My high school (something I don't particularly care to talk about) was technologically lacking, especially our music classrooms. If you can call them classrooms. The only technology in our music wing was a Dell desktop shared by the three music teachers in their shared office and a CD player. The administration was more concerned about the falling ceiling tiles and vegetation growing through the walls than buying adequate materials to teach. Now, I think about how much more learning could have been done if we had technology in the classroom. If our ensembles could have recorded rehearsals, listened to ourselves playing, maybe we would have realized how awful we were. If we had technology to assist learning, we could have spent more time looking at music and less time buried in our scores. We could have learned so much about music.
But, we didn't. How could I use technology in my classroom? That depends on the hundreds of different kinds of music classes I could be asked to teach. In a rehearsing ensemble, I could use smart boards and projections of music to talk about phrases, historical context within the music, and I could assign in-class projects to the group. In a general music setting, I could easily navigate between listening to music, individual improvisation and composition, and even conducting new music. In music lessons or sectionals, I could teach my students about their instruments, famous players, and how to produce "good" sound on their instruments. I just hope I have access to such technology, because it now seems almost impossible to teach without technology.
There are so many benefits to having technology in the classroom - I was actually really privileged in my high school experience to have a brand new band and choir rooms by junior and senior years, complete with recording equipment and new computers, as well as a computer tech lab where the composition class was taught. My band director is an AMAZING educator and actually ended up using the equipment sparingly; only in such instances as showing a presentation or recording a run-through (both examples you cited).
ReplyDeleteHowever, the choir teacher who also teaches music theory and composition, did not use the technology to her advantage in any way. She barely understood the computers, programs, and midi keyboards and used the projector system as a back up for when she didn't know what to do with us.
Its unfortunate how easily it can go either way, I think it just depends on the quality of the teacher using the technology, rather than just the quality of the technology itself. I know that you're going to use whatever technology you have in your classroom to its highest capacity.
Technology and music, in my opinion, goes hand in hand. I think sometimes, situations like you were in, are kind of up to the teacher to dig out of pocket for a recorder, which sucks but a dedicated teacher would do it, I think. It's sad that you guys could never actually hear yourselves, because even if you were awful, it'd at least be a way for you to know that and get better. OR maybe you guys sounded really good but had no idea you did. I remember trying to learn an instrument and struggling really hard because in my head I wasn't making any sounds at all. My teacher would tell me that what I was doing sounded right, and sounded good, but you never know what you're doing through your own lens. It's really sad that you never got to hear yourselves because it could have boosted your confidence, or at least taught you guys something. Hopefully this influences you to fight harder for your classroom than your teachers did. Music is one of the first thing's cut in budget cuts and it's horrible.
ReplyDeleteReading your post, I could think specifically about music classrooms without a good technology. Obviously students cannot get the benefit of using technology for composing and improvising with an expensive software such as finale, sibelious or garage band. Technology in music classroom makes students excited and helps teachers to make the classroom more interesting. However, I think a teacher can bring their own equipments and technological tools to school to show how to use them and invite a good music techology professional (someone like VJ Manzo) to demonstrate how it works in the real world. I went to same high school with Cassie and I agree with her that my choral teacher did not use those fancy technology well enough. However, it was a great advantage for us to have computer lap with music softwares. The rooms were clean and comfortable since they were recently built. Not every students are blessed like us, so music teachers must be very creative which is very hard but rewarding.
ReplyDelete