhood's music education were nurtured with little experience with technology.
Five years ago, when I started my own piano studio, a handy camcorder was a device that transformed the teaching and learning processes. When the students saw their hands' movements in slow motions, they almost automatically fixed any mistakes that occurs. Mistakes like unnecessary movements or distorting postures that prevented the ease at the piano were even addressed by the five- or six-year-olds. As a result, students could proceed to more challenging repertoire in a very short period of time.
However, when I recently notice the tremendous amount of time that students spend to navigate iPad apps, I realize that I have used technology to better teach what I think it would be important to my students, but not what the students think it is important for them. I have not helped the students to enjoy reviewing music concepts after our class time, nor exploring areas that I have not covered in classes. Therefore, it is the teachers' responsibility to become capable of integrating technology into music education to help today's students--digital natives--making music with honest enjoyment.
When I was young, technology in music education was limited, or I could not recognize the benefit/usage of music technology. Only technology used device I can remember were Tape/CD/ MD player to listen.
As many people use smart phones, music related application has been released a lot. Keyboard, metronome, garage band, etc. Those can be used easily in music classroom for both teacher and student's convenience. Also, music related application is useful for mentally/physically disabled students. Special Education in music sounds difficult, but technology can cover a lot of things. My sister used to volunteer for Social welfare in Korea, and she found out how technology is well used for disabled students. I-Pad Garage band app can be used for disabled students to play/press just one thing over and over again, and this can be sound "Orchestra/band." They can feel accomplish playing instruments in I-Pad. Playing instrument does not need to be on the real instrument anymore with specific technique, students can enjoy themselves playing on the I-Pad and listening to what they have played. This can lead students both in special education or general education to get interest in music !
I remember my school being very fortunate in having multiple tools at the teachers and students' fingertips. I don't think teachers always knew what to do with the tech given to them as most of them didn't have training in how to efficiently use it. Unfortunately, it suddenly became a "rule" that tech had to be used in the classroom, I get that they want the classroom to be modern, but if you aren't good at it and you haven't been given enough training, tech is only going to slow you down. I remember thinking less of teachers that couldn't use the technology they were trying to incorporate. I think that now tech has caused a gap in the older generation and the younger generation but that we are trying to make it more generalized and streamlined for those that can't use it well. Which is great, but I think that it also puts a damper on what can be done with kids who have an aptitude with it. Ultimately, I believe it is not an end all solution for all our modern problems, but it can help as long as we use it right. We need to make sure that our students and children do not abuse the new power in tech. We can't let them become so absorbed in it that they forget to look up. That human interaction is still the most meaningful experience a person have and tech can help us achieve greater interaction as long as we don't cut ourselves off from the outside world to experience it from the inside
Thinking about the past in my own musical education experience, technology played a surprisingly minimal role in learning. I remember in grade school from 6th to 12th grade as a Middle/High School Band member, the only solid uses for technology in the classroom for for recording purposes so that we could self-analyze after rehearsals, or using a boombox to hear how pieces we were given to play sounded.
Interestingly enough, in my own individual musical education, technology played a much larger role. I've done a lot of my own projects through score writing in Finale and subsequent transferal of the MIDI files from these projects into studio software programs, namely ProTools. I've also grown up in an obviously rapidly-changing tech world where cassette-playing boomboxes were replaced with walkmans, which were then replaced by mobile CD players, to then the initial iPods, etc. etc. Having music so readily accessibly was definitely a huge part of my own development as a musician; I could constantly be inspired by the music I loved at any time (in theory), and sharing such inspiration has become so much easier now with online storage sites, file-sharing technology through Bluetooth and USB drives and the like. That saidm, I had always had that dichotomy there between the musical technology I was exposed to through formal education versus what I discovered on my own through the internet or other people.
That said, I think the future of music education is the gradual meeting of the two worlds of tradition and modern technology. I think more and more, schools will introduce these more modern ideas of music-making and sharing technology into the realm of "formal education." I think that music nowadays is being made in such different ways than what we are taught in ensemble-based music classes that there is pretty much no choice but to integrate these ideas, to keep students interested and to keep musical education relevant!
The role of technology in music education has been increased. In the past, the technology was not fully developed to utilize during music class. Internet connection was poor and technological devices were too expensive to be used widely. Also, majority of music educators failed to realize the importance of using technology during music class. Recently the use of technology during music class has become pervasive. During classes, many music educators currently adopt many different kinds of technology. There are many ways to take advantage of technology during the class. For example, by using various kinds of digital instruments such as digital saxophone or clarinet, students become introduced to various instruments. Compared to the actual instrument, digital instruments are relatively easy to learn and play. Also through the Garage band (Apple application), students can enjoy making their own music. Such an activity leads students to acquire not only familiarity but also basic knowledge about the instruments. Students can gain the basics of learning a new instrument or composing, too. However, compared with the development of technology, the uses of technology during the music class is still insufficient. I believe that with the development of information technology and smart devices, teaching methodologies in various disciplines will change and develop. To keep pace with the rapid changes triggered by technological advancement, teachers must develop and organize teaching concepts and methodology that fully use smart devices. Proper use of smart devices can attract students’ interests and create an enjoyable learning environment. In the future, the importance of technology in music education will be more and more increase.
