Module 1
This week marks the start of MUE6696 (Technology Assisted Music Learning), a class that I have been nervous about from the start of my Graduate studies. As a teacher, I do not use much technology in my classroom, both because of the age of the children I teach (Nursery-2nd Grade) and because of my own personal feelings about technology in music. I believe that there are many useful tools that technology can provide to aid in the teaching process. I also am wary, though, that technology is often not enhancing music pedagogy, and instead replacing the act of actually making music.
Technology is everywhere in our daily lives. We use it for research, for recreation, and for our general day-to-day activities. Many of us carry a smartphone in our pockets which keeps us perpetually connected to the Internet and to the rest of the world. In his book, Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music (2014), Dr. Bauer talks about the term "digital natives," which describes the students we are teaching in our classes (p.5). These children have grown up in the world of technology and have never experienced what life is like without it. Technology is a language they speak and actively use it comfortably and instinctively.
In 1966, Hungarian philosopher and music educator Zoltán Kodály said, "Our age of mechanisation leads along a road ending with man himself as a machine; only the spirit of singing can save us from that fate...It is our firm conviction that mankind will live the happier when it has learnt to live with music more worthily (Kodály, 1966, p. 206).
In a world that is becoming increasingly mechanized and computer-operated, I absolutely believe that children should learn the basic skills necessary to utilize the technology available to them for a constructive purpose. As a teacher, I want to use the best technology possible to enhance my lessons. It does seem to me, though, that music class can also provide an opportunity for students to take a step back from technology, unplug, and experience what it is like for music to come from their very souls. Singing is the most natural form of music-making. When singing there are no buttons to push, and choices come from directly from the child. I fear that too much technology can lead to not enough time experimenting with music in its purest form. I also fear that quality music teaching is too often replaced with the latest technology that tries (and often fails) to take the place of traditional pedagogy.
My fears, however, were almost immediately addressed in the preface to Dr. Bauer's book, Music Learning Today (2014). Bauer refers to technology as a "tool to support learning" (p. xi) and says, "the book stresses that the decision on whether or not to utilize technology for learning, and the specific technology that might be best suited for a particular learning context, should begin with a consideration of curricular outcomes (music subject matter)" (p. xii). It is immediately clear that he is not pushing for technology to overtake our pedagogy but instead wants us to be aware of and use tools to help achieve our pedagogical goals.
TPACK - Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge - is a model that shows the intersection of these three categories and refers to the teaching of content knowledge with strong pedagogical methods and technological tools (Bauer, 2014, p. 12). These three categories, according to Bauer (2014), "influence one another in a transactional relationship...with changes in one affecting the others" (p. 15). A real-life example of TPACK would be teaching composition with the help of a program like Incredibox where you can build a song with pre-recorded loops like we did in our first assignment.
Bauer says, "Music educators must be open to new ideas and ways of doing things while also demonstrating a willingness to invest the time and effort necessary to utilize novel pedagogical and technological approaches if they are to initially develop and continually evolve and refine their TPACK" (Bauer, 2014, p. 17). It is my hope that throughout this course, my eyes will be opened to new technological opportunities that were previously unknown to me; technology that can enhance my lessons and help me work toward the curricular objectives I have already set. Through the readings, assignments, and other avenues pointed out by my colleagues on Twitter, I hope to walk away from this course with a new appreciation for technology in the classroom and a better idea of how to effectively utilize it.
References:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kodály, Z. (1974). The Selected Writings of Zoltán Kodály. London: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., p. 206.
Technology is everywhere in our daily lives. We use it for research, for recreation, and for our general day-to-day activities. Many of us carry a smartphone in our pockets which keeps us perpetually connected to the Internet and to the rest of the world. In his book, Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music (2014), Dr. Bauer talks about the term "digital natives," which describes the students we are teaching in our classes (p.5). These children have grown up in the world of technology and have never experienced what life is like without it. Technology is a language they speak and actively use it comfortably and instinctively.
In 1966, Hungarian philosopher and music educator Zoltán Kodály said, "Our age of mechanisation leads along a road ending with man himself as a machine; only the spirit of singing can save us from that fate...It is our firm conviction that mankind will live the happier when it has learnt to live with music more worthily (Kodály, 1966, p. 206).
In a world that is becoming increasingly mechanized and computer-operated, I absolutely believe that children should learn the basic skills necessary to utilize the technology available to them for a constructive purpose. As a teacher, I want to use the best technology possible to enhance my lessons. It does seem to me, though, that music class can also provide an opportunity for students to take a step back from technology, unplug, and experience what it is like for music to come from their very souls. Singing is the most natural form of music-making. When singing there are no buttons to push, and choices come from directly from the child. I fear that too much technology can lead to not enough time experimenting with music in its purest form. I also fear that quality music teaching is too often replaced with the latest technology that tries (and often fails) to take the place of traditional pedagogy.
My fears, however, were almost immediately addressed in the preface to Dr. Bauer's book, Music Learning Today (2014). Bauer refers to technology as a "tool to support learning" (p. xi) and says, "the book stresses that the decision on whether or not to utilize technology for learning, and the specific technology that might be best suited for a particular learning context, should begin with a consideration of curricular outcomes (music subject matter)" (p. xii). It is immediately clear that he is not pushing for technology to overtake our pedagogy but instead wants us to be aware of and use tools to help achieve our pedagogical goals.
TPACK - Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge - is a model that shows the intersection of these three categories and refers to the teaching of content knowledge with strong pedagogical methods and technological tools (Bauer, 2014, p. 12). These three categories, according to Bauer (2014), "influence one another in a transactional relationship...with changes in one affecting the others" (p. 15). A real-life example of TPACK would be teaching composition with the help of a program like Incredibox where you can build a song with pre-recorded loops like we did in our first assignment.
Bauer says, "Music educators must be open to new ideas and ways of doing things while also demonstrating a willingness to invest the time and effort necessary to utilize novel pedagogical and technological approaches if they are to initially develop and continually evolve and refine their TPACK" (Bauer, 2014, p. 17). It is my hope that throughout this course, my eyes will be opened to new technological opportunities that were previously unknown to me; technology that can enhance my lessons and help me work toward the curricular objectives I have already set. Through the readings, assignments, and other avenues pointed out by my colleagues on Twitter, I hope to walk away from this course with a new appreciation for technology in the classroom and a better idea of how to effectively utilize it.
References:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kodály, Z. (1974). The Selected Writings of Zoltán Kodály. London: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., p. 206.
Comments
Post a Comment