A&HM 4029 Spring 2010: Question #1 September 12, 2009
Posted by jamesfrankel in Uncategorized. trackbackWhat is your opinion about the past, present, and future role of technology in music education?
A Blog for Students enrolled in A&HM 4029.001 & A&HM 4029.002 - Fall 2009
What is your opinion about the past, present, and future role of technology in music education?
The role of technology in music education has definitely evolved. In the past technology was employed rarely, if at all. In my K-12 music education there was no usage of it found within the program. At the undergraduate level it was used rarely, mostly for recording performances and audio (listening) activities.
Currently technology is used often within music programs. In my student observations I have seen many examples of this; youtube for audio, garage band for composition projects, PowerPoint presentations, and theory programs. For my own private instruction I use some technology, an example is to make unique practice music that tailors to a student’s specific needs.
The future role of technology in music education will continue to increase, in my opinion. It allows easy access the audio files, composition aids, teaching aids, and recording abilities. Also, it allows for music class to extend outside of school with blogs, recordings, and websites to promote the school’s music ensembles. Therefore, more technology will be used in general music classes and even performance classes.
I agree with Megan that technology was used rarely throughout my K-12 music education. I first saw technology really used in music education was in the Music and Technology course offered in my High School. The course essentially consisted of using old Moogs and other now archaic synthesizers to create various sounds. a very small bit of sampling and sequencing was also introduced. During my undergraduate studies, PowerPoint was used extensively during music theory and music history lectures. Marching Band Techniques, and Arranging for Wind Bands also utilized programs such as DrillQuest and Finale respectively.
I currently use technology in my teaching on a regular basis. I have utilized basic PowerPoint presentations, audio activites (both recording and listening) as well as notation software. I teach an electronic music course where the curriculum focuses on the students learning to use Finale and Sibelius. Being unfamiliar with Sibelius myself, I am a bit aprehensive about moving onward to that unit in the course. I would like to be able to use programs such as youtube to allow my students to listen/see the music they wil lbe performing, however, my district blocks any website that allows music or video streaming of any kind.
As we said, technology is not going away. I see the future of technology in music education as a bright one with many possibilities. I can see a possibility of technology providing the opportunity for distance based performance ensembles where, through real time audio and video feeds, members of different schools can come together and perform together as one ensemble. It would also provide opportunities for students to work with, and get live feedback, from various professionals. Certainly, it would reduce the “awe” that students would feel working personally with great musicians, but it would still give them the chance to do so.
In a way, I agree with Megan that technology was used rarely throughout my K-12 music education. I first saw technology really used in music education was in the Music and Technology course offered in my High School. The course essentially consisted of using old Moogs and other now archaic synthesizers to create various sounds. a very small bit of sampling and sequencing was also introduced. During my undergraduate studies, PowerPoint was used extensively during music theory and music history lectures. Marching Band Techniques, and Arranging for Wind Bands also utilized programs such as DrillQuest and Finale respectively.
I currently use technology in my teaching on a regular basis. I have utilized basic PowerPoint presentations, audio activites (both recording and listening) as well as notation software. I teach an electronic music course where the curriculum focuses on the students learning to use Finale and Sibelius. Being unfamiliar with Sibelius myself, I am a bit aprehensive about moving onward to that unit in the course. I would like to be able to use programs such as youtube to allow my students to listen/see the music they wil lbe performing, however, my district blocks any website that allows music or video streaming of any kind.
As we said, technology is not going away. I see the future of technology in music education as a bright one with many possibilities. I can see a possibility of technology providing the opportunity for distance based performance ensembles where, through real time audio and video feeds, members of different schools can come together and perform together as one ensemble. It would also provide opportunities for students to work with, and get live feedback, from various professionals. Certainly, it would reduce the “awe” that students would feel working personally with great musicians, but it would still give them the chance to do so.
I too did not have much exposure to music technology through my k-12 education. I remember having electronic keyboards available in our music/chorus room with headsets, but that was about it. Any other technology we used was a cart the teacher rolled in with a tv and a VCR and we’d sometimes watch a VHS of a biography of a composer or a recorded PBS broadcast of a performance.
