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#MusEdChat Recap – Web 2.0 Tools (3/8/2010)

03/31/10 By 1 Comment

The second #MusEdChat was held on Monday, March 8th 2010. Participants discussed the topic, “What Web 2.0 tools do you use in your classroom for educational purposes?” Participants came from all over the world, including 15 music undergraduates from Grove City College. The topic was then discussed in two parts. First, participants discussed educational web 2.0 tools used in educating students, and then later discussed tools that are useful in the administration part of music education.

Web 2.0 Education Tools

A variety of web 2.0 tools for educating were shared, ranging anywhere from composition programs to ear-training aids. A number of composition-related applications were suggested. The most well-known of these was Noteflight. Teachers can use Noteflight to have students compose music. This is a great way to have students apply basic music knowledge, all the while exercising their creativity. Musescore, a similar application, was also suggested for this purpose. Along this category of Web 2.0 applications is iCompositions, a program that is used to give students feedback on the compositions they create on Garage Band. Teachers also found some applications, such as Jam Studio to be very effective in the classroom. Jam Studio is an online site that allows students to compose music by selecting a key, and then choosing chords in that key. Users can then select which instrument groups they would like to use, in whatever style they would like them to play (all chosen from a list of pre-recorded styles and instruments). Myna was also suggested. This program involves looping pre-recorded segments together to create a sound file, complete with an intro, body, and ending. This can then be converted into an MP3 and downloaded. SmartMusic was also briefly mentioned. This allowed teachers to test students on things such as scales, from home.

After these applications were discussed, the #MusEdChat participants shared thoughts on using things such asblogs and wikis in the classroom setting. Some found it very useful, while others proceeded with caution. The idea of using YouTube as a teaching aid came up as well. It seemed that mostly everybody agreed that it was useful, but some had issues with it being blocked in their schools. Multiple solutions to this problem were discussed, including the use of websites (such as Keepvid) to download the YouTube video, as well as simply asking the administrator to give you access to such sites.

Web 2.0 Administrative Tools

In addition to discussing tools that music educators use for educating were tools that music teachers can use to make the administrative part of their job easier. Some of the tools discussed dealt directly with music teacher responsibilities as far as organization of information. One tool that was suggested was Ututti. Ututti was described as being a program that “view student’s info grades and financial account all in one place.” Another of these tools is WhenisGood. This particular online application allows the user to sign up, enter his/her available times, and email it to others. The recipients then can respond with the times available to them. The user can log onto the site again using information provided to them to view what time works best for everybody.

Multiple tools were shared that dealt with communication between the teacher and students. Google Docs was brought up. This allows teachers to refrain from using paper copies to have students complete forms. The chat participants seemed to think that this was more efficient, and also removed the possibility of losing paper forms. Google Calendar was also suggested to keep everybody (teacher, students and parents) on the same page.

Communication between teacher and parent, as well as teacher and student was also discussed. One of the biggest issues chatted about was the use of Facebook. The #MusEdChat participants seemed to have differing opinions on this. Some believed that using Facebook to promote a school group was completely acceptable. After all, most students already use Facebook. This was seen by some to be a very useful tool in notifying students of the program of any alerts that needed to be passed on. Other participants thought that contact with students on social media sites was unprofessional. While it may be useful, many teachers have a policy of not adding students as friends until they no longer had connections with the school. A possible solution to this was that if a fan page was made, students would have no contact with the teacher; they would only be able to communicate within the page for whatever group it was promoting. While not everybody agreed with the idea of using Facebook in a school setting, one point seemed to be unanimous. It seemed that all of the participants agreed that teachers need to act responsibly on the internet, treating it like any other public situation. In addition, most seemed to agree that it is important to teach students to be careful with their actions on the internet, as anything they do has the potential to leave a devastating mark on their reputation.

Links

Here is a list of links suggested and discussed during the chat:

Participate

If you would like to participate in the #MusEdChat, join us on Twitter, Monday nights at 8:00PM EST! If you are new to Twitter, find out how to participate here.

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MusicEdNews.com Launches

03/28/10 By 2 Comments

I am thrilled to announce the launch of MusicEdNews.com, a project of myself and Dr. Joe Pisano!

MusicEdNews.com is set to serve as your one-stop shop for all things music education-related. It will act as an aggregator for over 30 different RSS Feeds from blogs, websites, and podcasts related to Music Education. In short, if it’s about music ed, and it’s on the web, you can find it at MusicEdNews.com! In this day and age, music educators of all types have started creating content online. With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies and RSS, this information is now easier than ever to consume. However, this doesn’t mean we should be satisfied with using basic RSS Feed Readers to consume our information. MusicEdNews.com aims to make the consumption of information even easier by aggregating the top feeds in one place.

In addition to the website, which offers a streamlined and categorized way to view the most recent feed updates, we have created a twitter account (@MusicEdNews) which will tweet updates from each of the feeds that MusicEdNews.com follows. If twitter is your primary means for information-consumption, and you’re a music educator (or aspiring educator), then @MusicEdNews is definitely an account you should follow!

The website launched Wednesday night, and will be on a constant state of flux for the next few weeks as Dr. Pisano and I make changes. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to contact us. In the meantime, give MusicEdNews.com a look!

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#MusEdChat Recap – Assessment (3/1/10)

03/22/10 By Leave a Comment

Under the moderation of Andy Zweibel, the first ever #MusEdChat took place on March 1st, 2010 on Twitter. The topic being discussed was “What are effective methods of assessment in a performance based class?” With 20 people participating from around the world (and probably many others watching), many ideas and resources were discussed. To read the full transcript, visit the transcript page for this chat.

Conversation Recap

First, many people posed relevent questions about the grading of performance. Questions like “Objectivity vs. subjectivity? How do you all quantify this? (@pisanojm)” and ” Can you grade creativity? If so, how? (@Guitarguy73)” were posed and discussed. Some replied that you can grade creativity through assessing students’ ability to compose within standards, while other responses suggested grading according to assessment of a combination of things such as attendence, participation, and preparation. The use of rubrics as a grading aid was also suggested.

Andy (@Zweibz7) then posed the question, “Those of you who don’t teach general music, what areas do you feel should factor into a student’s grade?” There were quite a few responses to this question. One response was, “Honestly mine is purely based on attendance in rehearsal and heavily on performance. (@kgard)”. Others cited progression and participation as elements of grading.

The conversation then briefly shifted to common technology used in grading music. The use of blogs in the music classroom was discussed. One thought was to record rehearsals, and have students blog about their thoughts and ideas for that particular rehearsal. Other technological programs included SmartMusic, Voicethread and Moodle. Thoughts were even shared about online lessons via Skype. Then the group discussed the effectiveness of having students record themselves for purposes like self-assessment. Products like Audacity and Myna were cited as making this process easier.

During this time, another conversation was happening on the same chat.This conversation dealt with assessing composition. Just like the other topics, there were a variety of opinions. As stated by @MusicEdTech,”Here’s my rubric for assessing a composition assignment- 1) Did you fulfill the basic requirements of the project? 2) did you work diligently during class? That’s it.” Another suggestion was to use strict rules, but to allow them to be creative in some aspects as well. It seemed as though many of the teachers in the chat used either Noteflight or Musescore to facilitate this in their classrooms.

Then the participants began discussing how to grade private lessons in grades 3-6. It seemed as though most of them used a pass/fail method for grading. The suggestion then came to just give every student in these grades an A. The argument for this method was that a negative grade will turn students away from music. Others disagreed with this argument stating that students need to have actual feedback, otherwise they will not progress and will quit anyway. @iteachmusic65 then commented that the younger students should mostly get A’s, but then as they get older, the teacher should raise the bar, causing them to acheive higher goals.

Links

As you can see, in just one hour, an impressive amount of valuable information was transmitted between 20 people involved in Music Education. To see the entire transcript of the chat, check out (link to transcript). To make searching through the information easier, here is a list of links that were shared in this chat:

This Week’s Chat

If you would like to take part in an invaluable learning experience with music educators around the world, join in the discussion on Twitter at 8PM EST on Monday nights under the hashtag #musedchat! The topic for this weeks chat is, “How does music education fit into the education reforms coming to the U.S. in the next 5 years?”

Not familiar with Twitter? Learn how to participate by checking out Dr. J Pisano’s tutorial, and by visiting the official #MusEdChat page here at MusicEdMajor.net!

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First #MusEdChat is TONIGHT!

03/01/10 By Leave a Comment

Hey all! Just a quick reminder that our inaugural #MusEdChat is taking place tonight at 8 pm EST on Twitter! The poll for the first topic has been going for about a week now, and after a very tight finish, our discussion topic will be:

What are effective methods of assessment in a performance-based class?

Be sure to hop on Twitter at 8pm EST tonight (Monday, March 1), using the hash-tag #musedchat, and join in the conversation! As always, you can view the very latest information on #MusEdChat at the #MusEdChat Page, right here at MusicEdMajor.net!

Happy Tweeting!

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Inaugural #MusEdChat

02/23/10 By Leave a Comment

I am extremely excited by the excitement that the announcement of a Twitter chat for Music Educators has created! #MusEdChat is shaping up to be an incredible opportunity for discussion and cooperation, and I can’t wait to participate! I have admittedly fallen behind in planning our first #MusEdChat, but I am extremely excited to announce that our first #MusEdChat will occur Monday, March 1, at 8 pm EST. Here’s what you need to know:

  • The topic of discussion will be decided by a vote each week. You can vote on which topic you would like to discuss in the poll below or by visiting the TwtPoll page.
  • When it’s time for the chat (8pm EST on Monday March 1), simply sign on to Twitter using your favorite client, and start searching for what people are saying using the tag #musedchat. Feel free to add whatever thoughts you have on the topic to our conversation by sending your own tweet which includes #musedchat.
  • Some suggested clients for managing the flow of information:

That’s it! It’s that simple! Don’t forget to check out the #MusEdChat Landing Page, which will be full of information on each week’s chat, and will contain the archive if you can’t make it. Also, don’t forget to vote for the topic you want to discuss:

See you on Monday night! Happy Tweeting!

