Building Your Hub
ILMEA Summer Learning Series - Jesse Rathgeber
Responding
The brilliant thing about the internet is the fact that it so easily lets people connect and discuss. The same types of technology that make social media sites wonderful can also help you and the students you work with respond to each other in unique ways.
Many of the resources discussed in the last section have options that allow them to become more interactive (commenting on YouTube, collaborating on shared googlepresentations, etc.), but, let's explore resources that can be used along with your hub to both elicit and provide feedback. Some of the tools can be housed directly in your hub and others make use of external resources.
This section discusses (click to jump to each section):
Eliciting Feedback
Finding out what your students think, what they have learned, and what they are still confused about is central to crafting meaningful educational experiences. The following tools can be used to elicit that valuable information.
GoogleForms:
We've experienced googleforms already on the hub page. With googleforms, you can recreate assessments you might otherwise use pencil and paper with, create listening logs with images, survey students' interest regarding a particular topic, and streamline other necessary forms. The form responses appear in an easy to sort spreadsheet without any additional work!
Here are some other ideas for how to use it in your classroom. To the right you will find an example listening log, and below you will find a tutorial on how to create something like it.
There are other tools out there that do many of the same things as googleforms. Check out:
Student Response Systems
Student response clickers are a big buzz right now. However, a set of clickers is very expensive. There are ways, other than form services, to gather student and community reponses. Many of them make use of handheld mobile devices (cell phones), so you will need to talk to you administration before you use them. Each of these can be linked into your hub and/or you can post the results there.
The the right, you will see a list of sites to explore. To gather your thoughts, we will use PollEverywhere.
Student Whiteboard Apps
Interactive whiteboards are rad but, again, very expensive. There are some powerful apps and websites that can be connected to your hub that allow students to respond in new and interesting ways. Imagine asking students to create a listening map live and being able to watch a recording of their map, with them commenting and the music, in order to understand what they are hearing.
Take a look at the different tools (apps in red, websites in blue) to the right and at my pal Bob Hanrahan's example of mapping to "Ride of the Valkyries" below.
Providing Feedback
Commenting on YouTube videos or new posts is one way that people can express their agency. In your classroom, commenting like this can help you provide timely feedback to students. Commenting features can also help students share what they know, how they feel about something, and give them things to reflect upon as they develop their skills. Though you can comment directly onto many of the tools discussed in the generating section, the following tools can prove very useful for music teachers and students in commenting on musical works and performances.
Soundcloud:
Soundcloud is a social media music sharing website. It is free (up to a certian time limit of uploads) and allows for a very unique way of giving feedback on a piece of music. You can record directly into soundcloud or upload an already recorded track (like a student composition or ensemble performance) and ask students to comment. Students can give each other feedback on their works (or even on a teacher's work) at specific points in a file.
Explore the example and playlist on the right as well as the tutorial below.
Movenote:
It is easy to watch a video of a student performance, compostion, or discussion and get frustrated that you can't provide feedback. Perhaps a student has a playing test and submits it at home, or maybe they have a question regarding something they can only play or show you via video. Movenote is a web-app that allows you to respond timely and personally on those very occasions. You can also share an image together.
Take a look to the right for an example and below for a tutorial:
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Coach's Eye:
If you've ever watched a sports commentator draw all over an instant replay, then the handheld device app Coach's Eye will seem pretty familiar. With this $4.99 app, students and teachers can watch and listen to a video while marking it up and/or add audio comments to certian parts.
Take a look at Coach's Eye here and look at the demo video to the right. Below are some alternative apps.