PLN Week 4: Feedback and Self-Reflection Through Technology

            This week’s reading inspired me to write about using technology to provide appropriate feedback to students and for students to self-reflect on their own practice and performance.   While teachers Bauer (2014) cites Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski’s research by writing, “One of the most powerful ways to enhance achievement is to provide students with appropriate formative feedback that allows them to gauge their performance in relation to a specific criteria” (Bauer, 2014, p. 103).  I find it challenging to provide relevant feedback to students without providing non-biased evidence that highlights their strengths and weaknesses during performance.  Even though I provide each student with written feedback and a rubric, many students of mine do not use these assessment tools for improvement. Students, however, need to gain a quick perception of what they are playing. 

            Technology is a way to help provide feedback to students in a timely manner.  There are many types of software and web-based programs that Bauer lists in Chapter 4 that can be used to give feedback.  Rubistar and Google Forms help the teacher provide immediate feedback through online rubrics however, they do not provide non-biased evidence.  There is, however, music software that can help provide immediate non-biased feedback.   iPad applications such as Music Prodigy is also a tool that gives quick feedback.  Perhaps, one of the more popular music programs available is SmartMusic.  As we explored SmartMusic this week, the assessment tools are quick and easy to work with so the student may receive feedback once the student begins playing.  The program highlights any missed notes and helps the student correct the notes by providing fingerings or slide positions.

While feedback is a necessary step, I believe self-reflection is the most important step a student will take to improve in musicianship.   Bauer writes, “Individuals constantly receive sensory information while performing.  This intrinsic visual, auditory, and kinesthetic feedback allows them to make adjustments” (Bauer, 2014, p. 102).  If students are going to improve, students must hear and see their performance.  Recording software such as Audacity is a great way for the music educator to provide a sound and visual representation.  During my undergraduate years as a French horn student, I was introduced to Audacity from my private lessons instructor.  He used the software to play back parts of my lesson so I could recognize my own mistakes.  One of the unique features he pointed out was each musical note was represented through a sound wave.  This changed my playing style as a realized there were many notes that were “squared off” and not as smooth as I should be playing.  The more I worked smooth out each note, the rounder the sound wave.  

            In my ensemble classes, I would like to use Audacity more to record and play back to my students so they could reflect on their performance.  I see using Audacity in a whole group, sectional, and individual setting with older ensembles so they can improve as a whole. It would be beneficial though, to record my beginning band students like my private instructor recorded me so they may see each individual note that they are learning how to play. I think younger students would consider this to be a game and they would work hard to go from having the typical beginning loud sound to a much smoother mature sound. 

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. [E-reader version] New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Week 4: SmartMusic & Chromatik Review

            This week, I had the pleasure of exploring the practice opportunities that both SmartMusic and Chromatik have to offer in the music classroom.   Each platform is different in its own way.  One leads towards encouraging a practice style in which I feel students would find to be fun and entertaining.  The other, however, provides the student with a classroom-based practice tool as it offers a variety of concert repertoire and methods they may see in their rehearsal.

            The Chromatik platform is a fairly easy-to-use program that is offered in both application and web browser form.  Though the program is subscription based, there is a free trial version that limits its daily use to three songs per day.  While there is a small selection of scales, exercises, and songs provided with the classically trained musician in mind, this program’s selling point is the popular charts from many genres that can be transposed for any instrument.   Once the player selects their song of choice, they choose the instrument and the music is displayed on the screen in the transposed key.  There are some features in this program that I feel are great tools for practice.  The highlight of this software is the three interactive tools such as playing along with the original YouTube video, and recording audio or video that can be played back for self-reflection or to share for applauds.   There are, however, some inconsistencies with some of the practice tools between the iPad and web browser version.  Overall, I am in favor of the iPad version as it allows me to use pencil or highlighting tools.  This is something that the web browser does not support.

            SmartMusic, on the other hand, is software developed with the main focus of classroom ensemble repertoire.  There is a wide variety of grade level music to download from beginning band method books, skill exercises, concert repertoire, as well as the option to import files from Finale.  Just like Chromatik, this software is subscription based and is also available for download on the iPad.  Students can practice using SmartMusic using multiple options of practice tools such as metronome, tuner, digital recorder, and on-screen keyboard. A highlight of the student version is the playback controls where the student can play the selected piece of music at their own pace using the tempo adjustment tool.  I believe one of the key highlights to this software is the assessment tool offered to both educators and students.  For the student, he/she can play along with the assigned music and receive immediate non-biased feedback marking both correct and incorrect notes as the student plays.  The grade book feature in the educator’s version is another handy assessment tool as it captures each student’s result.  The grade book is also able to be designed using state standards and can be exported over into other grade books.  

