Module #4 Reflection

This is the fourth of our several weekly blogs during the course of the class “Technology Assisted Music Learning”. The following paragraphs will reflect on what I learned during Module 4 of the class. I am looking forward being further educated more on technology in music and music education as we progress through the last four weeks of this class!

Audacity is a free online source for digital audio recording and editing computer software application. Before this week’s assignment, I never had any experience with this kind of program before. I found this program not too difficult to pick up after watching some of the tutorial videos.  Audacity is a program that I could use with my students in teaching a music technology or recording/editing class. Even after working on this week’s project, I feel that I need more experience over time with learning all of the functions of this program.  

Personal Learning Network or PLN, is where a student uses several internet resources and social media to become better educated. For our class, it is designed to help us become more educated not only in technology but music education in general. For the fourth week of our class, we continued to contribute and grow our PLN. We also continued using several internet resources such as Feedly, Twitter and we continued to contribute to the Digital Musicking Group on Google. During this third week of our class, I am gaining a greater understanding of the PLN and how it works.  This was my contribution to the Digital Musicking Group for week 4: http://apps.texasbandmasters.org/archives/pdfs/bmr/2005-06-silverman1.pdf

During this week, we continued to use www.lynda.com which is a free resource that is open to students in our Masters in Music Education program here at the University of Florida. We watched several videos that were tutorials on different aspects of Audacity. After watching the tutorial videos, I felt that I had a better understanding of the tasks we were asked to perform in the project. Lynda aided me greatly in watching the tutorial videos on Audacity this week!

During the week of Module 4, we had to read Chapter 4 from Dr. Bauer’s book “Music Learning Today.” During this Chapter, Dr. Bauer talked about several technology resources such as Smart Music and Band-In-A-Box. The one drawback to these programs is that they do cost money to subscribe to. I have not had personal experience with Smart Music. I do have music teacher friends to use Smart Music and say it is a great program as a resource in their classroom for playing tests and having their students practice technical exercises and concert repertoire. I found it interesting on page 84 when he said, “Smart Music may increase students’ motivation to practice.” This was a great point that Dr. Bauer made. In today’s society, practicing is something that has been in decline for many music students. In today’s visual appeal, program like Smart Music may help in competing against video games and other social media forms to gain a students’ interest and attention to practice more!

Module #3 Reflection

This is the third of what will be several weekly blogs during the course of the class “Technology Assisted Music Learning”. The following paragraphs will reflect on what I learned during Module 3 of the class. I am looking forward being further educated more on technology in music and music education as we progress through the next few weeks of this class!

Soundation (www.Soundation.com) is an affordable music technology program that is a viable alternative to the more expensive program such as Garage Band. I really enjoyed learning about this program. Having some experience with Garage Band in the past, I found this program similar in use and not difficult to pick up. Soundation is a program that I could use with my students in teaching a  composition class.  I am not sure about if I prefer the program over Garage Band yet. I need more experience over time with both programs to see which one I prefer.  Here is my Soundation composition: http://soundation.com/user/michael-lione

Personal Learning Network or PLN, is where a student uses several internet resources and social media to become better educated. For our class, it is designed to help us become more educated not only in technology but music education in general. For this third week of our class, we continued to contribute and grow our PLN. We also continued using several internet resources such as Feedly, Twitter and we continued to contribute to the Digital Musicking Group on Google. During this third week of our class, I am gaining a greater understanding of the PLN and how it works.  This was my contribution to the Digital Musicking Group for week 3: http://www.thecrescendo.com/userfiles/pdfs/pullout.pdf

During this week, we were introduced to www.lynda.com which is a free resource that is open to students in our Masters in Music Education program here at the University of Florida. We searched in the program for “Digital Audio Principals” with David Schroeder which contained several tutorial videos. Some of the videos we watched were Sound and Digital Audio, Digital Audio Workshops, Cables and Connectors and MIDI.  After watching these videos, I feel that I have a better understanding of these topics in Music Technology.

During the week of Module 3, we had some readings from Dr. Bauer’s book “Music Learning Today.” In Chapter 3 on page 64, Dr. Bauer talked about Garage Band which is similar to the Soundation program we worked with for our project. I found it interesting on page 64 when he said, “Yes it is easy to use on a basic level by very young students and by individuals who do not possess a formal musical background.” This ties into what I was reading earlier in the week about the other 80% in our schools. Many students love music and listen to it without always being part of our traditional school groups of band, choir and orchestra. With programs like Soundation and Garage Band, it can open up a whole another group of music students in our school programs!

