The Band Ed Tool Shed

More IBooks Author Info.

2012-01-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

http://techinmusiced.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/ibooks-2-and-ibooks-author/

If you don't read techinmusiced it is worth a look. Especially if you are a music teacher. Dr. Christopher Russell always finds some interesting things to write about. He can even make a thermostat sound interesting!

He is a step or two ahead of me on the new iBook/Textbook thing. There are some costs involved in publishing and selling your books through the iBook store to consider. I think his total was around $400 to maybe get it into the store. The exposure in that book store may be worth it. Who knows?

If you aren't to the stage of life where you have that kind of money to play with, don't give up on publishing your book! Even if you think it will not be a huge best seller, just PDF it and circulate it in smaller places. On the web, you can be the store and the main seller. (These are amazing times.)

Emailing the book to the iPad/iPod or someone's computer is a possibility. You can then use iBooks to read the PDF info. I was surprised to see how many PDFs I had on my bookself in my iPad the other day. You do give up some of the security of the iBook site, but your ideas are out there.

Having your ideas out there could be good for you too. It is not unlike how the big music business model has changed over the last 20 years. It used to be you needed a big record deal and the concerts were to promote sales of the record. Now it is more like skip the big record deal and sell-out some big concerts. Maybe the book becomes the promotion of your lectures in this publishing scenario. I like the idea of healthy live music. I bet I will like your live talk as well.

If the iBook platform entry fee isn't for you or your book, I do hope you publish anyway. I am always looking for something good to read. Put it out there!

Google's Analytics and Afton, Wyoming!

2012-01-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

www.google.com

I have been using Blogger to write this stuff since November of 2007. I stumbled on to Google's Analytics shortly after that and have been tracking visitors to my sites and blog since then.

The analytic tools are a lot of fun and they give you some ideas who the audience may be. I have been surprised by how many people stop by to see what I have to say. Thanks for doing that! The writing teachers have always said to write what you know. If you couldn't tell, I am basically a music teacher with a strong interest in band and educational technology. It sounds focused and you would think that would be a limited audience, but I have had close to 11,000 page views in the last two years.

Since then, Blogger has added these tools as a built-in feature. Or, maybe they were always there and I (once again) have stumbled into useful stuff. Just look under "Stats" in your Blogger page.

My favorite Analytics tool is the ability to drill down to where the hits are coming from... you can even find out what city or state the people who visit your site are in. I love watching the map get colored in as people visit from other states. North Dakota was early (thanks Mom!) and Minnesota is my most often. The one place that seemed a little elusive was Wyoming. I realize that there aren't that many people there, but come on! I have been a more frequent visitor to Wyoming than Wyoming has been to my Blog. That just hasn't happened until last week.

Now I can say people from all 50 United States have stopped in. Thanks for stopping by last week Afton, Wyoming!

iBooks Author and the $15 Text

2012-01-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/a-closer-look-at-ibooks-author-textbooks-and-exclusivity/

http://allthingsd.com/20120119/apples-new-math-or-why-a-15-ebook-equals-a-75-paper-book/

So the textbook companies are selling $15 iBooks instead of $75 books. Is it really cheaper for schools?

Believe it or not, that is probably not the way it will work if you have a true one to one student iPad ratio. That will work out $15 per iPad install. The books are reused. In our district, that could be reused 6 or 7 times before being replaced. (We hang on to books WAY too long here.) That re-use may even be 12 to 14 times in shorter term classes that are offered twice a year. There doesn't appear to be a way to pass the book on to the next user. So this isn't going to hurt the bottom line of the major publishing houses.

Now before you cheapskates say we must stick with traditional paper books, there are some things in it for schools and kids. (In no particular order.)

Lighter backpacks.
My 90 pound kids regularly schlep 40 pound backpacks. I know. I've weighed them both.

Paper isn't as efficient.
There are many reasons that the real world runs on computers. They lower wait time for correspondence. They make it easier to find your work. Accuracy goes up when you use an electronic device. Revision is easier. Just think about passing out papers and the amount of time that can take. There are lots of reasons to use computers in school. Many of them are the same reasons you use them at work.

Updates will keep texts current.
We really do hang on to outdated texts way too long. In an age where knowledge is doubling at an unbelievable rate this is going to become a huge problem. A new book in our building can be in play in our building for the 6 years, more than enough time to go out-of-date.

In the battle of show and tell, the iBook wins.
Animation, video, audio, color everywhere at no additional costs. Used well, these tools are powerful for teachers and learners.

Students can help themselves learn.
Our kids have varied backgrounds an life experiences. We have world travels mixed in with kids whose parents are working three jobs. The vocabulary differences alone make having a few clicks between what you know and what you need to know an important tool. Discovering what you need to know for yourself will become more important in the future.

No. I don't think you make a move to the iBook to save money. Make the move because it is something that will help your students and your schools.

OK. What Just Happened at the Apple Event?

2012-01-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/apple-posts-video-of-ibooks-and-itunes-u-media-event/

We live in amazing times.

I think we just saw the beginning of the end of paper textbooks.
We just saw the tools to create your own textbook become very easy to use.
We just saw course management software become easy to use.

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

There will be people who will not want to switch away from "real" books. Hopefully, they will find their new careers rewarding. It has been time to make this switch for a long time.

Wow, the printing apparatus of publishing became even less important.

Hopefully, we see more people take a shot at publishing their own texts! I love a world with more choices and there are some pretty creative people that should write a textbook out there. Go for it!

Hopefully, Apple doesn't become the really large, bad-mannered gorilla in the room. I think traditional textbook publishing has been cut down to three major players. I hope having one source to get to the three majors doesn't turn out to be an extremely bad idea. Love the sub $15 textbook. Not so sure a monopoly will be motivated to keep costs down, but you never know.

I am excited. I already have three courses I want to audit at iTunes U! Professional development? Just plain have something you want to dabble in? Want to send a bright k-12 student out for some deep learning? Take a look around here. It looks like it has possibilities for the K-12 teacher too. Or is it just a pretty version of Moodle?

If you are and educational software publisher and you are not writing an app for this platform, what is your plan? There is a very real possibility that this is the main learning tool at my school (and others too) shortly. If the cost savings work out, the iBook could be cheaper than new paper books. An iBook will be current. It could be everywhere.

We will have to wait and see what just happened here.

Printing! (Another Set of SmartMusic Tips)

2012-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just need a piece of paper to make your life easier.

I have found that if you do a lot of differentiation for your band kids, you may end up with a lot of empty screen real estate in the SmartMusic Grade Book.

This can make things harder than they should be when it comes time to move the results from SmartMusic Grade Book to what ever grade book the rest of your building is using. (I wish the grade book actually took an import, but that is vaporware we were promised 5 years ago. Mere mortals are not allowed such access.)

This may be a time for a print-out. Paper to make this move easier.

If you print out all of your assignments at once, you may end up with a more than a page wide list of grades that is pretty unwieldy to use. Not too handy and not what you wanted.

Fortunately, SmartMusic has a built-in work-around for this. When you hit the print/export button in the SM Grade Book, you get some options:

My favorite option for this fitting to paper problem is under assignments:

Here, you can pick how many assignments you want to show on your print out. Just hit the "Selected assignments" Radio Button and then the blue "Select" button. Then you can have just the assignments that matter show up in the print-out. Very helpful for that move to the that other grade book.

So if your trumpet section did one set of scales and the woodwinds did another, you can work out a print-out to ease the job of data entry for you. You can even pick which students show on the page, so you can pick just the trumpets or just the flutes and show their work.

Sometimes, a piece of paper can make your life easier for you. It all depends on what you put on it.

Revolution!

2012-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120102/04270317251/why-apple-will-not-be-part-real-tablet-revolution.shtml

The gist of this article entitled "Why Apple Will Not Be Part of the Real Tablet Revolution" has a point. The real revolution will happen when the price gets lower. There are competitors that can make a tablet much cheaper and this is starting to happen. Maybe the post should have said that Apple is just beginning the revolution.

I'm not too worried about Apple. They have had a way of finding, developing and marketing the next big thing. I would expect them to keep that up.

I am a little concerned we may be resting on our laurels at school. What happens when all students have access to the internet? What happens when all students BUT our students have access to the internet? I'm not too sure I want a bunch of people getting a head start on my students in the academic race.

The internet is the largest collection of knowledge ever assembled. Don't we need to spend time teaching kids how to relate to it and work with it?

Did I miss a SmartMusic Press Release?

2012-01-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

www.SmartMusic.com

I was preparing to sit down and listen to a large batch of SmartMusic assignments on my school issued iPad. I have been doing a lot of software updating of iPads lately, so I swung by the App Store first to run the updates on this iPad too.

SmartMusic asked to be updated, so I gave the OK. A few minutes later I was looking at an iPad version of the SmartMusic In Box.

Nice.

iPod versions of apps will run on iPads, but they do not usually look so great because they are blown-up to fit the extra screen real estate or the developer ignores the extra space and leaves the app small.

This version looks a lot nicer on the iPad. And that may be where I listen to SmartMusic assignments most often. I don't need a lot of computer for assignment evaluation. I could listen to assignments with the iPod, but I do like the larger keyboard of the iPad to write comments. Curled-up in front of the fireplace and doing my homework on the iPad sounds better than at a desk or trying to type with just my thumbs.

I wonder if MakeMusic is working on the full version of SmartMusic for the iPad? It would be a welcome thing to put in the hands of students. Especially if the iPad turns out to be the catalyst for schools going to one-to-one computing.

Apple's January Event

2012-01-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57351146-17/apple-january-event-to-focus-on-publishing-ibooks-report-says/

http://www.gutenberg.org/

Am I missing something here?

iPads and publishers.

The rumor mill is saying Apple's next big event will focus on publishing and I am hoping there are some things in place for iBooks that help schools and libraries with their delivery of books to young readers.

Right now, the iBook method seems to be limited. You can have 10 devices related to the same Apple ID. A typical classroom set of iPads is 30. More than 10, you need another account or de-authorize some. I looked at Kindle and Nook as well and they are limiting the number of devices to 6. The volume purchase portion of the Apple web site seems to be able to sell apps at a discount, but not books.

There don't seem to be any work arounds for this if you want a practical method for a current book. You can download books from Project Gutenberg (or even a teacher-developed book) and use those, but if a teacher wants a current text from a publisher, this will cause issues.

There is another issue with a non-true one-to-one situation. The iPads don't go home, they stay at school on the cart. Books circulating this way are going to be in school and no where else. Until we either make everyone buy one or get brave enough to own one for all of our students, we are going to be stuck here. 24-7-365 learning is not going to happen.

The type of help I am hoping for from the Apple event is very much like a library. You have licenses for thirty copies, you login on your iPad and get one. Done for the day and logged out at school? Your iBook is available for your home iPad, just login and get it.

Of course, I may be full of beans. Maybe I am missing something. Maybe there is a way around the 10 book limit? If you know something I don't about this Please LET ME KNOW!

UPDATE:
Might not be all that big:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/01/17/original.source.suggests.comments.misinterpreted/
1/17/2012

Here's a Who rumor:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/17/roger-rosner-is-exec-in-charge-of-apples-digital-textbook-tools/
1/17/2012

Here's an author that has some level-headed ideas about what might happen:
http://www.slashgear.com/heres-the-apple-textbook-thatll-be-presented-on-thursday-17209601/
1/18/2012

Heeeere's What Happened:
http://macdailynews.com/2012/01/19/apple-reinvents-textbooks-with-ibooks-2-for-ipad/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wordpress%2FxhfA+%28MacDailyNews%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Wow! Garritan is joining MakeMusic.

2011-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.makemusic.com/Pressroom/Default.aspx

MakeMusic continues its aggressive course of action with the acquisition of Garritan.

They have been pretty busy. They bought Recordare last month and Garritan this month.

For playback in Finale projects, Garritan sounds are much more realistic. Light years ahead of the cheesy midi sounds from the late 80's. Every Finale project I have heard lately has been played back on Garritan sounds. These products go together well.

So with the Recordare purchase, you can now move your Sibelius projects to Finale. With the Garritan purchase, the quality of sounds goes up. You have been able to move a Finale accompaniment to SmartMusic for some time ( a big plus for music teachers.) Maybe the idea is to attract Sibelius users to Finale (for many users) and then on to SmartMusic (for the teachers.)

If this purchase isn't to get more Finale users from Sibelius, one can assume it does put Finale users to the front of the line for new sound developments from Garritan, another comptetive advantage.

Either way, it does "neaten-up" the package a bit.

It has been a while since MakeMusic has made this many moves. Interesting stuff.