In the end, I see myself using SmartMusic in my classroom.   While I would like to see students have their own subscription of the software, this may be an impossible to do.  However, having the educator’s version would still allow the teacher and the student to use some of the playback functions during rehearsal in both individual and group settings.  If my school were to get subscriptions, the grade book would also be a great tool as it can be imported into both Blackboard and our Synergy grade software.  While there are some fun features in Chromatik, I do not see using this in the classroom, however, this program could still be encouraged for students to use at home for their own entertainment.

Soundation Project

Soundation Project- Game Hype!
https://soundation.com/user/jaltrumpet/track/game-hype

Soundation Project

When I began creating my Soundation track, I never imagined writing music with an electronic feel to it.  As I explored the library of free sounds, I began creating multiple tracks in the rock and roll, symphonic, and calypso styles.  In one of my final attempts of creating a worthy two minute project, I chose to move to the electronic techno feel as there are many loops focused around synthesized sounds.   While there is not much inspiration to why I wrote this piece, laying down each pre-existing track started to remind me of a stadium jam similar to “Are You Ready For This.”  The 90s jock jam started to become the framework to my final project as I looked for MIDI sounds such as synthesizers and orchestra hits, and digital audio files of cheering crowds to keep the stadium jam inspiration.  I wrote this composition in ABA form with elements of the B section being heard in the A section.

Working with the software had its ups and downs throughout the creative process.  Much like Noteflight, Soundation is also universal composition software that can be accessed anywhere through the Internet on a personal computer. When I first started with the software, I ran the flash version.  While the loops worked smoothly in this version, I was limited from using my MIDI keyboard without having to download extra plugins.  Switching to the Chrome version seemed to solve this issue and I was free to explore the use of the MIDI keyboard with this software.  The MIDI capabilities in this tool seem to be unlimited whether using a plug-and-play keyboard or importing MIDI from an existing file.  Using a keyboard became a simple process when creating a soprano line.  Much like using a keyboard with other software there are timing and sensitivity setbacks that I wish Soundation offered a better quantization feature.  Importing MIDI was a final minute option in my composition, as I wanted to create a clean bass line.  This allowed me to use Sibelius to write a bass line to paste into my MIDI tracks.   The use of loops became the highlight of my composition despite its limitations due to style, tempo, and key.  While there are tools to edit tempo, the adjustments I tried to make in previous works did not seem to line up with my composition.  One of the limitations I had was the use of recorded audio.  While I wanted to record crowds cheering, I was not allowed to use recorded audio in my publication without upgrading versions.

I believe Soundation and comparable DAWs are a great way for students to explore and create music beyond the traditional music setting.  There are opportunities for lessons to be created using this tool where the teacher can lay down pre-existing tracks using loops and the student improvise or compose a melody over those tracks.  After discovering that I can import existing files, one way I would like to use this software is to create a team composition between my elementary general music students and my band students.  While my elementary students may not have the musical skills to compose using notational software, they can be creative by laying down loops on individual tracks.  From there, my band students can go into MuseScore or Sibelius and write melodic and harmonic tracks to paste into the composition.

PLN Week 3: Music Creativity Outside the Music Room.

As this week’s readings and lecture continue with creativity through music technology, I look at compositional strategies that can be used to help spark interest in students outside of the music classroom.  Though the music teacher may not see every student in their classroom, music is a strong component in many of the student’s daily activities.  Thanks to today’s digital age, music is accessible at the touch of a button through the use of portable digital music players such as iPods and their sound accessories like wireless speakers and Beat headphones by Dr. Dre.  Digital music found in video games become a part of the student’s exposure to music as well as the creation of music-based games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Just Dance.  There are movies such as Pitch Perfect that tells the subplot of the main character’s aspirations to become a music producer using digital audio workstation software.  Because of these things and many more, there is in some way a vested interest in music from students that music teachers may not have in their traditional musical classroom. 