As I reflect upon my elementary and middle school music classes, I recall teachers popping in a cassette tape to let us sing along with a song once in a while... but that was the extent of technology use in the classroom. My choral director in high school, however, though a man in his 60s, was constantly seeking ways to use technology to enable our 60+ member choir learn and memorize music as quickly and efficiently as possible. Considering the low sight-reading and score-reading capabilities of most of the chorus members, he installed medium-size speakers in every corner of the large classroom and each vocal part would gather near their speaker and listen to their notes played by midi(?) while following their score: sopranos under the right corner speaker, altos under the left back corner speaker...etc. If one part was already confident he would lower the volume of that part or even mute it, while raising the volume of another voice part with a more challenging line. Rhythmically or melodically challenging sections for one part or the entire choir could be spliced and played on loop until we gained complete confidence. If learning a piece for the first time, he would often leave all the vocal parts on loop for 20 minutes, and retreat to his office and get other work done in the meantime--talk about efficient time management. While some choral educators may disapprove this aural learning method as handicapping the students to never improve their sight-reading skills, I thought it was a brilliantly effective method for memorizing music and allowing the entire choir of 60+ singers to all learn their parts at the same time (vs. someone at the piano plunking out each vocal line one by one, which would take three times as long). Due to cutting the time spent on learning music by 3/4, our choir was able to invest more time on singing musically, listening, and perfecting our performance--and blow all the other choirs out of the water as we won 1st place in numerous choral competitions nationwide. The benefits of this technology in the choral classroom cannot be underestimated.
I would say my choral director was ahead of his game. Though choirs in the 90s may have recorded and handed out practice cassettes for choral members to take home, I know of no other choir that employs speakers for simultaneous music learning this way, even today. Concerning the regular music (non-choral) classroom, currently, while some music teachers may encourage students to create beats on their iPads and publish their garage band’s music on YouTube, others are still strictly sheet-music and textbook-based. The divide between teachers who love tech and hate tech seems to be more polarized then the past. A teacher’s decision to cross over to using technology in the music classroom depends on the instructors’ value and understanding of technology and their openness and comfort-level towards it as well. Some teachers are attempting to employ technology, which is an admirable effort, but frustrating to the students (and teaching interns) because their teacher’s usage of technology is so basic and old skool. For example, the director of children’s choir at TC I interned with this past semester employed technology: she posted recordings of each vocal part on wikispaces for students to practice with, set up the projector to show YouTube videos of other children choirs singing... a good start (I guess?), but the rehearsal was conducted no different than a choir from the 60s--plunking out each part one by one on the piano leaving all other kids to twiddle their thumbs or ran around the classroom. All this is to say, it is frustrating when a music teacher is technologically behind. On the other hand, it is refreshing when a teacher is up to date with the technological interests of their students and is able to wisely utilize those those technological tools to get students to fall in love and connect with music at a deeper level.
The future of music education looks bleak if teachers do not understand the learning methods of students today. It is not to say that all learning must incorporate technology, but understanding what kids are interested in and finding ways to connect with students through those interests seems like a must for any student-centered classroom in the future.
Today digital technologies in music education are very powerful. They have a great impact on just about every aspect of our life and our lessons. Computers, Internet, multimedia like CD and DVD, as well as IPad/IPhone apps are leading the digital revolution. When I was in elementary school and middle school in South Korea, we used to use CD/DVD/Video tape in music class. I learned many songs and movements from all technical devices but it was very limited in music class. Even a decade ago, we had to go to the library to find some information, but nowadays we go sit at the computer and run the searching engine to locate the website that contains the information we want to refer to. Students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly with the help of technology. Some students are more motivated to learn when technology is used appropriately and the Internet is a great tool for finding information about music. For example, I am using IPad and IPhone during music lesson and we could record our lessons and review them in the future. And if we want to find some repertoires and music, we use YouTube to find them. Also there are a great number of websites that may help young students learn more information and learn it more quickly because it consists of graphics and animations. For music class or any classroom teachers need to be proficient and knowledgeable concerning technological changes and advancements and be prepare to use all appropriate tools in advancing study while recognizing the importance of people coming together to make and share music. Each year, new equipment and programs appear. Teacher should know about it and make an informed judgment regarding its use. The challenge is to maintain a balance in the type of musical experiences students are provided and the appropriate use of technology.
The only piece of technology I remember as a child in my formal bits of music education was an electric piano that only the chorus teacher would use because our school could not afford the luxury or expense of a real piano. The general music classes did not need it because the material that was being taught was learned by rote. Songs, games, and the like were all taught by ear and when the teacher needed a note, she would turn to her bells instead.
In the present time, technology has helped me tremendously. In my undergrad program, the use of Noteflight was one of my saving graces while studying composition and twelve tone. Ugh, twelve tone.... I could hear the piece that I composed and decide if it was worthy or useless. Sources like Youtube were especially useful while studying vocal pieces and singers. Through DVDs and The Met Player online I was able to watch entire operas to catch essences of roles and songs and composers which was helpful for what I was studying. Did it have a place in the classroom? Yeah. It was good for supplementing what we needed to know. Even today there are tons of programs out there that I still use on my computer to listen, observe, practice and engage with when the proper tools are not in front of me.
