In my ICT class, groups are giving presentations on a technology-education topic of their choice. One group borrowed iPads from the school, played with them for a while, and then presented some of the neat music/education apps they found.
After this class, I decided to borrow an iPad for myself. Honestly, I haven't done anything particularly productive on it yet, but I could see how some teachers could find it useful. I know there are some great educational apps available, but there are also a lot of not-so-great ones too.
iPads are a great way for a teacher to get organized and manage all the information they have to deal with (class lists, attendance, grades, schedules). They are portable, small, and light allowing the teacher to have it with them at all times. However, I have always been a pen and paper type person when it comes to these things. I have tried keeping my schedules and to-do lists on my computer and on an iPod touch, and it just doesn't work for me. I would much rather have my planner open in front of me to keep track of my day. Because of this, a personal iPad is not a priority teaching resource for me at the moment.
It's easy to envision classes of all aged students using iPads to reinforce concepts being taught by the teacher. However, I am still a little stumped as to how I, as a band teacher, could use it in my classroom. There are plenty of music apps, but I haven't seen any yet that blow me away. There are lots of apps simulating playing an instrument (I had pianos, a trombone, percussion, and drums to name a few). As well, there are some theory and aural skills based apps. I could see these as being useful to students, but I'm not sure that they fit into a class setting without it detracting from the purpose of the class.
Most of the features of an iPad are based around a single user, which of course is the iPad's main function. However, band class should be a time to create a sense of group membership, and learning how to work together as a team. Because of this, I am not sure that iPads would be on the top of my classroom purchase list. There are absolutely all kinds of educational and valuable functions on an iPad, and if my school had an abundance of money, I would absolutely be asking for a class set for theory/aural skills/skill reinforcement/concept reinforcement. As well, they would certainly be a unique and fun experience for creating electronic music/compositions.
I enjoyed my time with the iPad and had fun playing with all the different apps loaded on it, but I won't be asking for one for my Christmas present this year! I am definitely keeping my eye on them to see how they might be useful for me in the future.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Inescapable Internet
Interesting little cartoon I found online. Unfortunately, pretty true...
In the summer, I like to go camping at Duck Mountains. One of the reasons I love it there so much? No cell service. I like spending a week in complete peace and quiet. Don't get me wrong, I love my internet. I'd be lost without it. But honestly, when I'm out camping, I don't miss it in the slightest. An evening by the fire with my lovely fiancé, Morgen, beats scrolling through a news feed any day.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Digital Manners
This past Friday, my fiancé and I went out for supper with my Mom and my little brother. Being the little nerd I am, I found myself thinking about ICT during the meal.
Why? I few minutes after we sat down, another family was seated at the booth behind us. The little girl, maybe 3 or 4, was the cutest little girl you ever did see. And...she was quiet as a mouse throughout the meal apart from her adorably polite ordering (please and thank yous included) and incredibly well behaved chatting with her parents.
Frequently, I read/hear rants about badly behaved children in restaurants. I guess those kids need some tutoring from this little one! In addition to her obvious well-instilled manners, she was partly kept quiet due to the iPod touch in her hand throughout the meal. (I must add the I am often irritated by people having their devices out during a meal - I even wrote a blog post about this earlier. However, this little girl displayed a sense of technology manners often not seen. She wasn't ignoring her parents' questions, she was quick to decide what she wanted to eat, and politely ordered from her waitress. While she waited for her food she played her game, sharing her successes with her mom. When the food arrived, she put the iPod down, thanked the waitress, and ate her food. Honestly one of the most well behaved kids I've seen in a while.
In my ICT class, we have been talking about the concept of ICT literacy throughout the term. One of the aspects of ICT literacy that keeps appearing is the idea of using technology in a responsible way. I think this little girl displayed this. She was not consumed by the technology in her hand, nor did it replace personal contact and communication with her parents and the waitress. She used it as a means to entertain herself (a responsible use of technology) but not to a point where it was hindering a personal connection with others around her.
I think that as technology consumes our world more and more every day, it is important that parents, and we as teachers are concerned about digital responsibility and manners. We need to be teaching this to our children/students so that technology does not over take our society where personal interaction should prevail.
Why? I few minutes after we sat down, another family was seated at the booth behind us. The little girl, maybe 3 or 4, was the cutest little girl you ever did see. And...she was quiet as a mouse throughout the meal apart from her adorably polite ordering (please and thank yous included) and incredibly well behaved chatting with her parents.
Frequently, I read/hear rants about badly behaved children in restaurants. I guess those kids need some tutoring from this little one! In addition to her obvious well-instilled manners, she was partly kept quiet due to the iPod touch in her hand throughout the meal. (I must add the I am often irritated by people having their devices out during a meal - I even wrote a blog post about this earlier. However, this little girl displayed a sense of technology manners often not seen. She wasn't ignoring her parents' questions, she was quick to decide what she wanted to eat, and politely ordered from her waitress. While she waited for her food she played her game, sharing her successes with her mom. When the food arrived, she put the iPod down, thanked the waitress, and ate her food. Honestly one of the most well behaved kids I've seen in a while.
