BP16_2009103_Reflective_Media_Asset

References:

Screentoaster (2008-2009). Retrieved October 16, 2009 from http://www.screentoaster.com

BP15_2009103_Extra_Post

http://blabberize.com

References:

Mobouy. (2008). Blabberize. Retrieved October 16, 2009 from http://blabberize.com

BP14_2009103_Web2.0_Tools_My_Comment

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009

bp11_20091014_Web 2.0 Tool_Edu20.org

Edu20.org

One of the things that I noticed last year about being a young teacher in a technological world was how many requests that I would get to be Facebook friends with me students. Because I use the same technology that my students use, Facebook, instant messaging, my students would find me online. I also found that my students, especially my female students, would come to me for advice and just to talk. Having once been a middle school girl myself, I know how important it is for them to have a trusted adult that they can talk to. Thus, I decided to look for an educational social networking site. There were many that I came across during my search, but none of them contained the aspects that I was looking for. However I did find a tool even better, Edu20.org, which was provided to us in our assignment this week. Edu20.org has everything that I was looking for and more.

Edu20.org allows users to create an online school. I could really see this tool used in an online college class, but I think that it has elements that can work great in public schools as well. There are so many tools incorporated into this site from messaging, chat, wikis, blogs, widgets, groups and multimedia to creating assignments, rubrics, and calendars, just to name a few. I could see using this in the classroom to create groups for each of my classes or bands. I could post new music or videos that I find that I want students to explore. Having a discussion board, would allow students to talk to each other and with me about music.

Each student could also create a blog, which his or her classmates and myself could comment on. Edu20.org also allows students to create a digital portfolio of their work. The best part of Edu20.org is the element of control over who sees your profile. This makes Edu20.org a safer place for students to be on, than say Facebook or MySpace.

As with all other social networking sites, parent permission would be imperative. I would encourage parents to also join the network and join the parent group, so that they were aware of what was going on in the classroom. Even if I only use a couple of the features of the site, it would definitely be worth it, having a safe and constructive place that my students could communicate with each other and me.

References:

Edo20.org. (2009). The free, easy way to teach and learn online. Retrieved on October 14, 2009, from http://www.edu20.org/

BP13_2009103_Web2.0_Tools_Lala

© Lala (http://www.lala.com)

As a music educator, I play music examples for my class all of the time. Sometimes, they are examples of the piece we are playing. Sometimes they are examples for style, form, or of pieces that somehow relate to a concept that we are studying. Sometimes they are popular music, in an attempt to get kids to see the connection between orchestra class and the music that “moves” them.

In any case, I see Lala as a great tool for me. Lala allows users to, for free, upload all of the music on their computer. Then you can listen to the music from your library on any computer that has Internet access. This is great for me, as it can be a pain to burn a CD from my laptop every time I want my kids to hear a 30 second sample of a piece. The Lala Music Mixer even catalogues your music for you!

Furthermore, Lala allows you to sample, for free, an entire clip before you purchase it. There are over 7 million to choose from, many of which are classical music. This is nice because sometimes when I’m looking for something on iTunes I’m not really sure what I’m getting when I click purchase. And it only costs $.10 to purchase a song for unlimited listening on the Internet. (You can pay more to be able to download it, but paying a dime to be able to listen to a song from any computer that has an Internet connection is a great deal!)

Lala would probably also be a great tool for teachers who had students create slideshows, podcasts, or movies regularly. Kids could create an account and upload their music from home, and then have access to it at school.

There is a networking aspect to Lala, as well. Users can search and discover new music from other users, be it their friends or music experts that are also using the site.

References

Lala. (2009). Retrieved October 14, 2009 from http://www.lala.com

BP12_20093_Web2.0_Tools_Screentoaster

http://www.screentoaster.com

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Screenflow. It is such a great tool for creating tutorials—I think it’s my favorite tool I’ve learned about so far in this program.

The only problem is that I’ve been wanting to create tutorials for some of the software that we have at school, but I don’t own on my personal computer. For example, SmartMusic. I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing this program for myself just so I can create tutorials using Screenflow. But I’ve not been that excited about spending the money. Then, I found Screentoaster.

