Teaching in the 21 st Century: Using Technology to Enhance Student Engagement Dr. Heather Peyton, University of Northern Iowa Technology for Student Engagement Research has shown that that using games and puzzles to teach course content and skills can be an effective way enhance student engagement and learning. Technology has changed the way we relate to others. We can use technology to meet students where they are! Technology can help us re-imagine how students are invited to interact with course materials. We can use technology to encourage students to participate in their education. Technology can provide ways for students to actively explore new knowledge and to build and reinforce skills. Benefits of Using Games and Apps It s often an exciting way to present rote content. Students can recognize their own proficiency through games. Students can enjoy creative connections. They can show students what they know vs. what they need to work on. They can provide pleasant frustration through surmountable challenges. When students participate in the creation of a game or app, they value their own creations. Games and apps can be used for individual work or to interact in groups. Pitch Reading Recommended Sites and Apps Staff Wars (IOS and Android) Flashnote Derby (IOS and Android) Note Tutor (IOS and Android) Note Works (IOS and Android) Staff Wars live (IOS): Let s you play along to check notes on your instrument Rhythm Training Rhythm Swing (IOS) Rhythm Cat (IOS) Rhythm Lab (IOS ipod) Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer (IOS) Musition Rhythm apps (IOS) Rhythm Calculator (IOS) Sight Reading Factory (computer and IOS) Rhythm Tap (Android) Music Rhythm Master (Android) Tuner/Metronome Rhythm teacher: music beats (Android) Tonal Energy (IOS and Android) Great Tuner and Metronome combo and so much more! Tuner: o Colorful display and smiley face when in tune! o Easy to see when sharp or flat and gives exact cents o Automatic transposing for all instruments
o Can sustain pitches (multiple) as a drone in various octaves and with various instrument sounds (Can choose to have vibrato or not) o Also includes string tuning and keyboard features o Has an analysis function that will analyze the sound in various ways and show as a graph: volume, start, release, duration and steady is reflected Metronome: o Can use with the tuner o Huge range of tempo possibilities o Has a tap tempo button to easily find any tempo o Multiple meter and subdivision/accent choices as well as vocal counting and light pulsing feature o Can choose to keep the 8 th note consistent when switching between meters o Can create presets to quickly change between meters and tempos Record, video record, import recordings/videos and slow down playback to listen/analyze in detail Intonation Training Intune (IOS) Intonation Ear Trainer (Android) Tonal Energy Sing True (IOS) Intonia: website or Android Set up a team race to see how fast students can ID if the pitch is sharp or flat In tonal energy: have students see how far they can bend the pitch sharp and flat before centering on the pitch. Grade on how accurately they hit the pitch on the 1 st try (percentage in tune = grade percent) Learning Key Signatures Sites: o Musictheory.net: http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/keysig o Music theory fundamentals: http://musictheoryfundamentals.com/musictheory/keysignatures.php Apps: *also see music theory apps Scales Random scale generators: Musition Key Signatures (IOS) Tiny Cards (IOS and Android): search decks for key signatures Scales app (IOS and Android) Create one using a spinnywheel type app The Random Scale Machine website: http://www.therandomscalemachine.com/ Scale Exercises: Major Scales Treble and Bass Clef or alto and tenor clef and Minor Scales Treble and Bass Clef or Alto and Tenor clef (IOS and Android)
Sight Reading with Sight Reading Factory computer or app Can customize everything (meter, rhythms (including rhythm only), key, clef, pitch, accidentals, leaps, articulations, dynamics, number of bars ) Can generate an unlimited number of exercises Can customize how examples are presented (metronome click or not, disappearing bars, etc) Allows students to work on specific skills at a variety of levels Yearly fee (can add students through your account for less and be able to track their progress) Practicing: Using an Interval Training app to structure practice time Seconds Pro (IOS and Android) Interval Timer (IOS and Android) o Clearly define practice session objectives organizes what to practice o Keeps students on track and on time so they stay highly focused for short periods of time o Helps avoid mindless playing o Analyze the plan and the results each week to see what needs to be tweaked to be even more effective Interactive Practice/Lessons at Collabramusic.com o Record, share, and archive lessons o Archive and