Adding Technology To Enhance Global Communications And Creativity In Your Elementary Music Classroom
Amy Burns Far Hills Country Day School aburns @ fhcds. org
In 2013, Alan November, an international leader in education technology( novemberlearning. com), wrote an article titled,“ Why Schools Must Move Beyond One-to- One Computing.” In this article, he comments on an observation that was very real in 2013 and today: the“ spray and pray” mode where schools would spend a good amount of money on technology to“ spray” on and then“ pray” that it would produce an increase in learning. Alan suggests changing the initiative from“ 1:1” to“ 1: world”.“ As soon as you shift from“ one- to-one” to“ one-to-world,” it changes the focus of staff development from technical training to understanding how to design assignments that are more empowering— and engage students in a learning community with 24- hour support”( November 2013).
This past summer, I attended the Building Learning Communities Education Conference( BLC16), led by Alan November and numerous educators, which gave the message of how important it is to think globally in your classroom. One reflection question that was given to us was, if what we are teaching has no real-world connection, should we be teaching it that way? The conference also showed us how technology can enhance global communication in our classrooms. In an article written by Fernando Reimers titled,“ Turning Students into Global Citizens,” he makes the point that in these current times, schools must,“ take responsibility for effective and more deliberate global-citizenship education”( Reimers 2016). With global communication becoming a more prominent point in education, how do we in our elementary music classrooms address this?
Global Communication In The Elementary Music Classroom
The two biggest concerns elementary music educators face when asking this question of how to address global communications in the music classroom are 1) how to do this with limited technology and 2) how to keep the current music curriculum in tact. There are a variety of ways that we can address this topic with very limited technology and by enhancing our current music curriculum. Below are ideas that I have used and some that I will try this year from inspirations I gained from the BLC16 Conference:
• Skype: Skype is an application that provides video chat and voice call services developed back in 2003. It is a free application that educators have used for years to“ skype” experts into their classrooms. In the elementary music classroom, I have used it to skype in other music classes from Chicago to Spain. When we do this, we perform for them and they perform for us. We discuss good performance techniques and the concerts we are preparing. We also ask them about the weather, what landmarks are near them, and what time it is where they are. The students quickly realize that the world is very large because they see where the classroom they are skyping is, using the Google Earth app, and they find out how far away they are from the students on screen. We have also performed“ Mystery Skype,” where the students must pinpoint the location of the person they are skyping. This enhances global awareness, but it also can display great landmarks that showcase performances. For example, you can ask a musician to skype into your classroom and play Mystery Skype to locate Carnegie Hall. Once that is successful, the musician then performs for the class and answers questions about their instrument. Finally, you can take a virtual field trip with Skype, though I have not found musical places on their website. o What do you need to utilize Skype in your music classroom?
• A Skype account( http:// www. skype. com)
• A computer with a webcam( most have these)
• A microphone( you can use the internal microphone found on the computer)
• Internet access
• You must know the person’ s Skype account that you are trying to contact
• You must know the time zones of the person you are contacting
• Definitely try out the Skype call before you perform this in class o Where do I find educators to Skype?
• Twitter using # mused # elemus or other music hashtags
• https:// education. microsoft. com /- Create a free account, setup your profile, and then search for other educators to Skype. This website
TEMPO 34 OCTOBER 2016