            I have seen many of these types of students who have an interest in music yet not enroll into a traditional ensemble because they feel they are too musical illiterate to be in that ensemble.  Many times, I have wondered how I can still help interest that student in another way.  Out of the two compositional strategies Bauer (2014) listed, the use of non-notational (sound-based) composition may be one answer to foster music creativity outside the classroom.   Bauer writes, “Advocates for allowing students to compose without notation often speak to the large percentage of students who have an interest in music but are not involved in school music programs, particularly in the secondary level”  (Bauer, p. 73, 2014).  When I read this statement, I thought of the students in my high school and their interest in the Smart technology that the school has available.  In my school district, our high school has a 21^st Century Smart Lab where the teacher uses technology to challenge student creativity through engineering and design tasks such as robotics, graphic design, and video production.  While there is limited audio production software available, this is where myself as the music teacher can step in to team-teach with the Smart Lab teacher to introduce students to sound-based composition through specific digital audio workstations such as GarageBand, Soundation, and Mixcraft. So it may be used to study sound engineering or for use with video production projects.  Each of these DAWs is fairly easy to navigate through, where the student can add loops, digital audio, and MIDI into their project.  The use of loops is a tool I feel students would love to use, as there are many styles of loops to fit the student’s favorite musical genre. 

The use of DAWs to compose music is intriguing to me as I have always be a traditional music learner leaning toward notation software.  Though I have rarely worked with DAWs in my own music classroom, it was not until I started taking this course that I have viewed them as a compositional tool.  I think it is important for the music teacher to explore ways in bringing music into other classrooms outside the traditional music room.  Non-notational composition can be one of those ways to bring in music to other students whether it is advocating for a new music class to be taught or working within other classrooms.

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. [E-reader version] New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

PLN Week 2: Technology and Exploratory Improvisation: One Step Closer To Composition

Chapter three explores ways in which to foster musical creativity with students through the use of technology.  Bauer lays out this chapter in perfect order discussing creativity before discussing two methods of musical creativity:  improvisation and composition.   As both an elementary music teacher and band director for grades 5-12, there are many opportunities for myself to incorporate technology to teach improvisation and composition to both subjects.

            Bauer writes that the “willingness to take risks is often cited as an attribute of skilled improvisers.  If performers are afraid to make mistakes, they most likely will not take creative chances and may even feel intimidated by the whole improvisation process.”  (Bauer, 2103, p. 68)  I believe this statement to be correct for not only improvisation but for composition as well.  I’ve seen this in my own personal classroom that students do not take the willingness to try something based on intimidation whether it is making up their own sounds or songs or presenting a composition in fear that it may not be good.  Many attributes may have led to this whether it is the fear of personal performance in front of their peers, lack of instruction in these two creative methods, lack of the musical skill needed to take on these tasks, or lack of the technological skills to write a composition.  Bauer discusses the exploratory stage of improvisation as trying out sounds and that free improvisation activities help students get comfortable at improvisational skills.  As improvisation can be used to allow students to understand notation; improve performance achievement; increase sight-reading proficiency; and enhance aural skills (p.  66), I believe the exploratory stages of improvisation can work hand-in-hand to help a student take risks and become more fluent in musical composition.

             Bauer writes that technology can be used to help students become more acquainted with improvisation and composition skills.   Music teachers have an endless amount of resources at their fingertips that can be loaded onto computers or mobile devices.  Bauer lists many of these programs and applications such as Garage Band, Band-in-a-Box, SmartMusic, or Pitch Painter (Creating Music).   He also lists technology such as commercial or teacher produced recordings and electronic instruments as a way for students to explore music.

            Because I write this blog believing that exploratory improvisation can help students become more fluent in composition, there are applications and software from this reading and this week’s activities that I would like to take into my own elementary and band classrooms so they may become more familiar with technology and how to learn various musical skills as well as improvisation and composition.   I think my new MIDI keyboard is a great plug-and-play tool that upper elementary and band students would love to use on programs such as Garage Band and MuseScore.   This tool would also be a great way to basic recording software such as Studio One Prime and Reaper that allow MIDI capabilities.  For my younger elementary students, I would like to see Pitch Painter and Creating Music utilized more often in the classroom.   Another great tool that I got my hands on this summer is the “Wii Music” video game.  After playing this there are multiple ways for a students to improvise in music through this game.  As I continue to work with my students and they become more comfortable with the technological and musical skills needed to write through exploratory, I would love to do interactive learning assignments in whole-class, group, and individual settings using compositional software or Garage Band.  Doing these may open up opportunities to do a technology recital.