Screentoaster is a free, online tool that allows you to capture your screen in real time. This is exactly what I need! I can use it to create tutorials for Smartmusic (without having to spend the money to purchase it for myself). I can also use it when I have time to create tutorials at school, instead of always having to do it from home on my Mac.

Screentoaster allows you to record all or part of your screen. Users also have the option to add audio and an embedded webcam to their videos. The easy to use toolbox allows addition of subtitles and editing of audio.

Videos created using Screentoaster can be downloaded for offline viewing (or further editing in other software), shared via e-mail, or uploaded to Youtube, social networking sites, blogs, or web pages. Videos created in Screentoaster are pretty high quality, but the file size is not too large.

In playing with Screentoaster, I noticed that the audio recording and screen recording aren’t always in sync. It’s easy to compensate for this, though, by moving the mouse after you speak.

For a free tool, I think that Screentoaster is very powerful. It seems very easy to use, and I plan on using it for creating and sharing tutorials, demos, and lectures (for my students AND my colleagues), when Screenflow is not available to me. Once I’ve used it more and have played with all of its features, I could even see having students use it to create their own tutorials and demos!

Here's an example of a movie I made using Screentoaster:

References:

Screentoaster (2008-2009). Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.screentoaster.com

BP11_2009103_Web2.0_Tools_Teachertube

http://www.teachertube.com

My action research project is to provide parents and students with resources via a class website. One of the things that I’m hoping will be most useful to my students is the “quiz tip” videos that I’ve created for them. This videos give tips on notes, fingerings, rhythms, and other things that I will be looking for when I grade their playing quizzes.

These videos are all posted in albums on the website I created in iWeb. But, for some reason, they are not always accessible. I’m not sure what the bug is, but it’s frustrating for both me and my students.

I didn’t really know what to do, but when one of my critical friends mentioned that she was having a similar issue, I thought that maybe setting up a Youtube channel with the videos would give students an alternative way of accessing them when they can’t, for any reason, get to the ones on my website.

But the problem with Youtube is the problem with a lot of things on the Internet. There’s no way to control what else students will see, and I worry a little bit that the “Recommended videos” won’t be appropriate.

Then I remembered hearing people talk about Teachertube. Teachertube has all the same features of Youtube, in a safer, educationally geared environment. Instead of using Youtube, I am going to create a channel on Teachertube, post all videos that are on my website there as well, and link to it from my website.

Teachertube even has a number of advantages over Youtube. In experimenting with it, I learned that videos are reviewed by the Teachertube staff before they actually appear on the site. Also, there is no limit to file length. It contains a number of tutorials for teachers on how to use software and/or Web 2.0 tools. You can even upload support files to attach educational activities, assessments, lesson plans, notes, and other file formats to your video. (O’Neal, 2007).

I will also be using Teachertube to upload other videos that I might not post on my website, but that I want to show in class. Since I create most of these videos on my personal computer, and it’s a pain to disconnect the projector from my classroom computer and connect it to my Mac, this seems like a really efficient way of showing short videos in class. (I am SO lucky to have a projector mounted on my ceiling—I know!)

I’m looking forward to exploring Teachertube for other uses, as well. It’s cool that it features pictures and documents in addition to videos. I’m sure there are a lot of sources already on this site that I can use in my classroom.

© Teachertube (http://www.teachertube.com)

References:

O’Neal, C. (2007). Teachertube: a Youtube for educators. Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-tube

Teachertube. (2009). Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.teachertube.com

BP10_2009102_Reflective_Media_Asset

References:
Masher. (2009). Retrieved October 10, 2009 from http://www.masher.com

BP9_2009102_Flickr

I found an interesting lesson plan that uses Flickr. The lesson centers around vocabulary.

From a vocabulary list, students are each assigned a word. Then they:
1. Create five sentences that use their word, with appropriate context clues
2. Take one of these sentences and come up with a way that the word can be visualized
3. Take a picture using a digital camera
4. Once the photo has been approved by the teacher, they upload it to the class flickr page. On their post, they include the following:

• The word, spelled correctly
• Definition of the word
• Sentence that the photo applies to

Once the project is finished, students can have a "viewing party." Each student can present his/her word and picture to the class (Marcinek, 2009).