In my ICT class, we have been talking about the concept of ICT literacy throughout the term. One of the aspects of ICT literacy that keeps appearing is the idea of using technology in a responsible way. I think this little girl displayed this. She was not consumed by the technology in her hand, nor did it replace personal contact and communication with her parents and the waitress. She used it as a means to entertain herself (a responsible use of technology) but not to a point where it was hindering a personal connection with others around her.
I think that as technology consumes our world more and more every day, it is important that parents, and we as teachers are concerned about digital responsibility and manners. We need to be teaching this to our children/students so that technology does not over take our society where personal interaction should prevail.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
iBanding
Just a short blog post today.
Earlier this year in my ICT class we looked at some videos of digitally created music (using iPads and iPod Touches).
This video came up on my news feed and I wanted to share it with you all:
Neat, eh? Now, of course this could never replace traditional music making in the band room, but it is certainly a great way to incorporate technology into music. I like this particular video because the music is more authentic. The sounds are not too fake sounding (apart from the little robot man...but everyone loves him!). I think it would be super neat to do an iBand with my classroom sometime in the future (provided that kind of funding/technology is available). This kind of musiking opens up a whole new world of instrumentation and sounds to the students that they would otherwise not experience in the traditional band set-up.
Earlier this year in my ICT class we looked at some videos of digitally created music (using iPads and iPod Touches).
This video came up on my news feed and I wanted to share it with you all:
Neat, eh? Now, of course this could never replace traditional music making in the band room, but it is certainly a great way to incorporate technology into music. I like this particular video because the music is more authentic. The sounds are not too fake sounding (apart from the little robot man...but everyone loves him!). I think it would be super neat to do an iBand with my classroom sometime in the future (provided that kind of funding/technology is available). This kind of musiking opens up a whole new world of instrumentation and sounds to the students that they would otherwise not experience in the traditional band set-up.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
School Kills Creativity
I just finished a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson about how "schools kill creativity". Watch it below!
One of Robinson's main points was one which I've discussed before on this blog. This idea being that our education system needs to be preparing students for the future...a future which we have no idea as to what it might look like. He suggests that our current education system is based on a perhaps outdated concept of preparing students for employment in industrialism work-force. However, the face of our work-force and its needs are rapidly changing as our technology advances, meaning that we are no longer preparing students for the careers that are available to them.
The idea from this TED Talk that stuck with me the most is the idea that we squander creativity in students by creating an atmosphere in which students are afraid to be wrong. We teach students to be afraid to be wrong by encouraging the idea that being wrong is the worst thing you can do. In order for creativity to occur ("original ideas with value") one must be prepared to take a chance. If students fear that they might be "incorrect" why would they bother taking this leap into uncertain territory in which they might not be "right".
If we allow our classrooms to be built on a system in which being wrong is a negative thing, we are encouraging habits of thoughts in our students that it is not okay to make mistakes and therefore that it is a bad idea to venture into things we are uncertain about. If the future for which we are preparing our students for is a mystery for us, how can we expect them to be the new creators for our world. If nothing new is being creative, then is there really a new future? Education can no longer function as preparation for the work force. We must be preparing students to be our future...a future which we cannot predict. To do this, the arts (i.e. creativity) must be raised from the bottom of the educational hierarchy and as Robinson suggests, be given the same importance as literacy.
One of Robinson's main points was one which I've discussed before on this blog. This idea being that our education system needs to be preparing students for the future...a future which we have no idea as to what it might look like. He suggests that our current education system is based on a perhaps outdated concept of preparing students for employment in industrialism work-force. However, the face of our work-force and its needs are rapidly changing as our technology advances, meaning that we are no longer preparing students for the careers that are available to them.
The idea from this TED Talk that stuck with me the most is the idea that we squander creativity in students by creating an atmosphere in which students are afraid to be wrong. We teach students to be afraid to be wrong by encouraging the idea that being wrong is the worst thing you can do. In order for creativity to occur ("original ideas with value") one must be prepared to take a chance. If students fear that they might be "incorrect" why would they bother taking this leap into uncertain territory in which they might not be "right".
If we allow our classrooms to be built on a system in which being wrong is a negative thing, we are encouraging habits of thoughts in our students that it is not okay to make mistakes and therefore that it is a bad idea to venture into things we are uncertain about. If the future for which we are preparing our students for is a mystery for us, how can we expect them to be the new creators for our world. If nothing new is being creative, then is there really a new future? Education can no longer function as preparation for the work force. We must be preparing students to be our future...a future which we cannot predict. To do this, the arts (i.e. creativity) must be raised from the bottom of the educational hierarchy and as Robinson suggests, be given the same importance as literacy.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Twitter Test Drive Continues
As I wrote last week, I am giving Twitter another try. I'm still not sold, but I'm giving it a shot.
