I am a newbie in the vast new world of technology. Sure, I can text and email with the best of them, make a power point, and surf the web - I can even "go to the cloud" - but how can I make this all relevant to teaching my students? This is what I hope to gain from this "class".
Instrumental music is unique...students are constantly hands-on and the teacher is always making informal assessments and adjusting instruction "on-the-fly". We pretty much always have a handle on our students' individual progress because we can hear how they're doing every day. We are all active participants who create on a daily basis, so we're already accustomed to being both consumers and producers. How then, can I use all of these incredibly cool technological tools to engage my students even more? How can I take advantage of the skills they already possess to make better use of the time that I have with them? If they are master multiple-taskers, then I need to do a better job of tapping into that so they can be completely engaged the entire hour. I do not choose to be "The Teacher Who Fears Change", but I also want to be sure that I am not adding technology for technology's sake. It must be intentional and meaningful. I hope that this "class" will lead me toward the best ways to do this for my students.
Technology for technology's sake alone is not the answer as you stated. But when your music students can learn something more easily or more thoroughly with technology, that's what we're all looking for. Welcome to the course. We look forward to hearing your music teacher perspective.
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