Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Philosophical/Practical- 21st Century Learning Week # 5
Posting a "Back to School" slideshow for parents and students gives a intimate look into what to expect for the school year. I believe this technology is great! Parents who could not make "back to school night" now have the opportunity to see and hear what direction there child's teacher is coming from. It also opens up the parents to contact information of the teacher if they ever have any questions regarding there child or the class.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Philosophical/Practical - 21st Century Learning: Week 4
The benefits to having this technology in the classroom is convenience. Though my slides were written for a very broad music class there are all sorts of way's 21st Century Skills can be incorporated into it. There are music programs that are now available that quiz the listener using musicianship skills. This means, the program will play a musical interval and the user must identify electronically the distance of that interval. This may be to advanced for a beginner class but is very appropriate for highschool students. As said in CPI # 1.3.12.B.1 "Analyze compositions from different world cultures and genres with respect to technique, musicality, and stylistic nuance, and/or perform excerpts with technical accuracy, appropriate musicality, and the relevant stylistic nuance". That is the reason why I included "Creativity and Innovation" in my slides. Both creativity and innocation are applicable to all age ranges. The use of creativity and innovation in a music classroom is vital to getting students to think for themselves and develop musical idea's.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Philosophical 21 Century Learning: Week 3
Task 1-
The philosophical 21st century learning techniques have many pros and cons. We must first consider that each school and district will have their own budget. Schools with a large budget will have the opportunity to afford the technological advancements needed to follow these standards. Even wealthy students will have the “in home access” to retrieve online assignments, create multimedia presentations and have access to media rich resources. School districts with low budgets will not be able to financially afford these new technological classroom advancements. Where will this leave those students? As stated in the Chatham High School video "we have all most ever instructional space in our building equipped with a LCD projector and smart boards". I believe that the ability to have that kind or equipment in the classroom is a nice commodity but it is not essential to the development of a student’s growth. In today's day and age it would be foolish not to take advantage of what technology has to offer us, but we must not let it consume are thought process into thinking this is the only way our students can learn.
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards of Technology are listed and constructed very well. Each standard for there grade level is very fitting for that particular age group. Students should be exposed in increments throughout their education, so that they can build on their ability to use technology. However, the ability to use technology and relying on technology are two very different things. As Greg said in the Chathem High School video said "I have never read a book". This is a prime example of the cons today's technology brings forth. These are students who now think there is not enough time in the day to complete all of their homework assignments. And because of this they are relying on the “easy way” to complete what is asked from there teachers. Looking answers up on spark notes and not from the assigned readings is not the educational direction we should be pointing are children in. But the modern high school student is falling into this sort of lazy pattern. Teachers should never be looked at as "entertainers"! They must be respected from their students. And if a classroom is perceived as a realm of entertainment for a student then they will have an unfortunate rude awaking when they enter the real world.
Finally, I personally feel I will always continue to develop. As a music teacher I want to use the positive side of technology to open up the doors for my students. Rather than having them take shortcuts. With commodities like I-tunes and YouTube students can look up musicians, composers and songs and do research for themselves. This will allow them to discover for themselves what they like and don't like. They can even bring in examples of musical pieces they would like to play in class or sing in choir. This puts the students in the forefront of the classroom. It also makes them involved in what the class is capable of learning and performing. As said in the Catalina Foothills High school video "when students do real tasks they understand why it is important". As a musician I feel students respond the best when they are part of that creative process. Also, when I search and interview for a job I will look for a well rounded school district to enter in.
Task 2-
(8.1.2.C.1) "Engage in a variety of developmentally appropriate learning activities with students in other classes, schools, or countries using electronic tools"
My content area is music with a concentration in voice. So I will be primarily teaching choirs along with other music courses. The age group I hope to start out teaching is elementary. I believe this standard will be affective for my students because it will give them the opportunity to see other young singers in the world much like themselves. They could stream live footage of another elementary choir singing halfway around the world or have another school watch us perform. This will allow them to see what other schools or doing and show them what we are accomplishing. We can learn a lot from just watching and interacting using these electronic tools.
The philosophical 21st century learning techniques have many pros and cons. We must first consider that each school and district will have their own budget. Schools with a large budget will have the opportunity to afford the technological advancements needed to follow these standards. Even wealthy students will have the “in home access” to retrieve online assignments, create multimedia presentations and have access to media rich resources. School districts with low budgets will not be able to financially afford these new technological classroom advancements. Where will this leave those students? As stated in the Chatham High School video "we have all most ever instructional space in our building equipped with a LCD projector and smart boards". I believe that the ability to have that kind or equipment in the classroom is a nice commodity but it is not essential to the development of a student’s growth. In today's day and age it would be foolish not to take advantage of what technology has to offer us, but we must not let it consume are thought process into thinking this is the only way our students can learn.
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards of Technology are listed and constructed very well. Each standard for there grade level is very fitting for that particular age group. Students should be exposed in increments throughout their education, so that they can build on their ability to use technology. However, the ability to use technology and relying on technology are two very different things. As Greg said in the Chathem High School video said "I have never read a book". This is a prime example of the cons today's technology brings forth. These are students who now think there is not enough time in the day to complete all of their homework assignments. And because of this they are relying on the “easy way” to complete what is asked from there teachers. Looking answers up on spark notes and not from the assigned readings is not the educational direction we should be pointing are children in. But the modern high school student is falling into this sort of lazy pattern. Teachers should never be looked at as "entertainers"! They must be respected from their students. And if a classroom is perceived as a realm of entertainment for a student then they will have an unfortunate rude awaking when they enter the real world.
Finally, I personally feel I will always continue to develop. As a music teacher I want to use the positive side of technology to open up the doors for my students. Rather than having them take shortcuts. With commodities like I-tunes and YouTube students can look up musicians, composers and songs and do research for themselves. This will allow them to discover for themselves what they like and don't like. They can even bring in examples of musical pieces they would like to play in class or sing in choir. This puts the students in the forefront of the classroom. It also makes them involved in what the class is capable of learning and performing. As said in the Catalina Foothills High school video "when students do real tasks they understand why it is important". As a musician I feel students respond the best when they are part of that creative process. Also, when I search and interview for a job I will look for a well rounded school district to enter in.
Task 2-
(8.1.2.C.1) "Engage in a variety of developmentally appropriate learning activities with students in other classes, schools, or countries using electronic tools"
My content area is music with a concentration in voice. So I will be primarily teaching choirs along with other music courses. The age group I hope to start out teaching is elementary. I believe this standard will be affective for my students because it will give them the opportunity to see other young singers in the world much like themselves. They could stream live footage of another elementary choir singing halfway around the world or have another school watch us perform. This will allow them to see what other schools or doing and show them what we are accomplishing. We can learn a lot from just watching and interacting using these electronic tools.
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