Module 1 Reflection
This week began our eight-week journey into learning about new ways in which we can apply technology to assist us in our music teaching. One of our first activities was to introduce ourselves to the class using a web-based program called Padlet. This application was rather unique. I liked the idea that you can share different things on the wall and whoever has access to it can comment. It is somewhat similar to Facebook or Twitter as you can more or less do the same things, it is just presented a little differently, and not mainstream like those are. In a way, it's somewhat similar to how myspace used to be as you can have your own custom background for your wall. Beyond this, however, I do not really see myself using Padlet with a class, though it is possible and I will keep my mind open to it.
Our readings this week were basically an introduction. The first chapter summarized the various uses of technology in the world today. I did find it interesting that Bauer (2014) quoted Wikipedia on page 4 of Chapter 1, especially due to the fact that most academics would avoid Wikipedia due to the fact that it is a wiki and it can be freely edited by anyone. Granted, I'm an avid Wikipedian. I have an account (which is also free) and I edit various articles of interest almost daily and have brought quite a few to Good Article status, and some others to Featured Article status (and those actually make a Featured Topic on Wikipedia), and several of those have also been featured on Wikipedia's main page. For that reason, I am actually one to defend Wikipedia, but only to an extent. Case and point, after doing a check on the article about technology, the text that Bauer quoted has since been changed. The next couple of pages were almost an insult to my intelligence. Granted, I know the purpose for why the information was there, but I am a Millennial, and a lot of that information I learned first hand. Bauer cites that today's youth are characterized as digital natives whereas a lot of adults are digital immigrants (p. 5). I was born in 1990, so I'm kind of in this in-between area, but lean a little more to the side of being a digital native. With that in mind, these couple or so pages felt like they were written for those who would be characterized as digital immigrants. After getting past that, the rest of the chapter presented some great information that I'm sure will be expanded upon in later modules.
One thing in Module 1 I wasn't too thrilled about was learning that we have to use Twitter, and on top of that, we have to make at least two tweets a week. I've never been a fan of Twitter. My biggest gripes with it are that you don't have much of a profile, and the character limit is too small. I prefer Facebook, and in my opinion, Facebook would have been better for PLN because you can do a lot more with it and you're not confined by such a small character limit for your posts. With Facebook, we could have created our own little group for this class and been able to share various things in regard to music, teaching, and technology, as well as be able to elaborate on it more since we would not be confined by a character limit.
The one thing that I really enjoyed this week was learning about and getting to use Incredibox. That was a fun little activity. I mentioned it in my discussion post, but it was a bit limiting and the fact it lacked a save feature if you screwed up when recording was annoying. I feel like those aren't issues in the paid version, but I don't wanna shell out $7.99 to find out. Although I know I will not be using this in my concert band class, I could see myself using this in a music technology class if I get the chance to teach that class. That class, like this one, is geared toward learning about different ways in which to use technology in music teaching. Although these are college students, I know they would enjoy it and have fun with it.
This week was an overall nice introduction to this course, and I'm looking forward to what Module 2 has in store for us.
Reference:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Our readings this week were basically an introduction. The first chapter summarized the various uses of technology in the world today. I did find it interesting that Bauer (2014) quoted Wikipedia on page 4 of Chapter 1, especially due to the fact that most academics would avoid Wikipedia due to the fact that it is a wiki and it can be freely edited by anyone. Granted, I'm an avid Wikipedian. I have an account (which is also free) and I edit various articles of interest almost daily and have brought quite a few to Good Article status, and some others to Featured Article status (and those actually make a Featured Topic on Wikipedia), and several of those have also been featured on Wikipedia's main page. For that reason, I am actually one to defend Wikipedia, but only to an extent. Case and point, after doing a check on the article about technology, the text that Bauer quoted has since been changed. The next couple of pages were almost an insult to my intelligence. Granted, I know the purpose for why the information was there, but I am a Millennial, and a lot of that information I learned first hand. Bauer cites that today's youth are characterized as digital natives whereas a lot of adults are digital immigrants (p. 5). I was born in 1990, so I'm kind of in this in-between area, but lean a little more to the side of being a digital native. With that in mind, these couple or so pages felt like they were written for those who would be characterized as digital immigrants. After getting past that, the rest of the chapter presented some great information that I'm sure will be expanded upon in later modules.
One thing in Module 1 I wasn't too thrilled about was learning that we have to use Twitter, and on top of that, we have to make at least two tweets a week. I've never been a fan of Twitter. My biggest gripes with it are that you don't have much of a profile, and the character limit is too small. I prefer Facebook, and in my opinion, Facebook would have been better for PLN because you can do a lot more with it and you're not confined by such a small character limit for your posts. With Facebook, we could have created our own little group for this class and been able to share various things in regard to music, teaching, and technology, as well as be able to elaborate on it more since we would not be confined by a character limit.
The one thing that I really enjoyed this week was learning about and getting to use Incredibox. That was a fun little activity. I mentioned it in my discussion post, but it was a bit limiting and the fact it lacked a save feature if you screwed up when recording was annoying. I feel like those aren't issues in the paid version, but I don't wanna shell out $7.99 to find out. Although I know I will not be using this in my concert band class, I could see myself using this in a music technology class if I get the chance to teach that class. That class, like this one, is geared toward learning about different ways in which to use technology in music teaching. Although these are college students, I know they would enjoy it and have fun with it.
This week was an overall nice introduction to this course, and I'm looking forward to what Module 2 has in store for us.
Reference:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Comments
Post a Comment