This year has brought me new opportunities to complete some long term goals in my education, learn to incorporate technology tools on the portable devices I use, and learn to have to adjust to different paradigms of using technology in a classroom. I was very proud of my accomplishment in completing my Masters degree, however have been frustrated in my attempts to find work with it. I keep looking, applying, and interviewing for a new opportunity, as well as develop my own opportunities. I am hopeful that 2012 will bring some positive change. I also incorporated Garageband in a choral music setting at a middle school this past fall, using my ipad. I was able to complete warm ups, develop accompaniments, and use the tools in the program to enhance students participation in the music making process. I found the students enjoyed the "hip hop" percussion setting in the software the most. One of the 8th graders is a bit of a song writer, so I am collaborating with him with the chordal accompaniment, and rhythm section sounds for the melody and lyrics he has created. This is how technology can have an impact on a student! Learning a new philosophy of another school system where Web 1.0 principles still apply, was another challenge for me this year. They have the tools and infrastructure in place offering little time to incorporate them into the classroom. If you are a teacher, use Socrative. I discovered this this past summer, and really like it. It allows you to have the kids complete a "check for understanding" session with the students using their portable devices. It logs the information into a google docs spreadsheet for you so you can see what "stuck" with the students from your lesson that day. I believe you can complete surveys as well, so it can be a great tool for you to use, assuming the school system allows portable devices, for feedback from your students. I hope each of you have a Happy New Year, and 2012 creates a new sense of hope using tools in our technologically advancing culture.

Music Performance using 21st Century Technology

With the advent of music writing programs such as Cakewalk, Finale, Sibelius, and many others, the computer has become a great tool for musicians to create their own music. Using such software, the musician can create their music, create accompaniments using a few tools in the software, record, distribute their music all with a few mouse clicks. In Finale, the musician can write their music, create a Smartmusic file to practice with and record the music to be saved as an mp3 that can be uploaded to the web. Many musicians use Audacity on their computers to record. With my Ipad, I purchased the Bluefire application as a field recorder. I recorded my son's All County High School and Middle School band performances this past month using my Ipad. When I got home, I uploaded them to my computer using the instructions in the software. Best of all I was able to upload it to Itunes with a few mouse clicks. For the home studio musician, Samson makes a very good portable Mic called the "Go Mic." This microphone gives you two settings with the click of a button, is relatively inexpensive, and does a great job as a portable mic for on the go recordings, or studio recordings. With the many tools webpages and sites continue to develop for the use of recorded media, this is an opportunity for control of the personal distribution of music.

Technology in a locked School System

As a long term substitute, it is interesting to see how local board's of education have not embraced a Web 2.0 philosophy. In my opinion, the decision makers are uninformed as to the benefits that a mixed approach classroom can provide: Face to face instruction each day, then online instruction at home where they can relive the lesson, or interact with the content of the lesson. This gives students more access time with the materials. Einstein's definition of insanity comes to mind when I think about this. So far, every group or online group activity has been blocked or banned by the system. As an example, I currently go between two schools. It is difficult to keep up with all the meetings at both places. I attempted to set up a Live.com one note notebook where we could collaborate online from wherever we were. This was blocked, so the system is actually preventing their teachers from being more productive, especially when we have to collaborate to meet the needs of the kids.

Music Instruction must come into the 21st century

With many music programs in schools, the need to integrate 21st century technology components into the curriculum have become paramount. For a musician, we currently can create, edit, produce, and distribute music from our own computer stations using computer technology as a vehicle for creating a marketable product for the music community. In the past, we have had to visit a live performance in order to experience art. Now, we can use the computer to create our own musical field trips. This software will allow a new generation of young music composers, singers, and players opportunities to interact with music.

In music production, software such as Finale and Sibelius are the industry standards. There are less expensive versions of software that can be used to create and edit music. Musescore is an open source music writing program that can be used to get you introduced into electronic composition. As with any software program, there needs to be some learning time involved with how to navigate and create your scores. Finale makes "Notepad," which for less than a nice evening meal at a restaurant, allows the user to start creating their own music. Finale and Sibelius both allow realtime performance input via midi, mouse, or note name via the computer keyboard. The trick for real time performance is the quantization settings. It is quite tricky to play in perfect time, so editing your recorded performance will be in order in most cases. As with learning anything that is new for us, it seems difficult at first, yet with repeated practice and repetition, it becomes easier. Many of the tools are very powerful, once you learn to use them. This can be saved, and then the software will create a recording of your composed work, which is a great benefit for copyright, as well as distribute the creation using webpages, blogs, and the Sibelius and Finale music sites as well.

