Eleventh Day

Ok, one of those days was the ninth and one was the tenth. Today is the eleventh, and final day of class. final day of this blog as well (It will be continued, but not under this name).

So today, we watched everybody's digital story. I was really impressed with the presentations. I really think this is a great way to present information, and like anything else, you can be as creative as you want. If you want to only use it as an overview before you truly present the material, or to wrap up a chapter and review the material.

We also saw everybody's culture quests. This was great. You get so wrapped up in your own project, that it's nice to see the approaches that the other groups took.

When I reflect on this course, I have to say that I learned a lot about technology in education. The resources are there for the taking, and it's a yet another great way to motivate students. I am sure I will be implementing the techniques I learned in this class.

Ninth day

The last class was actually the eighth day. Should be no surprise that I was totally oblivious to this until now.

Now for the real ninth day. We took a lot of time to work on our culture quests. This was helpful, because we had lots of time to get lost in the program, ask for help, and finish with new knowledge. I really like this project, but I did have a hard time uploading the information. I stayed for a few hours after class and tried to fix the page. I went into html format and adjusted a few of the problems, but I think there are still some mistakes.

I recorded my digital story as well, and I think it came out alright. I know the topic is very music specific, and I learned it in a theory class. However, my attempt was to present it in a more watered down version, so it didn't necessarily need to be taught in a music theory class

Ninth Day

On the ninth day of class, we had some opportunities to work on our digital stories. Everything is really coming together with all the projects.

I thought the Excel project was very helpful. I have used this program in the past, but I had to have somebody help me with setting up the equations for the spreadsheet. Now, I feel confident to use this program for school applications.

The culture quest is really coming along as well. I am enjoying learning how to compose a webpage. This information is useful not only for the classroom, but because I have always wanted to learn how to do this.

As far as the digital story, I feel confident that I will have everything complete. The only thing I have left to take care of is the narration.

Standards

As far as the state standards for music are concerned, there are many ways to implement technology in the classroom in order to enhance learning. At the earliest levels the standard require some sort of music composition. With the recording programs that we have today, students can use their computer skills to learn music.

Programs such as fruity loops (fl studio) visually break down the beat, so students can create sounds to fill the spaces. This also allows them to create music that they hear on the radio. They can learn the theory behind music, while they are enjoying the music they create

The simple use of mp3's as a source to play music examples uses new technology. These allow for smoother transitions as opposed to switching cd's or tapes, and fumbling through for the selection.

Seventh Day

Today we had a chance to work on our Culture Quests. It was good to have a bit of a review, because I had tried to work on the webpage during the break, but I was unable to do everything correctly. As far as the page itself is concerned, with a few changes, I feel my portion of the project will be complete. I'm actually a little amazed at the work that we've been able to complete.

Over the break, I was able to complete my webquest. Again, I'm impressed with the information I've gained, and i think this type of learning can pique the interest of the students.

Sixth Day

Today, we talked about our One Minute Stories in groups. I found this to be helpful, because although I had planned for many of the images I will use, the other group members offered helpful suggestions. I think I chose a more difficult topic to cover, but I'd like to work with this becasue it is in my subject area.

Unfortunately, I was a little late today, due to some problems with where I am staying. I don't live in the city, and I stay at my brothers place in Manhattan. However, he's away, and I had to get in touch with him this morning before I left.

There were some great powerpoint presentations, and then we had a chance to work on our One Minute Stories. Thanks to the group in the morning, I had some fresh ideas of some of the pictures I'll use. Aside from the pictures I need to take myself, I think I'm prepared to finish this assignment up.

Finally, we worked on creating a website. This information will be extremely useful. I usually use internet explorer, but I'm beginning to see that netscape offers some other interesting features. I know I will use this skill, not only for the class, but to create a complete online reference guide for my classes.

Fifth day

Today, we heard some great presentations with Powerpoint. Not only did the presenters prepare the technological end, but they gave great lessons as well.

We also got some hands onwork with the Inspiration program. I didn't think this was really that difficult to navigate. It is however a great tool, and I already used it for my part of the Culturequest.

As far as the Culturequest is concerned, I think our group really narrowed down the field that we'll research towards the end of class. After we all had some time to go online, we had a discussion to reassess our project. I'm looking forward to creating a website, and putting our information on it.

Fourth Day

Today, more classtime was spent with the webquests. This time is turning out to be helpful though, because today we stressed the introduction, or the motivation of the webquest. I found my own introduction was speaking more to the task, and I was able to make the necessary changes.

We also spoke about making charts, on Microsoft Word. I'm looking forward to investigating the Inspiration program, though we didn't get a chance to work with that on our own.

Our group is working on Egypt in the Culture Quest, but we haven't narrowed down the field that we will research. We tossed around ideas like economics (imports, exports) and political structure, but we didn't narrow it down to our choice

All in all, I've learned a lot so far, and I hope to continue gaining technology skills for the classroom.

third day (for real)

OK, i guess I know not to press enter at all during the blog session. That and I have to check spelling a little better. Anyway, I'm entering this is in late because I didn't have my password this past weekend, apparantly my notes got mixed up with my neighbors.

On Thursday, I was excited to learn powerpoint, because I had never had the opportunity to work with it before. In fact, I don't have it on my personal computer. It's a great program, and I'm gonna get a hold of it soon.

We also discussed our findings on the webquest about webquests, and that group discussion really helped the general understanding of what and how work is accomplished in this type of assignment. I had begun planning my webquest, and this helped me establish better goals.

third day

Second Day

Today, I worked on the WebQuests. I'm enjoying getting into these projects, and I plan to use them when I teach. I actually used the Millionaire WebQuest as a guide for my own. I'm thinking of doing a project where the students write album notes for a fictional composer series. I haven't yet decided if it would be in the Jazz realm, or Classical realm. In fact, it could utilize composers from both eras.

What I plan on having my students do is to take a composer, give a biographical section, explain the personnel on the album, and a critique of the piece. Then, with this text, I could cut and paste it on a CD organizer at the end of the project, so the students actually have liner notes for the recording that they worked on. This is just the star, but I think I'll work with this idea.