Not Your Forte

-Bryant Arnold, Cartoon A Day.com

Video Response - Technology in the Classroom

In my educational technology class, I was assigned to watch the video Harness Your Students Digital Smarts. As a high school teacher, Vicki Davis uses all kinds of technology in the classroom. Her students are well versed in the ideas of terraforming, creating avatars, and the importance of digital citizenship. Her belief is that some students can’t learn with just pencils and paper, and that is where technology comes in. Technology also allows students to learn concepts on their own and even have the ability to teach it to others.

Technology is becoming a big concept in education. The world itself is becoming more reliant on technology. When was the last time you went somewhere without your cell phone? Therefore, it is very important for teachers to be familiar with various technologies and for students to learn how to use them. As a future teacher, technology can be very useful in a classroom setting. I could display full band scores on a smart board, circle parts in the music, and even play full midi files for the ensemble to hear. For composition, the new programs such as Sibelius and Finale are very helpful and useful. They don’t force students to use pianos to compose music, and they make composing new music very simple. There are also very useful websites that I could use in the classroom such as Teoria and Musictheory.net. Technology also makes collaboration very easy. Davis uses blogs, wiki pages, and Google documents for her students to work together and complete assignments as well as communicate with students around the world. This is such a wonderful concept and an idea I would definitely incorporate into my own classroom. In my educational technology class, I have learned how to write newsletters, make Prezi presentations, and design a website. All of these are great technologies to carry over to a classroom and prepare students for the digital world.

Technology can make our lives easier, but there is no substitution for hard work. You can’t press a button and immediately be a better clarinetist or trumpet player. Music is an art form and a skill that takes years to even be at an amateur level. One must have dedication and be willing to spend hours working on fundamentals. Technology can only be used as tools, not as answers. While certain technologies can offer us composition skills and chord calculators, it cannot replace ability and hard work. One must still practice ear training skills and have a good grasp of aural skills. It cannot replace knowledge of music theory either. In some ways, technology weakens are ability to think, reason, and produce answers because the answers are already so readily available. Will I use technology in my classroom? Yes, but only as tools to help my students. Hard work and practice are the real skills to gain knowledge and especially musicianship. Would you use technology in your classroom? Happy reading!