TIES 2011

2011-12-14T07:09:00.001-08:00

http://www.Ties.k12.mn.us/

I am back from the TIES conference. Once a year, the people over at TIES put on an educational technology conference that appeals to teachers, administrators, and educational tech staff.

This is actually a pretty broad spectrum audience when you think about it. They do a good job of finding ideas and presentations for everyone on the list. In fact, if you can't find an interesting discussion here, you aren't trying very hard. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to go.

Interesting things I noticed there:

The crowd attending this thing is getting huge! It used to be very easy to get a seat in the opening keynote talk in the room where the talk is happening. In fact, you would have a choice of seats. The last two years, seat choice hasn't been possible and the satellite conference rooms have been used to teleconference in the speaker that was literally just down the hall.

Why so full? They have been getting in rock star level speakers. I also think this is due to people really needing to know what is happening with the technologies used in education and (finally) getting serious about learning about them.

Interesting trends spotted:

Bring Your Own Devices. If you were worried about being first to try BYOD, no more worries. There are several districts that are giving this BYOD trend a go. There doesn't sound like any real downside to this plan. Just keep an eye out for the have-not crowd and have a plan to help them out. Also, the bandwidth of your network might become an issue if it is not robust enough.

(Thinking the networking through, I would be sure to set-up the networks with two different levels of priority... teachers, principals and other presenters who need swift connections because they are presenting get swift connections. Non-presenters who are not high priority get something more cost-effective.)

Encouraging devices with kids for the same reasons adults would use them. Keeping life organized, becoming more productive, etc. I don't know if you remember how complicated middle school was, but it sure isn't getting any easier. Why not bring the devices?

Google Docs (Google Apps.) What did we do without these tools? Look at the apps version for your school or consider yourself committing malpractice. They are an inexpensive, useful and powerful way to collaborate. Just what you need for your classroom. This also makes that Mac vs PC question irrelevant. Welcome to the post personal computer world.

There are some dinosaurs out there. One district I heard about is not putting anything on any cloud service for reasons of security. Really? My kid's 5th grade writing assignment needs security? No one is going to die if his work gets out and if we are really worried about him being embarrassed we can set things up so you need a password or a link or both. Payroll information needs security. Military planners need security. Please don't make it hard for Grandma to see my kid's work. He can use the audience.

Vendors! There are lots of interesting products out there. Curriculum too. I can't help but wonder if the really big future purchases are going to lean towards network tools to get kids online and keep things under control for CIPA.

I would be worried if I were a book publisher with no online plans. From what I heard and saw, it is very possible to deliver education without buying books. The new opportunity here is the major cost savings for districts, if everyone is web-connected. I think it would be interesting to see a few teachers try to run classes without buying books from what is available now. Literature looks do-able now with Project Gutenberg.

Publishers might want to think about their role. Instead of developing lessons that will be used for the next textbook cycle, they need to become the curators of what has and is happening in the subject area. What that looks like and how you profit from that, I don't know. In my mind, publishing becomes more of a service (like a consultant) and less of a tangible product.

Once again, a fun and educational couple of day at TIES. Maybe you can be part of the record breaking crowds next December. Hope to see you there.

Tricks and Sticks with SmartMusic

2011-12-01T06:12:00.001-08:00

A couple of percussion things came up with SmartMusic this week.

First, we had tympani player who needed to do a SmartMusic assignment, so he popped into the room to do it after school. It was a nice time and he got some extra coaching. After a couple of tries he got the 100% score.

Then he said something interesting, "I wonder if I can do it two times in a row like that." He spent another five minutes trying to get to two in a row. (And yes, he did get there.)

Interesting. He was having so much fun that he really did start to "play" with SmartMusic. Do you think he will become a better player with that attitude? I think so. There is doing something and then there is being able to repeat what you have done. It is an interesting lesson that should take him far.

He may be really self-motivated, but I think the "game" factor of SmartMusic was really helping him meet his personal need for a challenge. This group of youngsters is a generation that has spent time with video games and some of these students have picked up on the concept of developing skills and doing things over until you REALLY have it.

My education profs would call this mastery. My students might call it a number of things, "skills," "game," "ownage."

The machine also had the patience for him to reach for that mastery level. Had I been busier that evening or I hadn't been computer-equipped, it would have been easy for me to say, "I have heard you do it right once, you should go now... " I really don't have to be there while he is doing his two in a row experiment if he has access to a SmartMusic equipped computer.

Some percussion specific things we have noticed here:

Percussion on SmartMusic has always been a challenge for the software. It is getting better, but for some reason this group of instruments must be hard to get dialed-in for this program. Check their knowledge base for some tips.

Some bell sets register an octave lower in SmartMusic than what is written. Our work around is to talk about note names and show kids how to figure out what is going on. There is some info in the SmartMusic Knowledge Base that is helpful too. If in doubt, send the assignment in and we will send it back if there is a problem. The teacher is always allowed to change the score.

Also, when making band music assignments, check to be sure that the percussion parts assigned have something to play! If you assign the second movement to the maraca player and that movement is tacet for the maraca player... you probably get where this is going. The fix for this is good old fashioned score study. Don't just read the wind parts when you are thinking about what to assign.

You might think that SmartMusic isn't necessary or worth it for percussionists. With a few tricks, I think it helps them move forward.

The Sick Day and Technology or How Many Computers Does It Take to Get a Sick Day?

2011-11-22T10:26:00.001-08:00

We have "the crud" going around our house. We have a sick kid. Looks like Thanksgiving is at our house this year, so we aren't passing along a bug for an early Christmas present.

My wife has some pressing deadlines at work and I don't, so I am going to stay home today.

There is an interesting take on the tech side of taking a leave day.

Step one: Get the plans I wrote-up yesterday on our version of Google Docs (It is "277apps" for us.)
Step two: Use the print button to turn them into a PDF to send to the office and to attach to the sub caller's software.
Step three: Login to AESOP to get a sub. Hopefully, there is someone out there that can do the job today.
Step four: Login to the payroll department's absence tracker, ERMA and basically answer the same questions that I had to answer for AESOP.
Step five: Mutter something about how complex this is... as in how come ERMA and AESOP don't freaking talk to each other? They both claim to be SIFF compliant. There is no reason I should be doing the same paperwork twice. Unless "The Man" is trying to make it hard for someone to take care of his family. "The Man" should stop this or fire one (or both) of his vendors and find less redundant software. I am pretty sure I could knock this off in an afternoon with FileMaker Pro.
Step six: Call in for the sick kid so the attendance secretary doesn't send us a robo-call telling us that our kid was absent.
Step seven: Take care of the sick child.

Were you keeping track? How many computers does it take to get a sick day?

iPads at School

2011-11-11T09:15:00.001-08:00

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

http://apple.bretford.com/products/powersynccartforipad

Part of my duties this year involves maintaining my building's iPad labs. After a couple of months on the job, I have some ideas that may be helpful.

We aren't bold enough with the iPads to go to a true one to one iPad student ratio yet.

I think we are stuck between buying one for every kid and having kids buy their own. My school is close to buying their way to 1:1, but it is always about the dollars right now. The public that funds schools here did support us in the last election, but we weren't asking for much beyond keeping up the status quo on staff and fixing the leaking buildings. By the way Westonka, THANK YOU!

Personally, I think we should be doing something to get schools caught up to the real world. Work is going to involve computing. If they don't practice computing at school, when are our students going to get these skills?

And then there is the looming end of printed media. 10 years ago the iPod came out and the music business was changed forever. Been to a record store lately? The iPad and other e-readers will surely do the same to the paper based book publishers. What are we going to do when the publishers no longer own printing presses? Or what if we want to publish our own textbooks? That is coming. Anoka, Minnesota wrote their own book this year and saved a lot of money. Open sourced e-books anyone? This is a trend that you don't have to be much of a futurist to see coming.

I think the model of computer distribution should be 1:1 and kids should be able to take them everywhere, including home.

Should that computer be an iPad? Maybe. What do you want it to do? Is it a replacement for books and papers? Should it also be able to surf the web? Should you be able to word process? What about the math department and its crazy set of symbols? There are a number of places where the iPad and its form factor will be a great fit. Throw in a stylus and you have the math thing all figured out. You could even use PDF and Noterize ( now called Notes) and do your worksheets in a crazy hybrid-paperless-pen sort of way. The form factor is perfect for a teacher working their way through the traditional desk setting. It doesn't look much different when a teacher uses a worksheet or an iPad. For most uses, the iPad is probably going to do. If you need to plug hardware into it, use a computer.

(I do wish that SmartMusic came in an iPad version. Maybe it will. They have started working that direction with the SmartMusic InBox apps. Actually, SmartMusic on the iPad may be my only real concern right now.)

In my world, all kids have a device and they are responsible for maintaining that device. Today is my day to update all of the labs to iOS 5. I'm going to be a while. The first iPad from each lab takes about an hour. This is a quiet and speedy school network day too. No kids, not many teachers online. It would be better if the kids could manage their own updates and software. It would good to use iCloud in this situation too. What doesn't store on your device goes to the cloud.

I will say that if you go the "iPad lab on wheels route" to computing in your school, get a cart that you can do software updates with, not just charge your iPads. I like our Bretford carts way better than our generic carts for that reason. Figure on training all your staff on how to manage the cart or put someone on the job with plenty of hours to devote to that.

If you are thinking that updates and management can be done with iCloud in a school lab setting, there may be some issues that you haven't thought about. Like wirelessly connecting 100 iPads and updating them at the same time might cause your network guy's next major nervous breakdown. I'm thinking Apple may have intended iCloud for lower volume situations, like "home" or "single user" use. Use a computer for maintenance. A few iPads at time, as in a 1:1 program, may not be so troublesome, especially if kids can do some of the maintenance work at home

I wonder about how much you can "lock down" your iPad lab. Most of Apple's iPad security happens at the server level with Lion Server. I wish there was a way to white list the good sites and black list the bad ones at the machine level. We filter at school, but only a few parents can do that at home. Offer support to families on how kids should manage their online lives. We don't want to be sending home trouble making machines. We want to send learning tools.

So to tie all that rambling up:

iPad may be the ticket for most (but probably not all) of your school computer needs. Assess your needs and pick the tools to fit the job.
The iCloud probably isn't a great idea for labs of computers, but if you are in a true 1:1 situation have the kids set themselves up with accounts. Running your calendar, storing your files, managing your photos and music on iCloud sounds like the thing to do in a 1:1 setting.
What ever way you go, make the move soon. I think it is better to make the change instead of being forced to change. Paper will soon be losing its dominance.

Finale/MakeMusic Geek News

2011-11-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

http://blog.finalemusic.com/post/2011/11/03/Finale-Blog-Sharing-Music-Just-Got-Easier.aspx

Whoa. A way to use Sibelius files on Finale with out the use of a whole bunch of magic and wishful thinking? Nice! This will make it easier to share with the people who don't use Finale.

Interesting SmartMusic Resend Feature.

2011-11-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.smartmusic.com

My teaching partner pointed out an interesting feature of the "resend an assignment" process in SmartMusic.

If you resend an SmartMusic assignment and the student re-does the work and sends it back, the comments you wrote before sending it out for more work are still there on the re-done project.

I hope I haven't confused you with the description of the feature. It is probably easier to show yourself with a "fake" student. Send in an assignment, write a comment, resend, revise, send it back and look at the comment field to see your old comments. The notification e-mail has your comments in it as well.

Hopefully, the returned work is better and your comments need to be updated.

I'm not sure if that's what is supposed to happen. Maybe that's the way it has always worked and I am just now noticing. It is a cool little feature for those of us with memory loss and 300 students. (So why exactly did I send it back?) It could also be considered documentation of the process. Formative assessment and feedback are big deals in our school, how about yours?

Got My Homework Done. Thanks SmartMusic Inbox!

2011-10-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.smartmusic.com/Educators/MobileApp.aspx
http://www.apple.com/ipad
http://www.t-mobile.com/

Times have changed. In this case for the better.

Over the weekend, my daughter was scheduled to try-out for a volleyball team in a neighboring town. She was scheduled for a three hour try-out. Normally, Sunday is a BIG homework day for me. Once the football game gets to the second half, I usually listen to student recordings and write comments on them for the kids to read later. Back a few years ago missing that work time would be a big deal.

Yesterday, I still listened to the recordings and my teenager made it to the try-out.

Heading out the door, I grabbed the iPad, some headphones and my cell phone. When we got there, I grabbed a bench and tethered the iPad to my phone and launched SmartMusic Inbox. I listened to the recordings, did my scores and comments and was done with plenty of time to spare.