reuse lesson content o Track and review student s recorded practice sessions and practice reports o Leave real-time feedback with timestamped comments o Give assessments for one or many students and grade/comment on them o Let s students ask questions outside of lesson time o Free for instructors and $8-10 per month for students Smart Music Play along with online accompaniment (large library of repertoire) The program will provide feedback on what notes/rhythms were missed Set up assignments through templates Grade performances and provide feedback with provided rubrics Apps for Discovering Recordings Spotify (IOS and Android) Create shared playlists Have groups create lists by fun topics to share (random unknown works; composers that start with the same letter as their last name; female composers; works with a certain word in the title; etc) Soundhound (IOS and Android) App will listen to any music around you and tell you what it is as well as add it to a playlist Create bingo cards with names of pieces or composers and play recordings that students can ID with Soundhound to work towards bingo Have each student play a recording of a piece that inspires them and have the class collect each of those into a playlist
Changing Speed and Pitch of Recordings Tonal Energy (IOS and Android) Anytune (IOS) Music Speed Changer (Android) Can be used to: Play along with recordings at a comfortable speed and increase speed over time Change pitch on Baroque instrument recordings Record practice sessions and slow down the speed to analyze in detail Listen to the interpretation of different artists in slow motion to really hear what they do in detail (especially nice for jazz, ornamentation, and cadenzas) Creating Spinning Choice Wheels Spinnywheel (IOS) Decision Roulette (Android) Can be used to: Form teams Select who plays next Select order of lesson tasks Spin for what exercise to play or how to play it Choose a reward for a correct answer or performance Create many other activities! Creating Group Flashcards and Quizzes Tiny Cards (IOS and Android) Quizlet Flashcards (IOS and Android) Students can collaborate to create flashcards (with a quiz function) on any topic and share with the group as a way to make rote material more fun My studio flash card topics have included things like: reed making info, oboists to know, pieces to know, scales, key signatures, musical terminology, etc Taking and Editing Pictures Snapchat (IOS and Android) Easy way to take pics and draw on them. Students can do this themselves to analyze or learn new info My typical uses: show hand position/embouchure and changes, have students draw in new fingerings on their instrument; instrument repair/adjustment projects, etc Using your Device as an Interactive Whiteboard Showme interactive white board (IOS) Educreations Interactive Whiteboard (IOS) Doceri (IOS) Groupbaord (IOS and Android) Whiteboard (Android) Smartboard (Android)
Scan Music for Playback Reflect ipad/tablet to use as a whiteboard Create video both live and for students to see later (Can talk, record, and edit at the same time) Add pics and documents Can pause and erase Multiple brush colors and backgrounds Can grade work with commentary explaining reasoning Manage students with groups Easy embedding for sharing anywhere isee Notes: IOS and Android SnapNPlay: IOS and Android PlayScore: IOS and Android Sheet Music Scanner: IOS NotateMe Now: IOS and Android Allows you to hear any score without having a recording Great for inspiring students to find repertoire they don t know and to share it with others Livestream at Livestream.com Great for families and friends to tune in to watch any event Once people subscribe to your channel, they will get announcements once you set up new events Can archive/download performances Music Discovery and Inspiration Youtube videos: create your own channel for inspirational or informational videos to share TED Talks: Powerful talks (18 minutes or less). There are a lot of great, inspiring talks about music. I often use these in classes to show students what kinds of careers are possible in music and what kinds of fun things people are sharing with or about music all over the world. TED-Ed: build a lesson around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk or YouTube video. Add questions, discussion prompts, and additional resources. Share your lesson with your students and track their progress. You can also browse and use lessons that have already been created. Music Theory and Aural Training Sites: o teoria.com o musictheory.net o Aurelia: https://www.risingsoftware.com/auralia/ Apps: Music Theory and Practice and Ear Training Courses by Musicopoulos (IOS) Ear Beater (IOS) Sing True (IOS) Music Theory Pro (IOS) Theory Lessons (IOS) Theta Music Trainer (IOS and Android) Music Theory Helper Android Blob Chorus IOS and Android Functional Ear Trainer Android