Ed Tech Blog
Introduction
COVID-19 taught all educators that we have the ability to be resilient and adapt to a changing technological world, including those of us who teach music. As we return to our normal classrooms, it’s important that we never forget the lessons we were taught during the pandemic. This article will outline various ways we can implement technology into the music classroom.
Music Technology for Elementary Music Specialists
Do you have old Music Play books in your classroom from decades ago? Did you know that it is all online? www.musicplayonline.com is a wonderful resource created by Denise Gagne for elementary music specialists. All your favourite songs like “Lucy Locket” are there with lesson plans, lyric videos, chords for guitar and ukulele, orff arrangements and boomwackers. In addition to a comprehensive list of songs organized by grade, there are also learning modules in rhythm, solfege, vocal warm-ups and games. This is a necessary resource for all elementary music educators.
www.bucketdrumming.net is another great resource for upper elementary and early middle school teachers. Sammy Foster has created an amazing bucket drumming curriculum that includes proper percussion technique as well as rhythm and pitch reading. I highly recommend his “6 Days of Bucket Drumming” to get your students started right with warm-ups, techniques and play along to popular songs like “We Will Rock You” and “Rolling in the Deep.”
Both Music Play Online and Bucketdrumming.net are perfect play and go resources to supplement your teaching in an engaging and fun way.
Everyone has access to YouTube, a few great play-along channels are musication and swick’s classroom. These are great extensions for the end of your lessons before students are scheduled to leave.
Music Technology for Instrumental Music Specialists
Figurenotes
Have you ever worked with a student who was really struggling...
Old school presentations centered around tri-folds and posters are an old-time favorite, but they seem obsolete in the modern world of Prezi and Powerpoint. However we can bring back the treasured tri-folds and poster boards, and more importantly, there is a way to make them interactive. By using a small device that is relatively cheap, you can convert an old-school presentation into a more interactive presentation that students, teachers, and parents will love.
So what is a Makey Makey? It is a circuit board with alligator clips and a USB cable. It can turn any conductive material into an interactive component. People have turned liquids, balloons, play-doh, etc. into interactive musical instruments. The major concept of a Makey Makey is you are creating a circuit. In order for any project to be interactive, you have to complete the circuit. Often one may have to hold an alligator clip while touching an object in order to complete the circuit, but this isn’t always the case. Different projects have different ways of completing the circuit. If you can dream it, you can probably turn it into an inventive project with a Makey Makey.
Some cool projects that you...
Teachers are often tasked with the challenging job of working in classrooms with large class sizes and difficult compositions. Teachers are masters at catering their lessons to their students. You may wonder, what do you do when there is such a large range of needs amongst students in one classroom? Assistive technology can be a way to aid in leveling the playing field for our students who have diverse learning needs.
Assistive technology (AT) is defined as any product, piece of equipment or system that enhances learning, working, and daily living for persons with disabilities. AT can be high-tech and expensive, such as reading software like Kurzweil or Dragon Naturally Speaking, or it can be low-tech and budget friendly such as pencil grips for students who have dysgraphia.
Some teachers shy away from the use of assistive technology because they believe that it requires additional specialized staff training, it’s expensive, it’s difficult to integrate into their lesson plans or they are concerned about technical difficulties. Hopefully this article will highlight how this is untrue.
Who Benefits from Assistive Technology?
In classrooms, AT will likely be implemented to support the following students:
1. Students with dyscalculia (deficit in understanding and learning numbers...
Read more: Integrating Assistive Technology into the Classroom
Introduction
How are you? cómo estás? Habari yako? These are just but some of the ways you can ask someone how they are doing in different languages. Trying to learn a new language or improve on the vocabulary of your language? Then consider using a language learning app. This can be very effective for students, whether they are beginners or are at an intermediate level.
An additional language is a key opportunity to interact with the world from an informed opinion and a different lens. However, learning a new language requires a lot of practice and dedication. That is why online language learning platforms like Duolingo have been gaining popularity over time.
Duolingo is a great platform because it can be seamlessly integrated into a classroom setting to teach native and foreign languages. The platform makes it easier to learn grammar and vocabulary and has an amazing feature that allows one to translate articles from the web.
In particular, Duolingo for schools is a great tool for teachers and students that makes learning fun and interactive with the different visual and audio cues.
As a teacher, here are some creative ways to use Duolingo in the classroom
Progress...
Podcasts are now more popular than ever. If you look closely at the raging trend, you’ll find a podcast on every other topic. These podcasts not only engage and entertain the audience but also help in providing an optimum teaching experience. The shift from text-based learning to audio-based learning has proved valuable for students.
Many schools have already adopted this growing trend to offer students a fun learning experience. It is also an ideal way to teach students who don’t have English as their first language. While listening to a podcast, they can follow along by reading the transcript.
There is immense diversity in the podcast industry, which can help provide an ideal learning experience to students. Podcasts can help students learn about unique topics that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Ways to Prepare Students for Podcast Sessions
Before a teacher adopts this practice, they need to ensure that all students are ready for podcast classes. They need to ensure that they have all the resources to conduct a podcast session with students.
Here are a few ways teachers can prepare students:
- Give Access to the Supplies
One of the things that teachers need to ensure is that the classroom has...
Have you ever dreamt of imagining something into existence? If so, then 3D printing is just the technology for you and your classroom. Students of all ages love the technology of 3D printing because it feeds into a basic instinct of creativity that all of us have. Learning and teaching how a 3D printer works has never been easier, and the prices of good models have been dropping ever since they first started making them for the masses. In this post, we will investigate different ways a printer can be used in the classroom, which are firstly, what we call "concept printing", secondly, printing models for a classroom, and finally, printing your imagination. We will also go through some things to look out for when you buy a printer for the classroom.
The world around us is changing every single day. Why should our classrooms be stuck in the 20th century? That is why we should always investigate ways to bring what makes the outside world interesting, into our classrooms. That may include laptops, phones, the internet, and now you can include a 3D printer in that list. Introducing a 3D printer into the classroom will give the students to...
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