Use of technology in the classroom

 Michael Baker Brown

Technology Assisted Music Learning

Dr. Bazan

I love technology, when it works.  As an educator, I must find ways to infuse technology into teaching.  Technology is everywhere and it is not going away.  Almost everyone has a digital devise in his or her pockets these days, no matter your social status.   The first thing educators must do is acknowledge what technology can do for us in and out of the classroom, then figure out how to use it to the benefit of improving education. 

Technology has become more affordable and common placed.  I am in my eighth year of teaching, and my use of technology in the classroom has not changed that much from when I started.  I am a high school choir director, and the curriculum is performance based.  I do use technology, but I use it in the way most teachers use it.  I create flyers, programs, and slides.  I have hundreds of emails that I check regularly, and have a laptop, soundboard, and projector that I use often in the classroom to present material to students.  I am very fortunate to work in a one to one school.  That means that each student has their own personal laptop for the year to use for educational purposes. Our district receives grants to help them afford these advances for our students.  If we did not receive these grants, we most likely would not have the technological support we have now. 

All this technology is great, but it does come with some constraints.  Many times educators are given personal development to learn new programs that administration want us to implement in the classroom ,but often times the PD only shows the surface of the program.  I find that I am usually ok with deepening my understanding of the technology, but I have colleagues who get lost and are overwhelmed with the continuous stream of new programs.   Although there are constraints, as educators we must work around them to give the best to our students that we can. 

To help with infusing technology into the day-to-day teaching, Bauer introduces a new model. 

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge or TPACK is the model that infuses all three areas together to create a great teaching tool.  The idea is that teachers should use their deep pedagogical knowledge to teach content creatively with smart technology.   I use youtube to project recordings of great choirs performing a piece we are working on, so my students can hear and see a choir perform.  Sometimes it helps the students hear what the piece sounds like, so they have something in their ear to how the piece is shaped.  Another example I have is the use of technology for sight-reading purposes.  We are a performance based curriculum, and I use sight reading factory to cut down on paper.  I project the example on the screen and the class works through the example together. It is a great tool and the students really enjoy working together to perform the example.   Sight Reading Factory

Educators also need to learn to build their Personal Learning Networks.  I admit that I did not have a twitter account before I started this class.  I never started an account because I thought the program would be a fad.  Now I see that it can be used as a great source to build professional relationships.  I started following so many colleagues and organizations that showed interest to me.  I have always had a Facebook page, and I used it in this same way I do Twitter to build my community, but it is a technology that I see adults using more than students.  Students have platforms of communication, but it always seems that they move to different platforms than adults use. 

As educators, we must approach the learning of technology the same way we approach our learning of content and pedagogy.  The more we know and understand, the more we can share and educate our students.  The main idea that must hold onto is that “integrating technology is not about technology-it is about content and effective instructional practices” (Bauer, 11).  Students need every opportunity to be successful.  Educators can use technology to aid in making a lesson more approachable and enjoyable for students.  Educators must challenge themselves by creating lessons that strong in pedagogy, content, and technology.