Chapter 1 Review

In the first chapter of Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards, information is given about effective uses of interactive whiteboards(IWB), instructional benefits, student achievement, instructional challenges, and teacher training.

IWB's are useful in many different types of classrooms. The book mentioned several different ways that  IWB's can be utilized in the classroom, including: highlighting, dragging and dropping information, importing pictures, using multimedia content, providing feedback that is activated by touch, and student response systems. In my future music classroom, I could utilize interactive whiteboards by highlighting and coloring sheet music. I can project the music on the board, but also highlight and color parts of the music to help students identify dynamics, or form in the music. This brings about a whole new dimension of learning. Chapter one also discussed instructional benefits of IWB's. Two of the benefits mentioned that I feel are very important in the music classroom are lesson organization/flow, and enriched instruction by increasing student attention, motivation, participation, and collaboration. The IWB can be used to create organized lessons that consist of all the music, videos, and sheet music needed for each lesson. Teachers can play videos, mark music, show diagrams, and much more during their music lessons, on the IWB. The IWB can also keep students engaged during class time. Students want the opportunity to come to the board and play with the technology, so they will be motivated to behave and work hard during the lesson. In the music classroom, it is very important for students to work together and act as a learning community, especially when singing in a choir. IWB's help students participate together and collaborate with each other on ideas and projects.
One of the most important subjects I feel the book discussed was the need for professional development concerning use of technology. Teachers should take every opportunity they can to learn more about how to use and implement technology in the classroom, more specifically IWB's. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of IWB's and learn how to use them effectively in my classroom, helping my students achieve at the highest level possible.

Digital Storytelling

The University of Houston has a very informative page about digital storytelling (http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/example_stories.cfm?categoryid=7). There are many excellent excerpts of digital storytelling on their webpage, but I was especially very drawn to the video called "Music, Music, Music." The video was about music, and how it effects people's brains. In class we discussed the 7 Elements of digital story telling. As I watched the video "Music, Music, Music," I took note of those elements and saw how the creator incorporated all of those elements into the video.

1. The Point of View: The point of view was clearly stated at the beginning of the video by simply stating the title and giving a short explanation- "Music, Music, Music,... about the machines that make our civilization run and the people who's ingenuity created it." 

2. The Dramatic Question: "Do you crave listening to music?" 

3. Emotional Content: The creator makes the video relatable to everyone by explaining how music effects all people throughout civilization. Even the pictures used represent people from every culture and every generation. 

4. The Gift of Your Voice: The voice that narrated the story was of an older man, and the recording effects used, made it sound like he was a radio announcer from the 1940-50's. This created a special affect also emphasizing how music has touched people of all ages and generations.  

5. The Power of the Soundtrack: The Soundtrack used was an old Nickelodeon song. The piano sounded very "old-timy" and helped to reference a few places in the video discussing songs that "stick like glue." 

6. Economy: The content was just the right amount, and was very concise, yet very informative. Many pictures were used to tell the story and keep the audience entertained.

7. Pacing: Many pictures were used, so the pictures changed quite often. The longest amount of time that a picture remained on the screen was roughly 5 seconds. This kept the pace flowing very nicely, and keeps the audience engaged in the video at all times. 

Overall, I was very impressed with this video and the digital story website in general. It gave me some good ideas and tips that will be helpful to me when starting my own digital story.

Blog Review

I am very interested in music education, so I chose to review the blog MusTech.Net (http://mustech.net/). First of all, I was

very impressed with the surplus of information given to assist music teachers in the field. This blog gives tips on everything you can think of from "How to unplug," to "What is the copyright alert system?" I think that the page's layout is a bit overwhelming, and could use a fresh look that is easier to navigate. I do like how the title to each blog post is given and the first few sentences of the post are shown, then you are given the option to "read more." This helps the reader get a quick idea of what the post is about, and helps to narrow down exactly what information they are looking for. All authors are listed, and if you click on their name, information about that person is linked. The advertisements on the sides of the page are appropriate to the subject and are quite helpful to viewers. One of the best features on the site is the ability to search the blog archives by the month. This specific blog has been creating post since August 2006, which in my opinion makes it a very successful blog to be functioning for eight years and counting. One of the main critiques I have for this blog is the lack of color and creativity. It is not very pleasing to the eye, and at first glance can seem overwhelming with how the information is laid out. I think the use of color and formatting it in a more organized manner would help viewers navigate the site much easier.