Times have changed. A couple of years ago, this kind of access to student work would have been limited to a hard-wired internet-connected computer. A couple of years before that, I would have been tied down to a bunch of tapes and a tape player and writing notes on paper. Tape and paper would be way too much to deal with for all but really special projects. Now I can get to my homework virtually anywhere I can get a cell signal. Kids get decent feedback too.

Times have changed.

Some notes on this tech set-up:

We have an unlimited data plan with T-Mobile. According to Sprint, it gets throttled, but I haven't noticed or it doesn't get slowed enough to make trouble with SmartMusic Inbox. I was a little worried that I wouldn't get a signal out in farm country Minnesota, but that turned out to be a non-issue.

SmartMusic Inbox is an iPhone formatted app on the iOS side of things. It plays well on the iPad, but maybe it could be formatted to fit the iPad real estate without going a pixel-ey.

I use the iPad over the iPod when I can because I am better at typing on that "keyboard" and it has freakishly long battery life. Wouldn't want to run out of juice.

Why Not Get Tips From the Best?

2011-10-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1TwZcyIMA

YouTube is a great resource for my classroom.

Thumb Rolls came up yesterday in band. A quick search in YouTube turned up Neil Grover's "Learn to Thumb Roll In One Minute" video. I've got a minute of class time for that! OK, the video takes a minute, but I know it will take longer to master that tambourine technic. But it is a minute well spent...

Pull them up, listen and discuss.

2011-10-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

www.smartmusic.com
www.FileMaker.com

There is nothing like having examples on hand for parent/teacher/student conferences. Using SmartMusic and the SmartMusic Grade Book, You are all set with examples AND they are organized so you can get them in a flash. Pull them up, listen and discuss.

If SmartMusic isn't an option for your program, think about FileMaker. This data base program is cross-platform, fairly easy to learn, powerful and able to organize digital files like audio recordings and video recordings.

Not having to dig through a bunch of CD and tapes is very helpful when you have short conferences. If you can't organize yourself with one of these tools, you have big problems. Being organized helps you look good and focus on the task at hand.

Are You Backing Your Data Up?

2011-10-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of the Time Machine back-up built into recent Mac OS X software.

Here's how it works:

You buy a big USB hard drive.
You plug it into your Mac.
Your Mac asks if you want to use it for Time Machine.
You say "Yes" and begin ignoring the Time Machine.

Then you do something on your computer that causes massive problems or, something that seems minor like throw away the wrong document. You open your Time Machine and go back to right before the bad thing happened and revert to it.

Then you live happily ever after.

Actually had a chance to try it out on something major yesterday after the Lion Server session. They wanted us to uninstall sever after class. Not a problem for me. I just restarted from my trusty Snow Leopard disc and went to my Time Machine. Reverted to the last time I used my computer without Lion and less than 42 minutes later I was back to where I started from.

Pretty slick and pretty easy. Makes you think that everyone should have this going.

The hardest part was buying the USB disc.

Really.

Had a Nice Session With Apple Yesterday

2011-10-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

I was at a session with some Apple engineers yesterday and the topic was Apple's Lion Server (10.7.1) I now manage a number of iPad labs and I wanted to explore some possible tools for doing that job better.

I think I was at the meeting about a week early. 10.7.2 is due out any minute now as is iOS 5. 7.1 does a lot to control hardware both iOS and X on your network. Plenty of tools to help supervise kid use of the network. If you are looking for ways to help control what apps kids can use and their privileges while on your network, Server is the tool that will help.

I wonder what 7.2 is going to do to improve on 7.1. I didn't bother asking many questions about what is next, because I know that those Apple engineers won't say a word before its time.

But I have an idea or two for Apple.

How about a way to push App installs out to iPads without having to connect to a computer? I have several labs and it would be great if we are going more to the network with iOS 5 to have the ability to tell the labs that they need to get this app from this account at the app store. Without having to physically go to the lab or hunt all the iPads down. Maybe that script is in there, but if it isn't...

If we are going to the cloud with iOS, I would love to have a way to lock the kids' iPads down enough so a student can't really add an app to an iPad on or off of our network. That ability may be there already, and it is just a matter of applying a strategy with Lion Server, but I just really don't want to have to remove a bunch of waste of space apps on 100s of iPads. The off-our-network scenario is pretty spooky to me. But I don't want to lock the iPads up in the building if kids need them for special project at home or if we ever go to a 1:1 program here. Please, Please, Please for this tool.

Well, mark me down as waiting for 10.7.2 and iOS 5. AND a bunch more training.

More Quick SmartMusic Tips

2011-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

www.SmartMusic.com

Here is yet another couple of tips for people starting to use SmartMusic in their program.

Take the time to walk kids through the process of logging in, getting the assignment, mic check, takes, how to set the volume of the soloist, how to get to older takes and how to submit an assignment. A demo of the basics go a long ways towards keeping the parent phone calls down.

This works great on a Interactive White Board:

I like that you can click on the button you are talking about with an IWB. If you don't have that, use a projector or a really large monitor. Just make sure everyone sees where the cursor is as you go through the process.

I have a "fake" student name registered for each class:

Polly Styrene plays alto clarinet in all of my bands. I login as Polly and walk through everything and point out how and how not to do things. SmartMusic Gradebook users aren't charged by the student, so having a fake student like Polly doesn't cost anything and really helps the teacher see things as the students will. I don't have to worry about accidentally showing a student's work, no one makes fun of Polly.

Do show kids where to get your assignments:

A how NOT to: do not go to the method book to get to an assignment. Kids who do this will not have a submit button when they are done with the recording.
How to do this: To do an assignment follow the assignment's link under the catagory assignments on the upper left hand corner of your home page.

Tell kids to listen for balance on their recordings before submitting. Here's why:

Usually the balance is pretty good if the student ran the mic check. But thing change during a session. Players get tired.
Kids need to do it over if they send in one we can't hear the soloist!
There is an adjustment slider IF you listen to the recording. Slide it toward the soloist end if you don't hear yourself plain as day.

These tips really help us save time with our phone and listening. It is worth taking a little bit of class time to do this!

Steve Jobs.

2011-10-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan for a long time.

There is something very artistic about the company he lead.

I think that Apple is successful because they are thinking about the audience/customers they are working for.

Instead of just moving product.

Sure, there were people who think of him as just a great salesman. But it is really easy to sell a product that you are proud to have helped design and build and you know in your heart is really good and useful.

He will be missed.

This Post is Worth a Read.

2011-10-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

http://techinmusiced.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/clinging-to-relevance-interactive-white-boards-vs-tabletsipads/

This post is worth a read. Not my post. This particular post is pointing you elsewhere. No, this post over at the choirguy's blog, Techonolgy In Music Education Blog.

I think choirguy hits a bunch of things on the mark with this post.

It is interesting to note that the current push toward great presentation tools like IWBs are not going to be the ultimate revolutionary learning tool in the high tech classroom. It is too teacher-centric. I know, I know. There are ways to get kids involved, but really, isn't it just a snazzy presentation tool? Isn't it really all about keeping kids in the same project at the same time?

No, I think the real revolution in education will happen when we are comfortable with kids knowing different things and start letting kids take different paths to educate themselves.

I think that happens when we start putting student-centric tools in their hands all the time. Isn't it time we taught kids how to ask great questions and let them loose to find the answer in the largest collection of information ever assembled?

That happens in the 1:1 computer:learner envirionment.

Quick SmartMusic Tip

2011-09-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for ways to make it easier for my kids to use SmartMusic. I also believe that kids should be gently prodded to use this powerful tool whenever possible.

This week's problematic observation was that students only use SmartMusic if there was a SmartMusic assignment.

To help with that limited use idea, you could give out a huge number of assignments. But that makes tons of work for you evaluating the assignments.

We spent some time talking about what SmartMusic does for you. Talk about the support for rhythm and fingering SmartMusic supplies and mention that practicing something wrong repeatedly isn't helpful for learning. Don't forget to remind them it is more fun as well!

I also found a place to make the method book more prominent! Yes, "Method Books" is one of the choices in the left hand side "My Library" column. But there is also a way to make it show up as a big picture on the right side of the student home page. To do this go into your teacher home page and add your method book to your class and it will show up on the student's home page whenever they log in. A visual (and much bigger) hint. Hopefully, your kids will pick up on it.

You know, I bet the next million dollar idea is the electronic method book. Runs on your favorite pad like device. Then there is this little icon right next to the line that says "SmartMusic this?" With the near impending doom of paper printed texts, this pad may be the way we distribute what we tradtionally put on paper. Why not make SmartMusic more of a part of the text than the text part of SmartMusic?

Have You Seen the New SmartMusic Community?

2011-09-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.smartmusiccommunity.com/

It looks a bit like Twitter... It's a wonder my school doesn't block it. !-)

If you don't have an answer about SmartMusic, I bet someone here does. SmartMusic users should stop in here to talk shop and swap ideas.

Getting Your Students Into SmartMusic Gradebook

2011-09-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

www.smartmusic.com

https://gradebook.smartmusic.com/

We have been using SmartMusic Gradebook for several years now. It is a HUGE piece of our SmartMusic everywhere plan. The Gradebook is an excellent way to send musical assignments and collect them from individuals.

But the trick to using the SMGB is getting kids to set-up an account, login and register for class. I guess that is really three tricks.

There are two obvious ways to do this. You could send the instructions home and hope the kid is a good reader (or has help) and gets it done that way. Or, you could take class time to do it.

We have tried it both ways and have found both methods have their upsides and downsides.

With the send it home method:

Upside-- You probably will get parent support. Kids probably aren't allowed to install software unsupervised at home. At least they aren't at my house.
Downside-- You may wait for months for this to happen!
Downside-- You might not have students registered for the right section.
Upside-- Parents will actually be aware that they have the program.
Upside-- You will hear from the parents that it doesn't work on their computer if it doesn't work on their computer.
Downside-- You will hear from the parents that it doesn't work on their computer if it doesn't work on their computer.

With the use class time method:

Upside-- You will have everyone registered for class.
Upside-- You will have little time spent tracking down the laggards.
Upside-- It will be the right class.
Downside-- You may be surprised by how many kids don't confidently know their contact information.
Downside-- I have yet to meet the music teacher with enough rehearsal time.

Recommendations:

If at all possible, I would recommend the do it in class method. Yes, you loose some of the parent involvement, but it saves you time in the long run. You can be sure that everyone is registered and you can check to be sure the student is registered for the right class and fix it right away if they aren't.

I wouldn't do this with out some preparation. At the bare minimum have students bring their e-mail address to class. They will also need their address and an e-mail for parents. Our fifth graders are pretty bright, but they haven't had to fill out this kind of registration form before and it takes a while. I think we have it down to 40 minutes per class.

If kids forget their home address, we use the schools address for creating an account.

You need a plan for siblings that share e-mail accounts as well. Parents could set-up e-mail addresses for the kids or you could use a bogus e-mail address for the login and have real parent contact addresses inside of the SmartMusic account.

We just got Google Apps accounts at school for our students, so the individual e-mail address was easy for us.

Everyone's situation is different. We have access to computer labs and that makes having everyone do this at the same time possible. If you want to use a lab and don't want to install SmartMusic on all the computers, point your favorite browser to https://gradebook.smartmusic.com/ . This address will let you use the browser to set-up accounts and register for class.

You would be crazy to do this in a lab setting without an interactive white board or projector. Walk through it once with a dummy student by yourself. Show the kids once using a dummy student when they aren't watching their computers to walk them through the process as well.

We used our IWB and had students very carefully follow us every step of the way, one step at a time. Starting with opening the same browser. Have kids triple-check entries. This is a situation where one misplaced keystroke will slow everyone down while you trouble shoot and fix things. It is very important to get the login right as well. How else are students going to get in to do their assignments? Grandpa always said, "Don't hurry into trouble." This is one of those times to listen to him.

If you have just one computer in your classroom, you could train a student to supervise the others in registration. If you use the send it home method, this could be the way to clean up the late or poorly done registrations.

After setting up the accounts and registering the kids for class, I would make sure that they have written down what their login address and password are. This could be the one piece of paper that should go in an instrument case. Having watched our practice room computers for several years, I know that the number one login problem is forgetting the login info.

I would also aim to do this in-class process very early in the year. What else are you going to do on the first day? Talk about a bunch of rules? This may also be the least valuable rehearsal day if you are concerned about that time issue.

This process sounds like a lot of work but it is worth it. It gets easier with each section of kids you work with and kids with existing accounts will breeze right through this.