An idea that I had for my classroom is to have students search the creative commons aspect of Flickr for pictures that somehow relate to the repertoire we're playing. These pictures could be used in a slideshow that accompanies listening examples.

Picture ©Flickr (http://www.flickr.com)

References

Marcinek, A. (2009). Fun with flickr. Retrieved October 8, 2009 from http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/fun-with-flickr

BP8_2009102_Web2.0_Tools--My comment

The first Web 2.0 tool that I investigated is called Noteflight. The program is basically a free online version of Finale. Noteflight allows users to create their own compositions and then share them with users if they choose. While Noteflight does not have all of the bells of whistles that Finale has, it has everything that a beginning composer would need, all absolutely free. You can save a copy of your piece and edit it anywhere that you have Internet access. You can also print your composition when you are finished. Noteflight also allows users to export the file as a midi or wav file. There are two options for midi export, the first allows users to transport the file into another music writing program such as Finale and the second saves the files as musical performance track, to be played in iTunes. Midi files can also be imported into Garageband to finalize the final performance version. Composers can also publish their scores to their websites. The only flaw that I have noticed so far is that you cannot use a midi keyboard to record your ideas. All the notes have to be entered manually, but there are keyboard shortcuts that make it easy to compose.

I wish I would have known about this tool last year, because I would have used it in my Music Technology class.. My students used Garageband to compose their music, but I would have loved to teach music notation with them. Finale can be very expensive software to purchase and while I love using it and it’s a wonderful tool, it’s not financially ideal to have many versions for students. Because Noteflight is a Web 2.0 tool that’s Internet based, students do not need to use the same computer each class in order to continue their work. Also, students can work on their compositions from home. With other composition software, students would need to have the software at home to work on their projects, but not with Noteflight. The first step would be to teach the students about the basics of notation and then have them work on Noteflight to compose within specific guidelines of the project. For instance, one project focused on ABA form and composing using Noteflight would have enhanced the idea of form for the students more so that only using Garageband. After the compositions were complete, I would have asked the students to export the files and import them into Garageband as the second part of their project. Once in Garageband students could arrange tracks, add loops or beats, and finalize their composition. The online collaboration aspect of Noteflight allows for students to work together and create group compositions. This is a wonderful Web 2.0 tool that I will definitely start using in my classroom.

Posted by Alicia Kalb at 11:52 AM

1 comments:


Therese Josephson said...


Hey Alicia,

Thanks for telling me about this tool. I will definitely be using it in my classroom, as well.
 I hadn't thought about the fact that exporting a Noteflight composition as a midi file would allow me to then open it in Finale. This is pretty awesome--if I want to compile or edit student projects, I can do it in my beloved Finale!



I think your idea about integrating Noteflight and GarageBand is pretty cool. I will visit your blog to "steal" more of your lesson ideas soon. :)

 October 8, 2009 2:10 PM

BP7_2009102_Web2.0_Tools-Music_Teacher's_Helper

Music Teacher's Helper (http://musicteachershelper.com) is a pretty cool tool. It is specifically designed for private studio teachers, but I can see a lot of ways that I could use it, too.
Billed as a "personal assistant" for music teachers, this is a great organizational tool.

Using this tool, teachers can:

• Create a website
• Utilize a calendar which can show student lessons, concert dates, field trips, etc.
• Teachers can give their student a username and password to log in and view this calendar.
• Teachers can add notes to specific events on the calendar
• Teachers can set up automatic event reminders and Music Teacher's helper will send an e-mail to selected students and parents
• Send mass e-mails
• Organize and manage a lending library
• Track repertoire that individual students (or ensembles) have played
• Store notes on students (they can be made private or e-mailed to students and parents).
• Manage money
• Lesson payments for private teachers
• Activity fee (rental fees, equipment, etc.) for classroom teachers
• Create invoices (You can even set up automatic invoicing.)

I think that this tool is pretty amazing. One little tool that can keep track of so much! As a traveling teacher, I can see this saving my life in more ways than one. It does require a paid subscription for more than 3 students, but I think I can use the free version--I will treat each of the schools I teach at as a "student."

