Final Reflection

When I first began this class I was hesitant about learning how to create my website. I thought it is a requirement and I have to get it over with. However from the first day I believe I learned so much from this course. Although it seems that we are just meeting to learn how to make a website, I am learning that it also brings some much insight about the technology that is out there. I realized that I was restricted in the thoughts I had about education. Although I thought that we could use projectors and computers for different projects, I never expected to find that the programs that are used out there also could influence the learning process of students. Using audacity, photoshop and the other programs in the class were time consuming but at the same time rewarding. Rewarding in the sense that I was able to learn so much out the programs in such limited amount of time. I created my own pieces of art per say.

I used the Internet for so many things I didn’t realize how much effort it takes to create a website. It was very satisfying to be able to create my own website from scratch using Jedit. Before I never thought of viewing the source of the websites, but after these couple of weeks I have noticed how complicated the sources of some of these websites are. When I looked at engineers and technology specialists to create such sites place websites I didn’t think much of them, but now I can see how much time and effort.

Another point of this class that I enjoyed is that although we were creating our own websites using different assignments, these assignments were giving us more insight in technology and education. Learning about the programs that we used and applying them in our own websites made it easier for us to internalize the information. Although in the beginning it was confusing, once I finished one assignment I was able to understand what we did better. Not only the different programs, but the research that we had to make for some assignments also gave me an insight of technology and education. For music literacy actually searching for all the different websites that can be good resources for arts and education was challenging. There are some many websites out there but which one to choose was definitely something that I had to approach carefully. After many hours of web searching, I think I came up with good sights that can be resources in the education and arts.

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to take this class and I am realizing how important this class is for an educator. It brings a new perspective in technology and learning that we must think of at all times. I am proud of the work I have done for this website. With time and effort I was able to create my own website. I am hoping that this site can also be helpful to others.

Group Presentation

Literacy Through Music

Music has been shown to improve

- Reading skills, speech skills, word recognition, and spelling abilities

1. Develop reading skills

- Matching rhythm words

- Creating new verses to songs ex) “Aiken Drum”

- Read with beats ex) “Star Bright” (rhyme with pictures)

- Memorization

2. Cultural context

- Learn other language, history and culture ex) “Sakura”

3. Through different genres of music

- Jazz, Classical, Folk, Pop, and Hiphop

- Compare the stlye of music.

ex) “A Tisket A Tasket”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUYpUogn91U

ex) www.Flocabulary.com

4. Learning English as a 2^nd language through music

The power of YouTube

As we already can see YouTube has become one of the most sought after resources for videos and podcasts. YouTube has grown so strong that some of the videos placed in the website have hit more than a million hits. So many people participate on YouTube and it has become a strong venue to expose music education. One example that many people can remember is the 6th grader Grayson Chance who performed his arrangement of Lady Gaga’s paparazzi at a district chorus festival in Oklahoma. Although it might just be thought as a popular video, we can see the general picture for music education. Without the proper music education this young student wouldn’t probably have able to perform the way he did. Children like him become poster children for music education. We can also see the power of YouTube through these performances and educators can use YouTube to promote their programs to many people. YouTube is one of the advancements in technology that we can think of in helping expose music and music education to the public. When searching YouTube you can also find a diverse range of videos show you how to play instruments to how to prepare lesson plans and different activities that can be used in classes. Educators can share their ideas with their peers and at same time gain ideas by watching these videos. YouTube has become an important source for music educators, it provides a variety of ways to share ideas, communicate with other educators and even demonstrate ideas through podcasts and videos. Now a day when one wants to search a video one of the first websites they go is YouTube. For music education we can find a ton of information including performances, how tos and many other videos that we might be searching for.

Can the advancement in Technology always be good?

With the advancement of technology people have been able to obtain a tremendous amount of information with the touch of their hands. We can say that the Internet and other advancements have brought information in a relatively fast manner. People seem to be more knowledgeable due to the Internet and the many different types of information that it provides. In a way we can see that technology can be seen as a good venue for education and it provides up to date information in whatever topic we need to find. But one question that I ask myself in the midst of all these advancements is if technology advancements can always be thought of as good for education. What I mean is that because of all the information that we obtain readily through the Internet students might try to depend more on the machines than on their own knowledge. Students nowadays might think why memorize this or study this if I can find it online.

I think that although the advancements in technology bring so many positive aspects to education we must be aware on how we need to use technology for the advancement of education. We must also be aware that the information out there may not always be correct. An example of this is wikipedia. When you are searching for a topic or need to find answers many people use wikipedia to start their search. We must be aware though that anyone can add a topic to wikipedia. There are no restrictions on who can add information to this website. Wikipedia can have the right facts but it also has information that can be made up by some random person. We must be careful to what information and which websites we can trust and follow.

