Luisa

Luisa Wilson has taught music education in the public school system for over 10 years. She has taught general, instrumental and vocal music for grades 1 through 8. An avid musician, she is an active member of numerous area orchestras and opera companies and continues to teach privately. In addition she has served on several curriculum and technology committees in the public school system and is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology.

My screen character series:


 * e-Learning Promises and Pitfalls**

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Is e-learning better than traditional classroom learning? I predict that the argument will be made that e-learning is indeed better as long as the information or skills to be learned are straightforward. In addition the method to teach this information / skill must be well organized, with a specific goal in mind, delivered clearly and hopefully allows feedback and questions. However, I would think certain skills would be better taught in a real-life classroom situation, i.e. learning a specific, specialized task like using a specific tool in an operating room or the exact way to hold a violin bow. ======

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No, not really. The article continued to explain the idea that “it is not the delivery medium, but rather the instructional methods that cause learning.” I would have to agree with that. “Good teaching is good teaching” as they say in school. Providing a variety of methods to students and modifying those lessons as the students excel are always the best ways to approach learning. ======

Response from Greg- Hello Luisa, I agree with your prediction. The most important factor is whether the teacher is organized, goal oriented, and evaluates properly. E-Learning can be very beneficial as long as the teacher has a well prepared lesson. I like the line "good teaching is good teaching." It doesn't matter how great an e-learning program is unless you have a good teacher to implement it. My students seem to do their best when I teach a concept in a variety of mediums. There are certain skills that I feel a real-life classroom situation should be used. In my first of year teaching, I had my students complete an interactive program on how to use the lab equipment. The students did a great job completing the assignment, but they struggled using these tools in their first lab. It was obvious that this was instruction that I should have just done with the students in class.

=**ID PLAN:**=

1. **The Problem**. During preassessments of student note naming skills, 83 percent did not achieve goal. This group therefore cannot perform well on their instruments. Students do not have an easily accessible way to review note names that they find engaging.

2. **The Need**. 1. Time. There is not enough time during instrument lessons or general music class to continually work on note naming skills. These skills are similar to math facts – drill and practice are very important. 2. Find a way to make it fun and interesting for students to work on these skills on their own. 3. Assessment. If students are working on their own, there must be a method to determine how they are doing, and if they are actually doing it. 4. Feedback: If students are working on their own and there is a method of assessment, there must also be a way to provide them with feedback and more direction.

3. **The Audience**. Audience: Eighty-eight 4th grade instrumental students. 42 girls, 46 boys. One student’s primary language is Spanish. Classes are made up of __all__ levels of achievement.

4. **Objectives**. Students will be able to read music notation and apply these skills when performing on instruments. These reading skills are imperative to further their achievement on their performing skills.
 * 1) Determine whether a note is considered on a line or a space on a music staff.
 * 2) Recognize treble and bass clefs.
 * 3) Identify the notes in the staff in treble clef

5. **Content**. National Standard #2 - Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Students learn to play with correct notes, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, pitch, tone quality, and more.

National Standard #5 - Reading and notating music. Students must be able to read notes in treble and bass clef. They should be able to read the music on their instruments.

6. **Instructional Strategies**. Drill and practice, Keynote review course / on-line quizzes / performance assessments.

7. **Additional Materials**. 1. Flashcards for quick assessment as students walk into the room 2. Flashcards that students can take home with them 3. 2-minute quizzes for the beginning of class 4. “Compose Your Own Music” worksheet 5. Create Podcasts of students’ music and post on Music WikiPage 6. Use Finale NotePad to recreate a professional version of the students’ composition project.

8. **Program Use**. This program will be used as a reinforcement tool to the skills we are already working on in class. Once the students are used to the program and know how to access it, I would like to reinforce the use of the program during non-class times such as indoor recess, before or after school and at home. It will be a tool that they can access at their leisure to get extra credit.

9. **Evaluation**. To accurately evaluate the Program, I will keep these questions in mind: 1. Did the students’ note naming skills increase? 2. Did the students use the Presentation more than once? 3. Did the students access the Presentation outside of the classroom? 4. Did the Presentation function correctly and final quiz assessments work properly? 5. Did the students have any difficulties accessing or navigating through the Program?

10. **Appendix.**

**Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Applied to Project:**

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**// Remembering //** **:** The goal of this project is to help students remember and recognize music notes. We will be accomplishing this in a digital format. Students can later //bookmark// some of the linked sites so that they can go back to review the material at their convenience. ======

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**// Analyzing: //** (breaking material or concepts into parts). The first part of the project asks students to recognize lines and spaces. Then students are asked to name individual notes. Finally students are asked to select which fingering is correct for each note for their individual instrument. ======

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**// Creating: //** Students will be able to put all their gained knowledge together to improve their music reading skills and perform on their instruments with much better accuracy. Eventually students will be able to use this knowledge to create their own pieces using Finale NotePad software which they then can publish, share and perform on their own instruments. ======

Audacity: students can record their own pieces as they perform them Music website: teacher can post student composition/performances to be shared with others.
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