POL and the Techosaurus

The presentation of learning was a fun experience and it was great to see what everyone else had done for their project. I got to talk to a few people and had some interesting discussions on my project. One man asked me if I solved the ‘latency’ problem on Soundtrap, I did not know what he was talking about but he informed me that the delay in the recording process which I encountered in my project was a symptom of using Soundtrap on Windows and that Apple computers did not have this problem. A different man asked what the educational possibilities were for my project in a classroom setting, I said that a mini ‘studio’ could be set up in class or somewhere quiet and once each student had finished their composition they could book in time to use the studio equipment and record it. There were 3 main points that I got from the guest speakers which were: just because I am a young teacher it doesn’t mean every class I teach has to use fancy technology, don’t use technology for the sake of using it (have a clear purpose as many misuse technology) and finally there is value in not using technology e.g. giving a speech without Powerpoint.

This unit has not changed my mind about how I feel about technology though it informed my understanding of the pros and cons of using it. I acknowledge the usefulness of technology and technology in music education but I have a healthy amount of skepticism about technology and that it should not take over everything and to remember that there were geniuses and innovators in all walks of life before this new digital age. This unit gave me a better general understanding and knowledge of technology in music education so I feel a lot more confident in doing my next prac.

A guest speaker also mentioned how project-based learning works well with technology and that after completing this project, it is a teaching style that I have come to appreciate; I feel that this experiential learning is summed up well with this quote by Confucious “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand”.