Module 5
In Module 5, we looked at responding to music through the lens of music technology. Though "responding to music" seems like a relatively simple task for music educators to cross off their curricular goals, it is actually a broad, important process that teachers must provide instruction for. In Dr. Bauer's book (2014), he says, "Music educators strive to develop students' abilities to listen to and describe music, analyze and evaluate it, understand its historical and cultural contexts, and appreciate its relationships to other disciplines, including other art forms" (p. 104). He also suggests that "listen[ing] repeatedly" is key to helping students become familiar with music they are responding to (p.122).
In order to accomplish all of these goals encompassed in "responding to music," students must first have interactions with actual music. Technology can be an invaluable tool for teachers to provide quality, carefully selected recordings from all around the world. YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, Amazon music, and many other tech tools can open an infinite number of listening possibilities. Because these tools are online, students also have access to them outside of the music room, making music listening an activity that can happen anywhere, any time. Teachers of younger children can easily combine music listening with movement activities to help observe students' reactions to music in a child-friendly way.
Teachers can also use technology to create listening maps to help students stay engaged in the active listening process. In his book, Dr. Bauer suggests technologies that would be useful in creating listening maps: "presentation software, word processing programs, concept mapping software, podcasts, [and] notation software" (Bauer, 2014, p.122).
Taking a closer look at Spotify this week gave us a chance to think through how we can use its playlist features in our classrooms. Teachers who teach older students can share playlists with their students and assign written reflections or comparisons. Older students can also create their own playlists and share with the teacher or the class. Spotify also has the capabilities for collaborative playlists which could be a great pedagogical tool for middle and high school students.
As an elementary school general music teacher (and working with only the younger students in my school), I thought about how I could use Spotify in my classroom. For the project in this module, I created a Spotify playlist that includes many of the classical music listening examples I have used in my classes this year. While I had already chosen these pieces of music, organizing them within a single playlist provides a level of organization and ease of accessibility that I did not have before. You can see my playlist HERE.
In a similar vein, we also explored the tool Diigo this week, bookmarking and annotating sites we have found useful to our teaching. Diigo allows teachers to keep track of all of their web resources, search and sort through them, and see other educators' lists to share useful URLs within the music education community.
Finally, we also looked at how to evaluate the many different kinds of music software available for purchase and for implementation in the classroom. I chose to review Auralia, a software focused on aural skills and ear training. I teach using the movable-do, la-minor system of solfege in my classroom and was pleased to see that Auralia allowed me to choose that system for use in the program. Going through the software according to the template Dr. Bauer gave us (as discussed in his book), I definitely took a closer look than I would have before. I do agree that if teachers are in the market for software like this, it is a good idea to give it a very thorough evaluation before purchasing and using with students. I do not think Auralia would be a good option for my classroom - my students are far too young. I do like the program, though, and think it could serve a purpose in a higher level music theory or solfege course.
References:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
In order to accomplish all of these goals encompassed in "responding to music," students must first have interactions with actual music. Technology can be an invaluable tool for teachers to provide quality, carefully selected recordings from all around the world. YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, Amazon music, and many other tech tools can open an infinite number of listening possibilities. Because these tools are online, students also have access to them outside of the music room, making music listening an activity that can happen anywhere, any time. Teachers of younger children can easily combine music listening with movement activities to help observe students' reactions to music in a child-friendly way.
Teachers can also use technology to create listening maps to help students stay engaged in the active listening process. In his book, Dr. Bauer suggests technologies that would be useful in creating listening maps: "presentation software, word processing programs, concept mapping software, podcasts, [and] notation software" (Bauer, 2014, p.122).
Taking a closer look at Spotify this week gave us a chance to think through how we can use its playlist features in our classrooms. Teachers who teach older students can share playlists with their students and assign written reflections or comparisons. Older students can also create their own playlists and share with the teacher or the class. Spotify also has the capabilities for collaborative playlists which could be a great pedagogical tool for middle and high school students.
As an elementary school general music teacher (and working with only the younger students in my school), I thought about how I could use Spotify in my classroom. For the project in this module, I created a Spotify playlist that includes many of the classical music listening examples I have used in my classes this year. While I had already chosen these pieces of music, organizing them within a single playlist provides a level of organization and ease of accessibility that I did not have before. You can see my playlist HERE.
In a similar vein, we also explored the tool Diigo this week, bookmarking and annotating sites we have found useful to our teaching. Diigo allows teachers to keep track of all of their web resources, search and sort through them, and see other educators' lists to share useful URLs within the music education community.
Finally, we also looked at how to evaluate the many different kinds of music software available for purchase and for implementation in the classroom. I chose to review Auralia, a software focused on aural skills and ear training. I teach using the movable-do, la-minor system of solfege in my classroom and was pleased to see that Auralia allowed me to choose that system for use in the program. Going through the software according to the template Dr. Bauer gave us (as discussed in his book), I definitely took a closer look than I would have before. I do agree that if teachers are in the market for software like this, it is a good idea to give it a very thorough evaluation before purchasing and using with students. I do not think Auralia would be a good option for my classroom - my students are far too young. I do like the program, though, and think it could serve a purpose in a higher level music theory or solfege course.
References:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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