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Technology

  • Alternative Music

    Mike Lawson | January 11, 2013

    Bands, orchestras, and choirs have long been a staple of secondary education in this country. Our performing ensembles have proven to be a resilient and powerful way to actively engage students in music. However, there is a problem. Over the past 40 or more years our performing programs have engaged approximately 20 percent of high school students. While bands, orchestras, and choirs are great for this 20 percent, it leads to the question: "What about the 'other 80 percent'?"

    The next question might be, "Why do I care?"

    Generally speaking, music teachers are somewhat idealistic (not usually entering the profession for the monetary reward) and would agree with the statement that, "If music is important, it is important for everyone." As a profession, our mission is to enrich the lives of our citizens and the quality of our society through a deepened engagement with music. It is hard to achieve that mission when we don't see a majority of students past sixth grade in a music class or ensemble.

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  • Resources to Assist Instruction and Creativity

    Mike Lawson | November 15, 2012

    What is a master teacher, and what does it take to become one? While precise definitions vary, master teachers are leaders who have perfected the management of their classrooms and found ways to accelerate learning for all their students. Their expertise comes in recognizing that the educational process involves more than sharing content: it's about creating independent learners who have the critical thinking skills to grow and thrive. I've met many of these teachers in my clinics over the years. I find they are, themselves, life-long learners searching for new and better ways to reach and teach. These educators are embracing technology in increasing numbers, not afraid to adapt it to their needs and situations.

    Professional development tools, such as those found at www.ti-me.org, are designed to give educators the resources they need to excel through courseware that covers the gamut of music software applications. These following three landmark books vividly illustrate how technology can be used to further develop teaching skills and student output.

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  • The Emerging World of Online Professional Development

    Mike Lawson | September 12, 2012

    Professional development is evolving rapidly. Gone are the days when teachers needed to wait for a conference or the next journal for help and happenings – it is now available whenever and wherever via the Internet. Collaborative technologies such as social networking and interactive websites have brought professional development into the digital, virtual world. Consultation, coaching, community discussion, collaborative engagement, individual study, and mentoring all appeal to various learning styles and address individual needs and concerns.

    In the music related fields, perhaps the most exciting professional development conversations are revolving around the practitioners' abilities to congregate and have discussions utilizing well-adopted social networking sites such as Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. A number of very large online social groups have begun to emerge, focused around established entities such as the National Association for Music Education (NafME), as well as ad-hoc groups such as the Facebook "Band Directors Group" (www.facebook.com/groups/banddirectors/) and the Facebook "Music Teachers Group" (facebook.com/groups/mpln). In every case, the discussions that are happening within these robust environments are engaging and leading to the furthering of each member's knowledge.

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  • Improvisation Tools

    Mike Lawson | August 16, 2012

    Who would have thought that a computer could be a music director's best friend and right-hand man for teaching improvisation, the most personal and creative form of performance? In my four decades of teaching, I've incorporated several ways to teach improvisation, with and without technology. Like many people, I taught myself using excellent instructional materials by Jamey Aebersold, Jerry Coke, David Baker, and Dominic Spera, to name a few. And we've seen how the evolution and integration of technology has made improvisation instruction more exciting and accessible to all music students.

    Still, there are challenges we face, particularly with teaching scales and chords, the building blocks of music, to students who have never listened to diverse forms of music, let alone studied music theory. When our tech-savvy students don't know their scales and chords and do not hear or understand how they work together, we can now bring them up to speed with top-notch improvisation technology tools.

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  • Technology: Improvisation Tools

    Mike Lawson | July 10, 2012

    Who would have thought that a computer could be a music director's best friend and "right hand man" for teaching improvisation, the most personal and creative form of performance? In my four decades of teaching, I've incorporated several ways to teach improvisation with and without technology. Like many people, I taught myself using excellent instructional materials by Jamey Aebersold, Jerry Coke, David Baker, and Dominic Spera, to name a few. And we've seen how the evolution and integration of technology has made improvisation instruction more exciting and accessible to all music students.

    Still, there are challenges we face, particularly with teaching scales and chords, the building blocks of music, to students who have never listened to diverse forms of music, let alone studied music theory. When our tech-savvy students don't know their scales and chords and do not hear or understand how they work together, we can now bring them up to speed with top-notch improvisation technology tools.

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  • Technology and Jazz Education in High Gear

    Mike Lawson | June 6, 2012

    Jazz education is uniquely positioned to take advantage of a wave of technological innovations due to small ensemble size and the improvisational creativity at its core. Jazz directors are innovators at heart, and are often swift to incorporate technology that meets the unique demands of their students.

    To explore the impact of technology on jazz scholarship, I recently spoke with two model educators. Bart Marantz has been the studies director at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas for 29 years and Bob Sinicrope has taught at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts for 38 years. Both have been awarded the John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award, the most distinguished national honor for a jazz teacher created by the Berklee College of Music in association first with IAJE and now with the Jazz Educators Network (JEN). Their performances at major national and international jazz festivals and conferences are significant and frequent. Many of their alumni have gone on to the professional ranks, and both use technology to help guide their jazz programs towards musical excellence.

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  • Distance Learning: Music Technology Courses & Workshops

    Mike Lawson | May 10, 2012By John Kuzmich, Jr.