However, outside of school I learned about internet archives of musical recordings through my private teacher who was a student at a nearby music school. I also remember playing Super Nintendo with a program called Mario Paint that allowed you to compose music by using a symbol or character from the Mario Brothers game that would have an accompanying timbre/sound. You placed the symbol on a staff and it would change the pitch depending where you would put it.
In undergrad, I learned the standards like Powerpoint, and got familiar with Sibelius and Finale solely for the purpose of composition projects for Theory class. I was introduced to recording technologies like the M3 when preparing audition tapes for special programs, and all of our concerts/recitals were recorded through the school. My peers would walk around with their iPods, but mostly to use them as portable music; basically they were the equivalent of a boombox or cd/cassette player.
I think the future of music technology is going to make a rapid and drastic change in our society. Music technology will allow the general public to feel like they are as much brilliant creators as a classical musician by enabling the common public to resources to create music and enjoy it. Whether or not they are “professional” musicians, people will be able to create works of art to their own liking and feel accomplished in their work.
I definitely agree with the 3 previous messages stating that technology was not prevalent in the past. In my case, technology was NEVER used. During my undergraduate studies, my professors solely stuck to using the chalkboard and the class textbook. I would always think about how class time could be saved if they projected their ideas through programs like PowerPoint or at least providing us with access to his lectures via e-mail, for instance.
I guess my past made my present, where composing music, for instance, consisted of me creating music on my piano, nothing else. I’m an advocate for the utilization of technology in terms of showcasing musical ideas but I was never one to pursue programs like Sibelius, which I’m looking forward to learning.
I think the future of technology is headed in a positive path, where people from all of the world can come together to musically collaborate and create music, similar to what Mike stated. I also think that young children are very visual and technology can facilitate their music education in many ways. If technology provides one with that extra 0.1% of musical ambition, motivation and inspiration, I support it 100%.
From Liz Weissman -
In my experience, I too had limited exposure to music technologies
in my music education for my k-12 education. I remember having
electronic keyboards available in our music room, but even those were
used only with special permission. Our teachers would wheel in carts
with a television and VCR and would play us a VHS recording of
biographies of composers or recorded PBS broadcast performances. We’d
use a CD or cassette player to listen to excerpts of pieces or to play
accompaniment for our chorus songs. That was pretty much the extent
of exposure to music technology inside the school.
Outside of school I experienced some music technology. My brother
and I begged our parents for a Super Nintendo, and with it came a
program called Mario Paint in which you could compose your own music
using symbols and characters from the Mario Brothers game and placing
them on a staff. Each character had a specific timbre assigned to it
and once you placed your characters on the staff, you could play back
what you created.
In undergrad I experienced music technologies in my music eduation
similar to those of my peers here at TC. An introduction to recording
technologies, internet archives, Sibelius/Finale, etc. The use of the
iPod was merely as a portable music player, much like the cd/cassette
player or boombox functioned in the 90s.
I think the future of music technologies in music education is on
its way to completely changing the way we think and create music. I
feel in the past music technology was much less interactive than it
has become and continues to grow. Mostly it was something to sit down
and aurally or visually experience without engaging the observer. I
believe the future of music technology will open up the doors of
creativity not only to the classically/musically trained, but to the
average person and allow them to create masterpieces without having to
know the theory of how it works. For someone who enjoys singing along
to the radio but doesn’t understand the mode, rhythm, tempo, etc. they
can create their own music through the expanding world of music
technology.
I have similar experiences with other people. When I was in middle and high school, the technology was hardly used in the classroom. Because we did not have the piano for the music classes, the electronic keyboard was used for singing activities. Also, music teachers used a CD or cassette players for listening activities.
Various kinds of technology are currently used in music classrooms. When I taught orchestra in middle school, we used metronome linked to the speaker for practicing the difficult passages. Also, the recorder was used to evaluate students’ performance. Whenever we had a concert, the performance was video-taped to watch it and discuss how we did during the concerts. For my general music classes, I sometimes used youtube with powerpoint presentation to help students understand music theory and history more easily. I personally used several websites to share musical pieces and teaching strategies/methods with other music educators.
I believe that in the future, more various technologies will be used in music education. Electronic musical instruments will be used in music classrooms. Also, long-distance learning would be possible even for learning musical instruments using Skype. I believe that software programs like Smartmusic will be more frequently used to help students practice their instruments at schools or home.
