... on behalf of the Masters in Music Education program at University of Florida!
This is certainly a topic with a steep learning curve for an older person like myself. In reading Dr. Bauer's book I had to smile when I came across the paragraph describing the difference between digital natives (younger people) and digital immigrants (older folks like me). I first heard this formulation at the Florida Music Educator's Association conference in Tampa about 6 years ago as part of a speech by Sir Ken Robinson. It struck a chord with me then and I have never forgotten it because it so perfectly encapsulates the contrasting relationships to technology between my generation and that of my adult children. I can function reasonably well in using technology once I learn it, but my children seem to have an innate sense of how just about any technology functions - even if it is brand new! For them it is their native tongue, but for me it is a second language that requires extra focus and concentration to be able to navigate.
I have made use of some very basic technology but it would be along the lines of what is described in the text as primarily being geared to administrative tasks rather than instruction. I have used Finale for composition and arranging for more than a decade, but that has been more for myself than my students - although I have used it to create arrangements for them to play. In the last couple of years I have made use of Youtube on the computer in my room to quickly bring up examples of various types of music that come up in discussions with my students - particularly when something comes up unexpectedly and it is clear they are not familiar with the person or style. I did this as recently as last Thursday when my piano students came to a new piece called "Promenade". I quickly brought up the Introduction of Pictures at an Exhibition to help them understand what a promenade was and they seemed to appreciate it.
I make use of computers and the Internet for communication and various administrative functions as do most people today. I have used some of the programs recommended for the PLN, but for personal rather than instructional purposes. For example, I already had a Feedly account, but have used it primarily for keeping up with a number of political commentary sites that I read regularly. I had previously used Google Reader for that until Google phased it out last November. I have blogged off and on for about 10 years now, but mostly on a personal or opinion basis rather than anything specifically geared to music education until required to do so for the courses in this MME program. I have used Facebook as a means of staying in touch with my friends and family who are spread out all over the globe, but I have long resisted joining Twitter because it seemed to me to be a duplication of effort in relation to Facebook. Being required to start a Twitter account has led me to decide that I will keep it exclusively focused on music education issues for the time being. I had much the same feeling about Google+. Prior to this I had not really seen any point to it. However, the interactions with the other students in the class this week has helped me to realize the potential in using that platform as a means to stay in touch with many other articles and innovations that I wouldn't have been aware of otherwise. Being "forced" to explore these other avenues has in fact turned out to not be such a bad thing!
One other "big idea" that resonated with me from Dr. Bauer's book is the explanation of the TPACK concept. In particular, the VENN diagram really helps to put the concept in focus and points the importance of looking for where all three areas overlap. Any teacher with a reasonable level of experience should have a good grasp of musical content and pedagogical issues. However, when technology gets added into the mix, things can get complicated in a hurry for us "digital immigrants". I completely agree with Bauer's statement on p. 10: "Technological approaches shouldn't be used for technology's sake. They should only be incorporated when there is a clear benefit to learning." That definitely is an ongoing temptation. To avoid that, we can't begin with the technology itself, but rather with sound pedagogical considerations that can clearly be supported by technological approaches. Just because some gadget or "cool app" comes out doesn't necessarily mean it will be useful in facilitating genuine learning. By addressing the content and pedagogical issues first and then working into the technology, things can be kept in the proper perspective.
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