PLN (Week 10... seriously? It's week 10 already?!)

Senuti! (is iTunes spelled backwards!)

I decided to do a PLN on Senuti because I ran into Dr. Horvath this morning when I was signing up for an advising appointment and she was wondering if there was any way to get songs off your iPod onto your computer. In fact, there is! I'm always surprised that more people don't know about this application, as it's really handy and (from what I can tell, as long as you're only using it to move music that you own) legal!

Here's a link to the Wikipedia page about Senuti. If you use iTunes and have an iPod, it's pretty cool - and a useful tool to have if your computer should ever crash and you need to get your music back on from your iPod!

Response to Multimedia Basics

Wow. That was a LOT of information. Multimedia 101 in 4 articles or less...

Ok, so... do I now feel like I can go out and create fabulous Multimedia presentations/websites/anything I set my heart on?! Kind of. As I've learned in Vocal Methods and Pedagogy this semester, knowing how something works or knowing how to do something doesn't actually mean you're able to do it. However, I think I'm much better prepared to begin working with these components (text, pictures, sound, and video).

I found "Multimedia Basics: Understanding Moving Images" to be especially helpful. Digital video has always been something of a huge mystery to me and I feel like I understand it a little better now. I wish they had gone more into the different file formants, because that's what I really struggle with most. What's the difference between an .avi and a .wmv? A .mp4 and an .mpg? Why are some so much bigger than others? Why can I only edit some and not others?

I think this information will be useful to me as an educator should I ever want to put websites together. Also I bet it will be helpful for when I work more on my ePortfolio...

Response to Wiki videos

Wikis seem to be really, really useful. Having only used Wikipedia.org myself, I was previously ignorant of all the other Wiki options. I had encountered other Wiki websites (like Wiktionary), but I didn't realize that I could make my own Wiki. The videos were very easy to follow and helpful - I especially like the Wikis in Plain English video (from commoncraft).

Both Wikis and social networking sites (such as delicious) are extremely effective and concise ways of distributing information. I can personally think of several ways in which I could use Wikis at my current job (where I work with many volunteers and often encounter long, complicated chains of emails). I think one stumbling block for using Wikis efficiently is the problem of getting people into the idea of using them. It can be hard to convince people that using a Wiki would really be that much more efficient than email, but I truly believe that it can be. The other question is getting them to check the Wiki regularly - you could send an email reminder, but then that also raises the question "Well, why bother with Wikis if you have to send an email anyway?"

That being said, with groups where each member will be an active participant (or at least view it regularly) in the creation and modification of the Wiki, I think they could be really useful and save time. I could see a use for Wikis in the classroom - for helping distribute information to and from students and parents. Also, students could create their own Wikis when working on group projects (or the project itself could be to create a Wiki) - this might help solve the problem of one student getting stuck doing all the work because you can easily tell who has altered the Wiki and in what way.

This is technology I definitely see myself using. Delicious is neat, but I'm not sure how much I will use it... I may be proven entirely wrong there, but I'm just not certain.

PLN (Week 9)

I found another blog!

Bluebird's Classroom

"Musings and rants of a middle school teacher out to save the world, one student at a time..."

It seems to be pretty good - generally positive and upbeat, but still somewhat realistic. I think these teacher blogs are cool because it gives teachers an opportunity to express their frustrations and triumphs. It also gives other people (i.e. future teachers like me!) insight into their experiences and what it might be like to be a teacher.

Response to weekly readings (week 8)

I realized today that, for all the times I've seen Smart Boards in classrooms and such, I've never actually used one myself (or if I have, I haven't realized it). After reading these articles, I'm really curious... I'm going to have to find one and use it to see what it's like. I can imagine that they would be really useful - both the articles regarding interactive white boards suggested a multitude of uses for them.

