check out how science teacher used a music track to teach about scientific method

I was searching around on the net, and I found this awesome homemade video filmed in a classroom... The soundtrack to the video has been created by the science teacher, 'Mr Duey'. He wrote and produced a rap and track about the scientific method. Its really catchy (in my opinion :). He talks about what the scientific method, and then gives an example of the scientific method by proving that using a music track helps students to learn. Its awesome.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWpJOVcHFrI&feature=related

VELS and ICT - my experience...

From Assignment 1, statement 1:
ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment in which students can experiment and take risks when developing new understanding.

I have chosen the above statement because I believe it is pertinant to my experience within the realm of teaching one of my methods i.e. classroom music. I have found the use of technology in the classroom particularly relevant for teaching the subject of composition and so I would like to reflect on this while relating my experience to the above statement as well as all three dimensions of ICT in VELS two of which I have stated and commented on below (The words relating directly to the statement on VELS used from the Assignment 1 for ICT, I have put in bold).

2 of the dimensions of ICT in VELS from the DEECD website:
1) In ICT for visualising thinking, learners use ICT to represent their thinking visually, helping them clarify ideas, make connections, identify patterns and reflect on their thinking in all areas of the curriculum."
The above statement is very true for my experience in teaching elements of composition to year nine students. One element of composition, is the concept of 'layers of sound'. This is particularly relevant to modern day sound scape type compositions, pop music and to all composition styles. I found  the use of a music program such as garage band highly productive in enabling students to get an understanding of this concept. For example in one lesson, I played a relevant piece of music to them and asked them to tell me the layers they heard within the piece, while a student wrote the responses on the board in the form of a kind of grid. My questions were what instrument played first, next etc? How many layers/instruments were playing at once etc. The next task was to the idea of layers of sound, while at the same time exploring garage band. Garage band is particularly good for this exploration because it allows the student to have a visual representation of the layers of music as it is being constructed. It relates directly to the ICT for Visual thinking dimension. Also because of the nature of the program on the computer, the students are able to trial ideas and take risks, then delete the ideas if they are not happy with what they have created. This relates directly to the heading statement of this post (taking risks in learning) and is invaluable for a learning student, especially within the creative arts area, where its all about being able to explore, experiment and create (Exploring and responding - one of the dimension in 'the Arts' VELS). Students must be able to take risks while in the learning stage of composition, and as well as while learning to use a program such as garage band.

2) In ICT for Creating, ICT environments, tools, functions and techniques add new possibilities for learning as learners use ICT to solve problems and create information products across all VELS levels and domains.
It is my experience that the use of programs such as garage band, opens up the concept of 'layers of sound' to the student and hence one of the fundamental concepts for composition to the student, in a way that only a computer program like that can do. As stated in previous paragraph, it allows the student to see the concept in front of their very eyes (a visual representation), and by making this concept accessible to the student, it consequently opens the student to an understanding of the concept of layers within other genres of music, not just the one that they may have been exploring in. It can act, amongst other things, as a bridge to learning and solving problems within the genre, which they may not have had prior to using such technology. A program such as garage band, is student centred because it allows the student to approach composition from a simple concept in a genre relevant to their age group using technology which they are familiar with or at least seem to learn with easily.

I found the use of a program such as 'garage band' invaluable in teaching fundamental concepts of composition. It allowed the students to understand a somewhat abstract idea, in a helpful visual way, and it gave the students the room to experiment and learn through trial and error by taking risks which is part and parcel of the creative process anyway. Technology in this case, served  the purpose of not only fulfilling ICT dimensions but also the dimensions within the VELS of the Arts.

References:

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development website -
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/default.htm
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/visualising/default.htm
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/creating/default.htm
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/communicating/default.htm

Victorian Essential Learning standards website-
http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/arts/structure.html



NB. The third dimension stated in ICT VELS is:
3) In ICT for Communicating, students use online environments and tools to locate relevant, reliable information to support their learning and inquiry across VELS domains. They build, communicate and share information and knowledge through ICT and the internet.
Learners also develop and implement effective protocols and ways of communicating online for different purposes and audiences. They learn to collaborate and build knowledge in teams in contemporary, connected learning environments, including globally.

