This week we as a class learned how to evaluate instructional software, as described by the text and then through an assignment. The biggest issue I had with this project was in sifting through the countless resources that were provided to choose just one. I was having so much fun exploring different programs and applications that I almost did not have time to narrow it down enough to explore one thoroughly enough for this assignment, but I believe it turned out well. Though through the exploration of all these countless programs I learned about so many more resources that I had no idea even existed. Being able to analyze these into the categories the book describes, tutorial, practice, creativity, games, and the various software types has greatly enhanced how I view music software (Bauer, 2014).
Something completely new to me this week was the social bookmarking aspect. The value that this will have for my life, not just my music performance/education profession, is profound. I was still just bookmarking sites with my browser, always unhappy I could not find it on other computers and devices in addition to becoming very cluttered despite every effort to get organized. Now I have this tool that not only can I set tags to quickly let me navigate to certain sites, but I can highlight information, set sticky notes to remind me about things I thought about the last time I was at the site, and share this information with others in addition to having others be able to share with me. I love this!
I had the opportunity to review other people's Audacity remixes, which was a joy! So many great ideas and talented people exist within this class, and I love learning from them. I was slightly surprised there were so many people that discusses having troubles and frustrations with the program, for I found it to be very simple and intuitive. Even those individuals had neat remixes, but it was nice to finally feel confident where others were struggling. I was not trying to take pleasure in their struggles, but it was a nice change from previous weeks.
Finally, we discussed the issue of responding to music as presented in Chapter 5 of Bauer's book. Through both the reading and discussions this week, many avenues of responding to music were discussed such as listening and videos and discussion, but it was the approach of certain individuals that stood out to me. I have never spent too much time focusing on this aspect of music education, for it seems so ingrained into what learning about music is to me, that I never explored it as much as I should have to find different avenues to present it to students. The ideas of visual listening maps is so simple, yet I have only done it through verbal discussion, which I completely realize was not as effectual. Many ideas expressed this week helped to remind me of ideas and strategies that I may have forgotten, or not utilized to their fullest extent recently.
This was another wonderful week. I love this class, and hope it continues through the finals weeks. Being more than halfway done already, I am already feeling a pain of regret that this learning experience will end, but I am being given countless new and useful strategies that will help me in the future.
Bauer, W. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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