4th) Music Teacher

Music teacher in the classroom

There are different types of ICT that can be introduced in music teaching in a classroom environment. One of the ICT tools commonly used is video recorder or pen recorder. Such tools are commonly utilised in classroom to record students’ performances.  Students will have the opportunity to listen, evaluate and analyse their own recordings, generating ideas to improve their techniques and performances. I have conducted a survey, by interviewing my peers and teachers, gathering their opinions on their perspectives regarding video recording in performance study. The results showed that many of my interviewees have high regards for such method and concurred that this is probably the fastest way to self-improve in performance study. 

Electronic whiteboard is another potential ICT tool in enhancing music learning in a classroom environment. The usage of electronic whiteboard provides many advantages over the conservative teachings on a black or whiteboard used in a classroom. As Judy Lever Duffy, Jean B. McDonald and Al P. Mizell (2005) stated, “As you write on an electronic whiteboard, a built-in scanner records the drawings or text in the colours you are using. The recorded digital image is then displayed on a monitor. Furthermore, the recorded image can be saved edited, or printed out. The image can then be erased from the electronic whiteboard, and a new computer file can be opened to capture and record new images. Once saved, whiteboard information can be included in other documents or placed in an electronic archive for you or your students to access for review.” According to the quoted statement above, electronic whiteboard will be able to enhance learning because students will be able to find the notes that have been saved.  It has been a common issue during the past decades that students were too preoccupied in attempting to copy or renumerate the teachings in the expense of brainstorming and truly comprehending the contents of a lecture. With such a breakthrough technology available in the classroom, issues regarding difficulty of students in keeping up with the pace of the lecturers or missing out on key points of a lecture will be addressed. This will promote more interactive participation of students in the classroom, triggering the interests of the subjects among pupils, providing an instant warm feedback to the teachers, thus benefiting every single soul in the classroom, including the one delivering the contents of the lecture.

References:

1. Duffy J.L., McDonald J.B. and Mizell A.P. (2005), Teaching and Learning with Technology, Pearson Education, USA. Pg 104 - 126