ELPC G1 : Critical Essay

Critical Essay

It was argued that it is difficult to link ICT or technology with music learning because it was claimed that music students, especially those majoring in instrumental performances, are supposed to be physically guided by their tutors. However, arguments have also been made stating that music students will be exposed to a higher degree of creativity and knowledge via the usage of technology, i.e. PowerPoint, audio/video, teleconference etc. In comparison to the traditional way of teaching, real life simulation is made possible with the help of ICT on top of assisting students to possess the techniques and skills required.

Delivery of teaching contents to student has changed enormously during the past few decades. Churchill (2011, Pg 39) stated that most of the students in 18^th century were sent to school by factories or other business stakeholders in order to learn particular skills and knowledge which are related to their work. The purpose of learning was to possess a specific technique and also acquire creativity in the competitive global knowledge economy. Apart from that, they were some hidden curriculum embedded into the teachings, such as punctuality and responsibility. The delivery of such limited contents thus allows the study environment to be more focused on the teacher, blackboard and textbooks. On top of that, classroom interaction and peer discussion were almost non-existing and communication was almost always uni directional- from teachers to students.

Both learning goals and delivery methods have evolved tremendously over the centuries. According to the “Education Access” by Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2000, Pg7), “every child has the right to study and is compulsory to attend school to receive a proper education." With the reinforcement of such human rights virtue, young ones are able to gain more knowledge on different areas such as languages, mathematic, music and science. Students not only have to study the core courses such as English, mathematics, and history, but also have a chance to select elective courses that interested them, e.g. music, drama, and media. On top of that, they will also be able to work on their social skills and problems solving ability. ICT has thus been introduced in today’s classroom to aid in the development of such skills. Interactive whiteboards, laptops and online lectures are among the many which are not anymore foreign to a classroom of this age. The role of the teacher has also changed significantly from being solely a speaker to a coordinator of the classroom, attempting to fit everyone’s needs in his/her lesson planning. 

The innovations of such technology and the change in human’s mentality have shown great impact on education. Students in this new era have a chance to experience various kinds of knowledge and skills delivery due to the introduction of ICT. Traditional methods of teaching are obsolete due to the ongoing pace of the society with higher demands and expectation in education. The introduction of ICT in the classroom provides students more opportunities to get in touch with the outside world and also have a chance to obtain information with ease. They will not only be able to acquire knowledge based on the searched topics but also be reminded of the latest updates to relevant areas of such topics. The other advantage of ICT is that students are able to access them at home with the help of digital cameras, online lectures, and online search engines. Due to the competitive marketing industry, the price of digital gadgets has reduced enormously over the decades. Digital gadgets are thus more affordable and available to most families. 

Although the introduction of ICT into the classroom has undoubtly benefited students’ learning, the disadvantages of ICT shall not be ignored. When using computer in composition and musicology classes, the classroom layout has to be designed carefully to avoid any possibilities for pupils to be distracted by irrelevant contents. (Becta 2001, Pg1) As Julia Davies and Guy Merchant (2009, Pg.108) stated, “this is illustrated some of the student – teacher interviews reported by Burnett (2009):

“[We gave them different websites to go to but because they had so many different topics it’s quite hard and they ended up just looking at music websites and stuff and you’d constantly be checking every single person to check what they were doing cos you couldn’t spend your time with one person. You had to be constantly checking everyone else.]”  

One on one guidance is required most of the time in completing the online tasks and without appropriate supervision of the other students, they may ended up doing something irrelevant to the course-subject, i.e. Facebook or searching information which is irrelavant to their subjects. On top of that, it is very important for students to back up their work from time to time. If they forget to back up their homework and experience some technical issues with data access at a later point in time, they will end up losing their work and risk assignment overdue.  As Justin Reich and Thomsa Daccord(2008, Pg230) stated “in order to introduce ICT in the classroom, you need to have enough computers for all your students, security measures to make sure that each student is doing his or her own work, an IT staff member around to make sure things will work, and backup computers in case machines fail.” 