I also thought the article on automatic accompaniment generators was really interesting. I've heard a lot about Band in a Box, but I've never used it. I'll have to ask my uncle about it - he works with MIDI and electronic wind controllers (his website if you're curious). I have used Smart Music before, and I think it's pretty cool. I definitely see uses for a it in Music Education - author John Kuzmich lists many such as accountability in practice and performance, instant feedback for students to improve their own practice, and students recording themselves in their home practice sessions and then being able to email them to instructors. One of the trickiest parts of Music Education is the evaluation component, and I'm generally in favor or anything that facilitates that process, such as Smart Music.

"One computer CAN deliver whole-class instruction" was another good article this week. It is important to remember there is plenty that can be done with a single computer, but I think Kassner makes having computers for every student almost sound like a disadvantage. I don't know that it would really present such a "perplexing array of pedagogical problems" as he says. Yes, having those resources takes different planning and a different skill set, but it can offer a different set of opportunities. Also, having a computer available for every student doesn't mean that you HAVE to use them all the time. I think that can be a problem - that teachers feel pressured to always use computers simply because they are there. That being said, I'm sure there IS pressure to use whatever technology is available because time and money was spent obtaining it (as Kassner mentions in the article). Hopefully it's possible to find a balance between the two extremes.

PLN (Week 7)

I found this blog through "So You Want To Teach." It's another blog of a young teacher that started out about how she wanted to quit, but after a while she learned she didn't want to quit after all. I haven't read too much of it, but I think I like it. She seems pretty positive, which is awesome.

Teacher, I Don't Get It

Response to "Picture This"

This article could not have come at a better time for me - I've been working recently on trying to figure out how to improve my breath management and support while singing. I decided after last week's class to try recording myself in Garage Band just to see if I could figure anything out by listening to a recording of my practice. What I discovered was amazing. Differences I couldn't HEAR while I was practicing between supported and unsupported sound were visually extraordinarily different. The waveform display on an unsupported phrase looked drastically different than when I was trying to support my sound better. It was the most encouraging breakthrough I've had as a musician personally in a while. Not being able to hear the difference between correct and... less correct is so frustrating. Discovering this tool was so helpful for me, I can't imagine NOT using it in an educational setting in the future.

Watson is very clear in his descriptions of waveform editing software and its uses. He suggests several different types of software available at different levels of detail, price, etc. and many different options for using it. I especially liked his idea of "letting your concert band hear what their seemingly innocent chatter sounds like each time you stop to work on something." I think recording students is really good motivation for focus and is so extremely helpful in working toward improvement.

"Sequence-stration" article response

This article was a little difficult to get through. It was full of technical information about the art of using sequencing software to create pleasing, musical sounds. And it really is an art, it seems. As someone with essentially no knowledge of how to use a sequencing program, it was a little too specific. I think it would be more helpful once I have a better sense of what I want to use sequencing software for. It sounds pretty amazing - using different synthesized sounds to create other specific sounds.

Before reading this article, I only had a vague concept of to what extent one can really manipulate the 128 General MIDI sounds to create or complement other sounds. Especially interesting was the concept of doubling parts an octave above or below what is written to reinforce the second partial - creating a specific acoustic that would not have been present otherwise in a synthesized representation.

I'm excited to learn more about synthesizing software - I think it could be so useful to me as an educator and in my personal practice. The idea of creating relatively realistic-sounding accompaniments that can be manipulated at will is pretty fantastic. As the author points out, having a MIDI/digital audio recording of accompaniments allows a classroom teacher to focus on something other than playing the piano (not that piano skills should be underemphasized - I still think that the ability to play the piano reasonably well is extremely important).

Something else from this article that appealed to me was the fact that MIDI data doesn't take up much space, so one can "create lots of tracks without needing the latest, fastest computer." That feature also makes it easier to post MIDI accompaniments online for students to practice with, something that I've personally found helpful. As far as music education in general, the possibilities are endless - it seems like sequencing software could be used in so many capacities and in virtually every music class imaginable. Something else that just occurred to me - rehearsal time is almost always lost when a music teacher has to be absent from class for some reason or another. Pre-recorded MIDI accompaniments combined with any number of other technological capabilities could enable a substitute with little or no musical training to help a group rehearse.