Over the course of the past couple months, I've been completing a (re)design of a popular unit for my band students. The two topics (single unit) I've been working on have been how to teach band students about proper tone quality and good intonation. They are both the fundamental building blocks of a good musician and instrumental music program. Like I tell my students at the beginning of every school year, "It doesn't matter how fast you can play, how high or low you can play, or how many notes you can play... if you don't have a good sound, then no one is going to want to listen to you play."
So far I've had a pretty great experience redesigning this unit, we're currently on the Testing/Experimenting phase in which I used technology components to Augment and Modify (SAMR model) my existing approach to teaching these concepts. I'm happy to report that many of my students have participated in using the technology rich components I've been testing out including EdPuzzle, YouTube, and FlipGrid!
One overarching theme that has emerged from doing this, has been that technology engages and immerses students. They have grown up with technology since the mid-2000's and it is part of their culture. Teachers my age (who grew-up in the 80's and 90's) started seeing these developments as adolescents and young adults, so it's important to empathize with the current generation one is teaching. Being able to keep students who grew up differently that we did engaged in learning can be a very useful tool, as long as we keep it sharp!
Following along with your redesign this semester, I have been struck by how the concept of teaching intonation through technologies seemed improbable to some as listening and listening live is so key, but that you really found which aspects of intonation could be enhanced by interactive, digital activities like the EdPuzzle, and engaging with others to discuss intonation through FlipGrid. It's a good thing you found the aspects that could be enhanced by walking through SAMR...because that is all we have now!
Good morning! I'm glad to hear that your students are taking on the technology so well. Although I'm not surprised, as you said, your students have grown up with this technology so this is part of their lifestyle. I'm sure you are finding your online learning going much more effectively than those of us that teach at the elementary level with students who are still learning to utilize technology effectively. The other bonus you have is the independency of your students. How have they been interacting with you? Do they have their instruments at home and scan record and share? Are they strictly observers during this time?