Ribeiro, R. (2013). Using Classroom Technology to Offer Real-World Experiences. EdTech: Focus on K-12. Retrieved from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/07/using-classroom-technology-offer-real-world-experiences
In the article posted above, the author discussed several ways that schools are not only implementing technology, but changing how is it used in their school environment. The first part of the article focuses on the Danish Hellerup School. This school allows students to use technology as you would an adult in the workforce. When visiting the school, you will not find the standard lecture style teaching that we are accustomed to. Instead, students will have various devices depending on grade level, will choose their location of study, number of individuals they want to study with, and what topics to learn more about. This type of learning allows the students to not only learn about the world and how to use technology, but also discover how those two work hand in hand. In the second part of the article, this approach to learning is looked more closely in the subject of music education. Instead of teaching music in a traditional method, Lawrence Grey Berkowitz created his music class into a music studio. He treats all his students as though they were professional recording artists. By teaching music in this way, students are learning the fundamental elements of music, but they are also learning real-world, contemporary application of those skills. In short, this article showed how meaningful technology can become when adding a real-world dimension to it. (Ribeiro)
Right after reading this article, I instantly thought of ways to implement something like this into my classroom. I thought, wouldn't it be cool if the students referred to music class as "The Studio"? How awesome would that be? Students no longer look at my class as a formal class, but a place. It would be a world that they could escape to when life got rough and they needed somewhere to let out their emotions. I already record my students regularly and make audio files accessible to parents, but this would add a whole new dimension to my teaching. Instead of talking about what ways they could be involved in music beyond choir, orchestra, or band, I could instead facilitate an environment that allows for them to experience those different options.
Over the last ten years, I have watched how the music industry has changed, and is continuing to lean heavily on technology. Music is all digital and CD's are slowly going to turn into the new "vintage" tech. With programs like Audacity, Ableton Live, and Garageband, students have the ability to create their own digital music on their portable devices at home. As educators, I believe it is easy to ignore these growing trends and say that they don't impact us, but they do. If what we are teaching doesn't align with what the students can experience for themselves at home, then we are failing them as educators. I still believe you need to teach the fundamentals of any subject matter, but why can't technology help us in doing so? With my Kindergarteners, the big focus is learning steady beat and being able to experience how music can sound high and low. Some days I will pull out my drum and keep a steady beat as we walk around the circle, but other days, I'll go to my digital keyboard and play one of their funky beats while we sing a folk song. Both activities accomplish the same goals, but the keyboard adds a new level of experience for these students. Some days I will pull out my slide whistle, and while I play it, students move their bodies up and down according to what they hear. Yet when I see that my visual students need to see this idea rather than kinesthetically do it, I will pull up a tone matrix app for students to visually see the music in a new way. Again, both activities are important, but these experiences allow for the students to understand and interact with music in a more diversified and well-rounded way.
It is our job as educators to meet the students where they're at. Since technology is growing, and doesn't look like it will stop anytime soon, it is making it harder for us to keep up with the students. But if we constantly find these real-world ways of applying technology to the classroom and giving them experiences that will stick with them forever, then we have done our job, and have done it well.