SmartMusic Gradebook is THE way to keep tabs on your students and help them grow as musicians. It will also help you to improve your teaching as well, just listen for trends of what to fix. Getting them logged-in and registered is worth every minute.

ADDENDUM:
This is harder for students who haven't had an SmartMusic account before. If they remember their account login info and password from last year, registering for this year's class is a breeze! Figure half the time on this project for the experienced users. I would still have them register for class as a group. Nice to have them all in the gradebook.

Haves/Have Nots

2011-09-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

So how do you support the "haves" and "have nots" in education?

I am lucky. I have a job. My wife has a job too (mostly to support my teaching habit!) We support our kids and get them the tools they need and want. Be it band instruments, shin pads for soccer, clothing, computers and internet, food, educational experiences. That's the way it is supposed to work in a nuclear family.

So how do we support the kids that don't have all that going for them?

In band, we do that with fund raising for scholarships and school owned instruments. We have a school that owns some of the more expensive instruments (tubas, French horns, etc.) and we loan them to students. (Again, I am lucky.) We also direct people to stores that have affordable rent-to-own type plans. Eventually we get everyone who wants to play connected to an instrument.

We make it work in band. We muddle through and I don't think we have too many falling through the cracks. We have students and families who can afford just about anything. We also have families that are struggling to get by.

I wonder if the district I am in is paralyzed by having a wide margin between the haves and have nots. Especially when it comes to technology. What do you do to put technology (computers in particular) in school? It would be very easy to have people bring their own, It would be very nice to have everyone working with the same school-bought machines too. The decision would be very easy to make, if everyone was in the same financial boat. Have a lot of "have nots"? Go with the school purchased plan. Everyone is well-off? Bring your own. Mixed? Good luck and prepare to do some muddling.

I think we could go with a "bring your own device" plan tomorrow, but can we afford to have some students left behind in this way? A district buying it all to create a one to one plan with a big school purchase for everyone plan probably won't fly either. (Although, we haven't been asking anyone to fund this plan. Maybe it would.)

What about "bring your own device" situations? This may be the plan that finally gets technology pervasively in the classroom. This isn't issue free. People will have to realize that the tech support isn't going to be the school's problem. Support will be too hard with the variety of devices out there. I would be a little concerned that people would also wonder why we aren't supplying the tools kids need... "If it is that important, why isn't the school buying one for my kid?"

Labs. In my experience, this is what's in place now. Going to the computer lab makes technology seem like some kind of special occasion. The lab really isn't the real world we are supposed to be preparing kids for. Technology is everywhere in the real world now. I cannot think of one job that doesn't have some part of it influenced by digital technology. Special occasion? Really? I think that kids need to learn how to use machines to solve problems in all areas now, with labs there is an element of spontaneity that just isn't there.

I would think you would want all students to have equal access and some sort of standard device. This happens with a true One to One device program. "Standard" makes it easier for teachers to teach. It is also easier for tech support to deal with issues and I believe that teachers are first line tech support and then issues move up to typically under-staffed and over-worked tech support people. With everyone on the same device common problems pop-up and once a solution is found it gets used repeatedly. "Standard" helps.

Back to the question of "If it is that important, why isn't the school buying one for my kid?" Others will be wondering why we are buying for kids that can afford their own. Especially if parents can afford better devices than the school supplies.

So how do you get devices into the classroom? Yes, we need devices soon. If we don't we will have this transition happen to us. What happens when the book publishing (on paper) business goes away? Don't think the clock isn't ticking on that one, when was the last time you went to the record store? Books are next.

Any ideas?

New Tools for Kids!

2011-09-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Our students now have Google Apps available to them!

This news was shared with our staff in a short sentence in a lengthy Monday morning newsletter. Way at the bottom. I really think that news should have been shouted from the mountain top, with way bigger type and about a dozen exclamation points!

Can you tell that I am pretty excited? Those of you who have had Apps for a while are probably yawning right now.

Why would a band director be so excited about kids having access to Google Apps? When you use SmartMusic like we do (everywhere and everybody) kids frequently ended up sharing accounts with other members of the family. Now each kid can get his/her assignments without having to dig through big sister's/brother's assignments to get there. Sure, I could have set them up with an account myself, but I am pressed for time as it is. Now, someone else has done all the set-up.

Other reasons to get excited include all the other tools that go with an Apps account. Writing, spreadsheet, forms, presentations, web pages can all be authored with these tools.

The cross-disciplinary assignments that I didn't get to may be possible now.

How about a serious tuning unit with a spreadsheet to track your tendencies over several practice sessions? Wouldn't be cool if kids new where they typically were on the tuner with a little scientific study?

Report on a composer? Or should that be a presentation? AND it gets stored on the "Cloud," so no more "the dog ate my homework."

Nothing like a new tool to get the excitement going!

I Just Sat Through iPad Training.

2011-09-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

I just sat through iPad training.

Nothing really new, because we have the device at home. I really do like iPads for reading, Twitter, e-mail, calendar.

Here's what I am thinking about school use:

This isn't a full-blown computer (yet) and yes you do need a full-blown computer every once in a while.

If it is graphics or audio or video work you will be much happier with a computer.
Full versions of programs don't run here.

FileMaker Go and FileMaker are not the same deal for instance.
SmartMusic still needs a computer, but playback has moved to Android and iOS. (Hey SmartMusic! Next million dollar idea is a full version for the iPad!)
Those are just two of my favorite programs.

What if you wanted to do some programming?

For iOS that is done with a computer.

What if there ISN'T an app for that?

I'm glad I don't have to share one of these.

If you had to share with different settings for each user, you would go nuts.
I am guessing that kids will have a lot of fun moving the apps around and changing the wall paper.
A computer can have multiple users.

I love the fact that I can set things up my way and the rest of the family can have their settings on our computers at home.

I wish there was more room to store things.

I think that iPads are a great place to share pictures, but there are only so many gigs to the memory on these.

The cloud that is coming this fall will have restrictions on the amount of time you photos will be stored.

I have been known to want to walk around with gigs of data.

Schools are fairly complex data-wise and I like to use our info.

I wish it were easier to lock down.

You MUST wander through and monitor what kids are doing with iPads.

The remote desktop is easier with computers.

I love web browsers with "White Lists" for my kids.

This Safari doesn't have that.

I wish the web history wasn't so easy to obscure on iPads

In fact, it is fairly easy. Go to the pages icon and start hitting X's.

I think that schools will purchase these by the truck load.

The cost of these is at a tempting price point and yes it is a CPU.

But can't we do a little better for our students?

It is a nice transition from paper to digital.

The form factor is very much like paper and can sit on a desk like a worksheet. Teachers have worked this way for at least a couple of centuries.

Maybe I am being a little persnickety and I don't mean to sound grumpy. iPads will continue to improve. I am guessing that the ability to secure these for classroom use will get better soon (or maybe I am behind on my apps and it has improved already!) But right now, if you could only purchase one device, would this be the device?

There's an Adapter for That.

2011-08-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20099484-263/apples-thunderbolt-potential-increases-with-new-adapters/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt

Topher Kessler has found an interesting gadget that works with Thunderbolt.

I wondered if Thunderbolt was going to be like Firewire (and Firewire 800) in that Firewire is speedier than USB, but just not accepted/available/used by all the gadgets I would like to hook up to my computer.

I still wonder if anyone else is going to use T-Bolt, but with this Sonnet Echo Express Card adapter, I am thinking pretty much all of my add-ons (cameras, mixing boards, hard drives, card readers) may be using Thunderbolt. In fact, with this adapter, why would Apple keep putting all those ports on their computers? You can pick and choose the adapters you want now.

I Thought I Was Paranoid

2011-08-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

I thought I was the only one paranoid to do this... have you ever "Googled" yourself?

It is a good idea according to Will Richardson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Richardson)

How well you Google can be important to your career, personal life and in ways I have never thought of before. No, you can't make a mistake just go away. But you can respond.

By the way, Will Richardson was our guest speaker at our school's opening professional development day. If you get a chance to hear him, do. Will has some very well thought out ideas and presents them with grace and humor. He said he was going to "push us." But I didn't feel like I was being belittled or threatened. He's worth a listen.

Kids today will need to think ahead in a big way. Everything you do is a possible gaffe on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace... will your kids "Google" well? This needs to be taught.

SmartMusic 2012 is out!

2011-08-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.smartmusic.com/

SmartMusic 2012 is out!

If you have a current subscription it is available for you to use right now. Just visit the web site and do the download/update thing. If you are new, I believe that you may download it and try some samples before purchasing. I think that if you try it you will want it.

The group of musicians with the biggest news with this version are the singers and others who need to polish their sight singing skills. 2012 supports voices. This may be the version that has been waited for the longest!

Four sight singing books, an exercise book and SmartMusic's own vocal exercises are currently supported. Hopefully, this is just the start of what could be an avalanche of literature. This is a good start for what might be the biggest group of musicians that can benefit from the SmartMusic magic.

I have tried it out and it does work with my tired old summer tenor voice and the instrumental mic that I had laying around the house. If I were going to do a lot of singing I would get the "Garth B" look-a-like kit with the mic that fits over my head. SmartMusic's accuracy is boosted by having the mic in a consistent place.

I tried the sight-singing exercises that came from SmartMusic and there is something there for every level of student. You can find what you need to work on in a hurry with this program. This is a tool I wish I had for my college sight-singing courses. I could have used a lot more patient practice with feedback on these important skills.

The interesting thing is that you are trying to beat the machine. This is great "place" to be teaching and there is research to back it up. Just look-up Serious Games on Google (or Amazon for a book on the topic) to see what I mean.

If you are looking for opportunities to encourage independence in your young singers, this is it. haven't used SmartMusic before? Prepare to be the coach giving advice on how get it right to beat the machine.

All musicians (Instrumentalist and Vocalists) can now benefit from SmartMusic. I encourage you to add this to your program.

SmartMusic Everywhere To The Next Level!

2011-08-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

www.smartmusic.com

The next level of SmartMusic convenience has arrived. Teachers with Android and iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad) can now get the convenience of listening and reviewing to student assignments anywhere those devices can get connected to the internet. (I spent most of my time trying out the iOS version on my iPod.)

Think about this. Waiting for your kids to get done at practice? Got a long commute? Knock off a few reviews. Please don't do the commute one if you are driving! Passenger seat is ok.

Of course, you will want to have a life, so don't over do this work-anywhere-all-the-time plan, but this is a way to keep from getting run over by the work that can pile up while you wait to get to it on your computer. I went on a long field trip last spring and I could stay caught-up with the kids back at school with this tool.

The "SmartMusic In Box" is an excellent description of how it works. You log in with your teacher e-mail, password and security code and the program gives you what you haven't evaluated yet. You can sort the in-bound work by class or look at all of the work that has come in, much like messages in your e-mail in box.

If you go in by class, your class roster is available there as well. From there you can look at the student's grade, review work he or she has turned in the past or send an e-mail to the individual.

The class roster on your iPod could be pretty handy in non-music situations. Ever have to take attendance away from your computer or forgotten your class list for the fire drill?

The layouts are well thought out for the iPod version. I haven't tried it on an iPad or iPhone yet. The iPad idea may be interesting, because of the keyboard size. I still haven't mastered keyboarding on the iPod and I do leave comments for all work turned in. I don't think I am too far out on a limb saying the iPhone and iPod Touch versions should have similar keyboard sizes and issues.

I was surprised by how quickly this version of SmartMusic works. It compares favorably with the computer version and may be the faster way to get your reviews of student work done. This is exactly the task you need to do and there is no rewrite/reload of the full grade book page slowing you down. I haven't done a head to head (SM vs SM In Box) race yet and your actual mileage may vary depending on your network.

Overall, I think this is a great addition to the SmartMusic tools. I plan on using this a lot this fall.

Let's Play, "How Can I Use This With..."

2011-07-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.eye.fi/
http://www.nikonusa.com/
http://www.apple.com/ipad/
http://www.apple.com/icloud/

I like to think of ways that my tech toys can work together. Sometimes, a small idea or two triggers a regular storm of things that scream "put me together." This week the ideas are the Eye-Fi SD card and the soon to be here iCloud, set to be up and running as part of Apple's OS X Lion operating system environment.

The Eye-Fi is used to move pictures (as jpegs) from you camera to your computer via a wi-fi connection.

The iCloud will move pictures from your Apple device to all your other Apple devices automatically.

Simple ideas with some big implications.

The workflow will really flow. Does anyone remember film? Take you pictures, drop your film off for developing ( or clear a lot of time to do your own darkroom work), then wait.

Hopefully, you got the focus, exposure and composition good enough to avoid going back to reshoot.