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. [E-reader version] New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Noteflight Assignment Review

Link to Noteflight Composition


This week's assignment was to take a vocal/piano score and re-write it into Noteflight so I can experience Noteflight firsthand and how I can use it with my students.   As I have been familiar with this online program before, writing this score has probably been the most extensive task that I have yet to do with the program.  By using the basic program, this tool offers a variety of items a student may be able to use to create his/her own composition vocally and/or instrumentally,  and share it online with others.  While this offers many composition tools that the costly composition programs and the freewares have, the one feature that I find that the two other programs don't have is the online use itself which I believe can become an interactive learning tool.   While the other programs save to a file on a computer, any score written in Noteflight is saved online which can be retrieved at school or at home on any computer or mobile device.   This can allow the students to be able to work on their composition anywhere but also I feel this could be a great collaboration tool with students to do group compositions.  While there are many great features, I did run into some challenges during my composition.  The one major challenge I want to share is adding instruments to the score as vocals can not be selected (this maybe only with the basic edition).  However, there are ways around this to create a vocal part.  Overall, this is a beneficial tool for learning that could get students into creatively writing music anywhere, share it with others, or view others music (which they could use for fun practice).  This is a tool I'd like to see my band students use to not only create music but to find music that interests them.  At the elementary level, I'd like to see my students using this tool to write their own music individually and as a group.  We have had a few composition competitions in our state geared for elementary students so this tool could be a way to help motivate the students to get involved in those competitions.

PLN- Week 1

This week, the readings brought to mind the importance of technology that is geared towards the educator.  While the use of technology in the classroom has become an important tool that can bring many benefits to the student, it is also beneficial to the teacher who embraces that technology.  I’m reminded of teachers who have an “old school” philosophy of education.  They either refuse to incorporate technology in their classroom or they use very minimal to get by with what the standards call for.  We have all seen them in each district.  However, just as the Partnership for 21^st Century Learning calls for technology as a key component of success for the student, I believe the educator should also embrace the use of technology so they may succeed as a teacher in a time where the use of technology is most critical in learning. 

For the teacher, technology is more than just an administrative tool but when used properly it can beneficial to our content area and the way we teach our content.  This thought brings up the TPACK model as explained in Chapter 1 of Bauer’s (2014) Music Learning Today.  One of the first things that first came to mind in this reading goes back to the “old school” teacher where there is minimal technology used.  As I read about the new TPACK model, Bauer states, “Many approaches to helping educators use technology have focused on the technological tools themselves.  Inherent in these methods was the belief that teachers be able to figure out how to apply the tools to curricular content.”  That answers the question on why a teacher may not use technology in the classroom.  It also answers the question on the times I may not have been successful when I use technology I’m less familiar with (i.e. the first time I tried using Garage Band with my elementary students).   Having a strong technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge is important if we are going to use any type of technology.   As the model describes, all individual context knowledge’s must be present in order for the teacher to have a successful TPACK.  We must know how to use the technology and how it relates to our content. As the closing of the chapter states, a TPACK will constantly be in development therefore seeking professional development and be willing to change is important.

When thinking of technology geared for the teacher, professional development also came to mind.  In Bauer’s (2010) article from Music Educator’s Journal, technology has become an important tool for the music educator’s professional growth as we constantly seek professional development to better our craft.  As Bauer writes, “one size does not fit all.”  Bauer then goes on discussing the effectiveness of extended professional development, and the value of informal professional development.  It seems like it is more effective when professional development is stretched out period of time and that our professional growth just doesn’t come from one lecturer but the ones we have around us:  students, music and non-music colleagues.   When reading this, it reminded me of the many times I have sat in professional development seminars that do not relate to my own teaching.  Instead I felt that the most beneficial times of professional development was to seek informal professional development through my colleagues.  What benefited me more was right at my fingertips and the use of the internet.  Seeking professional development online has become an easy tool that is there when needed.   I feel like I am constantly going online to find answers that will enhance the way I teach my band students and elementary music students.  Whether the PD is geared toward technology, classroom learning, or classroom management there are many online sources that Bauer listed such as wikis, podcasts, blogs, etc…

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bauer, W. I. (2010). Your personal learning network: Professional development on demand. Music Educators Journal, 97(2), 37-42. doi:10.1177/0027432110386383

Hello All!

Everybody have a great first week of this class!