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.