The Presentation of Learning held at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Friday the 29th of November was a wonderful opportunity for students who studied Technology in Music Education this semester with James Humberstone, to showcase their final products for assessment task 2 - our negotiated project.
The highlight of the course for me, was the opportunity to immerse myself in discussions surrounding technology in the music classroom and the extent to which was should rely on it and how we can use it to enhance the learning experiences of our students. In particular, the course highlighted the opportunity that technology presents for students who do not have formal music training.
I really appreciated James sharing with us his habits in using technology beyond the role of music teacher. I took onboard his recommendation of meditation and mindfulness as well as giving ourselves time where we are technology 'free' whether that be a result of turning off notifications for email alerts or reducing the amount of time we dedicate to social media usage (i.e. the infinite scroll!).
It was fantastic to be able to share my semester's work with people in the music and teaching industry and met some lovely people who showed a genuine interest and appreciation of the work that we had put into our projects! One of the highlights of the night was Erin's presentation on the meaningful use of technology in the classroom. The take home message for me was that as young teachers who are going to be teaching in schools, we shouldn't feel the need for technology to be at the forefront of every music lesson that we deliver just because we many think that we're expected to do that as young people who have the skills to do so. However, we should be using technology as a tool to support our student's learning outcomes and achievements. Erin also mentioned a few technology 'life hacks.' which were brilliant! The stand out for me was an ingenious way of completing semester reports; Erin created a spread sheet with pre-written comments which she chooses from in a drop down option, from left to right to assist in report writing. This is something I'd definitely like to try when I begin teaching and a tip I'd also like to share with my colleagues at the two schools I currently work at.
A selection of photos from the PoL