Creation: Sibelius/Finale & Garageband

Topic 1: The best ICT tools to assist in Music Education

Sibelius and Finale are arguably the ‘veterans’ of the composing world. Back in the olden days before computers, composers were restricted to composing their music on the Piano, to get any idea how it sounded. Others had to do it strictly from being able to hear it in their heads and notating it down on manuscript paper. We now live in a world where students or teachers do not necessarily have to be piano players to hear how their compositions will sound when played.

These programs can play back to you exactly what you write. You can write for any instrument, and there is a playback system option, you can put all forms of music expression in, there are also tools to help you with using the site.

The only drawback to Sibelius and Finale composing is that you hear EXACTLY what you write but only in a computer generated form. The technologies have improved for these programs where the instruments sound more ‘real’ although of course nothing beats the real thing when played live by live people. It is therefore important that the teacher can remind the students of this, and make sure that they can imagine the music that they are composing being played by a live person.

For a composer who has no knowledge yet of how to notate music, Garageband is also a very good basic composition program to use in the classroom. Instead of notating music, you can either record your music into a track, and/or make use of the loop tracks available on the Garageband program.  This program would be especially useful to get kids interested in layering music tracks on top of themselves to get a final product. 

http://www.edgalaxy.com/journal/2009/11/28/the-ultimate-guide-to-garageband-for-educators.html

http://www.sibeliuseducation.com/

http://www.finalemusic.com/default.aspx

Inspiration: YOUTUBE/DVD

Topic 1: The best ICT tools to assist in Music Education

For music classes, thanks to the development of technology on the internet, and globalization in general, the world is now at our fingertips for inspiration. YouTube is very accessible, (providing of course that it loads quickly:-), and like many others of my generation, it has not only become a source of entertainment, but also great potential for education. Although there have been controversies over YouTube due to some people posting disturbing content, the positive side is much greater.

On similar lines to Google searching where the site identifies key words – not only is there some very worthy information that can be found on YouTube, but many great performances, lessons and lectures. In a music class - this would be a good source to look for videos to demonstrate concepts, and performances of musicians all round the world. For example, two video recordings back to back of a 12-year-old  virtuoso musician Sergei Nakariakov playing trumpet, followed  directly by a 20 year old Sergei Nakariakov playing trumpet would never have happened 30 years ago. I doubt anyone in Australia even had access to these recordings.

I am unsure as to what copyright laws might be in effect in showing YouTube videos in class, but for those of us who want to give our students a free source to look at or to show in class, YouTube can be very beneficial for teachers and students. 

Interaction: Musicianship Basics/Aurelia/Musition Software

Topic 1: The best ICT tools to assist in Music Education

Tools for teaching music education do not necessarily all have to come from the internet, and indeed these software options are the most specific for teaching music theory, history and basic musicianship skills – and from my point of view, inspires the stronger connection between teacher and student.

Like any subject, musicianship requires constant training and retraining, through drills, application, and practice. The intent of Musicianship Basics, Aurelia and Musition are to provide drill activities for a wide range of students. Both adults and children can benefit from the programs and one does not need a MIDI keyboard to use this program.

Because these programs are mainly WRONG or RIGHT answers etc – it makes it perfect for the teacher to get involved in the cognitive approach; here the teacher can monitor the kids’ relationship with the technology by guiding the students through the questions and reminding them WHY an answer may be wrong or right.  (If an answer is wrong, the program will say so, but although most likely give an explanation underneath, most don't explain WHY. So this is where the teacher’s role should become most dominant, and important.)

http://www.risingsoftware.com/musition/

http://www.sibelius.com/products/auralia/index.html

http://www.edalive.com/au/products/musicianship-basics

Presentation: The Interactive Whiteboard

Topic1 : The best ICT tools to assist in Music Education

Presenting work to your class, is a great way to not only show the teacher what you have done, but also a great way to develop learning. There is no better device that can be used to present your work more than the interactive whiteboard.

Interactive whiteboards (brand names include: SMART Board, ActivBoard, eBeam, Mimio, and Webster) are used in many schools and Universities as replacements for standard blackboards, whiteboards, posters and flipcharts, and provide students with a way in which they can interact with material on a single computer. According to Wiki, interactive whiteboards are currently the largest education technology project in the world, and are constantly evolving. 

There are so many small ways in which an Interactive Whiteboard can be useful in the classroom, to name but a few – students or teachers can use it to present presentations, teaching group computer or keyboarding, using the highlighter tool to be used for highlighting nouns, verbs (or in a music class – e.g. quavers and crotchets), Graphics and charts with ESL learners and special Ed students, YouTube can be presented on a large format…. the list goes on. My favorite is that most up-to-date interactive whiteboards have software that can allow teachers to record whatever it was they were taught in the lessons, and save it to be reviewed and displayed at a later time. This of course would also allow students the possibility of sharing projects during Parent/Teacher/Student conferences.

The list is quite big of course, with how much this use of technology can assist presentation in education. The challenge of course is the learning process in how to use it as a teacher! This would be something that would be learned from experience, plus regular application and perseverance like any other piece of technology or computer program. It also relate to practicing a musical instrument.

Alfred N. Basilicato. "Interactive Whiteboards: Assistive Technology for Every Classroom"

http://rmtc.fsdb.k12.fl.us/tutorials/whiteboards.html

Research: Cyberhunt

Topic 1: The best ICT tools to assist in Music Education

Studying music can involve research, and the best place to start with research is on the Internet. But the internet is a very vast place; let’s face it, and for some of us – finding the information we need can seem very overwhelming and complex. The concept of ‘surfing’ the internet for research purposes can be very challenging for beginning adults like myself, and likewise for kids who are just beginning.

This is why I think CyberHunt is an excellent tool in education – an online activity in the form of a scavenger hunt that teaches beginning internet research skills to students. The intent of Cyberhunt is to hunt for facts or information to add details for the answer to the question in the particular topic e.g. ‘Who was King of the Olympians’, the topic being ‘Ancient Greece’. The questions themselves may vary from the simple fact or statement to the more complex, depending upon the age and skill level of the student.

Cyberhunt’s user age range is very broad, as a beginner hunt will be more like a directory taking the user to a link via the specific website, a moderately challenging activity takes the user to a web site that has the answer to a posed question and requires them to choose an appropriate link, use the site map, or site search engine to locate facts that support their answer. The most sophisticated activity may post several open ended questions that require the student to make many choices including search tool and method, web sites and finally the correct supporting information.

By completing CyberHunts, students learn how to navigate a web site, scan a page for detailed information, and then apply the facts or ideas to the question.

There are no firm CyberHunt rules about the number of sites, the type of questions, or the amount of activity time to be allotted. CyberHunts have been created in all shapes and forms and for all grade levels. They cover most subjects and have no set time limit. The teacher has control over the sites, the type of questions, and the final product. I could see this being very useful for all classes in all subjects- yet I am very surprised to not see many Cyberhunts on the internet for the subject of music! I must do something about this!:)

http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/children_cyberhunts.htm

Kozma, Tom, "The Internet Hunt", Info Tech News Issues, Wayne State University. Feb 1997.