Relationship between technology and music is always related and even in the past, it was related to each other. In other words technology was there in the past, but not as relevant as these days. Electronic devices were used in music classes to turn on music to hear, such as cassette/CD player, and metronome (with battery in it) was used for learning tempos. We still use those technologies in music classes. In high school (2001) I remember my music teacher introducing to us about a new electronic device which it played only the accompany part of a specific music, and we had to choose a song from that device. At that time I was amazed by the idea of playing with a machine. Also other classmates was fasinated by the idea, they started practicing ‘hard’ with that new program our music teacher had.
Having that experience in 2001, I think technology development started to boom up especially from the beginning of the year of 2000 and continuously throughout the years till now. It was when computers, electronic devices, portable electronic devices, video games etc.. was getting popularize in the world. Today, in the year of 2010, technology in music education is still used in classrooms, but not in a creative way.
I hope in the future, there will be more creative technology music program and creative ways of approaching music to the future generations. And hope I would be many of the one who will be able to use new technology in music education especially to the young children.
Unfortunately, I hate to sound like a broken record, but like others, in the past technology was non-existent in my K-12 education. I had the typical traditional classroom where we use textbooks, blackboards and chalks for learning music theory. When asked to compose, our pencil, erasers, and staff book was our best friends. There was not even one computer in the classrooms to share. The only technology I saw was from my music history teacher who would bring in CD’s for us to listen to as a supplement to her lesson plans.
I sense that teachers often view technology as some form of hindrance, but currently I am seeing less intimation from teachers and more embracing. I used a lot of power point presentations to teach my students music concepts. It allows me to upload photos, incorporate voices, add captions, and add selected music. I feel that with the use of technology, presentations instantly come alive and it produces simultaneous visual and audio learning. My students actually know more about technology than I do. I actually would like to learn more about Sibelius, so I can get my student s to enhance their creativity and enjoy composing. Also, the instant playback from the interactive scores saves both the students and teachers valuable time when meeting performance deadlines. One problem I see all the time from my school is that these software’s are often expensive and money is always an issue or an excuse I received for not buying them.
Technology will definitely continue in the future. While technology should not dominate the music curriculum in our school, it should definitely be included as a tool and considered a salient means to educate our students. Students are so savvy and engaged when it comes to technology that as educators we should see this window to help motivate them, improve their reading and writing skills, and further enriching the community through shared experiences. Not all concepts and learning is communicated verbally; stimulation that leads to positive educational outcomes can come from the virtual world as well.
Music technology’s role in education has evolved over the years. I have no recollection of the use music technology in my early years of education. I attended Music & Art High School and we never used technology. In the early 90s when I attended Purchase College as a studio composition major I was exposed to MIDI and sequencers. However, in retrospect it seemed archaic-we used patch bays. At the very least there were electronic keyboard labs used to teach beginning piano and a recording studio. Music technology was not as main stream as it is today. Exposure to technology was more for those who could afford it. The thought of using it across curriculums was not popular. In the past music was ( and in many cases still is) seen as expendable, therefore funding and support for advanced technology in the arts was not provided.
Currently, music technology is more accessible. Whether you are a kid or an adult with a creative desire, there is a music program for you. I don’t see music technology being utilized enough in education today. Technology has evolved so rapidly that most schools are not aware of how to best take advantage of it. Many school officials fail to see the correlation between music and academics. The fact that the world is now more technologically advanced and kids are using technology in ways never imagined should be a wake-up call that this aspect of education needs to be further examined.
I can only imagine what the future holds for music technology. I believe that new advances in technology will continue to redefine the arts and the music industry. Even more people who traditionally would not be considered artists/musicians will be able to now experience a world formerly off limits to them. Schools will be able to implement music and arts programs with little implementation costs and space constraints. I see music used more as an interdisciplinary tool across curriculums. Advances in music technology will create greater user friendliness and tolerance.
I agree that, in the past, technology was not used to its potential. In school, I remember being in sixth grade and having to take keyboarding to learn how to properly type, but in reality we would all get through the exercises as quickly as we could and play Oregon Trail. Other than that it was required that we typed our papers, but that was all we were held accountable for. We learned Power Point at some point but after one presentation never “required” to use it again. I did take a music theory class in high school, which took place in our computer lab, where we used ear training software, but that was it. Thinking about it now, my undergraduate wasn’t any better. I took one music technology class and we learned how to use finale and basic recording software. Nothing was ever taught to us how to use it in the classroom.
