Online Learning Reflections

Music classrooms can take on many different forms.  Some go with a traditional approach to music while others incorporate the traditional aspects while fusing it with modern media to peak student interest.  Music is a subject that inspires creativity.  Students work to create individual and group compositions and performances.  They collaborate to help each other and inspire one another.  Putting constructivism to work in music requires students to “use knowledge and skills such as rhythm, note recognition, melody, and harmonics correctly in order to reach their higher-order goals, such as expressing meaning through composing music.  As students pursue composition in a constructivist music classroom, they develop expertise” (Saraniero, n.d.).  My music classroom uses a constructivist learning approach.

Many schools today are moving toward a technology-focused education.  Some people might think that this would not affect resource teachers like music, gym or art.  They would be wrong.  As education shifts toward a technology focus, so must our teachers regardless of what subject they teach.  Music must also make the shift to incorporate technology or it “risks being outdated by technology” (2019).

As a music teacher, I am constantly trying to incorporate technology within every lesson.  While our students have access to chromebooks during the school day, sometimes they are unable to use them for their resource classes.  Because of this, I am currently seeking funding opportunities from outside sources in order to receive the technology needed for my classroom.  Through this course, I was excited to build my own online course where I could have my students create music compositions.  Although I would have loved to create an entirely online course, I did not believe it was feasible to do so when outside technology access is limited for many of my students.  With that in mind, I opted for a blended learning environment so that students are still able to get one on one help if needed and the online coursework includes many resources for practicing concepts while providing links to programs for music composition.  Students can choose their own path and resources that they can return to for help.  Students are also able to communicate with me when they are not understanding the material.  By using the blended learning approach to the course, students can get a mixture of in class time along with online time.  This frees up our regular class time to allow for more creating and performing.

I used the BHAG and 3 column table (Fink, 2013) to plan my online (blended learning) course.  I also looked at the Understanding by Design model (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) that I previously created.  When comparing the two models, I decided that I preferred the 3-column table setup as it allowed me to visualize weeks worth of planning and lessons and provided an overview of what I wanted to accomplish.  The UbD model is great and extremely detailed like my current lesson planning.  It is a great model to use for the face-to-face sessions because of the detail involved in specific assessments and procedures.

While I have taught in more of a blended learning environment over the years, I have not had much experience in teaching a fully online course, let alone designing one.  I am happy with my blended class I designed but am looking forward to adjusting it so that it meets the needs of all my students.  Whether I use this course I setup or design an entirely new one, my students will be able to work independently and in groups.  Since access to technology at home can be an issue, students will have specified times during the school day where they can access their online coursework.  Online courses have great features.  One feature is being able to see interactions within the course discussions and student work.  Being able to receive feedback from students is also another great feature.  It allows me to adjust the course so that my students can have success.

The best benefit to having my course online is that my students are able to access the course at any time (provided they have technology access at home).  By having resources available online, students can continue to practice concepts so that they don’t struggle.  The students can work at their own pace and go over the concepts they need to without fear of being criticized by their peers.  This is also allowing students to have a choice and voice in what they are learning.  The course can be used for snow days and even when a student is out sick.  

From this experience, I have learned even more that students learn best when they can personalize their experience, but they need to be given the tools in order to do so.  Through this course, my students are given a lot of choice and voice throughout the experience.  They become more active learners because they take ownership in their learning and want to succeed.  The students are mastering skills and not taking up regular class time to do so.  This increases my own productivity because it allows me to cover more standards and create a more hands-on performing/learning environment for my students.

Resources:

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons.

Music education ‘risks being outdated by technology’. (2019, March 4). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47414952

Saraniero, P. (n.d.). The Kennedy Center: ARTSEDGE – the National Arts and Education Network. Retrieved from https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/how-to/from-theory-to-practice/constructivism

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (expanded second ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.