Margaret Cox, Christina Preston and Kate Cox (1999) have summered up the advantages and disadvantages of using ICT in the classroom:

Positive factors	Negative factors
Makes my lessons more interesting	Makes my lessons more difficult
Makes my lessons more diverse	Makes my lessons less fun
Has improved the presentation of materials for my lessons	Reduces pupil’s motivation
Gives me more prestige	Impairs pupils’ learning
Makes my administration more efficient	Restricts the contents of the lessons
Gives me more confidence	Is not enjoyable
Makes the lessons more fun	Takes up too much time
Enhances my career prospects	Is counter-productive due to insufficient technical resources
Helps me to discuss teaching ideas

It is a good idea to introduce ICT in the classroom due to its benefits for the students and teachers. Nevertheless, teachers need to put in more efforts in their teachings and provide guidance to students in the usage of ICT in order to avoid any misbehaviour in classroom. All in all, ICT in itself is a double-edge sword in the realm of education. However with appropriate guidance of its usage, I am certain the undesired end of this sword will appear significantly blunter than the desired counterpart.

References:

1)      Churchill R., Ferguson P., Godinho S., Johnson N.F., Keddie A., Letts W., Mackay J., McGill M., Moss J., Nagel M.C., Nicholson P., Vick M. (2011), Teaching Making a Difference, John Wiley & Sons, Australia. Pg. 31-42

2)      Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2000), Education Access, NetPrint Pty Ltd., Sydney. Pg. 1-4

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/pdf/human_rights/rural_remote/Access_final.pdf

3)      Becta (2001), What are the advantages and disadvantages of different classroom layouts?

http://www.ict-tutors.co.uk/documents/BMgtActivity1.pdf

4)      Davies J. and Merchant G. (2009), Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation, Peter Lang, USA. Pg. 108 – 109

5)      Reich J. and Daccord T. (2008), Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, by Teachers, M.E.Sharpe, New York. Pg. 230 – 262

6)      Cox M., Preston C. Cox K. (1999), What Factors Support or Prevent Teachers from Using ICT in their Classrooms,

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001304.htm

Ed Foundation: comments

I have commented on John and Ty's blog posts.

Ed Foundation 2nd post

I will focus on Jane’s scenario in my second blog post. Jane was excited and full of enthusiasm at the beginning of her teaching’s career. However on reaching the end of her first year she was struggling to control her students. Students’ misbehaviour has a negative impact on her preparation for lessons, both physically and mentally. Furthermore, the overheard conversation of some parents at the club saying that ‘she just doesn’t give them any work that interesting for them’ has strongly demotivated her and rendered her hard work for the students to be in vain.

Below are some ideas that can help Jane in motivating her students and reorganise her classroom order. 

1)      Groupwork: Jane can divide her students into smaller discussion groups. In that sense Jane will have better control over smaller number of students in clusters and will be able to guide and attempt to fit her teaching to everyone’s needs. As for her students, they will benefit from their exchange of ideas and learn from each other as different students originate from different backgrounds. As Michael Reynolds (1994, Pg17) stated, “a group of people could make prior experience available for learning, could generate fresh material through experiential activities and could provide a forum for collective decision making about the content and direction of learning and development.”

2)      Rules: it will be good if Jane is able to lay out her personal classroom’s rules at the beginning of the school term and warn the students of the consequences if such rules are broken. This method will provide the students a very concise picture of what is to be expected and prohibited when a class is running. Students will be well aware of the boundaries set up in the classroom. As Andrea M. Babkie (2006) stated, “clarify rules so that students fully understand your expectations from the beginning. Make sure the rules are clear, simple, number no more than five, and are stated in a positive format. In other words, tell students what to do rather than what not to do. This allows for a focus on praise rather than on punishment.”

3)      Encourage students to get along with each other: It is common to have a wide diversity of students in a classroom, with florid cultural backgrounds commonly observed. It is thus very important to help students to get along with each other especially for those who come from suburban areas. At the beginning of each lesson, Jane can suggest the students to self introduce when she is taking the roll. With this method, Jane will not only know them better, but also will help overcome the natural restraint between teacher and students. Or as mentioned before, Jane can divide students into smaller groups for the students to exercise teamwork and learn to communicate and co-operate with each other. As Jill Hadfield (1992,Pgs 24) stated, “the group may be strangers to each other; they may also be nervous, worried, lacking in confidence, unsure of their capabilities, and wondering what they have let themselves in for.” It is very important for the teacher to “break the ice” between students and try to incorporate a sense of belonging for the class in every student. 

4)      Motivation: Goals can be set for students to target. It will be good if Jane can discuss the goals with her students and be opened to any suggestions. Students will be motivated if they are able to visualise the goals. Providing confidence to students by positive reinforcement will definitely help the students in making further progress. Instead of short term rewards, setting a goal will provide a long term motivation for the students. 