In my teaching I try to use technology, but I will freely admit that I do not feel that I do a good job of it at all. During choir I do my best to play recordings of other groups for my students or record my students (on a recorder that I borrow personally from the band director I work with) and play it back for them. In my music theory class I try to lead them to free site where they can practice at home or compose but that is it. I use it too look up information when needed.
I think the future has great potential for technology in the music world. There is already so much out there it just needs to become easily accessible to all and I really think all that is going to take is making people aware that this technology is out there. My school is making a music technology lab next year where I will be able to have the students on their own computers and having a smart board to put worksheets on the board, etc. However, there are always going to be challenges we face, like filters on school computers that don’t even let faculty open youtube or search google images for that matter. I can’t really say where we are going with this or what new things are going to be invented, I just hope that we can all just learn how to use what we have out there now and implement that into all of our classrooms.
I definitely agree with the prior posts. Little technology was used in my k-12 education until my senior year when I took a music technology class. The class served as an introduction to Finale, Cakewalk, and Adobe Audition. We were also taught how to set up the sound system for the school’s plays and concerts. Prior to this technology use consisted of going to computer class and learning how to type. At the undergrad level there was an intro to music technology class and we used technology to record our
performances and listen to and view other performance.
Today technology is much more accessible than ever before. I have used technology to give powerpoint presentations, listen to recordings and do my own arranging. Like Michelle, I feel as though I could do a better job using technology. I do not think schools take advantage of the all the technology available and I believe that teachers need to realize that students are surrounded by technology and education can be enhanced by it.
For the future of music technology I see endless possibility. As programs become more easily accessible I believe teachers will be better educated about incorporation of technology in classrooms. Music will continue to be redefined by technology and I believe that through things like rock band and guitar hero people who may not have had musical experiences in the past will be exposed to music. Technology will make music more accessible to all.
As with many of the responses so far, I don’t recall any use of technology in my k-12 music classes other than the “ancient” technology of the phonograph in the context of music appreciation and very limited at that. Likewise, in undergrad, the use of technology other than listening to recordings (records and tapes) in Music History was quite minimal. The use of it which I did find to be indispensable was that of recording my voice lessons and playing them back in a note-taking/reviewing way. This was also something very helpful to the learning process when preparing for a recital or other performance: transferring the songs from LP or CD recordings onto tape. I found this method to be most useful after having already chosen the songs and their order during the performance. Practicing the transition from song to song is a helpful part of the preparation for a recital and having the practice tape reflect as much as possible the final performance was a good guide. Inevitably, learning brings change, choice, adjustment. The current technology (having a billion songs on my ipod and being able to create song lists) has made it fabulously easy to program a recital (or several) and make adjustments to the order of songs, adding, deleting at any point along the way in response to finding new rep or making new discoveries about one’s own technique/performance ability/choices. The ipod has revolutionized my own musical learning and performance preparation and allows me to focus more on the process of music-making than on the house-keeping duties of organizing the materials. It also aids in the communication with musical collaborators.
As far as the teaching I do and how I use technology in it, this past fall provided me with some unexpected opportunities. While I regularly use the photos on my ipod touch (and the ability to blow them up) when teaching knitting, I had not yet made use of it when teaching voice. One of the students I was teaching this past fall was quite new to studying singing. It was challenging for me to find a way of connecting with that student’s ability to access what I felt I was trying to communicate. After a bumpy start of working from a more traditional perspective of vocalizing and singing exercises and songs, the solution we came up with together was sort of like karaoke. She sent me links to songs on YouTube that she found compelling and wanted to sing. These songs were in her native language (not English). We would find the lyrics online, print them out to sing along with the recordings from YouTube which we listened to and watched on the iPod hooked up to speakers during our lessons. We used Google translator so that I could have a guide in understanding the songs and we could talk about them during the lessons. Singing along to these recordings proved to be an effective (and really fun!) way for her to access some basic aspects of vocal technique. It was a solution I never would have come up with on my own, but, in response to her description of her desires and the tools we had at hand (which grew out of email conversations in addition to our in-person work) it was a huge success and allowed us to do some of the work I had envisioned at the outset. It proved to be a different to door to access the info/experience of music-making. Something that I found to be on my mind during this process and now (and, I suspect, from here on out) was the issue of “content” and its relationship to how it is delivered/accessed. How does it change or become created as we engage in ways other than our usual avenues of communicating? What do we as teachers learn about growing/expanding what we know/believe about our area of expertise when embarking on the process of teaching that to others? What sticks? What changes? It’s very exciting.