Now, you shoot, check the histogram, look over the focus and composition on the camera.

Now, for a really close inspection, have your jpegs wi-fied to your iPad.

Need to do some adjusting and don't want to do it on your iPad? That's fine, because the iPad has already sent it to your computers with its Photo Stream feature. Pictures could take up a lot of space, so there are some limits on how much time they will spend on Apple servers, but you will have time to get jpegs moved to a local drive.

I have been known to worry about the quality of my pictures (and I shoot the RAW format) and I think I will be paranoid about the limited time on Photo Stream (even if it was two decades!) So what would be the fix for that? I think that would call for a camera with two disc drives. They exist! The Nikon D7000 is an example. Set one slot up for wifiing jpegs and one to capture the RAW information. Perfect.

Big picture? It has never been easier to do photography of good technical quality and get it in circulation. A good imaginative eye for for photography, that may be another story...

Thunderbolt, iCloud and Macbook Air a Killer Combination?

2011-06-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here on a rainy day and scanning the Mac rumor web sites.

It seems that the Macbook Air refresh is going to wait for the Lion release. Then the usual speculation happens as to why and when and what users hope will happen. A couple of people troll and then those people engage in a word war that I hope my kids never ask me to explain. Yawn.

Then I got to thinking about the Air refresh. The big story there may not be the Lion/Air combination. What if the big story was the Thunderbolt/Air refresh? Thunderbolt seems to be the hot Apple refresh item on their other products. iMac and Macbook Pro got it, why not Air?

For years, if someone asked me which Apple laptop to get, I would say any of them but the Air. Mostly because of the ports that weren't there. No Firewire. One USB. Without a lot of storage on board that seems kind of limited and what if you wanted to do a couple of peripherals?

The Air just didn't do enough and I wonder how it is going to fair in a world that includes the iPad. It's just too close to the computing power of the iPad with about the same flexibility.

What if the refresh included Thunderbolt? The right dongle for that port and you could have a number of Firewire or USB devices and a monitor going right into the machine through Thunderbolt. I've always liked those docking stations that some Windows laptops have. With Thunderbolt, you could get the same single connection convenience.

Then, if people ask what Macbook they should get, I would have to ask how much power they are really going to need. If you don't need to do anything seriously processor/graphics card intensive the answer may be an Air. With iCloud, how much on-board storage are you going to need? Who knows? Maybe the processors take a big jump in speed and the Air/Macbook line is even further blurred....

Thunderbolt, iCloud and Macbook Air could be a killer combination. That might be the real Macbook Air refresh story.

Hmm. Free (or pretty cheap) Storage and More From Apple.

2011-06-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/11piubpwiqubf06/event/

This Steve Jobs keynote at WWDC may not have been too exciting when compared to those from the past, but I think there are some interesting developments for academic users here. Yes, it was essentially an all software talk and the hardware Steve-notes are more glamorous, but what that software can do is very interesting.

Easy use of the internet to update all of your devices! I will be able to load pictures on my computer/iPhone/iPod (take your pick) and they will go out to all my other computers/iPods/iPhones.

That's it. Nothing to hook up. No discs. Just enjoy the pictures on your devices...

Sounds like that's the way it will work with music too. Cool. I don't know how many times I wished I had brought something from my home computer to work to share with my music classes. I always seem to have things on the wrong iPod, too.

iPad in school? as part of a 1:1 effort? I think this may answer many of the questions I have about iPads in school. How do you get work from one place to another with an iPad? Apple is making that look easier. I think there are some real uses around a school for all of this. It would be nice to see school work hand itself out or better yet, turn itself in.

THE thing this does for iPad and other iOS devices is make the computer unnecessary. Update and sync files over the wireless. Back-up? Over the wireless. At least two important take-care-of-business chores made easier. Does not having to buy the computer make a lab of iPads easier to afford? How about individuals needing to bring SOMETHING to school? I don't know... I think the iPad may be an excellent choice for a first computer.

Will there be a way to update all of a district's devices via iCloud? Right now, it sounds like there will be limits that favor individual or family accounts. What if you need to get an app installed on 152 iPads?

The proverbial question used to be "Mac or PC?" Now, how about "Mac, PC or iOS?" The sensible answer has always been "Does it run what you need?" I hope certain software companies are keeping an eye on iOS. MakeMusic and Microsoft are companies that aren't there with what I would call full packages of programs (yet.)

Most of what iCloud does is possible to do all with other products, but iCloud seems more seamless. We'll have to see how this shakes out when it hits the real world. It is going to be an interesting fall.

What To Do With The Rambunctious Music Class This Last Week...

2011-06-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have THAT class...

You know the one that has more than its share of kids who check out WAAAAAY too early. I think they were done three or four months ago. As a teacher, you know that if you lighten up, there will be problems.

It's the end of the year here, students really aren't that motivated, unless it is some project of their creation. The problem with their projects is they can end up involving the Dean of Students. What should I do with them?

Every once in a while I have a spasm of lucidity. Make a project theirs.

It is time for a creative project. Our music text has a musical in it. Instead of skipping it because we ran out of time, we are in the process of turning it into a video. There will be several versions of it, because I have 4 different teams working on the project.

This project needed some lead time to set up. We watched some musicals. We studied the characters. Historically, the music we had an interesting cast to study. When asked "why?" I pointed out the more you know about the topic the better story you can tell. We learned to sing the parts.

We split into two teams. We planned and did story boards. We won't have a lot of time to shoot and edit, so planning is key! When I saw a solid plan, I handed out the cameras.

My students are problem solving. It is surprising how many choices you can make on an artistic endeavor. I think these students get that now. We'll see how they turn out. Right now, I am hoping they will finish! There is a lot of discussion on how the musical should look. There have been a lot of reshoots, just to get it right.

I get materials, observe the groups and stay out of the way. I tell them it works like Donald Trump's TV show, if you are helpful and pitching in, you will hear good words from me.

I am seeing some of their best work of the year right now. At a time of year when most other teachers are complaining about their attitudes and laziness I have busy and productive students. Amazing.

So What Ideas Do You Have For Summer Professional Development?

2011-05-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.finaletraining.com/PERPICH.pdf

http://www.mbda.org

http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/Professional_development_workshops.html

http://www.smartmusic.com/Educators/Clinics.aspx

So what ideas do you have for summer professional development?

There are several good ideas available in my neighborhood. And if you don't live in Minnesota, we are not a bad place to visit when it isn't -40 degrees!

There is Finale training with Mavis Kallestad. If you want to learn Finale or get better at it, Mavis does an excellent workshop. The Perpich Center is the arts high school in Minnesota and I have always thought they do a nice job of hosting events for teachers too. If you use SmartMusic, Finale is pretty handy for making your own accompaniments. Pretty handy, as in the ONLY way to make your own SmartMusic accompaniments.

The Minnesota Band Directors Association is offering a Instrumental Teaching Symposium in Moorhead. With J.W. Pepper offering a new music reading session in Fargo the same dates, this could be an interesting two for the price of one... August 4th and 5th.

There are a bunch of workshops at TIES. Check their workshop schedule. If you want to get introduced to a new computer program, these folks are great. Lots of one day intro sessions on a number of different softwares. I am thinking about some advanced Interactive White Board training.

The SmartMusic workshop in Rochester looks good too. June 17th is coming up fast though. Similar workshops are available through out the country. Check the SmartMusic web site if you need something closer. Although, if you need some medical work done, Mayo is not a bad place to go... maybe you could work that out. !-)

What is happening in your neighborhood?

Ok, so my school district has Twitter blocked...

2011-05-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my school district has Twitter blocked...

I have been really learning. Learning a lot about teaching from my Twitter Peeps. I have found more ideas to steal, questions answered, opinions to ponder and encouragement to help get through a tough year on Twitter. I hope I have helped a few people too.

I was disappointed to discover that two weeks ago someone requested Twitter to be blocked by our filtering service.

I couldn't help but wonder why... I suppose they were worried about what kind of radical things could be done with 140 characters. Maybe the thinking is "Twitter brings down governments, you know."

Couldn't help but wonder if those governments came down because it was their time.

No. Maybe, they were worried about what students would do with it. They may get an idea that wasn't controlled by the school... but isn't that what we want students to grow up to do? It could be a bullying problem spot... but isn't bullying a behavior problem that can (and should) be dealt with student by student?

I have seen some pretty ugly things done with paper and pencil and we are not banning those. The last two major problems that disrupted school here were done with a marker in the rest room.

What do you suppose I did next? I'll give you a hint. I got this yesterday from Tom Whitby on my Twitter feed: "The #1 tool today for accessing the internet is a Mobile Learning Device.Schools do not control the acceptance or direction of Tech. #Edchat http://twitter.com/tomwhitby/status/73179714616967168"

Of course I just pulled out my phone.

Think about that.

If we aren't teaching kids how to behave properly, they are going to go around us and cause problems. We no longer control the flow of information and ideas at school. A simple ban isn't going to do it. We do need to continue to teach manners and respect.

If you were thinking life is easy behind the filter, think again. You've got work to do.

Grading. Does It Really Make Sense?

2011-05-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

I keep wondering why we are spending so much time on grades.

We are having a discussion at my building right now about the effect of a zero on a student's grade. Mathematically and psychologically, taking a zero on an average-sized assignment means you are done for the term. You will be lucky to claw your way back to a C. Hard to motivate yourself if you are the student in that situation. Hard to help a student motivate himself in that situation.

I take late work. The only real deadlines I have involve the end of the term or a performance time. Get the work turned in so I have it for the report card. If an assignment is worth doing, as in a real skill the student needs to know, it is worth taking late.

I talk to kids constantly about getting work turned in and for most of them it works. Of course, Dr. Phil would say there are some people that don't want to be helped. Students can blow the work off and get a zero. But that won't be because I haven't tried.

Of course a couple of days with no students at the end of each term to finish evaluating work would be helpful, if the grade report is really that important. (If management is reading this: hint, hint.)

Now, what does that grade really mean? A, B, C, D, F. Does it mean the student has learned a lot by sitting in your room? Or does it mean they knew a lot when they came in the door? If I walked into a tutoring operation and said my kid has an F in math, would that get the reteaching started right away, or would I run up some billable time while they ran a diagnostic test to find what skills he has? I think a skills list or portfolio would be a better deal. Please tell me what he needs to do next to get to the next level.

Too much time is spent on grades and not enough on learning. Let's do some sensible reporting.

Grading and Koofers

2011-05-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail today from my old University of Minnesota mailbox. It came from addressed from "Koofers Update" and in the subject line was "past grades are now available."

I thought someone had gotten into my transcripts or I had ordered some in the past and there was a new service that was going to help keep track of things. I've been to a couple of colleges in my career. I was curious. Probably not a good thing when reading an e-mail that could be worse than spam.

I was at home, so I knew I wouldn't be wasting IT department time if I opened it. So I took a chance and opened it.

Turned out it was spam. This is a service that shows what kind of grades a professor gave in the past. It claims to have gotten this info from the U. It also showed how grades were earned in the professor's class and how much the book was used and the amount and difficulty of the homework was for the class.

Really? The U has time to track all this stuff? AND they would just pass it along to just anyone?

I may have a few budget suggestions for the U. If there really is someone passing this stuff out, let's assign them a different job. If you are somehow required to do this, do it very slowly. This year's results could certainly wait until 2025 or so.

If you are a student thinking about using this service... Why? You are there to get a solid education. A tough grading professor may be what you need. Quit researching this stuff and study something more useful. A little rigor never hurt anyone. Suck it up cupcake.

If you are a faculty member... Are you going to pander to this listing? I don't think you are going to do anyone any favors by being easy. Be a great communicator. Have expectations and help kids get there.

If you are in discussions about evaluating student work and performance... Does a letter grade really tell you anything? How about a transcript of a person that used this service repeatedly? To my thinking, grades and transcripts are getting to be less valuable. Maybe they never were valuable. This system has too many places to game it. Let's do something more like a portfolio. With today's technology it really is possible to digitize almost anything. What student performances would you save?

If you are Koofers... Take me off your mailing list.

I wonder if the end of our woes will be here shortly.

2011-04-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

McDonalds is looking to hire 50,000 workers nationally today.

I think that is pretty amazing and good news. I hope they find who they are looking for: bright, energetic, motivated workers.

I am sure that you can go places at McDonalds and it will be a great start for many of the people that get hired on. Hopefully, it is the start of something big for all of us.