© Music Teacher's Helper (http://musicteachershelper.com)

References:

Music teacher's helper. (2009). http://www.musicteachershelper.com

BP6_2009102_Web2.0_Tools--Masher

As a part of my Action Research project, I’ve created a classroom website where I’m adding resources for students—including instructional videos.

After round one of video “quiz tips,” (which I’m really pleased with, so far, by the way) which I spent HOURS on, I thought to myself, “Why not have students do some of this work?”

I can’t really facilitate a lot of media asset creation with my whole class yet. We are generally speaking, too big to all go to the computer lab. The equipment is not really there for every student to create a video. And, furthermore, I am not really willing to give up that much rehearsal time, yet. But, I’m thinking that I should start an extra-curricular “technology committee” of interested students. They can help me come up with ideas for useful resources on our web page, and then help me create them.

Since I’m not really willing to turn my personal Mac over to these students, and since they might want to do some of this work from home anyway, I need to find some tools that will allow them to create and edit movies.

http://www.masher.com seems like a great fit.

With this free tool, users can

• ·      Upload movies, photos, and pictures.
• ·      Add text, effects, and skins to the movie.
• ·      Share their videos via e-mail or embed them into a website or blog.

Masher is very easy to use. You simply upload the music, videos, or music you want to use, and then drag files into the timeline. (Masher also offers a collection of video clips from the BBC’s Motion Gallery, images, a music library, an effect library, and video player skins that users can include in their videos.)

This tool can be used to make informative and fun videos, and possibly even digital stories. One thing that I would like to use it for is to have students create picture slide shows that go along with musical listening examples that we use in class.

One drawback that I see to this program is the lack of voiceover capabilities. It seems though, that this can be fairly easily overcome by creating recordings with other software and then uploading them.

Here's an example of a video I created in Masher:

References:
Masher. (2009). Retrieved October 7, 2009 from http://www.masher.com

BP5_2009102_Web2.0_Tools--Noteflight

© Noteflight (http://www.noteflight.com)

Recently, I discovered that Finale Notepad, a “watered down” version of the Finale family of music notation software is no longer available for free. At a cost of $9.95, it is certainly still reasonably priced, but not really practical for installation in a computer lab at school unless it is used more frequently than our music department currently uses music notation software. It was nice to be able to direct students to a free tool, too. They seem less likely to explore a tool that requires payment (especially credit card payment) on their own.

So, imagine my delight when in my search for Web 2.0 tools I found a free music notation tool! Noteflight (http://www.noteflight.com) is actually very similar to Finale Notepad, and I can definitely see myself using it for student composition projects. It allows users to create scores, share them with other Noteflight users (a feature NOT available from Finale) and publish them by placing html into a web page.

The entry of notes, rests, and rhythms into Noteflight is actually very similar to the Simple Entry feature of Finale. Personally, I prefer the speedy entry feature of the full-featured Finale, and since I own this software, I will continue to use. It. However, for a free product, Noteflight is very comprehensive. Students will be able to notate just about anything they want to, and can use the playback feature to hear what they’ve composed. The sharing feature could be really cool for class compositions, as well, though compositions can be kept private if that’s what a user prefers.

Files created in Noteflight are saved within the user’s “my scores” page. (Registration is required to use this tool.) They can also be printed (or saved as .pdf files.)

Overall, this seems like a great tool for student composition, and I look forward to giving it a try in my classroom. (Someday I may also look into the Noteflight Learning Edition which is a paid subscription service for educators to share scores, activities, and assignments with students.)

References

Noteflight. (2009). The online notation that’s reinventing music on the web. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from http://www.noteflight.com

iGoogle ETC Page

My iGoogle ETC Page

iGoogle AR Page

This is my AR page in iGoogle

iGoogle WGO Page

This is my iGoogle WGO page.

BP4_2009102_Social-Bookmarking

"Researchers at all levels (students, faculty, staff) can quickly set up a social bookmarking page for their personal and/or professional inquiries" (Cannata, 2009). Social bookmarking provides users with the tools to tag their bookmarks, making it easier to organize, store, and retrieve the information that they find online. This has great implications for both teachers and students.


