At my high school, my band director used technology in the classroom very often. In concert band and wind ensemble after our music theory unit we had a unit on music technology. Our teacher had us compose a 16-32 bar piece for a small ensemble. We had a music technology lab with about 20 computers, each with Finale 2009 installed, a midi keyboard, and music theory training programs. In addition to the music technology classes that were offered at our school our band director used Finale 2009 to archive and arrange music for marching band. For example, he arranged our alma mater, and our whole pregame show through finale and handed it out to us each year.
When I read the article and found out that less than 10% of music teachers use technology in their classroom. This surprised me. In high school I was spoiled with a good technological program. I believe that using a keyboard in class, giving recordings to students, and having students arrange pieces using a notating software, are all ways to involve technology in the classroom.
Hi Rocco,
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of your high school music program! It seems that your music department's curriculum was concerned more with comprehensive musicianship than it was about performance. I would have enjoyed studying theory in high school, and I certainly did not have twenty computers with the most recent version of Finale loaded onto them when I went to high school. I agree that young people are using technology constantly today. I can still remember when it was rare to see a cell phone! I know that implementing technology in the classroom will help us as teachers relate to the people in our classes. I was actually reassured, however, by the fact that only 10% of music teachers use technology in the classroom because I still have a long way to go before I feel comfortable with computers.
You are very fortunate to have had such a great high school experience. It helped prepare you for success at CWRU.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about scheduling and assignments. In many schools, block scheduling has dictated a constraint on theory classes as well as ensemble time. Adequate time to complete assignments is nil since study halls don't even exist. More schools need to have a similar concern for the arts.