Technology is something that we as musicians and educators
need to use to our advantage. I feel that there is a constant need and desire
to have bigger and better programs that can help inspire us when planning our
lessons and thinking about our classrooms. One of the hardest concepts about
technology is that it is always changing. I think back to when I was starting
college and how not everyone had a computer. It was starting to become a
necessity, but many of us still had bulky desktops. Now, I feel most students
invest in laptops or other devices that make learning easier on the go. Because
of this quick and constant change, it can be hard for everyone to keep up!
When thinking of technology and music, I am in awe on how it
has influenced society. “Technology is an integral part of the way much music
in today’s world is created, performed, preserved, and consumed, and it can be
an authentic aspect of the expression of individual musicianship” (Bauer, 2014,
p. 6). If we as educators do not
understand this type of thinking, our students’ education and our lessons will
suffer. This means we cannot teach the same way, year after year. We have to be
willing to embrace the changes in technology and learn how to incorporate into
the classroom. Our students need to learn how to use technology to better their
own lives, and they can learn that from us.
One great example was an assignment we had to do this week.
We were asked to create a composition using the website, Incredibox. This was a
fun and user-friendly way to enhance creativity with your students! “Using
powerful yet user-friendly software, someone with little or no formal musical
background can being to compose by combining musical loops (prerecorded sound
snippets) in various ways” (Bauer, 2014, p. 6). Incredibox does just this. If
you have not experimented or played around with it, I highly recommend it!
Sometimes we need that hook to get students interesting in making and
performing music, and they do not have to rely on notation with this website.
Here is a link to my own Incredibox mix:
Lastly, I am beginning to see how important and easy it is
for technology and social media to keep me in the loop with important
information relevant to my education and every day life. Establishing my own
Personal Learning Network has given me the tools to see what others are doing
and gaining ideas for future lessons. Because there is so much for one to
access, it helps to have a program like Feedly. Having one place to turn to
that has everything you normally look at helps you organize and not feel overwhelmed.
Before the start of this class, I did not know such programs existed.
Reference:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
