Collaborating Through Technology

Having students collaborate is essential in any classroom, even in music classes.  Although this may be a difficult task to think about considering we want our students to be playing as much as possible during class, it is made easier through the use of technology.  There are so many resources at our disposal that can make this easier.  Some of those resources consist of Google Docs, Google+, and Social Media apps.  I cannot use Social Media apps in my classroom directly, so I will not be talking much about that.  However, I have my own Twitter account as well as other social media accounts, and there is exorbitant amounts of ideas floating around to use in the classroom.

Google Docs is a resource that I am currently using in my classroom.  My students are doing a research project within small groups that are using Google Docs to collaborate outside of class.  Because I want my students to play as much as possible, this project has been done mainly at home, with small amounts of time to discuss in class.  It has been a huge help to my students to keep all of their information in one place and be able to manipulate as needed without having to be in the same room at the same time.  I am looking forward to these final projects to see what amazing things my students were able to do while collaborating with their classmates.

Google+ is much like a Social Media site.  Although I have not used it yet, I am looking forward to seeing if it something I would like to incorporate into my classroom.  I see many possibilities there, such as allowing my students to post in way that is non-threatening.  They can ask questions, make comments, and have discussions with their peers in a way they cannot do any other way.  I am going to have to refer back to my Twitter friends to see just how I can use this resource in my orchestra classroom.  If you have questions about how Google+ can work for you, refer to this article from EduTopia: Google+ from EduTopia

Cost and Dilemmas

In my school, students were given iPads for their educational use  Also, students that do not have access to Wi-Fi at home can check out a mobile hot spot from the school library.  For this reason, there would be no additional cost in using these resources to collaborate.  However, both of these are huge considerations when thinking about using collaborating tools for your classroom.  Do your students have a device to use for these tools?  Do your students have access to Internet outside of the school in order to follow through with their responsibilities? 

Other dilemmas to consider are: what are your priorities?  What are your goals?  What are your curricular goals?  As responsible teachers, we do not want to use technology for technology sake.  We need to make sure we use technology in a way that is adding to our classroom and our curriculum. 
We want to use it in new and innovative ways while still keeping the authenticity and efficiency of our class. 

Learning Management Systems and Google

Google has so many apps and uses.  Some of my favorites include: Google Forms, Google Docs, and Google Classroom.  Google Forms can be created for assessments: pretests, or post-tests.  You can also use them to get opinions from your students, both of which I do in my classroom.  Google Docs allows your students to collaborate in any number of ways or for any number of assignment types.  This also allows for the teacher to be in involved in the collaboration as well.  Teachers can make comments without changing the information on the document.  The teacher can help by giving suggestions on a project or by checking grammar or editing content. 

My class is currently doing a research project in small groups.  Most of their work is being done outside of school, so having the ability to collaborate with their peers without being in the same place at the same time is crucial.  Through this same method, I have the ability to keep an eye on their progress and make suggestions along the way to keep them on track or make their project better.  This is invaluable.

Google Classroom is a Learning Management System (LMS) that can be set up in multiple ways to help organize your class content, assign work, have discussion forums, and keep track of grades.   This is the LMS that I use in my classroom.  Google Classroom has many positives: it is very easy to use and navigate, for both the teacher and the students.  It is very easy to submit assignments, including videos, and it is easy to grade those assignments, give personalized feedback, as well as grades.  The negatives are: the assignments are difficult to find once they are past because everything is shown in a feed form, instead of folders that are easily organized; and it does not allow for built in lessons where the students are required to go from one page to the next in an preset order. 

For students, this LMS is extremely helpful in the classroom.  There is one place where students can go to find everything necessary in the class - assignments, due dates, resources, forums, and easy communication with the teacher.  The other great part of Classroom, parents can be added to the account to be able to see what their child is doing in class.  This helps with communication with parents, as well as support from the parents. 