In my experience, there are very few students who are exposed to this type of music immersion. We are busy teaching music literacy and performance skills for our students for the school and local community. The standard that Students will read and write music apply's here partially. Music creation software allows the students to focus on a best practice in learning music by writing it, editing it, producing it, and distributing it.

Garageband Ipad Application

Being a musician, portable recording and listening devices have been used for generations. Apple's Garageband application for Ipad has some pretty nice features for a portable mixing and recording device. First, you can create numerous musical related projects on it.

Podcasting is a snap on the application. You can pull in sounds from a prerecorded library on the tablet, or record your own. You set up your bumper music, record your podcast quickly, save it and take it with you to edit of complete. Then it uploads to itunes when you sync your Ipad.

The sampler can record any sound an turn it into a musical instrument. It reminds me of the composer that recorded frog sounds one summer night, and then created Christmas carols using the sample as a musical voice. Mix this track with more traditional instruments such as drums and bass, and you end up with a musical masterpiece.

Recording live voices and instruments is easy to do, however, the quality may be somewhat limited due to the very small size of the microphone. This can be edited and tweaked a little bit, yet for such a small mic, the recording quality is good enough to record your ideas and then improve them with a better mic on the Mac version of the App.

Apple has done a great job and allowing users to understand form in music by labeling Sections using a puzzle piece such as "A", "B", or "C" composers can now work entire segments of a musical idea without having to get bogged down in the music theory concepts that can be confusing to novice and younger musicians. Two part song writing, or three part song writing becomes easier to organize for the writer, and allows the composer to focus on one segment at a time while they develop their ideas.

This program allows a musician of any age to create, record, edit, mix, and produce their own music on a portable device they can carry with them and work when musical inspiration hits them. Can you imagine how more music Bach or Beethoven could have written with such an application.

Music Technology to Create, Produce, and Distribute Your Musical Ideas

Music technology opens a door to create, produce, record, and distribute music via the web. Software that can be used include GarageBand, Finale, Sibelius, Ableton, Cakewalk, to write/create music. Most software allows you to create a digital recording for both personal and distribution. Creating music using these programs makes it easier to complete the music creation and distribution cycle. An artist can create their music, record live vocals and instrumental tracks, as well as mix and distribute their creations on the web. An example of this is the podcast. As an educator, I am able to upload a podcast recording to a website or blog, and convey strategies to improve performance. This can be set up using GarageBand or Audacity for people to access when they need to. The process includes planning the recording, recording the podcast or song using a quality microphone, editing it using the editing tools in the program, then uploading it to your blog or website. This set of tools will allow an entire new generation of artists to have their works listened to by a worldwide audience.

Job Searching

It is interesting to talk with prospective employers about the challenges they face with their music programs, their operating budgets, and the stakeholders involved in music making. Many programs are having one teacher become the music program, having to balance many roles as Band, Choral, and Music Appreciation educators. This is due to budget shortfalls that are part of today's economic reality. The people involved with making music want the best for their students. Time to create online learning modules for students involved with music making to have access to 24/7.

Job Hunting

I am currently looking for a position to put my new technology skills to work. I am waiting patiently for Walden to issue my degree, so I can move forward in helping others integrate technology into their classrooms. This can be promising shift for this veteran teacher who is a musician and interested in teh benefits of using technology in the classroom.

Working in the Music Field

As a player of the trumpet, having found over many years of performing, that the way you performed was based upon your preparation and performance. Getting students to buy into what we teach involves getting into the "Game."

Wynton Marsalis states on his video, "Tacking the Monster," that you must first have a goal when you begin to practice. For life-long learning, the "G" in Game stands for a goal. The more specific it is, the better the results will be individually, and for a group. The "A" stands for Actions, taking steps that will insure that you achieve your goal, such as planning your work, then working your plan. "M" stands for Monitoring your actions, making sure they line up with your goals, and finally "E" stands for evaluating how you did after you have achieved your goal. Using this concept offered with the One Minute Manager, students can accelerate their level of musicianship and satisfaction.

Finished the Master's Degree

I finished my Masters in Education, Integrating Technology into the Classroom, at the beginning of May. I have a 4.0 average, which is a first for me personally, and am looking forward to finding employment using it. Best wishes to all my classmates, as working with you online during this time has been a super experience.

Universal Design for Learning Presentation

Here is a link to my UDL video: