http://techinmusiced.wordpress.com/
It is happening! SmartMusic is coming to iOS.
I am pretty excited about the possibilities here. If an when we get to true one to one computing at school, I am guessing that it will involve the iPad or similar device at the middle school level.
The form factor for school is an excellent fit.
When an iPad sits on a desk it is just like the paper worksheet we oldsters grew up with. A teacher can just walk by and really see what you are working on. Math teachers can actually have kids show their work without having expensive software packages involved. A stylus or finger can draw the math symbols. Reading on a tablet can be very much like reading a journal. The camera (still and movie) has applications in science and visual art.
With SmartMusic available on tablets, the music class will fit in with the crowd that is migrating to the digital and convenient world of tablets. I could actually see an iPad on a music stand. Laptop? No.
Some things I would love to try:
- A class were everyone had easy access to a tuner in rehearsal.
- A class where everyone knew where they played the wrong note.
- A deployment where anyone who was having trouble with the program could bring it in for some help and show me.
I think kids are more likely to have access to a tablet than a computer in the near future. It is more cost effective than the laptop/desktop computers that are available now. Heck it is even more portable than books are now. What was the Steve Martin tweet? "I just loaded 10,000 books on my tablet and now I can't lift it." Or something like that. We know that isn't true, but it is the near future for kids and computing. And now it looks like we are going to be able to load over 50,000 scales and exercises, a dozen method books and a whole bunch of literature on there too.
As usual, Dr. Russell has beat me to the analysis of this announcement. Don't forget to hop over to his blog and check out his take!
This is big news. It is going to be fun to see what this will do.
2 comments:
Hi Roger,
I was interested in reading your blog about iPads.
I hope you don't mind my sharing an app with you....
I've released a new version of an iPhone app that just might interest you. It's called InTune and it's for checking and improving intonation:
www.wittenberg.edu/music/intune
I'd be happy to send you a promo code for InTune! If it is of interest, perhaps you could talk about it on your blog.
Thanks.
Dan Kazez, Professor of Music
Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio
InTune - www.wittenberg.edu/music/intune
Would love to take a look!
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