Think about it for a minute. What has been the big hold-up keeping many businesses from hiring? I think it is the large number of people without jobs out there. Is it a good idea to expand when there are a large number of potential customers out of work? Probably not. Is it a good idea to be hiring when things are starting to pick up? Sure. There is now a growing customer base. In fact, probably better hire people before all the good ones are picked over.

McDonalds has room for 50,000 people. I think my day just got brighter!

End of Quarter SmartMusic Tip

2011-04-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

www.smartmusic.com

Do you take late work? Do you take SmartMusic assignments late? I am not particularly worried if a kid wants to get an assignment in late, I'll take it. The only real deadline is when they print the report cards.

Some points on an assignment is better than no points on an assignment, Way better if you run the math on this. A zero in the grade book is really hard to overcome.

I think one of the signs that you may doing "busy work" assignments is the fact you don't really worry if a student hasn't completed it. Or at least care enough to correct it late.

Anyway, SmartMusic has a feature on the grade book that makes things easier for those of us that take late work. Instead of hunting around for recordings to evaluate, you can filter the grade book for ungraded work by going to the view window shades and selecting view and setting it to "ungraded" instead of "all." Kids that have it all turned in disappear off the this list and that cuts down the number of cells to work your way through.

This tip may also help at other times in the quarter. A little bit of evaluating every day is made a lot easier if you can get last night's newly turned in work organized.

I Thought That I Had Nothing to Do This Saturday.

2011-04-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.squidoo.com/april-backup-day

I thought I was in for a quiet Saturday. Then I browsed my way into this Squidoo lens about backing-up your data. Excellent reminder. I haven't done this in about 9 months on our main 7 year old computer. There is a bunch of stuff on there that will be hard to recreate should something go bad. Things can go bad in a hurry with computers.

My only added advice to the article would be to get two external hard drives. One that backs-up and goes to the friend's house now and one that backs-up from now until the next time you take your info off-site in maybe 6 weeks. (More often if you are a more paranoid than I am.)

I know there are a lot of people without Apple's Time Machine. (Our 7 year old computer doesn't.) But that is slick for going back to where you were before the disaster. For now, Carbon Copy Cloner for us on the old beast. Time Machine on the newer laptop.

I am a little late for the April Fools Day reminder to do this basic chore, but it is worth doing.

Japan, the Red Cross, and iTunes

2011-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/songs-for-japan/id428401715

A number of musicians kicked in songs for the Songs for Japan iTunes project. Some I've listened to before, some I haven't. It will be good to hear the new and I've always been partial to "Imagine."

38 tunes for $9.99 is a bargain. A little help in the good Karma department is priceless.

Are things starting to turn around?

2011-03-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Usually, I don't worry too much about the economy.

Lately, there have been some folks talking about how teachers and other public servants should be sharing some of the burden of the changing economy. I find that mildly interesting because when times were good, there wasn't too much sharing the wealth. The value of what teachers are paid in money and benefits has gone down in the last 30 years in terms of what they buy.

30 years ago, Dad (a teacher) could afford to keep his three boys fed, clothed, doctored and educated. He put his wife through graduate school. And he bought a custom built three bedroom house on a nearly half acre lot in the town he was teaching in on a 15 year note.

Today, my wife works to support my teaching habit. She also carries the insurance on the kids. Forget the mortgage if she goes.

I realize that times change. But permanent solutions to temporary problems probably aren't always the best answer. In fact, tampering with teacher rights to negotiate during this time is backwards. If you really need to work out a new deal to make the financial end work, isn't that the time you need to negotiate?

I do think that the economy is turning around. Because of my website, I occasionally get asked questions about FileMaker when people are looking to upgrade their computer or software set-up. The last couple of years, people weren't asking too many questions. The last couple of months those requests have been going up. I think that is a good sign.

Hang in there people. I think it is turning around.

FileMaker and The Music Department.

2011-03-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around with FileMaker/FileMaker Server Advanced and an iPod.

FileMaker has some real possibilities for getting the music area organized. The main uses I can think of right off the bat is tracking all that stuff and all those kids. Eliminating paper, pens and clip boards from my life has been a mission of mine for the last 15 years. If I can get it to a hard drive, I can find it later.

There are two ways to use the iOS/FMPro combination. One works well for static lists. The other works well for times when you will be editing data.

The method I use for static lists is to load your FileMaker file to the iPod with iTunes. There is an option to do that upload right there on the apps page in iTunes. There really isn't a sync for getting the info off the iPod later that I have found. What list do I use it for? The emergency class list. You know the one you grab on the way out the door for a fire drill. There is a chance that you won't be able to use the network in a real emergency. The list is fairly static and way easier to find in an emergency on your iPod.

The dynamic/edit method is the one where you basically use your iOS version of FMPro as a client to your computer over the network. Changes you make on your iPod go over the wireless network to your computer and update the FileMaker file that is running on your desk (or on a server some where.) This works slick for attendance, inventory and what ever else you need to keep track of. Picture the day kids turn in uniforms and instruments at the end of the year and I think you can see why this would be so cool! You could even do before and after pictures of the loaned instruments to hold kids accountable for wear if your iPod has a camera...

It works great on the iPod. Now I want to try it on an iPad 2. Looks like I will be waiting a while.

The iPad 2

2011-03-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else tried to find an iPad 2? I don't think it can be done here in the Twin Cities. The stores that normally stock Apple iPads don't have any iPad 2 stock. You can get an old version, but it seems to me that the memory upgrade in the new would make everything work better. I haven't tried my friendly local Apple store yet, just guessing that they have floor models and a wait-for-yours-to-come-in plan in play. I'll have to check.

Online ordering from Apple is out to 4+ weeks.

Who knew?

The Japan Earthquake

2011-03-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine what it must be like to be there. I have never been in an earthquake that.

Here's a place to help, The American Red Cross.

Minnesota Teacher Licensure-- You ALL can teach.

2011-03-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Legislature and Governor have decided that experience working with kids isn't important as important as having bodies in classrooms. We now have alternate licensing in Minnesota.

This from the state that has increased license expectations for tattoo artists and body piercers.

I believe that the thinking is that most of these people with alternate licenses will go right to work in our toughest schools. The kind of schools that have external forces that wear heavily on teachers. I hope that putting those people that think that it will be "neat to teach" in the classroom, without decent preparation, doesn't create more problems. The under-prepared usually don't do well in tough situations.

This should work, if schools really are machines and teachers are just cogs in the industrial model. You should be able to replace anyone in the school machine and get good results.

We'll see. I personally think it would be fun to try to be a million dollar per year CEO. Maybe we could trade places while you give teaching a try.

If you are in charge of hiring someone with an alternate license, for the love of all that is holy, give them lots of support and supervision. Please help them be successful.

Music and the iPad 2.

2011-03-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

The iPad 2 came out yesterday and I will probably take some time to look at it when it makes it into stores.

I love the format... I don't think I could think of a better way to interact with a computer than to point at what I want to do. The size is wonderful. I read on my iPod Touch frequently and would love a bit more screen to do that. The freedom to access information everywhere is nice. The iPad is what I want in a computer.

I like the idea of Garageband on the iPad too. As a music teacher, I do use Garageband in class. But I have some questions. How do I get sound in? What if the built-in mics aren't up to doing a quality job? I do a lot of quick stereo two mic set-ups for note taking and playback with a small mixer; Can I do that with an iPad? Once the project is done, do I really have to e-mail it to get at it anywhere else? What if I want to move a project up to Logic? What if I want it on my iPod for listening in the car?

I would bet there is enough processor power in there to do a credible job with the processing. I do remember some audio projects that were done on half of that processor power.

I think the thing iPad (3?) really needs for me to get one is an actual port that other manufacturers can use for things like mics and mixers. Maybe even Thunderbolt like in the new Macbooks.

I suppose for class projects, course management software (Moodle) can solve logistics problems

Right now, I am too cheap to have both a Macbook and an iPad. Maybe I just need to wait.

I am worried that we will end up with a bunch of these in labs at school and I will wish we had put the money towards more versatile computers.

Every Once-in-a-While I have a SmartMusic Tip.

2011-02-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

www.SmartMusic.com

Every once-in-a-while I have a SmartMusic tip.

When I talk about using SmartMusic with my students and one of things I point out is the balance slider. If I give an assignment with an accompaniment, I really want to hear the student more than the accompaniment. Students really need to listen to an assignment before sending it in. It is very easy to change the balance before sending it.

Now for the kid who forgot or rushed to get things turned-in and didn't listen, what do you do? You can send it back and if there is time, I do that. One more take is always good. However, I am often on deadline when listening too.

That's where a decent set of headphones can help. I have had some problem assignments become "listenable" by just pulling the side of the headphones with the accompaniment off my ear. One side is always performer strong and you can hear what they are doing. Saves you the time of a redo.

Don't forget to follow-up with the kid about his mixing tastes!

I work with some neat people.

2011-02-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

It is professional development day and I can't help but notice that I work with some neat people.

I think they are beginning to get impatient with everything.

One of these amazing people wants to use technology in her practice. WANTS the training. I do believe that she will put the training to good use. We are in the right place at the right time. Then we get drive-by training.

Experts come by and talk really fast for an hour. Do this, do that and it should do this. This recipe should work, if it doesn't here is our web site. I know it was fast because the topic was broad. I also know that people sitting on either side of me were at least two directions behind. Frequently.

It would be nice to take some time and thoughtfully walk through the process, compare and contrast with things she already knows. A little history, a little background, a little of this does this and that does that, try it yourself. Get some ideas put together on what you might use it for...

It would be REALLY nice to follow-up. How did this work for you when you got back to your desk? Did you get your project done?

I don't think this is going to happen when you bring in the outside experts for an hour of rapid fire.

Shouldn't the training be ongoing and continuous? I think we need a tech integrationist. What does training look like at your school?

Getting Info Organized--FileMaker Has a Deal For You

2011-01-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.filemakertrial.com/gopromo/

I don't know if getting your info organized is part of your New Year's Resolutions. If it is, FileMaker has a deal for you. Buy FileMaker Go for your iPhone/iPod Touch and they will sell you FileMaker 11 at half price.

I have been writing about using FM Go at school. The more I use Go the better I like it. It is great to carry around your info in your iPod.

FileMaker is a great data base program for people who want power, but don't have time and resources to invest in a major SQL project. FM is a great balance between ease of use and the power to get things done.

This deal may really work for the people who are more interested in the iOS side of the equation. You know, people who are more interested in the iPhone having their data on it, than using their computer to organize their data. It will be interesting to see how things work out here. Leveraging iOS to boost sales of the Windows/Mac side of the shop. Hmmm.

Of course, shop around and run the numbers. You may be able to find FileMaker cheaper (especially if you qualify for the education price.) But it is nice to see that the tool you need to make FileMaker Go work discounted.

Augmented Reality in Education (Think I can link it to SmartMusic?)

2011-01-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality

http://www.wikitude.org/category/02_wikitude/world-browser (Wikitude)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2OfQdYrHRs (Word Lens)

The first time I saw the yellow "first down" line on a televised (American) football game, I was finding it a bit coincidental that the ref was spotting the ball so close to the yellow line that just happened to be there. How could the grounds crew have know where to put it? Was the ref being influenced by the coincidental yellow line?

That spot happened three times before I figured out that the broadcasters were putting that yellow line in with computers so they could show me where the first down was. The ref didn't see the line, but TV watchers could. Of course, my team was just short of the yellow line all three times.

This is also one of the first times I became aware of something that I now know is called Augmented Reality.

I think Augmented Reality has educational possibilities.

Check out the iOS app called Word Lens. Point your iPod's or iPhone's camera at a piece of text in another language and it will change those words to your language. It's a direct translation, not an interpretation, but pretty helpful.

Wikitude's World Browser does very much the same thing with your surroundings. Point your camera (with GPS and compass on) at the world and it will tell you on screen what Wikitude knows about it. I think this would enhance any field trip involving landmarks and buildings.

No, you probably won't want your students constantly using these tools instead of learning the material. But, I would guess that most students would appreciate the support while they are studying. Scaffolding works.

How can I connect Augmented Reality this with SmartMusic? The cursor does a wonderful job of showing you where the beat is. This is a wonderful way to help students with rhythm and tempo. It isn't real time, but the red/green note report after a performance is very helpful if the student takes the time to study it.

The new tools aren't coming, they are here.

FileMaker Go and organizing my music room(s).

2011-01-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.filemaker.com/

http://www.fmtouch.com/

I have one of THOSE assignments. During the week, I have 270 students in five different classes and 10 sections of small group sectionals in 4 different rooms that I share with other teachers. At the middle school level.