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Announcing #MusEdChat!

02/02/10 By 2 Comments

First off, I know it’s been a while since there’s been new content up on MusicEdMajor.net, but unfortunately the school year is taking over. I’ll try to update more frequently once things get underway, but just know I haven’t forgotten about it!

In the meantime, however, I was inspired to start a new project that should hopefully be more beneficial and enjoyable all-around. The project is based around Twitter, and is called #MusEdChat.

Background

I have been on Twitter since August of 2008, and in the past year and a half, it has helped me make connections with hundreds of fantastic individuals based upon our common hobbies (read more about my thoughts on Twitter here). Recently, I have started following more educators (not just music teachers, but “normal” classroom teachers as well), and have noticed a fantastic project that has been underway for a while now. The project, called #EdChat, gathers all interested educators, parents, students, and others together for a concentrated discussion on a specific topic in education. There is a different topic each week, and the roughly 2-hour long discussion is moderated by a few of the founders (namely @web20classroom). All participants need to do is tweet using the hashtag #EdChat, and follow the discussion around that tag. Transcripts and additional discussions are posted on the EdChat Wiki.

EdChat has turned into a huge discussion, with hundreds of educators, parents, administrators, and even students participating. This is a fantastic situation, because it allows more voices to be heard, but it can also create a discussion that can be hard to follow, with comments pouring in by the second. There are many applications that help take in all the information (TweetDeck, TweetChat, etc.), and transcripts are always posted to help with this. Still, however, it can be daunting trying to intake all the information that comes out of one weekly #edchat session. While this is a fantastic resource for discussion on topics that pertain to education in general, all music educators can agree that there are many topics worth discussing that pertain specifically to music education. So, without further adieu…

Announcing #MusEdChat!

After some discussion with other #musiced folks on Twitter, and with some of the brains behind #edchat, I’m pleased to announce that we are getting ready to start a weekly Twitter chat geared specifically towards Music Educators! The hashtag will be #musedchat (#musicedchat seemed to be a bit too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit), and each week, we will discuss a different topic of importance to music educators worldwide. Here are a few other bits of information regarding #musedchat:

  • Chats will occur on a weeknight, around 8 pm EST. The day of the week is currently up to vote, so be sure to vote for what day works best for you in the poll!
  • If you have a topic suggestion, fill out the Topic Submission Form to submit your idea
  • Each week, a few days before the discussion, a TwtPoll will be started with up to five possible topics for discussion. Whichever topic has the most votes after a few days will be the topic of discussion for that week.
  • Topics that are not selected in a given week will be put up for vote again in the following weeks
  • When the chat starts, all you have to do is post your thoughts/reactions/questions using the hashtag #musedchat!
  • If you see a comment from someone else that you find interesting, it is encouraged that you “Re-Tweet” that comment to YOUR followers!
  • Stay tuned for a post detailing ways to follow the chat!

It’s that simple! If you have other questions, check out the new #MusEdChat page here on MusicEdMajor.net. It will be updated with links to chat transcripts, polls, and other pertinent information! Also, don’t forget to vote for your preferred day/time in our poll!

Can I Help?

While #MusEdChat is still in its infancy, I hope that it will grow to be a well-attended and enjoyable event for everyone. As such, it may require more administration than I am able to do on a weekly basis. If you are interested in helping moderate #MusEdChat, please contact me and let me know; I am looking for one or two co-collaborators to help moderate the chat on a weekly basis.

Happy Tweeting! :)

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Guide to Networking: Part 1-Social Networking

12/14/09 By 4 Comments

As Music Education Majors, one way we can help prepare for the teaching world during our studies is by networking. Meeting the people who will eventually be our colleagues and administrators will help prepare us for the job search, increase our knowledge in the field, and leave us better-equipped to find the job we’re looking for. This 3-part series looks at three different ways we can use networking to our advantage.

Before diving into this very broad topic, think about these questions:

  • How many hours do you spend on the computer?
  • Of those hours, how many of them are on Facebook?
  • When you’re on the computer, how would you rank the ways in which you use it? (think: schoolwork, talking to friends, listening to music)

The term social networking is one that tends to scare a lot of people. In reality, many of us already engage in social networking on a daily basis! We just network with our firends and family, instead of professionals in our field. Regardless of how we go about it (this post will outline just a few of your many options), any means of meeting current music educators online can be considered social networking, and will help you create relationships that will help you as you prepare for your job search. [Read more...]

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