As Oak Ridge Schools move forward into the 2018-2019 school year with newly adopted classroom resources, we are excited to see how our Access Oak Ridge digital initiative supports innovative music instruction. When we talk about how to best use technology in education, we often use the words: substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition (SAMR). If you can imagine, substitution means students use technology in place of something they used to do with pencils and paper, such as placing reading and writing assignments in our Canvas learning management system for completion using the computer’s reading/writing features. It’s a great place to start, but technology helps us do so much more. Augmentation means that we use digital resources to improve typical processes with technology. An example we have seen in our orchestra classes is to project a full musical score on a shared screen so all section members can see the scope of instrumental passages at a glance, determining how their own parts fit into the whole and complete the composition. An example of modification is: rather than using a record player, CD player, or live demonstration, creating a playlist of MP3 versions of songs that students plan to perform; using them for practice with accompaniment, and generating music mixes that reflect student ownership and creativity through their own interpretations of the pieces they are performing. Redefinition occurs when students take traditional music content, connect with it, and take it into present and future contexts and deliver it through vehicles we never previously imagined. In a current context, an example might be a musical score for a video game or virtual reality experience. In the future, we don’t know yet what it will mean, but that is the beauty of combining the creativity of students’ minds and the technology resources we give them to redefine and deliver the future of musical expression. We are very excited about where our new digital content will take us in our music courses. We can’t wait to see what the future brings through students and teachers with energized minds utilizing resources we have adopted this year in our music classes.
Elementary and middle school teachers engaged in a two-day training for their new interactive music resources from Pearson/Silver Burdette. In this photo are Sarah Dill, Glenwood, Amanda Leamon, Jefferson, and Susie Carden, Woodland. The trainer is Gary Arnold of Pearson Education.