O'Neal (2007) suggested several ways in which educators can use social bookmarking. One of the advantages to using social bookmarking over a web browser's bookmarking capabilities is that it allows the user to access his or her bookmarks from any computer with Internet access. This is a huge argument for setting students up on Delicious or another similar social bookmarking site. If they find a good resource at school, it does them little good to bookmark it on that computer--the next time they need it, they will likely be at a different computer or at home. Social bookmarking gives them an easy way to access these sites that they find at school from home and vice versa. (This is of course, an advantage for teachers and the resources they find, too.)


Furthermore, social bookmarking allows users to share their bookmarks. Teachers in similar content areas or grade levels can see what other teachers have bookmarked. This can save valuable time in performing Internet searches (O'Neal, 2007). As O'Neal stated, "I want to connect to you and share my bookmarks with others around the world. I want to learn from you based on your bookmarks. I also want to save time, because maybe you have already filtered through the ten million Google sites that reference volcanoes and have found a handful that are perfect for the classroom" (para. 7).


Churchill (n.d.) compared Google and Delicious as search engines. One of the advantages to Delicious is that it shows how many people have bookmarked a given site, helping students or teachers see how useful it it. Furthermore, it shows other tags that a website has been given which helps users determine relevance. Finally, it shows who has bookmarked a site, and students or teachers can see what other sites that person has bookmarked. The whole process of social bookmarking allows Internet searching to become more efficient and collaborative.


"Social bookmarking simplifies the distribution of reference lists, bibliographies, papers, and other resources among peers or students" (Educause, 2005). This has implications for student research projects, and seems it would be especially valuable if students are collaborating on research. Furthermore, tagging a link can be more useful than saving it in a web browser's "favorites" folder. It allows for the link to be easily accessed if it applies to more than one topic or project, in a much more efficient way than saving it to multiple folders (Educause, 2005).


Thompson (2008) suggested using social bookmarking to pre-select sites for student projects. Another advantage of social bookmarking is that users can decide who can see their links. A teacher could set it up so only students with a password can see them. Or so that different classes can access different links.


Now that I know about it, I would argue that every educator (maybe every person?) should utilize social bookmarking. The ability to access one's bookmarks from any computer is huge! Is there anyone who uses computers and always uses the same one? I doubt it. I can see huge advantages to searching through sites like Delicious as well--it allows users to find sites that have been "pre-screened," so to speak.


I also think that if teachers want their students to do Internet based research, they should teach students how to utilize social bookmarking. It gives students efficient access to their resources, and perhaps more importantly, allows them to collaborate and share with each other (and others from all over the Internet).

References

Cannata, C. (2009). Folksonomy, tagging and taxonomy for effective learning:


perspectives of learning 2.0 in the XXI century. International Journal of


Emerging Technologies in Learning, 4(2), 26-32. Retrieved from


Education Research Complete.

Churchill, D. (n.d.) Social bookmarking: its applications in education. Retrieved


October 4, 2009, from http://www.slideshare.net/zvezdan/social-


bookmarking-in-education

Educause Learning Initiative. (2005, May). 7 things you need to know about


social bookmarking. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from


http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7001.pdf

O’Neal, C. (2007, April 1). So delicious: a must-use bookmarking tool. Edutopia


Retrieved October 4, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/so-del-icio-us

Thompson, J. (2008). Don't be afraid to explore Web 2.0. Phi Delta Kappan,


89(10), 711-778. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.

BP3_2009101_Anti-Teaching

Last month, we read about the need for education to shift its paradigm from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age. Regeluth (2009) argued for customized, flexible progress--where students move at individualized paces. They don't move onto a new goal until they've mastered the current one, nor are they made to wait for classmates if they are ready to move on before others are.


This makes sense. But how do we do it? I think that virtual learning environments or PLEs could be an answer, but not necessarily the only one, and not even always the right one. I believe that technology can help, but I believe even more strongly that good teaching and successful learning can happen regardless of what technology is or isn't available.


