Module 5 Reflection
This week, our topic was Responding to Music with Technology. There are many ways in which we can use technology as a means of responding to music. In today's world, practically all students and teachers alike have a media device that can play music. Most are probably using their smartphones and using apps such as Spotify or YouTube, which now has its own dedicated music app.
Like many other music apps, Spotify presents a great way to share music, especially music that we are working on in our classes. If there is a specific version of a piece of music that I would want my students to listen to, I could use one of these apps and share that with them. Spotify, however, is limited in its music selection. For example, with our project this week, I would have liked to have found the exact arrangements of the pieces we are performing, but none appeared in my search. I got the original orchestral versions, which is great, but with Carmen, for example, the arrangement we have is a medley and it would be good for the students to hear transitions between selections within the medley. Furthermore, the solo piece "Rose Variations", Spotify just did not have. Although this was my first time personally using Spotify, it was not the first time I had encountered its limitations. One example was when one of my friends was riding with me in my car and he had his phone connected to my car via Bluetooth. I asked him to search for a particular soundtrack from a recent video game, but Spotify did not have it. YouTube, on the other hand, is much more accessible in this regard. It has the exact arrangements of the pieces that we are doing in my concert band, at least for our first concert. Furthermore, publishers such as Hal Leonard and Arrangers' include the score in their YouTube videos so that you can follow along with the score as you are listening. In the past while I was the assistant director, I had shared recordings from YouTube of the music we were working on with the students through a dedicated Facebook group. I have unfortunately neglected in doing so this past year (since August), but I am probably going to revive that group and start doing that again as I think it would be beneficial to the students.
Our other work from this week had us evaluate music software and create a social bookmark of internet resources using Diigo. These were my least favorite projects thus far in this course, but they could have some use later on. In regard to the evaluation of music software, I was a little stumped on what to choose. I ended up choosing Finale NotePad 2012 as I have it and have experience with it. I also decided to choose it over its commercial counterpart, Finale, as NotePad is free (although only available on Windows). Unless a school strictly uses Macs, this is very accessible versus the full version of Finale, which has a high price point, even with an educator discount. In regard to the social bookmarking project, I can see its use for teachers in a Pre-K through 12 setting, but in my current setting, I do not have much use for it. I do, however, like the idea of having a dedicated bookmarking tool that makes it easier on bookmarking and finding your bookmarked websites as opposed to a web browser's standard bookmarking tool, which can become very large and hard to sort through. I actually may continue to use Diigo for my own personal use for anything academic related.
Like many other music apps, Spotify presents a great way to share music, especially music that we are working on in our classes. If there is a specific version of a piece of music that I would want my students to listen to, I could use one of these apps and share that with them. Spotify, however, is limited in its music selection. For example, with our project this week, I would have liked to have found the exact arrangements of the pieces we are performing, but none appeared in my search. I got the original orchestral versions, which is great, but with Carmen, for example, the arrangement we have is a medley and it would be good for the students to hear transitions between selections within the medley. Furthermore, the solo piece "Rose Variations", Spotify just did not have. Although this was my first time personally using Spotify, it was not the first time I had encountered its limitations. One example was when one of my friends was riding with me in my car and he had his phone connected to my car via Bluetooth. I asked him to search for a particular soundtrack from a recent video game, but Spotify did not have it. YouTube, on the other hand, is much more accessible in this regard. It has the exact arrangements of the pieces that we are doing in my concert band, at least for our first concert. Furthermore, publishers such as Hal Leonard and Arrangers' include the score in their YouTube videos so that you can follow along with the score as you are listening. In the past while I was the assistant director, I had shared recordings from YouTube of the music we were working on with the students through a dedicated Facebook group. I have unfortunately neglected in doing so this past year (since August), but I am probably going to revive that group and start doing that again as I think it would be beneficial to the students.
Our other work from this week had us evaluate music software and create a social bookmark of internet resources using Diigo. These were my least favorite projects thus far in this course, but they could have some use later on. In regard to the evaluation of music software, I was a little stumped on what to choose. I ended up choosing Finale NotePad 2012 as I have it and have experience with it. I also decided to choose it over its commercial counterpart, Finale, as NotePad is free (although only available on Windows). Unless a school strictly uses Macs, this is very accessible versus the full version of Finale, which has a high price point, even with an educator discount. In regard to the social bookmarking project, I can see its use for teachers in a Pre-K through 12 setting, but in my current setting, I do not have much use for it. I do, however, like the idea of having a dedicated bookmarking tool that makes it easier on bookmarking and finding your bookmarked websites as opposed to a web browser's standard bookmarking tool, which can become very large and hard to sort through. I actually may continue to use Diigo for my own personal use for anything academic related.
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