    Technology is changing how we deliver education. However, getting up to speed on the innovative opportunities that come with new software and hardware can be helped by an occasional jumpstart. At the end of this column is a link to a listing of over 130 online workshops and course offerings that cover every aspect of music technology education (click here to download a pdf of the listing). While traditional travel and housing expenses have been eliminated, you'll need four things to participate: a fast internet connection (broadband or higher); a Pentium 4 computer or a Mac (with 4 GBs of RAM); a microphone connected to the computer; and access to videoconferencing software for the interactive classes. GoToMeeting and WebEX are popular examples of videoconferencing software that work well over broadband internet connections without special hardware requirements. Skype also offers multipoint conferencing. Webcams are usually optional, although many laptops now include built in cameras.

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  • iPad Innovators in the Music Room

    Mike Lawson | April 9, 2012

    The "wildfire" began in April of 2010, when Apple released the first iPad, selling three million units in the first 80 days and 14.8 million, worldwide, that year. In that same year, 95 educators from across the U.S. attending the Apple Academy in Cupertino, California were introduced to the iPad. And the iPad has been blazing its way into the heart and soul of education ever since.

    I recently spoke with three amazingly innovative educators bringing new life to their music programs with the help of an iPad: Sarah Meyer of Jackson, Wis.; Anthony Johnson of Salisburg, N.C.; and Brandt Schneider of Seymour, Conn.. Meyer works with children in fifth grade through high school, using technology in a wide array of functions; Johnson has created an "iPad Marching Band" with over 100 at-risk children at his school (for the record, the students play actual instruments in that ensemble); and Schneider is bringing the iPad into his symphony orchestra. Their stories are among many emerging in our profession that can ignite imaginations and build new creative fires in the lives of music students.

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  • Using the iPad in Music Education

    Mike Lawson | March 9, 2012

    Apple's iPad is changing the music education landscape. I became a believer after attending the January JEN and TI:ME conventions in Louisville, Kentucky. There were iPad users everywhere I looked. The iPad has expanded instruction opportunities through their platform structure, significantly engaging and motivating students to extraordinary levels of instruction. And with Apple TV and AirPlay, one can teach anywhere in the classroom with complete portability and wireless connectivity that rivals the popular Smartboards, with less than half of the cost.

    Apple has sold more than 55 million iPads since its launch in 2010. Because the iPad accounts for over 80 percent of all tablet computer sales, software developers are creating apps at warp speed for these new devices. Right now, the iPad is the preferred platform for most new music applications. Some of the more popular apps include SmartMusic, Band-In-A-Box, Garage Band, Scorch, and Practica Musica. In addition, there are many other music apps that are just fun to play with, like Virtual Piano, Air Guitar, Congas, iBone, and Soundrop.

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  • Technology to the Rescue: A Strategy for Successful College Placement

    Mike Lawson | February 20, 2012

    Have you thought about your legacy? And I don't mean in terms of reputation or trail of awards, but the impact on students and their future. Even though music teachers are among the busiest on campus – what with never-ending lesson plans, rehearsals, assessments, adjudication, field trips, concerts, shows, fundraisers, meetings, and a mountain of management – helping place talented music students in college is not something that should be left solely to guidance counselors and parents.  In fact, for students considering studying music at the next level, the music teacher may be their most influential resource.

    Another way to think about it is that assisting with college placement for students who desire to pursue music participation at the collegiate level, whether in ensembles or as a music major or minor, is the ultimate thank you for all their years of practice, dedicated participation, and contribution to the success of your program.

    Technology can help, too, by better motivating students to achieve higher levels of musicianship required for college placement and as a means of plugging into the network of the many college ensemble directors who are out there looking for talented young musicians to keep their programs thriving. There are a number of strategic college recruitment plans worth considering.

    Self-Assessment

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  • New Best Practices with Digital Recording

    Mike Lawson | January 23, 2012

    Battery-powered hand-held and mini digital recorders are capable of making professional-quality recordings anytime, anywhere. When routinely and regularly recorded, students listen, analyze and respond with more perfect practice results. Kevin Mead, Band Director at Churchville-Chili High School in Churchville, N.Y. has observed, “My students have learned that I listen and analyze their SmartMusic assignments very carefully. This has taught them to listen to their own performance more critically and make improvements before they submit their recorded assessments.”

    I’d like to share five ways in which I have effectively applied recording technology in my teaching: audition recordings; rehearsal recordings; concerts recordings; podcasts; and lesson assignments and instruction.

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  • Play-Along Software

    Mike Lawson | December 12, 2011

    Play-along recordings have been motivating student practice since the 1950s with everything from simple piano accompaniments to full orchestras. In their originally produced analog format, students could only rigidly follow along, much like practicing with a metronome. Thanks to new technology, those days are long gone.

    How would you like to be able to customize the tempo? Create practice loops of specific measures? Change the key? Or best of all, have a completely interactive accompaniment? All this is now available to students, teachers and professional performers alike with the latest digital play-along technology. Sherie Aguirre, principal oboist with the Virginia Symphony, used this software to prepare for a performance of the Strauss Oboe Concerto. She relates, "I was thrilled to be able to 'rehearse' with the virtual orchestra accompaniment. Its unique ability to follow me I while I play along is particularly important with the Strauss piece. The accompaniment software works beautifully." Mimi Zweig of the Jacobs School of Music agrees that this is a great learning tool and preparation for playing with a "real" orchestra. "It is the next best thing to the real thing making practice more productive!" she says.

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