Interactive white boards

Its a revolution!! Finally a chance to 'physicalise' learning and teaching. I think this way of physically interacting with the technology is particularly appealing to my certain method of learning. I'm pretty much a kinesthetic learner and so to be able to interact so directly using the body (not just the fingers) and the mind is exciting. I think the benefits of the whiteboard for students learning are high.

Photoshop

Its obviously very beneficial to have a really good grip on using photoshop. For teaching purposes, it can allow one to present topics in an imaginative and creative way, as well as organised and inspiring way for students. It also allows students to engage with the subject area through a different medium. To engage with the subject through many different mediums which may be familiar with student (eg photoshop), and via many different perspectives can allow student to truly take ownership of the subject being studied.

Block Placement

During my block placement I have seen that information technology is used mainly for composition For example students are given the opportunity to explore music programs such as Sibelius, to help with composition and notation literacy. In my last school, the computer was used a lot during 'normal classroom' teaching. For example, myself and other teachers would show Youtube video clips, or use laptops to play pieces to the students which they would then use for analysis etc. In this placement, I have not witnessed any use of Information technology within those classes that are not specifically for 'composition'.

week 3 - Creating video presentations

This was an interesting week for me. We have been given many examples within our music method class, about how useful video can be for our subject for example in areas of composition or performance. I.E It is useful for students to be able to create works and record works, but it is also very useful for the teacher  for the purposes of assessment. I find it a bit frustrating to not be able to use the mac computer, but then I am also grateful for the opportunity to learn on the PC because there are many schools out there that use PC - so I should be able to navigate my way around them.

week 2...

Week number 2...

This week we were shown how to use the movie maker in the tutorial. Taking in to consideration what John said in his lecture about different styles of learning, I ask myself - what is my style of learning? What is my favourite style of 'expression'. These two styles are linked surely? Do they have a direct correlation? Also, does my style of learning gel with the way that I am using computers at the moment?

While interacting with movie maker, I started to realise that I may enjoy the process of learning more about using this medium because I often relate to visual communication/visual aids for learning and so,  engaging with the visual video medium may help me to express something in a way that I haven't yet been able to express.

However I find the details of learning the program a little bit frustrating i.e. you learn how to do one thing but immediatly after that you start struggling with the next thing that just 'wont work'! For example I learnt how to drag a photo into movie maker but then struggled with finding a way of shortening the length of the clips.

Some points from John's 2nd lecture:

• The only thing worse would be to make technology "invisible," preventing children from even being aware of their ignorance." Monke, L. W. (2006)  - i.e. not about integrating technology - that can make it invisible - piano/car example
• "If I don't 'integrate' a computer in things I do outside the classroom, but I do 'integrate' it inside one, then whatever I am doing with it there is probably not authentic".
• "...there exists a multitude of intelligences, quite independent of each other; that each intelligence has its own strengths and constraints; that the mind is far from unencumbered at birth; and that it is unexpectedly difficult to teach things that go against early 'naive' theories that challenge the natural lines of force within an intelligence and its matching domains."
•  "The point about all this is that computers can often cater for all sorts of intellectual styles and approaches to thinking - at least, expressions of thought. (VELS: Visualising thinking??) That's the individual angle - computers usually offer everyone a starting point that suits their cognitive leanings."
• Riding, with collaborators who include Cheema and Raynor, considers that there are two independent 'dimensions' to the way people think and make sense of the world: Wholist-Analytic and Verbal-Imagery
• John says this is one of the scariest things a teacher can be faced with, because it is a graphical (and graphic!) reminder that all the kids in their class have minds that work in different ways and along different paths. And as a teacher you have to allow for that, and use it.
• "Work expressed in words is almost always valued over work expressed in pictures. All qualities of an Analytic-Verbaliser mind." 
• "...in Lecture One I suggested that making a film required a very wide range indeed of abilities and interests. It also requires a wide mix of Cognitive Styles and Intelligences."
• "...And understanding your audience begins with an understanding of how they best learn."
• "ICT won't solve your educational problems, but it can help broaden the ways in which your students can learn and live and invent and create and cooperate and publish."