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Teachers’ Use of Digital Technology in Secondary Music Education: Illustrations of Changing Classrooms
This journal article appears in the July 2011 issue of the British Journal of Music Education (28,2).
Abstract: The music industry in the 21st century uses digital technology in a wide range of applications including performance, composition and in recording and publishing. Much of this digital technology is freely available via downloads from the internet, as part of software included with computers when they are purchased and via applications that are available for some mobile phones. Such technology is transforming music and the way people approach many traditional music activities. This paper is about transformative practices that are underway in some secondary school music classrooms. Practices are being shaped by the culture of the schools and the students that they recruit. We describe the perceptions and practices of nine music teachers in four New Zealand secondary schools with regard to digital technology and how they are changing their work in their classroom. Data collection techniques include interviews, observation and a questionnaire. The data were subjected to two stages of thematic analysis. Grounded analysis was used to allow the teachers’ voices emerge. This was then followed by the application of five themes identified in the literature on pedagogic change prompted by teachers’ adoption of digital technologies.
East Vancouver school grounds to be transformed into “natural playground”
More than 150 volunteers will descend on Grandview Elementary tomorrow to transform it into the city’s first “natural playground.” Click here to read the full story, located in the Vancouver Sun.
Apple deal expected to bring more iPads to BC schools
The iPad could be the hands of Grade 5 and 6 science students this fall if school trustees like the idea of partnering with Apple Canada. A report to school trustees says eight school districts including Kamloops-Thompson, Abbotsford, Delta, Richmond, Surrey, Victoria, Vancouver and West Vancouver have spent the last year and a half developing the partnership. Please click here to read the full story.
Education Library Hours- Update
Please note that the library will close at 5pm today (June 30th, 2011). We apologize for any inconvenience.
The library is closed tomorrow for Canada Day and will reopen at noon on Saturday, July 2.
Teacher Grades: Pass or be Fired
Impact, a new teacher evaluation system currently being used in Washington combines emphasis on classroom observations and student test scores to assess how well students are being taught. To read the full article, published by the New York Times, click here.