Where is it's place in the future? I think it will be the gateway to get children involved. Kids are hooked up to every social medium now-a-days. They know stuff that kids ten years ago didn't know. It will still serve as an instructional and supplemental guide but it's going to be the way kids will identify more with music. It is going to be the precursor to getting children to actually touch a real instrument or write their musical thoughts down, because this is what they're going to eventually experience first.
Emily is sitting next to me.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically in music education, I have seen technology be both a tool and a hindrance. In the past, I think technology in the music classroom has been used effectively and ineffectively. The effectiveness of music technology is dependent upon the knowledge base of the program or software. So for example, we had a keyboard lab with Finale in my middle school growing up. Once a semester, we would go to the keyboard lab and compose! We composed duets or small ensemble pieces and then played them in class. In this situation, we were able to use the technology to facilitate the content: creativity, composition, and ensemble work.
ReplyDeleteAs music technology becomes more advanced and more programs become available, as teachers, we need to discern what is going to be helpful in our classrooms and not get caught up in "new and fancy" programs. I worry that as more and more programs come out, the focus will turn to the technology and not the content. With teacher education, as long as we make sure we know how to aptly use the resources presented from music technology, we will be able to discern what works for our specific students and apply the technology that we feel is most helpful/appropriate.
When I was growing up technology in the music classroom seemed pretty limited. I remember using an overhead projector fairly often, which was kind of lame. It always had that yellowish tint to it which made it look ancient. Smart boards became very popular when I was in high school and at first it was a big novelty item for teachers but it eventually became just another requirement that teachers must incorporate into the classroom. It think sometimes new technological inventions are simply just add-ons but of course there are some really great things that come from this outlet. I used the “Elmo” a lot during my student teaching. I will say that they way over estimated the spatial skills of their consumers by making the camera in such a way that you have to put the book/picture or item upside down and when you want to move it to the left you really have to move it to the right and so on. I wasted countless minutes trying to center images on the projector. (This may just have been a dumb personal issue.) I did however think that this item was great because it allows you to project a textbook on the board, which saves the children from wasting time going to the shelves and getting their own book. And what if the school couldn’t afford a full set of textbooks? This way you technically only need one.
ReplyDeleteI’m really excited about all of the work on GarageBand being done as well as all of the musical apps surfacing. I’m constantly thankful for my guitar tuning app and my iPhone keyboard. I use those apps on a daily basis and think how amazing it is that I don’t have to run and find a piano every time I need a starting pitch! I used to sing the National Anthem at my middle school basketball games and I had to record myself playing my starting pitch on the piano using a portable recorder. Technology has really made so many things easier! I think in the future we will have to be careful as musicians not to let technology overwhelm our craft. I think it can be an amazing tool but it could easily overstep its bounds and take some of the intricate parts of being a musician away.
ReplyDeleteSince the inception of technology, the music industry has made many strives in the preservation, distribution, and teaching of music. Past technology laid the foundation for many aspects of music such as the preservation of the artistry, access to music, and even new genres. From these past developments, musicians can better share their art with society.
The music industry has made many remarkable strides in the teaching of music since the inception of technology. Past technology has laid the foundation for musicians to preserve their artistry, increased the accessibility to music, and has even developed new genres which make music even more inclusive in society. In turn, these changes have ultimately affected present music students.
With the help of technology from both the past and present, music students are able to better study and record music. For example, in the past technology has allowed society to preserve performances through sound recording and compositions through use of copiers and computers. In the present day, we are able to study and learn these great works. In addition, technology has also allowed us to better restore recordings and pieces to allow for even better feedback and restoration of past works. In another example, technology has given more students the opportunity to study music through use of affordable online programs.
Present day technology has also made music more inclusive for composers, instrumentalists, and music enthusiasts. With technology, performers can learn and be inspired through the use of video recordings and websites. In addition, musicians can share their music with a broad range of listeners throughout the world with web distribution sites (i.e. youtube, Pandora, grooveshark, itunes, etc.). In another example, much to the dismay of many artists but pleasure to listeners, is the ability to quickly copy (legally and illegally) distribute music. Perhaps a negative side effect of technology.
I believe the future of music, whether we want it or not, will continuously be affected by technology. While it is a fantastic aid in preservation and teaching of our artistry, we must be careful not to let it affect the craftsmanship of our art. Presently, technology allows us to manipulate recordings to exhibit the best of our abilities. However, sometimes a manipulation can change a performance so much that we begin to question whether the work is actually original.
For better or for worse, technology does not seem to be going anywhere. I believe that overall, technology has greatly aided the field and continues to do so. Without it, we could have lost many great learning tools and perhaps even musicians which have inspired and affected the music world of today.
All modern instruments, are, effectively, music technology. The piano especially is an evolutionary case study from its roots to the modern mass-produced acoustic instrument, to say nothing of the dizzying menagerie of keyboard instruments. So 'music technology' has already played a role in any instrumental education, whether other technologies are involved or not.
