EDUC 5313 Blog 1

Carissa Reed 

EDUC 5313: Intro Learning Technologies

Blog Assignment

Dr. Jayanna Greenwood

March 7, 2024 

Introduction

    My name is Carissa Reed and I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in music curriculum and instruction through Southeastern Oklahoma University. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Music Education from Colorado Mesa University.

    Plateau Valley Schools in Collbran, Colorado was my first career for seven years teaching K-12 music at a very small, rural school. My current position is teaching orchestra at the 6-12 grade levels at Palisade High School and Mount Garfield Middle School in Palisade, Colorado. I am in my second year of teaching there now.

    My future professional goal is to receive my Master’s degree to further my own knowledge as a music educator.

ISTE and Colorado State Standards

    Colorado Academic Standard for Music 2. Creation of Music states that the creation of music is the demonstration of learned skills in the composition, improvisation, and arranging of music, using, but not limited to, written notation, iconic symbols, or graphic and electronic representations. ISTE Standard 1.3.c Curate Information states that students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

    High school level students could incorporate the use of both of these standards by using online platforms like Zoom or Skype to play with people internationally or from different parts of the country. Once connected with the musicians they could play pieces that they composed or arranged on a music software program such as Finale or Sibelius or do improvisation. 

    The requirement would be to set-up virtual rehearsals to talk about style and interpretations of the piece and for each musician involved to submit a final recording of them playing their part. It would be impossible to have the same internet connection speeds, so it would be necessary to use a metronome and record each part separately. The next step would be to splice all of the videos together with a video editor such as Vimeo to create a final performance video and submit it to an online platform like YouTube. 

Kolb’s Triple E Framework

    Kolb stated this framework “allows students to use technology to meet and add value to learning goals as active, social, creative learners, in authentic ways.” This lesson would allow that while meeting her three E’s of engagement, enhancement, and extension. 

    The students would model engagement with a teacher tutorial on navigating the software and guided practice. They would start with a lesson in notation of music on a computer software program and learn how to input their ideas. Students would be eliciting their prior knowledge of music such as note reading, rhythms, time signatures, key signatures, etc. 

    With enhancement, instructional strategies that would be demonstrated by students would be self reflective practices, visual representations of learning, active listening, share-aloud, and personalization. They would be creating their own visual representation of their notated music and with the video recordings. In order to make improvements they would have to actively listen to each video to make sure it was performed correctly and to splice the videos together. The personalization comes from their own composition, arrangement, or improvisation in music. As a final product, it would be shared aloud and created into one final video performance. 

    The extension of their learning would come with creating connections outside of their day to day life and with knowing how to use a music notation program. It would engage students in authentic discourse by having meaningful interactions online where they can express their thoughts and opinions on the music. The musicians they connect with could become their virtual pen pals in a musical sense. This project would be very student led in their own investigation and direction of the project.