Music
is a subject that not only embraces technology but almost requires technology.
In order to run a band rehearsal an electronic tuner, a CD or other playback
device, and other ways of amplification are necessities. In the general music
classroom, lessons can be fully reliant on technology. A teacher who doesn't
use some kind of technology can't truly be teaching music (instruments are
technically a technology).
While
the basic technologies listed in our inventory are beneficial, we collectively
ran out of technologies after a while. You can group many of the technologies
into categories like "Mac Apps," "Video games," and
"Recording software." Many of the technologies we listed were similar
or almost exactly the same as other technologies. I don’t believe I will
use most of these technologies in my classroom as I feel most of them inhibit
learning. Using a computer notation software allows students to rely on
prefabricated sounds instead of training their ears to hear the notes. YouTube
can be a great tool to expose children but more often than not ends up giving a
false understanding, not to mention most performances on YouTube are not good
performances. I would obviously use metronomes and tuners, but I’m not sure all
of our fancy teaching assistance technologies help us; I fear they allow
teachers to know less and allow a textbook or other source to teach a class for
them.
Scott, thanks for your opinion. Can you help me understand further how the idea that music requires technology meshes with the idea that technology hinders the learning of music?
ReplyDeleteI have to split my reply up into two separate comments in order to post everything.
ReplyDelete1/2
Music requires its own technology. It requires tools such as tuners, recording and playback equipment, and simple devices like them as I said. However, using technology comes with an uncertainty of preparedness. Many of the technologies on our list are very expensive and it is impractical to assume any school will have them available for use. Further, if they do have them, most technologies in the music field (such as notation software like Finale or Sibelius or recording software like GarageBand) would only help students if they own the software at home, and they can be extremely expensive. In addition, I've never walked into a classroom that is truly prepared with the technology they are using. Relying on technology to be present and working is a high risk for a subject like music which, in most cases, students only engage in for less than 1 hour each week. I feel that technology has the power to advance music but the responsibility that comes with it is too often neglected and, in a case such as YouTube, it can spread misinformation and confuse students.
While I believe that popular music is as valid as classical music (I'm actually much more interested in popular and folk musics than western classical) there is no question that it takes much less time to create due to modern technologies, and that has taken parts of the musicing experience away from musicians. The so-called "greatest" musicians such as Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Verdi (the list goes on forever), many took years to write their great masterpieces, while popular musicians in our culture can write a song in seconds and they will be much more likely to sell millions of recordings. There is a value lost in that process. When a musician is engaged in a composition for years of their life, the work becomes part of their existence. That is not to say that popular artists do not live their art, but it doesn't have the same amount of work put into it and it does not sit with the musician as long. Therefore the musician can change their feelings about the produced song quickly after it is recorded and distributed, while Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" underwent at least 4 major revisions and 2 world premieres before the composition was completed as we know it today. Popular musics in our culture are much less about music as they are about culture, politics, and sociological issues (how many popular songs feature lyrics about war, hatred, and love?).
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ReplyDeleteThe idea that "music requires technology" refers to technology made specifically for musicing, while the idea that "technology hinders the learning of music" refers to general technologies that do not understand music. There are three real ways to use technology in a classroom: 1. Completely avoid technologies 2. Use technologies for the sake of using technology 3. Understanding technology to the point that it is inseparable from the learning experience. Because the first option goes against contemporary educational philosophy, most teachers understand that it is no longer an option. The second is very easy for teachers because most schools offer simple technologies to use in classrooms and, due to teacher's busy schedules, can actually make their lives easier (this is where you see teachers reading word-for-word from powerpoint slides). The third option is the only method where technology has true meaning in the classroom; when teachers fully understand the benefits and risks of technologies, come fully prepared to teach with these technologies, and can easily navigate between the technology and the teacher-student relationship. This option, while amazingly effective, is extremely difficult for teachers due to their responsibilities and school budgets (my school music classes had no technology simply due to lack of money). While it is beneficial to utilize technology, it is hard to envision a music classroom that will provide any music technology to its students and, when technology isn't part of the learning experience, students learn about technologies on their own and often lack educated opinions about the benefits and flaws of technologies. I remember my first encounter with YouTube thinking it was the greatest tool to learn new music. I started using what I saw in videos in my own musicing, but then discovered that most performers on the video site were less than great and I was adapting to unproductive methods of learning. Therefore I believe that technology must be either fully utilized in a music classroom allowing students to work hands on, or fully ignored in order to present a neutral basis for students to learn from.