ReplyDeleteThe presence of 21st century information technology represents the next great leap for music educators. Just as traditional pianists must consider their relevance in the face of the versatility of the synthesizer, music educators must consider their use of technologies that are relevant to today's student. Indeed, the modern school is likely to consider technological education to be a necessity in nearly every academic area, so why should music be exempt? This is a battle that is already lost to traditionalists: a teacher that had an interest in synthesizers or electronic music in the 80s and 90s was still likely to find it to be prohibitively expensive to incorporate these technologies into the average classroom, but even very basic tech -- tablets, laptops, even obsolete desktops -- can be used effectively and musically.
That begs the question: what is the limit of 'music technology'? When every phone can be a basic studio, with its voice recorder -- get a classroom full of phones, and that's more tracks than the Beatles ever had. Music technology levels the playing field for young composers the way the printing press did for young readers. The permanence of recorded sound is a supreme lure for students -- maybe their pretty macaroni drawing hangs on the fridge for a week, but their first track from music class will stick around a hard drive for ever, to be stumbled upon while cleaning out a desk drawer years later.
In the past, a student depended on a teacher as a sort of amanuensis until she reached the point where her theory knowledge allowed her to commit her ideas to paper. Now, literally anything she plays into a GarageBand cognate can be saved, played back, re-recorded -- completely unsupervised, like a musical Etch-a-Sketch but with a full palate of colors and without the bothersome shaking.
What do I think about all this? I say game on. The thing to realize is that music tech makes my job a heck of a lot easier, in lots of really excellent ways. Results are easier to show to parents in between the still-basically-required winter and spring concerts. I can type a score with speed in the same ballpark as typing this response. The world today's students inhabit is largely contained in tech anyway, and as much as I (being from the guinea-pig generation w/r/t Facebook et al) try to keep a big brick wall between tech-me and real-me, that separation has never existed for my students. If I can weasel some music into that world, and especially if it's worthwhile music, then so much the better. If the goal of music education is to get students to love music as much as the teacher does (which, given the current challenges of being an educator, had better be a hell of a lot), then that foothold in the virtual life of the student is non-negotiable if music is to play a role in the student's future. And if we want that future to include attendance at concerts, meaningful engagement with music as a consumer, or any of the societal benefits of having musically literate citizens, then it’s tech or go home.
When I was in high school, I remember my music classes to be fairly standard in that there was no technology. Then I moved on to college where suddenly the use of technology was rather vital for me as a student and performer of an art form I had never been exposed to but was beginning to study. Sources like YouTube and Naxos allowed me to listen to the works of many composers which were interpreted by a variety of performers. I was able to hear how I was supposed to sound in the style I was studying. Then came composition classes. Sometimes the pieces that I wrote for piano went faster than my fingers could play. I found Noteflight and suddenly my pieces came to life the way I needed them to. I was able to hear my compositions, although rather crudely, and decide what sounded right and what needed to change. I still use this program today.
ReplyDeleteEspecially as a classical vocalist, one is required to sing in many languages. For most people who don't have time to learn the language for one song, there are convenient resources out there that have already translated and written the songs out phonetically. Not to mention the fantastic resources for musicians out there looking for music old and new. Want old choral pieces based on composer or genre or parts? CPDL.org. Want choral, piano, flute, or oboe pieces, maybe you want to study a specific composer or style of music? IMSLP.org Need tabs for your guitar? Just search any title with "guitar tabs" next to it and you have tons of free content waiting to be explored. Music has become a technology based art form anyway. Soundboards, mixers, auto-tuning, amplifiers, effects pedals, apps on your phone that can tune instruments or make your phone into a piano or guitar; These are things that children will eventually use some day.
So where does technology have a place in the past, present, and future of music education? Music education is about teaching children the past, present and future of music. Technology has helped us remember our past by giving us a recorded history of our musical achievements. Some are remembered better than others but they're still there, and we can relive every moment of it if we so choose. Technology keeps tabs with what is new and cool in today's society. We use technology to record our rhythms and songs, our little musical phrases, to change the way things sounds to be unique, exciting, and relevant to the music that we will produce, use it as a way to share and maybe even travel through time. That’s how we’ll use music technology in the future.
Virtually no technology was utilized by any of my music teachers, in both private lessons and classroom settings. There are probably many reasons for this, and I can really only speculate as to why not. In my private violin lessons, "traditional" methods of learning the instrument carried significant and obvious weight. For hundreds of years students have learned to play the violin without any form of technology more advanced than a metronome. Undoubtedly my teachers were also unfamiliar, uninterested, and some were even against incorporating technology into private lessons. I'm not sure that I mind; if technology is a tool, what can we point to that it can "do" that a teacher cannot? It can't simply be a question of convenience, right?
ReplyDeleteIn my own teaching now I sometimes use my iPhone to take videos and make recordings of my students. I play them clips from youtube and show them tuning or music game aps. I would love to have more techy angles to come from, and more technology to utilize in the classroom, but I am always bothered by the monetary aspect connected with doing so. I've mostly taught in inner city, less affluent school settings. Lots of kids have iPhones, and I'm sure there are things we could do with them, but what about the kid who doesn't have one?
I think that technology is an inevitable part of our human lives now, and I don't think that anyone can argue convincingly that it's not. It is still however exclusive. The majority of people that use technology don't have any idea how it works at all, and with constant updates and advances I personally get overwhelmed. I sound like an old lady, I know.
