Part 1 Reflection Week 3

A number of years ago I created a website through Wix.com to promote the jazz band that I was leader of and also help sell Compact disc recordings, although I think it is now time to consider investigating downloadable audio files as compact discs seem to be a thing of the past (https://www.davidgardnerquartet.com.au). This process was time consuming as I had never done it before, however, mostly it was not ‘rocket science’, I am sure a website builder would have many criticisms and suggestions of how to make it better. I have found using Blogger and creating websites through the Google ‘Sites’ function similar; time consuming but with enough patience and persistence an achievable task. 


("A Look Back at the Future", 2015)

The ‘Sites’ function in Google has allowed me to set up a number of websites that I have linked to one main site titled ‘Composers Timeline’, https://sites.google.com/view/daveygcomposerstimeline/home . This site I have made accessible from a link in the footer of my Blogger page, https://jazzydave.blogspot.com . I also discovered how to place a link to my band’s website mentioned above and placed it in the sidebar titled ‘About me’ as this website has my biography embedded within. 

As I have been and still am a music classroom teacher of up to thirty years’ experience, I already have assignments that I present to my VCE classes; however, none are using technology that would encourage the students to go any further than the augmentation level of the SAMR model.  Music performance on the whole occurs live without necessarily the need for online technology, nevertheless so far this unit of work and the work I have so far done with Google Docs has given me some fruitful ideas of how to collaboratively use the technology within my classes to enhance their learning. 

 (Pitzer, 2015)

Each week for all my classes I conduct a concert class whereby students perform some or all of a piece of their repertoire, the class discusses not only how the performance can be improved but also some contextual information about the repertoire that can guide the performer in what performance techniques might be appropriate. Having a class Blog that can allow students to discuss out of class (24/7) their thoughts and explorations could increase the engagement of discussions surrounding this activity. By linking this Blog to the ‘Composers Timeline’ website I am considering that students could research their repertoire and the contextual information surrounding the composers to enhance their ability to play their works with a far stronger knowledge of the performance techniques and conventions required and maybe retain this knowledge better by the engaging nature of the task. 


("Music Concert Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock", 2020)

Each period of music has been given an individual website that is accessible via a linked button on the main ‘Composers timeline’ page. These sites are:

Classical site: https://sites.google.com/view/classical-era/home

Renaissance site: https://sites.google.com/view/renaissancemusicera/home

Baroque site: https://sites.google.com/view/baroque-era/home

Romantic site: https://sites.google.com/view/romantic-era/home

Modern Site: https://sites.google.com/view/modernmusicera/home

I have been able to insert some basic background knowledge via PDFs, of each period of music to help students begin their learning. By making the websites editable I intend students to be able to do their research about their repertoire and edit the websites by firstly placing their composer in the correct position in the timeline and hyperlinking this to a website that they create that will be filled with information specific to the repertoire of the composer that they are performing. 

At this point my only issue is that I have yet to work out how to construct an editable timeline that can be placed on each of the websites: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern. Once I discover how to achieve this I can link my example site from the Classical page which gives an exemplar of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, https://sites.google.com/view/mozarttimeline/home. Within this site I have embedded some youtube clips of two different performers performing the first movement of the concerto and a clip outlining the analysis of the movement. The task for students would be to research their work and create a website similar to what I have done for the clarinet concerto and link it into the music period site appropriate for the work that they are performing. 

The way this task now presents itself within the digital format will possibly allow students to collaborate more effectively than when we were only discussing it briefly in each concert class as a student performed the work. This moves the task further up the Blooms Taxonomy pathway as students are applying the facts that they are researching to analyse and evaluate their repertoire so that they can create a far more convincing performance. To be able to achieve these outcomes in a digital environment, such as what I have been exposed to over the past few weeks, appears to me to be far more collaborative than how the task is set now. If students are able to engage in this format, I believe a far deeper knowledge of all genres of music could be achieved throughout the class. To further enhance this task I need to include the jazz and popular music genres of the 20^th and 21^st centuries to be more inclusive of the all the musicians in my classes.

                                        ("9 Unique Ways to use Technology in the Classroom", 2019)

In the next week I need to further consider the legal, safe and ethical protocols in what I have created in the websites so that students have clear examples of what is required when using other people’s intellectual property. My youtube clips and any pdfs that I have gathered from the web need to be cited correctly and by doing this in my part of the site will set an example for the students. I have set the sites to be editable, however they cannot be searched on the world wide web, a person has to have the link to get in the site. This adds a layer of safety to students so that they will only be communicating within the class.

("Safety Lesson Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock", 2020)

References:

A Look Back at the Future. (2015). Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://blog.capitalogix.com/public/2015/06/a-look-back-at-the-future.html 

Music Concert Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock. (2020). Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/music_concert.asp

9 Unique Ways to use Technology in the Classroom. (2019). Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://www.goguardian.com/blog/technology/9-unique-ways-to-use-technology-in-the-classroom/

Pitzer, M. (2015). Your light bulb moment [Blog]. Retrieved from https://blog.qlik.com/your-light-bulb-moment

Safety Lesson Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock. (2020). Retrieved 21 March 2020, from https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/safety_lesson.asp

My first thoughts about ICT

ICT is something I use every day and to be truthful on those days that my computer has been in for repairs I feel quite naked; however, in the classroom I have many concerns. I have been an instrumental music teacher and classroom teacher for almost three decades now, I know this immediately conjures up visions of an inflexible old man that struggles with ICT and in some ways that could be me. Nevertheless, I do deliver some of my curriculum with ICT and I find it fascinating how clever some programs are within the school environment. Unfortunately, the concerns I have are real-life circumstances that I see every day. Students sit up the back of the room watching whatever they desire while they are supposed to be working on classroom activities. You walk around the class and as quick as you can say Jack Robinson, they have exited what they are watching and appear as if they are doing their work, however slow it appears to have moved forward. Then there are the students that come from families that are not ICT savvy and just finding the power button is a challenge.

I favour collaborative environments in my music classroom and have many activities that my classes participate in to achieve learning outcomes and from what I have experienced students enjoy this way of learning. Standing at the front of the classroom directing traffic is not always conducive to a productive classroom so I try to mix this style with activities that allow students to experience their learning in authentic situations. I have set up extension activities for those students that are advancing through the curriculum with ease and these are set up using ICT. I wonder though, are these students easy to trust to do their work independently, on their devices, because they are displaying the commitment to complete their work in good time. I know I sound cynical, but the wool comes over one’s eyes quickly when dealing with teenagers.

Setting up my class this way also allows me to spend more time with those innocent students that just need more help and are advantaged by a little one on one attention. As happens throughout society it is always the few untrustworthy ones that make it difficult for those that are doing the right thing. I wonder if I am barking up the wrong tree and it is my cynical age that is preventing me from seeing the advantages of the use of ICT in the classroom. I hope this unit opens my eyes to this as I find great joy and learn many valuable things from using my computer, why shouldn't our learners!