More than anything, I think the answer is in making connections between content and the real world. Last month, my group based our project around the instructional design of thematic learning. The main argument for this theory is that it allows students to make connections between what they learn in school and the real world (Beatty, 2009).


This ties in directly with month 2 and Brain Based Learning. Jensen (2008) said that the brain is best equipped to remember content when it is delivered within a real-world context. This engages multiple senses and therefore multiple memory pathways (p. 163).


Personally, I like the way Educause (2009) stated it: "The goal for the student shifts from a need to collect information to a need to draw connections from it" (para. 12). The idea that simply acquiring facts constitutes acquiring knowledge needs to be put to rest. We need our students to actually think. And, if we're going to ask that of them, then it is our responsibility to engage them.


PLEs could work for some students or schools. I don't think they'd necessarily work for me. (More on that in a moment.) Technology can be extremely helpful, because it can bring the real world into the classroom. But I think the real key is that teaching can't be lecturing. Learning can't come from a textbook. Teaching should be facilitating students' ability to explore content and make connections. I think that, as teachers, we've fooled ourselves into thinking that students need us more than they really do. Why do we have to lecture before we let them try anything? Do they really need all that information before they start? The truth is that we should let them jump in, explore, learn on their own, and then we can be there to fill in some gaps when its necessary. If we do this, then what we say will be meaningful and relevant to them. Is it now?


We should create games and simulations (virtual or otherwise). We should allow them to choose the topics they want to research and explore. And we should help facilitate their learning rather than try to dictate it.


That was pretty easy to write. But the truth is, I can't always see how to fit what I think on a philosophical level with what I actually do in the classroom. I want to, and I'm searching, but I won't pretend even for a second to have all of (or even some of) the answers. Part of the issue is that what I do is different from what "core" teachers do. There is a lot of "doing" in my class already. But I won't hide behind that to say that I don't need to change what's going on in my classroom.


How does a middle school orchestra teacher facilitate customized, flexible, progress? I'm so torn between the fact that when I read this I think, "Yes! Students should be able to learn at their own pace!" and the fact that I believe that orchestra is a "team sport" where each member has an obligation to contribute to the good of the whole, and thus occasionally make personal sacrifices. (I'm thinking here of the kids that tell me that the music is "too easy." For some of them, this is absolutely false anyway. For a few, it might actually be true. But shouldn't they still be asked to play this music with us and be challenged through leadership roles or technical things that they can be working on regardless of what music they are playing?)


With technique, individualized pacing and goals seem like a possibility. Certainly, there must be a way to restructure beginning strings so that students move through the method book at their own pace and I am their consultant rather than their leader. This is a new way of thinking for me, but I can wrap my brain around it. I think it's, at the very least, worth a try.


But what about with the actual development of the ensemble? We have to work as a team. (Right?) No team sends its stars off to do their own thing for fear of them being bored with what the others need. (Right?) So I need to find a way to address the needs of individuals within the context of the group. Sometimes, I think I'm good at this. At the very least, I'm the queen of keeping all of my students occupied even when I'm working specifically with a small group. (I teach middle school. That's a teacher-survival skill.)


The truth is, the current structure of my classroom is very teacher centered. I look at what I do as wearing two hats--I teach individuals how to play their instrument, and I teach a group of musicians how to work together as an ensemble. But right now, I'm wearing both of those hats in essentially the same ways. As I learn more in this program, I struggle with how much of what is "traditional" for on orchestra classroom should continue to be done. I don't think I will ever completely abandon it. But I think maybe I need to wear two hats in terms of how I deliver instruction as well. When we're working on ensemble skills, I think that's time for everyone to be a team player--we can all work together and if you are "advanced" then you can be a leader within the context of what we are all doing. But I think it's time for me to re-evaluate the technique side of my teaching. Here's a place where it seems very appropriate to have students work at their own pace, and for me to facilitate rather than lead their learning. How do you create a PLE for learning new technique on the violin? I'm not sure. But I'm going to think about it a lot this month.

References

Beatty, B. (2009). Fostering integrated learning outcomes across domains.
        
          In C.M. Reigeluth & A.A. Carr-Chellman (Eds.), Instructional-design

          theories and models (pp. 275-299). New York: Taylor & Francis.