5)      Circle time:  Another method is using ‘circle time’. Jane can use ‘circle time’ during the discussion. As Andrew Mellor and Pamela Munn (2000, Pg. 3) stated, “circle time can help young people develop skills such as listening and empathising; it can promote respect for others and self-esteem; it is a forum within which the nature and effects of bullying can be considered; and it can be used to develop an anti-bullying code to which all members of the school community have contributed.”

References:

1)      Renolds M. (1994), Groupwork in Education and Training: Ideas in Practice, Kogan Page, UK, Pg. 15 – 28

2)      Babkie A.M. (2006), Be Proactive in Managing Classroom Behaviour, http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.canberra.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b656af4c-23d0-49ee-b3da-b9efebfc1400%40sessionmgr113&vid=2&hid=111

3)      Hadfield J. (1992), Classroom Dynamics, Oxford, UK, Pg.24

4)      Churchil R., Ferguson P., Godinho S., Johnson N.F., Keddie A., Letts W., Mackay J., McGill M., Moss J., Nagel M.C., Nicholson P. and Vick M. (2011), Teaching Making A Difference, John Wiley & Sons, Australia. Pg. 115 - 128

5)      Mellor A. and Munn P. (2000), Circle Time, Anti-bullying network.

https://docutek.canberra.edu.au/eres/docs/28884/circle_time.pdf

5th) Electronic delivery of lectures

Electronic delivery of lectures

Instead of having in-class lectures, electronic delivery of lectures provide more opportunities for students who live in suburban areas or those who are unable to attend lectures due to various personal reasons to participate in real-time lectures. Softwares designed for electronic delivery of lectures have been widely used in different areas because of their ease of use and convenience. As Justin Reich and Thomas Daccord (2008) stated, there are ten ways to enhance lectures with PowerPoint: 

1)      Include visual evidence in your lectures with images of art, artefacts, and architecture.

2)      In discussing authors, include audio and video clips of them reading their work, which can be put directly into PowerPoint.

3)      Include charts, graphs, and figures to supply statistical support to an argument.

4)      Show a sequence of maps that demonstrate change over time.

5)      Compile short examples of student writing to critique or edit.

6)      Sum up the essential points or questions of a lecture in an outline slide.

7)      Use charts, diagrams, and matrices to help students see relationships among ideas or information.

8)      Use portraits or photographs so students can see pictures of the people you discuss.

9)      Include cartoons or funny illustrations to inject humour into your presentation.

10)   Use slides with titles and subheadings to help listeners follow the argument in longer lectures.

With the advantages stated above, such use of technology has become popular among teachers, professors and presenters.  Teachers can upload the PowerPoint presentations on the internet portal and students will be able to download them onto their personal computers for revision. 

Effective use of I-Conferences can also enhance the electronic delivery of lectures. As Judy Lever Duffy, Jean B. McDonald and Al P. Mizell (2005) pointed out, for teachers, conferences offer a way to open communication lines and discussions between students and among educators. Teachers can interact with colleagues across the globe to share ideas. And, their own students and students connected to the internet anywhere in the world can join together to work collaboratively. … And because conferences provide asynchronous interaction, differing time zones or constraining classroom time schedules do not interfere. Students can check the messages posted in the conference whenever class time allows.”

With such technology in use, students all around the world will be able to receive the online lectures as long as they have internet access. By using I-Conferences, educators will be able to set up a discussion board and allow students all around the world to participate in the discussion. Thus, students will have more opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from their peers. 

The usage of Skype or MSN with visual and audio support will be able to link teachers and students from different parts of the world. This will make it possible to share performance techniques and allow immediate feedback from peers or mentors. Although the outcome may not be as good as in class teaching, it is still considered a good alternative in circumstances described above.

Last but not least, email is another popular tool in teaching accepted by many. As Grabe (2004) mentioned, “email is an internet access system for sending, receiving, and storing messages. It was one of the first internet applications, and it remains the most frequently used.” Teachers and students can use email to communicate with each other and exchange information. Grabe (2004) also stated that, “among the more common email projects are exchanges of correspondence with other students to learn about the collection and integration of data from many different locations, and projects that involve sharing student-generated literature or newsletters.” In addition, virtual space in our email account is able to offer us well- organised and easily accessible storage.

References:

1)      Reich J. and Daccord T. (2008), Best ideas for teaching with technology, M.E. Sharpe, New York. Pg.3 – 32

2)      Duffy J. L., McDonald J.B. and Mizell A.P. (2005), Teaching and Learning with Technology, Pearson, USA. Pg. 231 – 238

3)      Grabe M. and Grabe C. (2004). Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. Pg. 190 – 200

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