I absolutely think we should be utilizing technology in our music education classrooms. Our students identify with it and it's totally exciting to learn about. I think that, as we try to find the best ways for communicating and serving our students, technology must play a significant role. And like any tool we use for teaching, a responsible use of technology requires a thoughtful approach based on our own experiences.
When I first think back to my musical past, I do not immediately think of any conspicuous technology being used in my primary education. Actually, technology was used in a number of ways, particularly in high school. In high school band, for example, we would often record our rehearsals, performances, or marching band shows, and then watch them and discuss them together. This requires technology. To help us play in time, our band director would pull out a Dr. Beat (for our purposes here, a fancy metronome) set it to the grating "ONE eeee and uh TWO eee and uh" setting, and blast it over the classroom sound system to literally annoy us into playing in time. This requires technology as well (it just wouldn't have had the same effect with a traditional metronome!) In short, technology was used fairly often in my musical past, but always in an unobtrusive way. Rather than drawing attention to itself, it was always used to serve a musical goal. It also enabled us to focus not only on performance, but on listening as well (composition, unfortunately, received virtually no focus)
ReplyDeleteThere have obviously been considerable advances in technology since I was in high school seven years ago. Perhaps the biggest change I have noticed personally is an increased emphasis on composition. Composition was the most underemphasized of Morton Subotnick's "Three Person" model in my high school band setting (and, I suspect, many other band settings) perhaps because it is assumed that students need a strong theory background before they can attempt to compose. What really fascinates me about some of the new apps I have found is that they each create new ways to visualize music rather than the standard notation model. I recently downloaded an app called NodeBeat, for example. Notes are represented by small colored circles, with the color representing the pitch (rather than their location). There are also larger circles called Generators, which send out regular pulses to each of the neighboring notes. Rather than picturing music linearly, with a constant beat that is perpetually moving forward down the line, music is pictured circularly, with a beat expanding outward in not one but two dimensions. I've used apps like this to come up with motives or melodies for some of my own compositions (which I then translate into standard notation). What is most powerful about these apps is that they are interesting not only to people like me who have a strong theory background and can overanalyze the app's unique notational style, as I just did, but that they are equally interesting and accessible to people who are not as strong with theory or standard notation. With apps like these, everyone has the ability to compose - perhaps they could be used to bring composition even into performance-heavy music classes.
(Apparently posts can't be more than 4,096 characters, so I'll post my last paragraph in a reply to this one)
My biggest worry for the future of technology in music is that it's novelty will overshadow the fundamental musical concepts it can teach. Continuing my discussion of composition apps, there is an initial tendency to use them for play rather than for serious, thoughtful composition. This is a good thing - anyone who has taken a class with Dr. Custodero will know the importance of exploring an instrument before being instructed on precisely how to use it. When I first got Finale, for example, the first thing I did was rapidly click everywhere on the screen until I had amassed dozens of sixteenth notes in ridiculously unplayable combinations, and then listened with glee as the program played back what I told it to. I have seen this happen with many other people who get to try Finale for the first time. The problem comes when play becomes the ONLY focus of the technology - when it becomes not a tool, but a toy. Students may make a random click piece or two on Finale, then get bored and move onto one of the thousands (and counting) new apps they have available, without actually gaining any musical knowledge in the process. The solution to this problem, I think, lies in the past. Teachers need to continue to make sure that the focus is not on the technology, but on the underlying concepts it can teach. They must be able to make even the flashiest and most toy-like apps as unobtrusive as the video camera or audio recorder was in my high school band. In this way, teachers can help foster the students' natural enthusiasm and interest in the app to a prolonged and more thoughtful understanding of the musical concepts it contains.
DeleteIn present day, music educators are still discovering effective ways to incorporate technology into their classroom. I find technology to be most advantageous in the general music classroom, the composition process and in the process of student evaluation.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has given music teachers a plethora of resources and repertoire available right at their fingertips. Past music educators have had to venture out to music stores in order to obtain sheet music, while most music is now available, whether by purchase or by public domain, to search, select, download and print. Resources for effective lesson materials are also available on websites and group forums for music educators.
Programs such as Sibelius and Finale have made music writing systematic, easier to read, and reviewable for error with the use of Midi playback instruments. The programs also limits inaccuracies, ex. writing too many beats per measure by not allowing the extra note to be implemented. These features make music writing faster, simpler and more accessible to teachers and students alike.
Blog forums allow students and teachers to communicate about music at home, view each other’s responses and learn in a more communal way.
With programs such as SmartMusic, it has become easier to assess the progress and practice habits of individual students within a large ensemble. Before this technology, one-on-one evaluation was based upon scheduling. Now teachers may listen to work a student produces at home and reply with notes.
These examples are some of many ways that technology has been an aid to music education. However, there is one part of music technology that I believe is detrimental to the music industry: auto-tune. Auto-tune has made it possible for anyone, without talent or proper training, to sing or play into a recording device and later adjust the sound to the desired quality. This is making the popular music business more shallow and less talent-based than ever before. Anyone can be picked off of the street, sing, and be edited into a star. This almost eliminates any need to study proper technique in order to be deemed a “singer” and sets a poor example for young people.