Referring back to technology, as I stated before it has many positive aspects but at the same time it can also make a person lazy and although it can motivate some to learn, it can also discourage others from learning. I think this is where is the educator plays a major role. Children can take up so much unnecessary information and be distracted by it. Educators need to guide students to use the technology that we have in the right path. To do these educators must be in constant training to the technology that is out there. Educators are not done learning, they must always keep learning themselves in order to guide and train students to use the resources provided to them to benefit their learning.

Music literacy

I am currently taking the Kodaly summer program, and I have noticed that it reinforces music literacy for all ages. When children are taught music, it is done by singing different songs. I had an opportunity to teach my colleagues a rhyme using pictures instead of written lyrics. When I sang the song pointing the pictures they recognized the pattern of the music and they were able to understand and sing the song. The drawings that I made which substituted the written lyrics, helped my colleagues connect the picture to the lyrics that I was giving them. As we learned a new song, we also had discussions over the words used in the song. Although I did not have any written lyrics my colleagues were able to follow through with the pictures pretty well. I wonder if the same thing could be said about the students that we actually have to teach. The different activities that we are learning through this program helps us achieve a better sense of music literacy. What defines music literacy. Children can hear and sing the songs that have been learned inside thier heads. They internalize the music so that they can have a better perspective of music and by doing so they can improvise and expand their knowledge in general.

Audacity and music

I am not computer savvy or haven't really dealt with computers that often, but using audacity to change the music and sound files was not as complicated as I expected. It took me a little time in beginning but I was able to figure out most of the stuff I wanted to change in the music and songs. To have such valuable resource as audacity, I think is important because it can help us rearrange different types of music the way we want to. With the advancement in technology, I think audacity would also be a good tool to be used in classes. Teaching students how to make their own soundtracks, and using them to create experiments. A variety of sounds can be amalgamated in order to bring an organized yet refined melody or sound. Students can also be taught to use audacity for podcasts so that they can share their work with friends and even their parents.

Audacity is a tool that if used properly in can be incorporated in classrooms to help students learn the desired material at hand. I actually did not like the program at first. It seemed very confusing and I was scared to try something new. With time the program grew on me and now I am trying to find different ways I can use audacity to make the songs and music have a touch of myself. The different assignments that this class is offering me, have opened many doors that I can incorporate in the classrooms as a teacher.

When using audacity for music concrete I think it is important to make distinctions of what we are doing. We are not just mixing a bunch of songs or music. We need to realize that this is also a form of art and it requires us to be more artistic. We have to have a sound in our minds when creating our own sounds or music. A good way to compare the new created sound or music would be by thinking of it as a piece of art such as a painting or a drawing. They are made to be creative, imaginative and to show the artistic talents. In the same way we should use audacity to make art with sounds and music, not just a mixture of different sounds. Just like Dr. Gilbert explained in class, it is like having a blank canvas and trying to create a piece of art.

Reflection

As a piano major, I believed that spending more time practicing was more important than doing research in the internet. When I began classes at NYU my perspective about the internet had changed. It became a valuable source in the search of answers. This is the first time I am actually taking a course dealing with websites and I find myself, although at times confused, more and more attracted to the knowledge it is providing me. I find myself spending more time in the computer trying to find something better for my website and at all times I am in the search for something better. I have heard of facebook and one time I actually created an account, but it did not catch my attention as much as it did to a lot of people. The whole concept of writing blogs also is new to me; it is something different that I need to adjust.

Today's topic in class, which dealt with music and audacity was pretty informative. I have previously used audacity once for a class last semester, but I did not have any formal training. Listening about audacity and the different ways it can be used was entertaining. I am happy that through this upcoming project I will be able to change an original piece of music to make it into my own creation. As a music educator I understand how important it is to be up to date with technology and by doing so we gain the knowledge and capacity to educate the new generations.

With the fast development in technology, we are not aware of how far it will take us as we explore the different venues of music. The only clear thing is that we must continually train ourselves in order to better serve the students.

Assignment

I am sure I have followed all the steps correctly but I am having trouble with my image processing page. Every time I try to click on it I get errors. I wonder why? I have looked at the sources so many times that at this point I am confused more and more. I hope I can get it right.

Photoshop

As I was trying to do the assignment using photoshop, I tried a variety of distortions for the image I chose. I think the image I chose had many different colors and I liked trying to change the image in ways that I thought would attract people.

Welcome !

Hello, my name is So Young Kim. I haven't really had the chance to use blogs that often. I am new to facebook and any social website. As I embark in this journey to make my website, I find myself with many obstacles. Each obstacle is challenging, but I hope I am able to manage them well. (: