CMS/ATMI Pre-Conference Technology Workshop
September 24, 2008
Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computer Building
Georgia Institute of Technology
DELIVERING MUSIC INSTRUCTION
WITH WEB 2.0 SOCIAL COMPUTING TOOLS
Abstracts
Alex Ruthmann (University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
Ning
This hands-on session will focus on using NING to support college music courses. Beginning with an overview of NING sites I have co-developed with my students over the past year, participants will experience what it is like to interact with each other in a NING-moderated course. Specifically, strategies designed to foster communities of practice within music technology, music education, and professional development settings will be shared.
Attendees will have the opportunity to:
- Create their own NING site for a course, ensemble, outreach or applied studio setting
- Learn how to make their NING site public or private
- Learn how to integrate video, audio, blogs and discussion fora
- Bring in RSS/Twitter feeds & content to enhance their course
- Ask lots of questions!
A NING social network makes it easy to selectively integrate several Web 2.0 technologies based on your instructional needs.
Evan Tobais (Arizona State University)
Blogs
Web Logs or blogs offer educators a dynamic environment for facilitating communication, course management, and student reflection. This hands-on session will demonstrate various ways in which a blog system might be used as a powerful multimedia tool by both educators and students throughout the duration of a class (and potentially beyond).
Attendees will have the opportunity to:
-Learn how a course blog system may be created, organized and maintained
- Learn how multimedia such as podcasts and videos may be embedded in blog posts
- Work with the blog system to better understand how it works
- Create, organize and maintain course or individual blogs
- Become aware of current research related to blog use in education
In order to assist educators in implementing a blog system in their own programs I will offer hands on assistance with the creation and organization of an actual blog for those interested in starting one.
Ray Riley (Alma College)
Wikis
What is a wiki and how is it different from all of the other cool Web 2.0 tools for collaboration and sharing information? Why would music teachers want to use a wiki and what do instructors look for when choosing a wiki platform? What types of projects, courses, research or classroom/studio activities might benefit from the adoption of a wiki? What are the pros and cons of using wikis? These are some of the questions to be addressed in this hands-on session.
Participants will have the opportunity to explore and build on an example wiki by creating profiles, adding new pages, editing existing content, uploading and linking to documents and media files, and posting comments. The workshop concludes with some of the challenges, lessons learned and unexpected outcomes that often arise when implementing wikis and other social networking/Web 2.0 tools in the teaching of a music or multimedia course.
Lisa Lehmberg (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Podcasting
This hands-on session utilizes podcasting as an asynchronous, creative means of sharing learning activities that are customarily performed synchronously and cooperatively in face-to-face general music methods classes. Podcast examples to be shared include: (a) a portion of a videotaped teaching episode in which a class member presents a gamesong activity to an elementary general music class, then reflects on her own teaching (learner-created), (b) a narrated, videotaped presentation in which a technique is demonstrated for constructing a facsimile of an Australian bull roarer (instructor-created), and (c) a narrated presentation of a web-based, world music project for general music students and their families(learner-created). Discussion board follow-up activities for each podcast are outlined. Though GarageBand and iMovie software were utilized in creation of showcase podcast examples, alternative podcasting software for both Mac and PC platforms will also be discussed.
Applying Current Technologies in the College Applied Studio
Francesca Arnone (West Virginia University)
Technology can promote continued growth and enhanced learning in today’sprivate studios. Our students are accustomed to using a variety of personal technologies, and our keeping pace with these advances makes their work in the practice room and private studio more relevant to their daily lives. Additionally, teachers may see many other benefits from using technology, such as increased rate of student improvement, greater class participation, convenience of immediate communication with groups of students, a greater sense of community within the studio, and insights to students not otherwise gained in a private studio setting. An overview of several current technologies and their use in an applied studio will be presented in this showcase, including Ning, learning management systems (LMS), music and file sharing, and other Web 2.0 tools.
Social Networking Tools for Music Performance and Recording
Frank Clark (Georgia Institute of Technology)
John Golub (Sosiate, Inc.)
"Hi! My name is ... ": The Women of Music Meet on Ning
Diane Follet (Muhlenberg College)
This session will illustrate a pedagogical application of social computing I designed for my Women in Music course. In past semesters, each student adopted the persona of a woman in music, a man close to a woman in music, or a female character from an opera, and maintained a journal of his or her character’s life. Inspired by a presentation about Ning at the 2007 Technology Boot Camp, I transferred the journal keeping to a network. Ning offers the opportunity to customize pages and post a variety of media files, which is a particularly appropriate way to express a musician’s personality. In this session, I will describe the course goals and objectives, the parameters for the electronic journals, and the challenges my students and I met. I will discuss what worked and what I will do differently next time. Finally, I will take you on a tour of the network so you can meet some fascinating women in music.
Incorporating Blogs & Wikis into Your Music Curriculum
Jim Frankel (Teachers College Columbia)
Interested in learning strategies to integrate Web 2.0 technologies into your curriculum? Looking to extend the discourse beyond the walls of the classroom, or facilitate collaborative projects online? This session will showcase a number of innovative practices involving blogs and wikis that utilize readily available websites. Teacher and student interactions will be featured and tips on how to utilize Web 2.0 tools will be shared.
Social Networking as Professional Development
Gena Greher (University of Massachusetts-Lowell)
Conversations with recent graduates from our program revealed that while they don’t regret their career choice, they often feel isolated from their music education peers and overwhelmed by all of the administrative issues they need to deal with in addition to their teaching duties. Several alumni who are approaching the three year mark are starting to question what the future holds for them and are relieved to learn that there is research confirming that what they are feeling is actually normal. After last year’s pre-conference session, I created Ning networks for some of my partnership projects and found Ning’s many features useful. Setting up a discussion forum for these new teachers would help them to stay in touch, meet colleagues from other years, share ideas, discuss concerns, and vent frustrations. It is hoped that the participants will find the peer support that is often missing for music teachers who are often the sole music practitioners in their buildings.
3D Internet Technology in Classroom Management
Richard Hornsby (University of New Brunswick)
This session will demonstrate a case study where a 3D web site has been integrated into a music technology course in a liberal arts setting for non-majors. The platform provides a personal "office" space for each student, a repository for project assignments, and student communication options. Many young people are well used to working in a 3D environment on the Internet, through social networking sites and gaming. This site is intended to support regular course classroom work, but in a more student-centered fashion than regular course management systems.
All (a)Twitter for Music
Kimberly James (University of Montana)
"Students today just aren't as _________ as they used to be." Most college instructors have either heard or echoed some version of the above statement. In an age where students are tethered to iPods or texting away on their cell phones, how are educators adapting to the demands, challenges, and uniqueness of our students? The issues of how best to engage students with core subjects, encourage high-process learning, and increase relevant connections to applied music studies continue to challenge the professoriate. This project examines the following areas: "digital natives" vs. "digital immigrants," usefulness of Web 2.0 tools - especially Twitter - in higher education, metacognition, and integrating Twitter with other Web 2.0 services used by other educators. Twitter can help break down barriers among students and between students and teachers, build a sense of community around a common theme, encourage reflection and concise response, share information (such as what homework is due on Monday), and more.
Blogging and Podcasting for Music Educators
V. Keith Mason (Belmont University)
For the past year, I have been the producer and author of a podcast and blogsite. Both were created to provide a resource dedicated to educating, informing, and instructing music educators to use and implement music technology. A further goal was to create a community for music educators interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas about the use of technology. Creating and publishing podcasts and blogs requires various technological tools. There are several excellent resources now available that make it much easier for music educators to utilize these new media as a pedagogical resource.
New Web Tools Help Move a Project Through Its Teens
Sandi McLeod (University of Vermont & Vermont MIDI Project)
Maintaining an online community requires that the delivery and use of the web changes and adapts over time. This community dedicated to furthering music composition among students grades 2-16 embarks on the use of new tools including podcasts, blogging, music sharing and video. One new tool is Instant Encore, the self-described "world's leading resource for delivering and enjoying live classical music anywhere and anytime." Creating user generated content for Instant Encore is simple and there is no cost. This online resource organizes a calendar of events, music listening and downloading, blogging, and information sharing for a wide variety of organizations who participate. This showcase will share current uses of the web and describe how this has changed the project over recent months.
Student Teaching Seminar as a "Virtual" Conversation
Robin Stein & Mary Ellen Cavitt (Texas State University-San Marcos)
Blogging transforms our "physical" community of music education student teachers and mentors into a "virtual" community and alleviates the isolation experienced by many student teachers at a critical point in their professional development. Personal reflection, dialogue with peers and mentors, and critical feedback are important components during the student teaching process. Although seminars are held at the beginning of the semester before students report to their teaching assignments, on-campus meetings throughout the semester are limited due to the wide geographic area of the teaching assignments. Many student teachers experience a sense of isolation away from their normal daily contact with teachers and peers. The use of a closed-community blog allows students to dialogue with one other, exchange ideas, pose and answer questions, and reflect on general teaching methods and protocols as they transform into their new role as teachers.
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