To say organization is important would be an understatement. You could get run over pretty quick if you are not ready for class and fiddling with paperwork. I am always looking for tools to help with that. If those tools fit in my pocket, Great! because I have so many places to be.

I think I have found a versatile little gem called FileMaker Go. It is an iOS version of FileMaker. I am currently running it on my iPod Touch (Generation 4.)

FM Go works with your computer-based FileMaker data base. You create the data base in FileMaker and share it to your iOS device. The synch feature works with either the cord or over Wi-Fi. I am using the cord and storing the info on my iPod. Sometimes, you need the information where you can't get at a wireless connection.

You do need to do the design of the data base in FileMaker, but it is one of the easiest data bases to learn and pretty versatile too.

I now have my class lists, a parent contact phone number, picture of each student, and an advisor name in my pocket for whenever I need it. Pretty cool. I did very little data entry with this project as well as most of this information is available from the office on .csv and tab-delimited files, which FileMaker can import.

I have used FMTouch for very similar things. You do need access to the more expensive FMPro Advanced to do this and it takes more set-up to make it work. It is a solid solution if those items aren't a problem for you and you don't have an iOS device that meets system requirements for FM Go. I think that FM Go runs faster, but I can't be sure because I updated my iPod at the same time and I don't have a fair comparison. FMTouch is worth a look if it works better with your gear.

An Interesting SmartMusic Grade Book Report Feature: Time Spent.

2011-01-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

http://www.smartmusic.com/Educators/Gradebook.aspx

(Click to see larger)

I was reviewing assignments that I had collected in the SmartMusic Gradebook, when I noticed an interesting feature: "Time Spent" is one of the items reported!

This has always been a feature in SmartMusic, but you needed to set it up before you sent the assignment. I frequently forgot to set that up. Now it just happens.

I am not a huge fan of practice time in the sense of we need you to practice "X" number of hours per week. "X" is sometimes too long for a few of my students and more frequently too short for others. I like to think my goal is prepared students (as in know their part: right notes, correct rhythms, good tone.)

It is easier to get kids to buy into "ready" than it is to buy into "spend lots of time."

The Time Spent number implies the computer was on and listening. It may not be all the practice time spent on the assignment. Or, you may be getting "played." Start the program and put the mic next to the radio so it hears something.

This number is probably not very useful evaluation material if you use it for grading.

So what would I use this number for?

Well, it is a conversation starter. "I noticed you got the assignment done pretty fast there...." followed by a "good for you" or "you won't mind spending a little more time to get it right."... can be excellent motivators. It is also easy to recognize the rewards of hard work. "It took a while for you to get this, thanks for putting in the time!"

It is also good to know Time Spent as a teacher. Is there something I should be working at in class to help these kids get and apply this concept quicker? Lots of time spent on an assignment by multiple students may give you some hints on your pedagogy.

If you are wondering about SmartMusic for your program, I recommend it. If you are wondering about the Educator tools being worth the cost, I wouldn't use SmartMusic without them. They are worth the cost.

Interesting Convergence Yesterday

2010-12-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

I had a concert last night and my Personal Learning Network helped me with it in an interesting way.

It was time to set up for the concert and that included an audio recording of the event. Where to put the Zoom? Turns out that @pisanojm was doing a session at Midwest on recording. @Zweibz7 was at the event and live blogged the session. The placement for the Zoom got mentioned in Andy's coverage. Got some great tips and a good start on a recording last night. ( I still need to tweak the levels for the best sound...had a few problems with headroom. Next time!)

If you haven't run across @pisanojm or @Zweibz7 I would sugguest following them on Twitter. They can also be found at the Music PLN site if you don't/can't use Twitter. http://musicpln .org/

Wish I was at the Midwest clinic (maybe next year.) But when your PLN takes care of you like mine does, it is almost like being there.

Sound Innovations...Mass Personalization has Arrived

2010-12-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.alfred.com/SoundInnovations/Default.aspx

Just noticed Sound Innovations from Alfred. It is a book with an interesting concept, mass personalization.

If you have some things you don't like about your current method, you may be able to order your next book with the way you would do it built in. Pick you starting note. Dress up the cover with your band logo. All interesting things.

Don't think you are too special, they will do that for everybody!

I think it may be worth a look at the next music teacher's convention that I attend. I don't know if I am ready to toss out my current method, but I will need to hear what they have to say. My dream book may take some time to dream up but the possibilities are intriguing. What's in your book?

The Mp3accompanist

2010-11-30T06:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.mp3accompanist.com/

I was exploring the web this morning and found an interesting site that seems to be nicely aimed at singers. The mp3accompanist.com has a nice collection of accompaniments and pronunciation guides for sale in MP3 format.

I could see this as something very useful for teachers who are trying to get solo songs into their curriculum. I could also see this as very useful for college students preparing for a recital. This would work in any situation where you want more time with the accompanist, but can't get together because of time or budget constraints.

There are some advantages that come to mind with the MP3 format as well. Put the file into SmartMusic or the Amazing Slow Downer Software (Roni Music) and then the file is no longer a "music minus ____" recording, but a variable tempo practice tool. Pretty cool.

I do have some questions. Am I slow to find this? Are there similar sites that have been out there a while? I don't know. Are there some sites that work well for the middle school student that I work with? How do you figure out what edition they are using?

Feel free to pass ideas and tips along to me here!

Open Access Journals

2010-10-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/10/25/universities-commit-to-open-access-journal-movement/
and
http://www.oacompact.org/

Is it the "cost cutting" or the "right thing to do" that makes the Open Access Journal Movement interesting?

The free exchange of peer reviewed information will make research much easier and move mankind ahead faster.

I love the idea of being able to get my hands on articles without having to jump through hoops to get to the library (via the internet or real world) to look at an article that may or may not have the answer I am looking for in a journal that I would use only for this one occasion.

But part of me says that main reason for doing this is the cost savings. No printing and storage costs. No staff to hire to produce the journal.

What will the library look like in the future? I suppose they will be like museums for the books we used to check-out in print. Are the schools in this compact starting a trend that will end the library as we know it?

IWB, SmartMusic and a Music Ed Magic piece.

2010-10-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.musicedmagic.com/research/new-research-points-to-importance-of-listening-as-part-of-practice-routines.html

I was reading an article the other day about listening on Music Ed Magic. Chad Criswell does a nice job of finding neat references. Chad found an article about listening (as part of practice) improving performance.

Then it hit me that this is another thing that you can use SmartMusic for... it is a listening opportunity.

Yes, we do want kids to become independent music readers, but at the beginning stage we really need some models for what we are trying to do. It is very hard to hit the target if you don't hear the target.

So fire up SmartMusic in a rehearsal with my beginners and here is our SmartMusic enhanced process for studying a method book line.

First, turn off the accompaniment and turn on the "My Part" feature. Just listen to how it goes. Follow the cursor if you want or follow in the book.

Second, count and clap while the machine plays your part again. (When kids ask why do this? The answer is "the right note at the wrong time is ...")

Third, say your note names and do the fingerings/slide positions/sticking while your part plays again. (I am using this on beginners and a chance to reinforce the names of the notes is huge. I am surprised by how many students know the note by just the fingering and not the name.)

Fourth, do your air/articulation (sizzle) while doing fingerings and listen while the line plays again. (This is a great way to do articulation without all your thinking tied-up in tone production.)

Fifth time is play normally with the part playing on the computer.

Sixth time, turn the accompaniment back on and play.

Seventh time, turn the "My Part" off and play.

I was surprised when we got to the play normally stage. The kids were playing with a good tone and weren't scrambling with the fingerings. The rhythms were on the beat and things felt put together.

When I did a quick show-of-hands poll, most kids felt very confident that they knew the new line well.

Yes, this SmartMusic enhanced process held my students' attention for seven repetitions. No, I don't think I could hold their attention without the cursor on my interactive white board and the example sounds for them to follow. Not for seven tries.

Do I use this with every song every day? No, just the new ones and not all of those. There is research out there that suggests that we hold IWB use to about 80% of the time. All good things can be overdone.

I use this process on the songs I think are important in the method book. You probably can think of what they are right now in your mind: the songs that apply the new concepts, the songs that need that little extra push to keep kids moving along, the songs that you wish were easier to teach.

Does anyone else out there have a way they would tweak the process? Give it a try and fit it into your teaching strategies and let me know what you think.

IWB and Score Study

2010-10-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

I have always been looking for new ways to share and communicate what is in the score with my band students. In the past this was usually accomplished with lots of descriptions about what is the main melody and what is background supporting that melody.

Great for the auditory learners. What about the people that would benefit from some visual help? Wouldn't it be great to do some score analysis with the kids looking over your shoulder?

The office copier here doubles as a scanner, so it really is no big deal to "Scan to PDF" the score for projection on my new IWB. Throw in the ability to use a virtual highlighter on the score, the ability to zoom into a part to take a closer look and you have a winner. You can even write in the counting without making a huge mess of your original. (I work with beginners, your group may be too advanced for the counting thing.)

Who knows, maybe you will be helping a future conductor learn the craft of score study...

Musings on the Ink Layer

2010-09-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

I have a new Interactive White Board in my room.

I know, I know, you are thinking, "What took so long?" I don't know. I think specialists tend to be last on the food chain here. I have been playing with a Wiimote hack, but try setting that up so a Sub could use it. I am not a big fan of someone covering for me changing settings on my computer to make the Wiimote work. This finished package is a better deal for that. Even Superman needs a day off now and then for kryptonite issues. We even have subs that are trained on IWBs.

It's OK. The IWB here now.

I am having fun with the interface and I think the "Ink Layer" is very interesting. Talk about a place to experiment. Put the item in question up on the IWB (a music example in my case) and pick up a pen and start "sketching in" ideas.

This is better than a whiteboard. Mistakes in the ink layer can be erased without touching the other layer. This virtual 3D quality of the ink layer will make for more interesting discussions and make experimenting with ideas less time consuming. It won't be so painful to start over if you have wandered down a dead end. I am spending time thinking about possibilities with this tool.

Isn't building your own knowledge through the use of tech tools and experimenting part of what 21st Century learning should be about?

It's September 20th. Do you know where your SmartMusic is?

2010-09-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

There is a bulk purchase option at SmartMusic. If you can put together and order of more than 100 subscriptions, you can save your students some money on SmartMusic subscriptions. https://www.smartmusic.com/Store/Volume.aspx

It's not a huge discount, but it is something to consider for those of us who have all of our kids using the program at home or are paying for SmartMusic out of band fees.

If you are a current bulk subscriber, you may want to hurry up the renewals. There is a price increase coming!

Ninja Beginning Band Director Technics

2010-09-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ever had to start a group of mixed instruments in a large group setting?

You need to give different directions to each section. There is a lot of waiting around before and after your tutorial. The kids who are waiting are experimenting. The kids that just got directions now know how to make music, but that makes them one little self-directed review away from making noise while you are helping the next section.

This is differentiation on steroids.

To keep from going completely crazy, I have one Ninja Beginning Band Director Tip. This is the one time of the year where you need to do what classroom teachers do... assign some reading. There is a how-to care for your instrument section in every good beginning band method (like Standards of Excellence or Essential Elements.) What better chance to make sure they have read that part of the book?

You could also bring in readings that would be fun to know about the instruments that your students have chosen. Then you would be "covered" for a few more minutes....

Have your beginners read while you help the other sections. Hopefully, this will get you through the first couple of days.

It's that time of year.

2010-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I found out very late yesterday that my schedule is changing for the first day of school Tuesday (via a late day e-mail, no less.) Heck of a way to spend your last day of vacation.

Anyway, there are a few things to do yet:

Check on the SmartMusic Order. I'm going to need a purchase order number. We have 233 band students that we purchase through a volume discount ( https://www.smartmusic.com/Store/Volume.aspx . ) I'm guessing we will need about 175 subscriptions when you edit out the siblings and the kids with no internet access. Kids with siblings can share access at home. We have SmartMusic equipped practice rooms for the others.

If you haven't seen SmartMusic for a while, take a minute and download it at http://www.smartmusic.com . It has been made a lot easier to use with the new user interface.

I think there may be an offer for a Finale upgrade for school in my e-mail box. It is the way to get custom made accompaniments into SmartMusic. I wonder if this is a version to skip if Finale 2010 works with SM 2011. Will need to check to see if that combination works. Otherwise, I had better do the upgrade.

Butch and Billie over at AABACA Music usually have a good price on Finale and it is nice to keep the business local if you can. I guess online at MakeMusic is local for me too!