As part of the test-drive, I was instructed to follow a particular "list" of people. I found the list easily enough and clicked subscribe. However, apparently that does not mean those people will all show up in your regular newsfeed. Lame. If I want to see updates from that list, I have to add a few more clicks to my Twitter visit to do so. (First-World Problems...I know.) This irritates me.
This problem led me to HootSuite - a website allowing you to create a dashboard of sorts to organize what Twitter has to offer. You can create lists of things - your basic newsfeed, particular hashtags, lists of people, and post in which you've be mentioned. As well, you can import feeds from a variety of other social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, Foursquare, and MySpace (who uses that anymore?).
I like HootSuite because it allows me to see all my Twitter "stuff" all at once, with one click. However, it is unfortunate that I couldn't just do this on Twitter itself instead of creating yet another online account. I can definitely see the value of a service like this though for avid Twitter users who follow a lot of people and are interested to see how their own Tweets are being received/shared with others. All in all, HootSuite is a worthwhile website and does the job well, I just wish it wasn't necessary.
As part of the test-drive, I was instructed to follow a particular "list" of people. I found the list easily enough and clicked subscribe. However, apparently that does not mean those people will all show up in your regular newsfeed. Lame. If I want to see updates from that list, I have to add a few more clicks to my Twitter visit to do so. (First-World Problems...I know.) This irritates me.
This problem led me to HootSuite - a website allowing you to create a dashboard of sorts to organize what Twitter has to offer. You can create lists of things - your basic newsfeed, particular hashtags, lists of people, and post in which you've be mentioned. As well, you can import feeds from a variety of other social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, Foursquare, and MySpace (who uses that anymore?).
I like HootSuite because it allows me to see all my Twitter "stuff" all at once, with one click. However, it is unfortunate that I couldn't just do this on Twitter itself instead of creating yet another online account. I can definitely see the value of a service like this though for avid Twitter users who follow a lot of people and are interested to see how their own Tweets are being received/shared with others. All in all, HootSuite is a worthwhile website and does the job well, I just wish it wasn't necessary.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Twitter Re-Try
Okay, so after a little push from a professor, I have re-activated my (previously mentioned) Twitter profile. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I used to have a Twitter account, but deactivated it because I couldn't seem to find a practical use for it. I just didn't "get" it. However, I am currently involved in a group project about using social media in education, so I am back.
In doing some research for this project, Twitter kept coming up over and over again. Obviously I am missing something if that many people find it useful and meaningful... One website/presentation I looked at (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=856919732755217570#editor/target=post;postID=3924918296399476507) suggested a Twitter-Test-Drive:
Step 1: Follow Dr. Joseph Pisano's list of music educators.....DONE
Step 2: Search the hashtags: #musedchat #musiced #mused #artsed.....DONE
I Have to admit, I've already stumbled on some pretty interesting things...
Here's one of the first neat things I found:
http://www.lessonlogs.com
On this website, you can create an account to keep track of all your students' lessons/lesson notes/practice. You can make a list of all the students in your studio/class and make lesson schedules. During/after lessons, you can make notes for the students. Students have their own account which allows them to see the notes you've made for them. Also (and I think this is the cool part amidst all the talk of practice records in my classes) students are able to track their practice with start/end times, notes about what they practiced, and a self-given rating for the practice session. The website tracks practice stats with graphs. I see this working better for private teachers, but you might be able to make it work in a larger setting too...I'd have to play with it more before I can say for sure. I might have to try this out with a few of my own students...
Perhaps I was too quick to discredit Twitter...
Now I guess I just wait and see what else shows up in my feed over the next few days!
If you're not already on Twitter, I encourage readers to try the Twitter-Test-Drive for themselves and see what they discover. Stay tuned for my findings!
In doing some research for this project, Twitter kept coming up over and over again. Obviously I am missing something if that many people find it useful and meaningful... One website/presentation I looked at (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=856919732755217570#editor/target=post;postID=3924918296399476507) suggested a Twitter-Test-Drive:
Step 1: Follow Dr. Joseph Pisano's list of music educators.....DONE
Step 2: Search the hashtags: #musedchat #musiced #mused #artsed.....DONE
I Have to admit, I've already stumbled on some pretty interesting things...
Here's one of the first neat things I found:
http://www.lessonlogs.com
On this website, you can create an account to keep track of all your students' lessons/lesson notes/practice. You can make a list of all the students in your studio/class and make lesson schedules. During/after lessons, you can make notes for the students. Students have their own account which allows them to see the notes you've made for them. Also (and I think this is the cool part amidst all the talk of practice records in my classes) students are able to track their practice with start/end times, notes about what they practiced, and a self-given rating for the practice session. The website tracks practice stats with graphs. I see this working better for private teachers, but you might be able to make it work in a larger setting too...I'd have to play with it more before I can say for sure. I might have to try this out with a few of my own students...
Perhaps I was too quick to discredit Twitter...
Now I guess I just wait and see what else shows up in my feed over the next few days!
If you're not already on Twitter, I encourage readers to try the Twitter-Test-Drive for themselves and see what they discover. Stay tuned for my findings!
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