Module #2 Reflection

This is the second of what will be several weekly blogs during the course of the class “Technology Assisted Music Learning”. The following paragraphs will reflect on what I learned during Module 2 of the class. I am looking forward being further educated more on technology in music and music education.

                Musescore and Noteflight are two affordable music writing programs that are viable alternatives to the more expensive programs such as Finale or Sibelius. I really enjoyed learning about these programs. Having some experience with Sibelius and Finale, I found these programs similar in use and not difficult to pick up. Musescore and Noteflight are programs that I could use with my students in teaching a theory or composition class. I do not personally own the expensive programs so I will try using these programs if I need to re-arrange parts for my band class. I am not sure which program I prefer yet. I need more experience over time with both programs do see which one I prefer.

 

Personal Learning Network or PLN, is where a student uses several internet resources and social media to become better educated. For our class, it is designed to help us become more educated not only in technology but music education in general. This week, we continued to contribute and grow our PLN. We set up several internet resources such as Feedly, Twitter and we joined the Digital Musicking Group on Google. I am gaining a greater understanding of the PLN and how it works. I am really starting to get into the whole Twitter/# craze. I tweeted twice this week about good exercises for teaching dynamics as well as a picture of my Marching Band getting ready to perform at the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Monday!  This was my contribution to the Digital Musicking Group this week: http://beingmusicalbeinghuman.com/2014/02/12/school-music-vs-real-music/

                During the week of Module 2, we had some readings from Dr. Bauer’s new book “Music Learning Today.” In Chapter 3 on page 46, Dr. Bauer talked about music creativity. I found it interesting on page 46 when he said, “Creativity is usually and assumed part of being musical, and music educators certainly have the opportunity to develop student’s ability to think creatively.” I think that this is a concept that sometimes as educators we lose focus on. Especially at the High School level, we are always performance driven with different concerts and festivals that we lose the concept of teaching technique and creativity. The rest of the reading talked about several topics such as MIDI, Improvisation, Composition, Audiation and Instructional Constraints. I think the one thing that many music teacher face in their districts in financial constraints especially when it comes to technology. However, there are many other cost-effective alternatives out there such as what I learned this week with Musescore and Noteflight. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to create wonderful music!

 

 

Note Flight Song- A Bicycle Built for Two

I really found it pretty easy to learn how to use the Note Flight program of music notation. I have had some experience in the past with Sibelius and Finale. Some of the controls in Note Flight were similar to those programs. I was amazed at how good note flight is. I can see that it is an effective alternative to creating music if you cannot afford the other expensive programs. I am going to use Note Flight in the future when I have to write any arrangements for my band class!

 

Module #1 Reflection Blog

                This is the first of what will be several weekly blogs during the course of the class “Technology Assisted Music Learning”. The following paragraphs will reflect on what I learned during Module 1 of the class. I am looking forward being educated more on technology in music education. I do not have a great deal of technology experience in this subject.

                Incredibox was a fun music creating website that I did not know of prior to this module. It has several preselected beats and vocals that you can use to create a basic song. I found it to be user friendly and easy to pick-up. This would be a great program to use if you are teaching about composition to students in 6^th or 7^th grade. I know that my students would like how each sound has the guys on the screen dress in different styles. As for this program relating to my teaching, I am going to use this program in my final grade 7 cycle class in the spring when we talk about musical form and creating a composition. I think that it will be a fun and interactive lesson with this program. Here is the link to my Incredibox creation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR6Uhi_C9ug

Personal Learning Network or PLN, is where a student uses several internet resources and social media to become better educated. For our class, it is designed to help us become more educated not only in technology but music education in general. Each week, we will continue to contribute and grow our PLN. We set up several internet resources such as Feedly, Twitter and we joined the Digital Musicking Group on Google. At first I found the PLN confusing but the more I studied about it and experimented with the different aspects, the more I am beginning to feel comfortable. This was my contribution to the Digital Musicking Group this week: http://www.amparents.org/my-childs-teacher-recommended-smartmusic-now-what/

 

                During the week of Module 1, we had some readings from Dr. Bauer’s new book “Music Learning Today.” In Chapter 1 on page 5, Dr. Bauer talked about many of our young students today being “technology natives” meaning that they have grown up with social media, internet and cell phones since their birth. Ones that have not been with these electronic Medias from birth are called “technology immigrants”. I find myself somewhere in the middle of being a technology native and immigrant. I am in my early thirties and I think people my age spent the first 15 years of their life without this media and the last 15 years with it. Chapter 2 of the book begins to talk about several electronic Medias that we are going to be using during the course of this class. Some examples of these are: Computers, Blogs, Digital Audio, Video and Instructional software.