Inclusion of Technology Resources in Early Childhood Education
Fred Kersten (2006)
A very practical “how to” article, Kersten described was in which adults, both teachers and parents may have provided musical learning opportunities for children ages 0-8. He emphasized the psychomotor, multimodal and social aspects of music and how these areas may have been addressed. He also stressed that technology-inclusive activities needed to be developmentally appropriate for students, based on knowledge and assessment of each child (Kersten, 2006).
Throughout the reading, suggestions were given for consideration, which included physical access and comfort, the child’s mental readiness, finding meaning and relating past experiences from life to interactions with the computer. Kersten stressed that children should have been constantly reviewed and technology “scrutinized” to be sure the child’s ability matched the technology applied (Kersten, 2006). Specifically for music educators, 3 lesson plans were provided and recommended they be tried in classes.
The article was helpful in that it gave ideas and suggested plans that were both practical and accessible. Many of the ideas could have been extended to the upper elementary grades, an often-neglected group in these types of studies.
Turn up the Music with Digital Technologies
Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson (2006)
This article, though geared directly to school librarians, discussed practical and useful ways to have used music to learn across the curriculum, in the library.
Sectioned into various types of resources, Lamb and Johnson provided lists of websites, their potential uses and these resources were free. The listed categories included databases, music blogs, Web radio and podcasting, music video, music search engines and means to have acquired music through Creative Commons Licensing (Lamb & Johnson, 2006).
Following a rather large list of resources, Lamb and Johnson (2006) then listed ways and means to have used music resources to further studies in other curricular areas. Again, included with these ideas were listed valuable potential resources where these ideas could have been explored.
However, the most prolific statement in the article, and it came from librarians, which echoed thoughts that already existed in the minds of most music teachers: “Music is for the whole brain and possibly the first of the intelligences to develop” (Lamb & Johnson, 2006). “The potential for music learning is enormous” (Lamb & Johnson, 2006).
Social Context and Music Learning
Ray M. Legette (2000)
“Students must be able to relate what they learn in school to how they live and what they do outside of school” (Legette, 2000).
In this article, Legette (2000) discussed the importance of social context in musical learning. If the instruction were not relevant and meaningful to the learner, then the learner would not have retained the knowledge or experience.
Legette quoted the Tanglewood Symposium from over 30 years ago:
Music of all periods, styles, forms, and cultures, belongs in the curriculum. The musical repertory should be expanded to involve music of our time in its rich variety, including currently popular teenage music, avant-garde music, American folk music and music of other cultures (Legette, 2000).
It stood to reason, then, that this statement, though nearly 40 years old, since this article was written, that the statement remained true today.
Used as an example, students who were raised in the “hip-hop” culture may (will) have had difficulty relating to Beethoven on the first day of class. One possibility suggested by Legette was to start teaching from hip-hop and then expanded learning to have included other times, and cultures (Legette, 2000).
Exploring an Inquiry-Based Stance for Planning and Instruction in General Music Education
Sheila J. Scott (2008)
Scott discussed an example of constructivism and how this inquiry based learning theory was implemented in the general music class. The article outlined the basic premise of constructivism, how it operated in theory and then in practical usage. “Constructivism is founded on the belief that students make meaning of educational situations by relating past experiences to their current environments (Scott, 2008).
Students were not an “empty slate” to be filled. Rather students were possessors of knowledge and experiences that when shared in social contexts and interactions, the knowledge of all, including teacher and students were expanded.
The article then summarized a constructivist styled unit of study around a theme and open-ended questions. Students then created projects, solved problems, analyzed music, and even crossed curriculum with learning in language arts and social studies.
The appendix provided a very simplified, but helpful step-by-step process of how one used the inquiry-based model. In addition the author’s contact information was provided if one desired to make further inquiries.
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