I think that I’m a result of the role of technology in music education in the past because of how little I’ve been exposed to and how little I know. I remember being in music theory in high school, and we weren’t allowed to use software to write out our compositions because not everyone had it. Instead, we always had to write everything, even a full score, by hand. Unless a school’s program had a great deal of excess funds, I really think that technology had little to no presence in music education until very recently. In some schools, there is still very little presence because of limited resources and limited knowledge of educators.
I think that in the present, music technology, especially in terms of education, is very much in the hands of the youth. Something that I’ve learned from student teaching and other experiences with youth is that they know more than any of us do. It’s something that I always regret not knowing enough of. I’m certified to teach music in New York, have never even used a Smart Board, and have a limited knowledge of how to use programs like Sibelius. There’s so much in the present, but it’s purely in the hands of those that know the most, and I honestly think that’s the youth, the students, themselves. I constantly see them experimenting and utilizing technology, but having observed in a number of New York City schools, I’ve seen very few educators really use technology in their music classes.
The future if music technology is unpredictable. As I sit here, typing while I watch the Grammy Awards, it’s obvious that technology has a huge role in the music industry. I don’t necessarily think steering all students in the direction of working for the music industry is always the best thing, but the role of technology as a whole in music can only get bigger. Also, the students that already know what’s going on in the present have a knowledge that will constantly grow in order to create the future.
In my past experiences, technology was non-existent. The only little exposure that I ever had was in my music technology class in high school. I addition, I recently completed my second undergraduate degree in another college and a powerpoint presentation was never shown once. The only means of learning that were used in the classrooms were the textbooks, movies, tapes, CDs and at rare times, the internet.
Despite this fact, technology has definitely evolved tremendously. I believe that it should be used more intelligently inside the classrooms, starting at a young age, since it can motivate and excite the students to develop their skills and to explore more choices and ways of expressing themselves. I believe that the students should be exposed to both the traditional and technological methods of learning, in order to be able to adapt to both settings and eventually, to accommodate their preferred choice.
As we all know and agree, technology will continue to progress rapidly. It will not be so easy to have access to all the programs in the schools, but I believe that more technology should be and will be accessible to students, since it will provide them with greater opportunities and forms of learning and understanding today’s society.
I am very happy that this is my first time ever to be exposed to all this new technology. I was definitely unaware that all of these amazing programs existed, but I am very inspired and looking forward of learning and using them inside my teaching environment in the near future.
I believe the role of technology in music education in the past, the recent past(1980’s-90’s) has been largely limited. Most music technology used in my experience as a high school student was limited to notation software and some sequencing software.When we lacked an accompanist for the chorus, MIDI became our de facto accompanist.
However, when I began my undergraduate studies I relaized that there was a major in music technologoy known as TIMARA. It seemed rather new to me and the major comprised of using electronic music as well as other forms of technology in music and the related arts. E-mail was now becoming a neccesity and the music education department experiemented with keeping an electronic journal where one would pass the journal to various faculty members on a floppy disk. Based on these experiences, I believe in the past technology in music education, was fairly limited to special projects or specialists in music technology.
In the present day, with the advent of you tube and social networks, technology has had an active role in music education. From my own personal experience, MySpace, Facebook, and Youtube have all been tools that have been a part of my role as a music educator whether planned or not. Youtube particularly has been useful in allowing most of my students to have access to previous concerts and to be able to evaluate their performances as well as the performance as others. Facebook and Myspace allows me to communicate with them regarding concerts and other events relevant to the music program. In addition to communicating concerts and music department events, I have been able to maintain communication with alumni who may need recommendations or mentoring after they have graduated. Currently, I have a seperate facebook page for my former students and parents where they can communicate with me if they choose. Technology is currently used for all state preparation. In Florida the all-state test is comprised of a theory test, sight-reading test, and a test on the all-state music. http://www.floridaallstateprep.com is a website that my educators send their students to for audition preparation.