Educause Learning Initiative. (2009, May). Personal learning environments.

          Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7049.pdf

Jensen, E. (2008). Brain based learning: the new paradigm of teaching.

          Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Reigeluth, C. (2009). Instructional theory for education in the information

          age. In C.M. Reigeluth & A.A. Carr-Cehllman (Eds.), Instructional-

          design theories and models (pp. 387-399). New York: Taylor &

          Francis.

BP2_2009101_Google Reader

I have chosen the following 5 RSS feeds:

• Apple Learning Interchange-iLife in the Classroom (http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/search.php?output=RSS&order=recent)

I think we can all agree that Apple creates great products, both for personal and school-related use. I am very interested in staying up to date with how I can effectively use iLife software with and for my students.

• MENC-The National Association for Music Education (http://www.menc.org/news.rss)

My activity with MENC has varied over the course of my teaching career, but I feel that it is a valuable organization and I want to stay current with what they are doing. Subscribing to this feed seems much more realistic than actually reading those stacks of magazines that I have and that, no matter how interesting they are, I never seem to actually get around to.

• MusTech.Net: Music Education, Music Technology, & Education! (http://mustech.net/feed)

Well, this one seems perfect for me! Using technology in music education. That's what I started this program to do. So I'm thrilled that there is a feed devoted to it.

• SmartMusic (http://www.smartmusic.com/blog/syndication.axd?format=rss)

I've used SmartMusic a little bit in my classroom, and one of my goals is to incorporate it more frequently this year. I think this blog will give me some great tips and ideas.

• Classics for Kids Podcast (http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510237)

This seems like a great resource that I can tie into my curriculum with information on composers and music history.

BP1_2009101_Getting_Started_With_Blogger

There are a lot of potential ways in which blogs can be used in the classroom. Solomon and Schrum (2007) said, “Blogs promote open dialogue and encourage community building in which both the bloggers and commenters exchange opinions, ideas, and attitudes” (p. 55). They listed several examples of ways that blogs can be used in education. Blogs give educators a way to share their ideas and present examples of what they’re doing in the classroom. Teachers can create blogs to communicate with students and parents about their class. (My action research is focusing on improving communication between school and home. This is something that I am trying!) Students can post their writing in blogs and then comment on each other’s work as a form of peer review.

Pennay (2009) noted that students are writing every day, on Twitter, Facebook, and in text messages (p. 18). Teachers can use this fact to engage students in their classroom writing as well. Pennay stated that the advantages of using a blog include both the fact that it allows students to do more writing at home and it gives parents the opportunity to read what their sons or daughters are writing and provide feedback (p. 19). He argued that blogging helps students’ writing because it expands their sense of audience, their comments to one another provide examples of good writing, and it allows all students a chance to participate—even those who might be hesitant to speak up during class.

Duplichen (2009) also provided a number of ways that blogs can be used in the classroom, specifically in science. Some of these include: posting a summary of a current event, posting a question for another classmate to answer, answering “what if” questions, debates, posting lab results, and giving study tips to one another. Blogs provide students with the opportunity to collaborate with one another.

Personally, I do not assign much writing in my orchestra class. I am excited to use my own blog to keep parents and students updated on what’s happening in orchestra class, however. A blog makes much more sense than simply updating a web page, because instead of parents having to check the website to see if it’s been updated, they can simply subscribe to the blog and have the updates automatically sent to them. I’d also like to start initiating online discussions with my students. A blog would be a great way to do this. I have some very large classes, and discussions can get a bit unwieldy. I always feel badly that some students may not have a turn to share their thoughts or may not feel comfortable speaking in front of the whole class. I’m excited to hear what these students have to say in an online setting.

References

Duplichan, S. (2009). Using web logs in the science classroom. 

          Science Scope, 33(1), 33-37. Retrieved from Education 

          Research Complete database.

Pennay, A. (2009). Techno-literacy: A boon for writing 

          instruction in the classroom California English, 

          15(1), 18-20. Retrieved from Education Research 

          Complete database.

Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New

          tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International 

          Society for Technology in Education.