Technology will continue to advance in the future. It is our job as music educators to use resources as a tool to create effective lessons, but never to use technology for the sake of its availability. We need to use technology to create critical musicians and keep them interested in enhancing their natural talents, despite what the pop industry is producing.
I can't say that I had a particularly technology enhanced classroom when it comes to music. We used computers in every other class in middle and high school, but when I got to music school, the only technology that I mastered was putting CD's from the music library onto my IPod as I was working. In my professional life, I have found many online tools to utilize like Google Sites and Blogger, but still don't use a ton of technology in my day to day practicing/performing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I have noticed a big difference in is my private teaching. It is so much easier to access information on the fly that may come up during the course of an hour lesson. I frequently use YouTube or SoundCloud to bring up recording examples when I am trying to illustrate a point. I have also found that keeping notes in an email during a lesson and sending it at the end is a good way to keep both myself and my student up to date on what is being covered. I do wish that I would use Finale/Sibelius to write out some of the exercises that we work on in lessons and save in a book for the future. I don't typically use one etude or exercise book, and have been thinking for a few years that making my own book would be a great project.
Another great tool for private lessons has been the use of simple recording devices. It is an interesting tool to use with young students in my experience because the respond to it in a way that I wouldn't imagine. I always use the sound/video recordings as a device to critique my own playing and technique, but I have found that my young students get a lot of pride and excitement from seeing or hearing themselves perform. In a culture where that sort of "instant production" is the norm, leveraging their enthusiasm to produce for a recording is a great way to motivate these younger students to continue working hard. I haven't had the same response from adult students, most of which cringe at the idea of seeing or hearing themselves on a recording.
I have thought of putting a video blog on my personal website that could deal with common clarinet or musical issues as part of a "video etude book" (but will probably put it off until I am not in school). I am curious if there is a website where I could put video clips and insert mini quizzes, sheet music, or other extra information to make a lesson?
There are two things that came out of your presentation that struck me as being really necessary and quite simple especially in talking about the future role of technology. First, the role of technology is a means or a facilitator to do music rather than technology is the end result. Second, students want to create content in the same way that they consume it. For me, these are two things that seem to be really important and I think that moving forward as an educator they would be great guiding principals. I believe we need to create classrooms and music programs that meet the needs of the modern day child, tween, and teenager and if that’s using Facebook, Youtube, Garage Band, Sibelius, etc. then I’m more than excited to jump in headfirst. Technology is not going away and music education needs to join forces with technology to cement its place in the overall curriculum.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the present day, I don’t know much about the current role of technology in the classroom. I know for me it feels like it’s being shoved to the side and then becomes outta sight, outta mind. The great optimist in me feels that music educators are currently on the cusp of being able to make great change and stride in music education programs, which is why I’m here. And do I believe that technology is an important role in that? Absolutely. Do I think that’s the only change necessary? Certainly not. I think the role of music in the overall curriculum needs to branch out. At the very minimum it should involve creating, listening, and performing (going back to the presentation). But how could music education enhance reading, writing, and speaking? How would music education help students better understand history and science? I think music education with the interconnection of technology could be another way for students to document their learning.
Based on my high school music education, the role of technology in the past feels like a joke. We wrote two or three papers for choir and they were required to be typed up. Is that an intersection of music education and technology? Kind of a stretch probably. But in all fairness, my undergraduate college applications were hand-written, so it’s not as if music was the only area that was lacking a technological facilitator. So my opinion on the role of technology in music education in the past is that there wasn’t a role.
I think the music education community seems apprehensive about inviting technology into the classroom for some reason. Maybe educators are scared that technology will simply replace music education since kids can just look up pieces and songs on YouTube and can use synthesized instruments instead of learning the techniques of an actual instrument. If that’s the case, my answer is ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But more pointedly, these changes need to take place otherwise the percentage of students that are not involved in music programs is going to go up and there isn’t a whole lot of wriggle room before music education in public schools could be a thing of the past.
If music education consists of teaching, learning, and expressing processes, then my opinions about technology's role are: (1) in the past, technology has nothing to do with music education, (2) in the present, technology has expedited my teaching and learning processes, and (3) in the future, technology should be a powerful tool to unify all three processes, so that students' thoughts and emotions are effectively and freely expressed.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason caused the changing role of technology is the reduction of cost. As I recall, 20 years ago in Vietnam, the only way that I could listen to a Bach recording was to go to my teacher's house, and he would carefully took out a big LP disc and we all listened together. Only a few affluent families could afford a music player of any kind, but whether they had a collection of good recordings was another completely story. In other words, my childhood's music education were nurtured with little experience with technology.
Five years ago, when I started my own piano studio, a handy camcorder was a device that transformed the teaching and learning processes. When the students saw their hands' movements in slow motions, they almost automatically fixed any mistakes that occurs. Mistakes like unnecessary movements or distorting postures that prevented the ease at the piano were even addressed by the five- or six-year-olds. As a result, students could proceed to more challenging repertoire in a very short period of time.
