The
readings in weeks one through six focused on various ways that music teachers
can use technology within lessons to enhance or facilitate learning. This week,
Bauer’s (2013) work reminds us that technology can be an important part of the
administrative facets of the music education world. Productivity and
professional development are two of the areas covered in this chapter.
Productivity
includes various jobs that keep teachers organized in the classroom and as
professionals. Calendars, to-do lists, communications, and public relations
tasks were traditionally completed with pencil and paper. Today, there are
several online programs that teachers can use to stay organized. For example,
Evernote allows the user to create notes and to-do lists that are available on
any device. The benefits to using an online, cloud-based program is that it is
available anywhere there is a device with internet connection. No longer do we
have to carry papers and files – they can be easily accessed through Google
calendars, Evernote, Gmail, and other such applications.
Attendance,
seating charts, and grade books also used to be pencil and paper affairs. I can
remember my teachers carrying the big, olive-green gradebook through the
school, marking down grades and student absences on the pages. Now there are
applications for iPads and programs for computers that can help us organize all
of that data. iDoceo is one such application. iDoceo can be downloaded to an
iPad for a one-time fee of twelve dollars. With that investment, users can
receive updates as they become available, and all of the features are included
for that fee.
There are no in-app purchases that teachers would need to
buy in order to make full use of the program in their classroom. The most
recent update includes the following: planner, diary, grade book with
attendance, calculations and statistics, summary view in each class with
configurable widgets, schedule, seating plans, handwritten notepads, text
notepads, resource manager, and bulletin boards. From my limited investigation
of this application, I feel that
it would be a good investment and could help teachers stay
organized in the classroom.
Professional
development is another area that Bauer (2013) suggested could be enhanced or
even simplified using technology. As we certainly know, there are a multitude
of online educational programs available today from many well-known and
accredited universities. This allows students to participate in quality
programs even when they are not near the actual university. Kent State’s
Master’s in Music Education program is just one example of this type of
professional development. There are also many less formal professional
development options available online. There are Facebook groups created and
joined by music teachers. There are also blogs discussing many different music
education topics, and NAfME Academy offers online professional development
opportunities for music teachers. These formats allow for more informal
discussions and provide assistance to teachers from other teachers facing and
solving the same issues within their classrooms and schools. As Bauer (2013)
stated, “from informal personal learning networks to formalized graduate degree
programs, technology can empower music educators with personalized, sustained,
flexible, and social professional learning opportunities,” (p. 186).
Throughout this class, we have
learned about the various ways we can incorporate technology into our music
classes. This week, Bauer (2013) reflected on the ways that technology can help
music teachers to stay productive as well as to continue to develop
professionally. Technology can play an important role in all facets of a music
teacher’s professional life.
References:
Bauer, W.I. (2013). Music
learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and
responding
to music. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.
iDoceo. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.idoceo.net/index.php/en/
