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.