However, when I recently notice the tremendous amount of time that students spend to navigate iPad apps, I realize that I have used technology to better teach what I think it would be important to my students, but not what the students think it is important for them. I have not helped the students to enjoy reviewing music concepts after our class time, nor exploring areas that I have not covered in classes. Therefore, it is the teachers' responsibility to become capable of integrating technology into music education to help today's students--digital natives--making music with honest enjoyment.
When I was young, technology in music education was limited, or I could not recognize the benefit/usage of music technology. Only technology used device I can remember were Tape/CD/ MD player to listen.
ReplyDeleteAs many people use smart phones, music related application has been released a lot. Keyboard, metronome, garage band, etc. Those can be used easily in music classroom for both teacher and student's convenience. Also, music related application is useful for mentally/physically disabled students. Special Education in music sounds difficult, but technology can cover a lot of things. My sister used to volunteer for Social welfare in Korea, and she found out how technology is well used for disabled students. I-Pad Garage band app can be used for disabled students to play/press just one thing over and over again, and this can be sound "Orchestra/band." They can feel accomplish playing instruments in I-Pad. Playing instrument does not need to be on the real instrument anymore with specific technique, students can enjoy themselves playing on the I-Pad and listening to what they have played. This can lead students both in special education or general education to get interest in music !
I remember my school being very fortunate in having multiple tools at the teachers and students' fingertips. I don't think teachers always knew what to do with the tech given to them as most of them didn't have training in how to efficiently use it. Unfortunately, it suddenly became a "rule" that tech had to be used in the classroom, I get that they want the classroom to be modern, but if you aren't good at it and you haven't been given enough training, tech is only going to slow you down. I remember thinking less of teachers that couldn't use the technology they were trying to incorporate.
ReplyDeleteI think that now tech has caused a gap in the older generation and the younger generation but that we are trying to make it more generalized and streamlined for those that can't use it well. Which is great, but I think that it also puts a damper on what can be done with kids who have an aptitude with it.
Ultimately, I believe it is not an end all solution for all our modern problems, but it can help as long as we use it right. We need to make sure that our students and children do not abuse the new power in tech. We can't let them become so absorbed in it that they forget to look up. That human interaction is still the most meaningful experience a person have and tech can help us achieve greater interaction as long as we don't cut ourselves off from the outside world to experience it from the inside
Thinking about the past in my own musical education experience, technology played a surprisingly minimal role in learning. I remember in grade school from 6th to 12th grade as a Middle/High School Band member, the only solid uses for technology in the classroom for for recording purposes so that we could self-analyze after rehearsals, or using a boombox to hear how pieces we were given to play sounded.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, in my own individual musical education, technology played a much larger role. I've done a lot of my own projects through score writing in Finale and subsequent transferal of the MIDI files from these projects into studio software programs, namely ProTools. I've also grown up in an obviously rapidly-changing tech world where cassette-playing boomboxes were replaced with walkmans, which were then replaced by mobile CD players, to then the initial iPods, etc. etc. Having music so readily accessibly was definitely a huge part of my own development as a musician; I could constantly be inspired by the music I loved at any time (in theory), and sharing such inspiration has become so much easier now with online storage sites, file-sharing technology through Bluetooth and USB drives and the like. That saidm, I had always had that dichotomy there between the musical technology I was exposed to through formal education versus what I discovered on my own through the internet or other people.
That said, I think the future of music education is the gradual meeting of the two worlds of tradition and modern technology. I think more and more, schools will introduce these more modern ideas of music-making and sharing technology into the realm of "formal education." I think that music nowadays is being made in such different ways than what we are taught in ensemble-based music classes that there is pretty much no choice but to integrate these ideas, to keep students interested and to keep musical education relevant!
The role of technology in music education has been increased. In the past, the technology was not fully developed to utilize during music class. Internet connection was poor and technological devices were too expensive to be used widely. Also, majority of music educators failed to realize the importance of using technology during music class.
ReplyDeleteRecently the use of technology during music class has become pervasive. During classes, many music educators currently adopt many different kinds of technology. There are many ways to take advantage of technology during the class. For example, by using various kinds of digital instruments such as digital saxophone or clarinet, students become introduced to various instruments. Compared to the actual instrument, digital instruments are relatively easy to learn and play. Also through the Garage band (Apple application), students can enjoy making their own music. Such an activity leads students to acquire not only familiarity but also basic knowledge about the instruments. Students can gain the basics of learning a new instrument or composing, too.
However, compared with the development of technology, the uses of technology during the music class is still insufficient. I believe that with the development of information technology and smart devices, teaching methodologies in various disciplines will change and develop. To keep pace with the rapid changes triggered by technological advancement, teachers must develop and organize teaching concepts and methodology that fully use smart devices. Proper use of smart devices can attract students’ interests and create an enjoyable learning environment. In the future, the importance of technology in music education will be more and more increase.