I think as technology improves and the generation of educators change, music technology will have a greater role in the classroom. Currently technology has done away with many paper forms. Perhaps music technology, as suggested in our last class session may make “sheet music” and other text books obsolete. Technology as it becomes more and more refined so will its uses and scope. Technology could make individual practice sessions more efficient and even rehearsals. It may even be able to detect errors in recordings in specific instrumentation/voicing and specific songs in the future. Perhaps it may go as far as to identify the general location of the player who may be in error. Virtual lessons may come more into vogue in the future. Although technology will continue to grow and improve as it should; technology will not be able to serve as a substitute for the mentoring, friendship, and relationships that grow in a music classroom between students, teacher, and families.
I definitely agree with Ji Hae about the past experiences in music technology during middle schools. There were few experiences that I knew about music technology, I think this is because there were not enough facilities that time to explore certain things about this new genre of music education.
Today, music technology is intimately connected to both musical and technological creativity. New forms of technological expressions and innovations by people, and physically creating new tools, devices, and enable them to use in the classroom. I would say that technology is music education is constantly changing, developing its new trends over the years, and exploring more techniques in the future. In this present generation, known as the computer age, there is a great increase in the ontological range of music technology. The most widely used today is the sequencer software. Such program allows to record audio or MIDI musical sequences, which is then constructed along with an electronic formatting. Various musical segments could be copied, duplicated, edited, and processed using a variety of sound effects and styles.
This new technology leads us, most specially music educators, to enhance our creativity which is very crucial in the teaching-learning process and pedagogical endeavors.
Similar to the posts above, technology did not feature very much in my K-12 or undergraduate education. I did take a Music Technology class in high school, which basically centered around MIDI, however I did not take very much from it. Perhaps more could have been made of the projects and sharing them with others outside of the class? During undergrad there were some resources available such as notation programs, however our recording studio was still analog (and this was 2000!)
Becoming a music educator is a career change for me, so I do not have any personal experiences with technology in the classroom, however previously I worked in arts education development and funding in Scotland and during my time there saw a lot of interesting projects using technology. This year a Scottish Schools Intranet, called GLOW, has been launched in every school, and a number of arts organizations are working with schools to create online projects/creative experiences. There is great potential to link, other wise isolated, schools in the Highlands and Islands with ensembles and performances happening in the major cities.
I am interested in exploring the role that technology can have, not only as a teaching tool or aide but as a way to engage those who might not respond through traditional methods and to make connections to other subjects and projects within a school.
Just one quick response to an idea from the last class - I’m not sure I found the idea of students using only tablets/iPads to be that positive. I am a lover of books, paper and print and would hate to see it become an either/or situation when it comes to technology in the classroom.
I agree with several of the comments posted. Technology in the music classroom was non existent for several of us up until we were introduced to it in high school/beginning years of our undergraduate years. From my personal experience, I did not experience technology in my music classes until my senior of high school where I learned software programs such as finale and sibelius. Within the the last 20 years I would say that technology in general has made huge advancement and to the present, has drastically changed our every day lives. Today our society has become completely dependent on technological advancements, and through computers, internet and every day innovations our lives have been enhanced and we have been privileged to operate the newest products and inventions. There has been a boom of advancement in the today’s music education because technology has brought so many new ways for our students to create and develop new ideas and innovations in the classroom.
Although technology in music has advanced so far in past many years there is still a constant high demand for the latest products and devices that exist for students,and teachers to use in and outside the classroom. In the past I would never have imagined what has become possible for students in the classroom and where technology is leading us now. I am sure many of never had a clue 15 years ago where technology would lead us to this day, especially in music. Today there are so many different ways a child can express themselves through technological advancements. Technology has become an ever present part of child’s lives, and through the newest and latest programs, devices and innovations there is so much opportunity and room for growth.
Technology has always existed in some sort of education and it is constantly evolving. Because products and devices are coming out all the time for musicians and teachers, I see so much opportunity for the future of our students in the classroom. While it is true that although that we rely heavily on our electronic devices for our every day uses now, I see even more of an advancement and growth for our students to create and express themselves through technology in music. As an educator I am interested in always exploring the newest improvement made for technology in the music education and providing my students with as many new ways to express their creative sides and artistic lives.