In my classroom, Google Apps and Google Classroom are invaluable.  They help me assess my students, both formally and informally.  They help me keep my assignments organized and accessible.  They help me communicate with my students and their parents/guardians.  There may be downsides, but for me, the positives definitely outweigh those downsides.  As I use it more, I will probably have to change some details or processes, but overall, this addition to my class has been a great technological resource.

Digital Learning

Using Technology in the Orchestra Classroom

This week we have an assignment through my graduate class to create a lesson plan using a digital resource.  In my opinion, there are so many options, it is difficult to choose only one.  I will begin, however, stating that I am not going to discuss how to choose the actual device to be used.  My school just adopted 1:1 iPads, which is a great thing for me and my class.  There were many considerations when deciding what device to go with for my district, and we are still trying to decide what device to go with for the high school students - if they are also going to do iPads or go with the Chromebooks.   The considerations consisted of mobility - how easy is it to carry around, usability - how easy is it for the students to use, and cost effectiveness - does the cost make sense for this group of students.  For the types of assignments our district was accounting for, iPads seemed to be the best option.  Although students still write papers and such, it is not to the same extent as high school students.  As middle school students, we do more drawing projects and creative videos than the high school, therefore iPads work great for us.  Also with the right protective case, they are more durable than laptops; this is also an important consideration.  Therefore, this is what my district decided to do.  As a teacher, I like this decision and am happy to use it to the best of my ability in my classroom.

Socrative

Now, on to my decision making process for my classroom:
Although I have many ideas, I am trying to get out of my comfort zone to work on something new.  I have already started using exercises and lessons provided through the website www.musictheory.net as well as assignments through Google Classroom, including the use of collaboration through Google Docs.  I would now like to expand into something new.  I'll start with Socrative, which is an app for student discussion or timed quizzes.  If a question is posed to the students, each can respond with an opinion or fact.  This can be a student-led discussion or a team-based race.  Although audio and video recordings are not supported by Socrative at this point, you can attach an article for students to read before answering any questions (Socrative.com, 2016).  This allows classes to have a Socratic Seminar type discussion without having to answer questions aloud in front of their peers.  This resource would be good when thinking about how music makes an impact in different situations or time periods or even the students' own lives.  The downside to Socrative is that the free version only allows one class to be added.  Otherwise, there is a $29.99 per year subscription in order to have up to ten classes enrolled.  This would have to be a part of the consideration before implementing it into the classroom.

Classroom Response System

This is also known as using clickers.  This is a system set up as multiple choice questions where the students use a "clicker" to choose an answer and submit it into the system through a teacher computer.  When most people hear of multiple choice question, they think of basic recall questions.  Although that is one way to use multiple choice questions, that is not the only way to use them.  They can be used for deeper level thinking skills, student monitoring, and application questions.  Depending on the immediate feedback the teacher receives based on the student responses, the teacher can then guide the discussion or the lesson.  There are many different options when deciding whether or not to use this system.  One is using it as an opening activity to start class, find out what students know about the current topic or start a discussion.  Two is using it as an assessment, find out how students are comprehending the current topic.  The third is to use it as a possible "choose your own adventure" activity.  This would allow the teacher to ask a question, and take whatever direction the students choose based on the choices given. 

The positives to this system is that it gives every student a chance to give their opinion in a more anonymous way, which is much less intimidating in front of peers.  It also allows them to have some choice in the direction of the discussion or show when they need more explanation of a certain topic.  Last, this definitely allows for student engagement in the classroom, which every teacher wants. 

The negatives include: it takes time to set it up, especially the first time; technical difficulties can arise; and teachers must learn how to write multiple choice questions in a way that allows for open ended discussions or deeper level thinking (Vanderbilt University, 2016). 

Another Consideration

A teacher must always make sure each of their students is considered when deciding on any resource for the classroom.  All IEP requirements, as well as other personal needs, must be met when using technology.  If students need specific differentiation, whether it be more challenges or making it slightly easier, every students needs that consideration before the technology is introduced into the classroom and planned for accordingly. 

Have fun choosing different resources to use in the classroom.  It can be fun and educational!