As I reflect upon my elementary and middle school music classes, I recall teachers popping in a cassette tape to let us sing along with a song once in a while... but that was the extent of technology use in the classroom. My choral director in high school, however, though a man in his 60s, was constantly seeking ways to use technology to enable our 60+ member choir learn and memorize music as quickly and efficiently as possible. Considering the low sight-reading and score-reading capabilities of most of the chorus members, he installed medium-size speakers in every corner of the large classroom and each vocal part would gather near their speaker and listen to their notes played by midi(?) while following their score: sopranos under the right corner speaker, altos under the left back corner speaker...etc. If one part was already confident he would lower the volume of that part or even mute it, while raising the volume of another voice part with a more challenging line. Rhythmically or melodically challenging sections for one part or the entire choir could be spliced and played on loop until we gained complete confidence. If learning a piece for the first time, he would often leave all the vocal parts on loop for 20 minutes, and retreat to his office and get other work done in the meantime--talk about efficient time management. While some choral educators may disapprove this aural learning method as handicapping the students to never improve their sight-reading skills, I thought it was a brilliantly effective method for memorizing music and allowing the entire choir of 60+ singers to all learn their parts at the same time (vs. someone at the piano plunking out each vocal line one by one, which would take three times as long). Due to cutting the time spent on learning music by 3/4, our choir was able to invest more time on singing musically, listening, and perfecting our performance--and blow all the other choirs out of the water as we won 1st place in numerous choral competitions nationwide. The benefits of this technology in the choral classroom cannot be underestimated.
ReplyDeleteI would say my choral director was ahead of his game. Though choirs in the 90s may have recorded and handed out practice cassettes for choral members to take home, I know of no other choir that employs speakers for simultaneous music learning this way, even today. Concerning the regular music (non-choral) classroom, currently, while some music teachers may encourage students to create beats on their iPads and publish their garage band’s music on YouTube, others are still strictly sheet-music and textbook-based. The divide between teachers who love tech and hate tech seems to be more polarized then the past. A teacher’s decision to cross over to using technology in the music classroom depends on the instructors’ value and understanding of technology and their openness and comfort-level towards it as well. Some teachers are attempting to employ technology, which is an admirable effort, but frustrating to the students (and teaching interns) because their teacher’s usage of technology is so basic and old skool. For example, the director of children’s choir at TC I interned with this past semester employed technology: she posted recordings of each vocal part on wikispaces for students to practice with, set up the projector to show YouTube videos of other children choirs singing... a good start (I guess?), but the rehearsal was conducted no different than a choir from the 60s--plunking out each part one by one on the piano leaving all other kids to twiddle their thumbs or ran around the classroom. All this is to say, it is frustrating when a music teacher is technologically behind. On the other hand, it is refreshing when a teacher is up to date with the technological interests of their students and is able to wisely utilize those those technological tools to get students to fall in love and connect with music at a deeper level.
DeleteThe future of music education looks bleak if teachers do not understand the learning methods of students today. It is not to say that all learning must incorporate technology, but understanding what kids are interested in and finding ways to connect with students through those interests seems like a must for any student-centered classroom in the future.
Today digital technologies in music education are very powerful. They have a great impact on just about every aspect of our life and our lessons. Computers, Internet, multimedia like CD and DVD, as well as IPad/IPhone apps are leading the digital revolution. When I was in elementary school and middle school in South Korea, we used to use CD/DVD/Video tape in music class. I learned many songs and movements from all technical devices but it was very limited in music class. Even a decade ago, we had to go to the library to find some information, but nowadays we go sit at the computer and run the searching engine to locate the website that contains the information we want to refer to. Students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly with the help of technology. Some students are more motivated to learn when technology is used appropriately and the Internet is a great tool for finding information about music. For example, I am using IPad and IPhone during music lesson and we could record our lessons and review them in the future. And if we want to find some repertoires and music, we use YouTube to find them. Also there are a great number of websites that may help young students learn more information and learn it more quickly because it consists of graphics and animations. For music class or any classroom teachers need to be proficient and knowledgeable concerning technological changes and advancements and be prepare to use all appropriate tools in advancing study while recognizing the importance of people coming together to make and share music. Each year, new equipment and programs appear. Teacher should know about it and make an informed judgment regarding its use. The challenge is to maintain a balance in the type of musical experiences students are provided and the appropriate use of technology.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm late. I'm a doofus.
ReplyDeleteThe only piece of technology I remember as a child in my formal bits of music education was an electric piano that only the chorus teacher would use because our school could not afford the luxury or expense of a real piano. The general music classes did not need it because the material that was being taught was learned by rote. Songs, games, and the like were all taught by ear and when the teacher needed a note, she would turn to her bells instead.
In the present time, technology has helped me tremendously. In my undergrad program, the use of Noteflight was one of my saving graces while studying composition and twelve tone. Ugh, twelve tone.... I could hear the piece that I composed and decide if it was worthy or useless. Sources like Youtube were especially useful while studying vocal pieces and singers. Through DVDs and The Met Player online I was able to watch entire operas to catch essences of roles and songs and composers which was helpful for what I was studying. Did it have a place in the classroom? Yeah. It was good for supplementing what we needed to know. Even today there are tons of programs out there that I still use on my computer to listen, observe, practice and engage with when the proper tools are not in front of me.
Where is it's place in the future? I think it will be the gateway to get children involved. Kids are hooked up to every social medium now-a-days. They know stuff that kids ten years ago didn't know. It will still serve as an instructional and supplemental guide but it's going to be the way kids will identify more with music. It is going to be the precursor to getting children to actually touch a real instrument or write their musical thoughts down, because this is what they're going to eventually experience first.