Module 6 Blog Post

There was quite a bit of information to be unpacked in Module 6!  This week’s module focused on using technology in

instructional design.  We learned that learning can be contextual, active, social, and reflective.  Learning is contextual

when students are making new meaning out of what they are already familiar with.  Technology can help to facilitate this

style of learning by helping students to become familiar with new contexts through watching YouTube videos of a famous

performance rather than simply being told about it (Bauer, 2014).  Learning is active when students are participating in

learning in ways that are relevant to what the student does outside of the classroom.  Technology can help to facilitate this

style of learning through the use of recording software.  Students can learn to improvise to changing chord progressions

(Bauer, 2014).  Learning is social when students engage in conversation with their peers and/or teacher.  Many times,

composition classes are social due to the feedback and critique that is required while students are revising their works

(Bauer, 2014).  Learning is reflective when students take time to consider what he/she has learned.  The use of recording

software can help to facilitate reflective learning by having students in a performing ensemble record themselves and

reflect upon what they hear (Bauer, 2014).   

Project based learning was another area of focus in this week’s module.  Project based learning is learning that is guided

by the completion of a project.  The project must begin with a quality question that is interesting for students and relevant

to their everyday lives (Bauer, 2014).  There are many ways in which technology can facilitate this style of learning, but the

focus for our class was the WebQuest.  A WebQuest utilizes many facets of technology to help students answer a question

posed by the teacher.  In the WebQuest that I designed for this module, students are even using technology (a Blog post)

to present their information to the teacher and to peers.  

Differentiation was another focus of this week’s module.  Differentiation is constantly a focus of administration in many

districts.  I find that in the instrumental classroom, it is often a difficult area to manage.  In the regular classroom, students

can work quietly while teachers differentiate with groups of students.  In the instrumental classroom, though, “working

quietly” isn’t really an option.  The use of technology, though, can help with this problem.  SmartMusic is software for the

music classroom where students can practice at tempos that are individually challenging for each student.  The teacher

can even assign certain tempos for individual practice for each student.  This is an area that I look forward to incorporating

in my classroom in the fall.  

There are many ways in which technology can help to make teaching more effective in the music classroom.  Module 6 did

a great job of breaking down styles of learning and matching those with appropriate uses for technology.     

Bauer, W.I. (2014).  Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.