I have a new SmartBoard in my music rooms. Really looking forward to getting that in play. I have been making do with the Wiimote hack. Johnny Lee was thinking of you when he created the software that does this trick. Look here: http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/

This hack would be good for me still, but what if you have a sub? Are you going to give them permission or access to go in and fiddle with you preferences to set the Wiimote up? Also, our district does sub training on the IWBs. Not that I am ever sick...

Time to get to work. Happy Labor Day. May your supervisor be considerate and think more than a day ahead.

Brett Favre is on his way.

2010-08-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Cue the choppers for the O.J.-like slow speed chase from the airport to Winter Park.

Brett Favre is rumored to be on a plane flying north as I write this.

I wish I had his showmanship. He does know how to make an entrance.

So How Does the iPad Fit In?

2010-08-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting lecture on how the iPad is going to fit into the world. I stumbled on it while looking for information on program and designing for the iPhone. I am playing with my iPod Touch and was trying to figure out how to design for it when I found it.

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

Then follow the links to iPhone Application and Development (CS193P)- Winter 2010: Friday Session.
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.2024353965
and look for the talk about iPad Development. I think this is number 27 in the series.

The talk is officially titled "Designing for the iPad", February 12, 2010. The lecturer is Evan Doll.

(I am not sure there is a link that is permanent to this talk. This is a Stanford iTunes U presentation and the videos in this series are part of their support of that effort. I bet they get revised and updated as material changes. So hurry! I hope that is enough attribution for their creative commons license. This is a good talk that deserves attribution and thanks for sharing.)

Evan Doll pointed out some interesting (to me) things in this talk about the iPad:

This is not just a big iPhone! If you scale-up an iPod design for the iPad things will not look as good as it could, and you may not be making the best use of the interface. A small pop-up window on the iPod screen takes up too much real-estate and makes it hard to read. A small pop-up window on the iPad is a different story and that could be used to make an app flow.

This is a device that un-complicates the relationship between a person and his information. You point at what you want. This isn't the story with traditional mouse/keyboard set-ups. When you consider how moving a mouse to move a cursor that is two feet away, it gets easier to understand how unnatural this set-up really is. Touch the icon to do what you want. If you work with the younger youngsters isn't this what you would want? This would be waaay easier to explain to a kindergartner for example.

This interface is ideal for sharing! Laptops? Someone has to use the keyboard/mouse/trackpad to make it go. The screen is positioned for the driver. Same with desktops. The iPod/iPhone screen size is too small to really share. Both traditional computers and small hand held devices do draw you into an interaction with the device that really keeps you from interacting with the people around you. The iPad is sized so you can share with a group and you can all get your fingers on it. No one person has to drive.

I am imagining the first time I see a teacher and a student discussing what is on the iPad during a seat work session. This will be interesting.

Yes, this is under-powered for a computer. It is not a computer. It is not a device that you can put in your pocket. It is not a phone. Is this a good fit for young kids. I think so. Probably all the rest of us that aren't in the I'm-Creating-and-Need-a-Computer mode. It will be interesting to see and probably this fall!

New SmartMusic (Is it 2011 already?)

2010-08-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Good news. SmartMusic 2011 is out!

This is a major update. So if you are an old hand at SmartMusic and use it at school, you may want to get this before school starts!

You can download it at http://www.smartmusic.com/Support/Updates.aspx .

The big improvement with this version is the new "look" or interface. Previous versions of SmartMusic gave you the feeling that you were working in two or three different programs. You got your assignment on one page and then went to the player/recorder that had a whole different look to do the actual work. The new version has a more unified feel, more like a well-done web site. Features and tools are easier to find and use. A lot of time and thought went into this new version.

There is no longer a choice about play and record...you now just start a "Take." Each take is saved until you hit "Done" and leave the project. It is much easier to review takes. You can mark takes to be saved so when you log out and log in again, the "keepers" are still there. This makes it far easier to find your previous work than previous versions of SmartMusic. Changing the transport/recording controls will eliminate some of the problems my kids were running into with hitting the wrong button. Now it is all recorded and easy to find.

You are never too far away from the tuner or the looping tools. Wow! These tools were available in SmartMusic before, but you had to jump through a bazillion screens to get there.

Previously, I didn't spend a lot of time teaching kids how to set-up loops for practicing the hard parts. Now, with that feature front and center, I had better! This is a very useful feature that has been made much easier to find. On the longer pieces, students will be working more efficiently by working on the things that need work... Not working on the whole piece to figure out a few problem measures.

The tuner seems easier to read. Is it bigger? You still get the old "match the needle" or the "linear" looks to the tuners. Did you ever wish your kids could spend some extended time with a tuner? Now everyone can have one.

This is a major update... not just MakeMusic changing the date and saying that there is an update.

Expect the new look to help your students. I am. I was going to put in a few screen shots, but running SmartMusic and taking them doesn't work on my computer set-up. I would normally be very concerned about how I am going to do hand-outs for my students, but I know that I will be showing the videos from the SmartMusic web site in class and I am sure MakeMusic will be doing their usual excellent supporting materials to go with the program. Not to worry.

I have just started scratching the surface of the SmartMusic Grade Book. Most of the big improvements I've discovered so far are on the student-performer side. I think the ability to send EXACTLY the assignment you want your students to do is the magic of the grade book. If you are using SmartMusic with students, I would recommend you do the educator package so you can take advantage of the ability to use the web to send and receive assignments. SmartMusic and the Grade Book are subscription based programs, so make it part of your yearly budget. I wouldn't skimp on the Grade Book; it makes life so much easier.

I really am excited about the possibilities this fall with the new SmartMusic 2011! If you aren't a user, maybe you should take a look.

Brett Favre from the Ed Technology Angle

2010-08-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just watched Coach Childress at press conference. He is denying that anything is final about Brett Favre coming back to the Vikings this fall. There have been reports that Brett is done because the ankle isn't where he wants it to be. Chilli was basically saying he hasn't heard the final answer yet.

Personally, I think Favre is allergic to training camp. Can't say I blame him, it looks like a lot of hard work under dangerous conditions. Sane people do like to cut their exposure to hard work and flying 300 pounders. If he can do the job well without all the prep work, good for him. I thought last year's OJ like slow speed chase/parade was kind of fun. Maybe it is going to happen again.

Interesting press conference tech-wise. The coverage was from Vikings.com. A video feed. OK, so it was a little jerky and it dropped few syllables, but there was a camera there and it was on. Bet we see lots more of that kind of coverage in the future. If you have a story, stream it. This is good for a press conference with one person talking. I'm not so sure if that becomes the only coverage we get that we will get the whole story. I am a big fan of photo-journalists. We need them out there.

Word choice was interesting too. A couple of phrases kept coming up. "Fluid situation" and "text."

Coach is saying it is not over until he hears it from the source. It is a "fluid situation" until he does.

Did anyone else notice all the people involved in the texting? There is an electronic back-channel at camp! The coaches, players and Brett have a virtual camp going at the same time as training camp and it sounds like it may be as important to the team as the "real" world.

Well, I usually find an educational angle here and I think I have at least one. The new tools are what people are using in the real world to stay connected. Are we preparing the next generation to live in the real world if they don't use them to teach? Are teachers missing an opportunity to connect?

Do We Really Want Testing To Disappear?

2010-07-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

It seems odd that this is campaign season. At this time of the year?

I am seeing a lot of ads for the Minnesota Governor race. One ticket wants to throw out NCLB and the testing. That's easy to say, but can a Governor really get rid of a federal program? Can we afford to lose the funding that comes with it? I don't know, maybe the funding isn't that big of a deal.

Do we really want the testing to go away completely? I don't think so. That may be swinging too far back to where things were. These tests have started many productive conversations in my district. How about yours?

I do think that testing may need a little fine tuning for some schools. Are the people who are actually doing the teaching getting the information they need from the results? Are the teachers getting time to reflect and collaborate with others on improving their practice when they get this information? Are the conversations about the results focussed on the learning or is they just the start of another blame-storm?

I am not a huge fan of NCLB, too much stick and not enough carrot in it for me. If you need help with your school, you really aren't going to get it. It can also put disproportionate emphasis on the classes that have tests. The testing doesn't necessarily improve instruction for high performing students because it sends a "good enough" message, when should really be helping everyone move to higher levels. You may have other reasons to dislike NCLB.

Parents are using the test data too. It is good they care about the results, but I am not so sure testing should be the only metric for picking a school for your kid. There are two elementary schools in my district and I wouldn't have a problem with my kids in either one. Even though the test results from either school can show one as "better" than the other. I think it would be better to go see the school in action when you are in a position to choose. What kind of work is on the bulletin boards? Are teachers able to do their job? Are teachers "connecting" with their students? Will my kids be safe there? If your kids have these things, I bet they will learn. It's basic Maslow.

I hope that your kids have a great school... well rounded curriculum, focussed on learning, safe and warm.

Where Will You Be When The MusicPLN.org Site Launches Today? | MusTech.Net: Music Education, Music Technology, & Education!

2010-07-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

Where Will You Be When The MusicPLN.org Site Launches Today? | MusTech.Net: Music Education, Music Technology, & Education!

Oh! I will be there!

Canon, National Parks and Learning New Technology

2010-07-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/digitalphoto.htm
And
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=1326&refID=16

I have to admit, when it comes to digital photography, I have been a bit behind the curve. (That was an actual Zone System joke!)

I can make a pretty good, well exposed, traditional, FILM based, black and white photo. I really have some issues with digital. I can make a print with blown-out highlight with the worst of them with my D-SLR/computer/monitor/printer set-up.

Who knew I would get some help with that at the Grand Canyon.

Canon is offering free photo workshops at the National Parks. What a great fit. Canon gets a chance to show-off their gear to interested people. The NPS gets some help with their educational mission and you get some expert help. Win-Win-Win.

The groups are small and questions are welcomed. The staff was very friendly and helpful. There was a casual stroll along the rim of the Grand Canyon and there was plenty of time to try things out. My group spent some time talking exposure adjustments and histograms. HDR was mentioned and some direction was given on that front. While they really weren't set-up for a full blown HDR workshop, there were some pointers for that as well. That wide range away from the main topic only happens with a knowledgeable, sharing and flexible staff.

Canon is going places other than the Grand Canyon. Check the Canon website for more workshops and schedules. They are even doing a photo contest.

Some pointers:
They loan out camera equipment and that is part of the fun.... Want to try a wide angle tilt and shift lens? A big telephoto? They can set you up. Heck, as a Nikon guy since 1976 it was fun just to give the other line a look.

Get there early for best selection on the loaner equipment. (Boy, they really did have a great selection.) They did a little interview to see what I might be looking for. I wasn't fussy, but if you have something specific to try, help them help you by getting there early.

You don't need to bring a card or a disc to save your pictures. They e-mail you a link to them. Nice.

I think I would bring my tripod if I were doing this again. Mostly to really see how well the optics do. I'm not as steady as I would like to think I am. I also compose better when the camera is lashed down. Although they do have vibration controlled lenses...

You can print pictures right there when you are done, but since I was going to be able to download them, I chose to get the shuttle back to camp.

Be prepared to leave a credit card and ID with them as collateral. They aren't going to put a charge against your card, they just want their stuff back.

I'm sure they would love to sell you a new camera on the spot, but they aren't discussing prices at this workshop. So if you fall in love with a new piece of gear, and you probably will, you are going to have to talk to your favorite dealer.

So, How many gigabites do you take on vacation?

2010-07-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

So, How many gigabites do you take on vacation?

I used to take a ton of film on vacation. Now it is about 32 gigs of flash memory AND a laptop to clear the cards and review the day's shoot!

I really like the chance to check my work in the field. Economically, the cards are cheaper than film and processing. But I do find myself taking a lot more pictures without that careful thought process that Kodachrome forced you into... is my composition really what I want? Is the light really good for this shot?

What would Jim Brandenburg say? (Chased By The Light)

Computers and technology really are everywhere. How many gigs did you take on vacation?

Finale 2011 is Coming to My House!

2010-06-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.finalemusic.com/Finale/New.aspx

Finale 2011 is Coming to My House!
Got the e-mail yesterday confirming that
my copy of Finale is shipping.
Since I live close to the Finale Mothership,
I am hoping to see it this afternoon.

I am looking forward to the new staff features.
I really like the ability to hide stave and re-order things
after the project is set-up. I have had some projects
that these features would have been handy.
Especially handy when you need the project
tomorrow morning and it is 11 pm.

More Garritan Sounds.
For me the real benefit of using a computer for composition
is the ability to hear what you have written. Why not use great
sounds? 375 sounds is a great library to work with and
I know "bad beginner band tone" isn't one of them.

I don't do tons of compositions.
I don't have lots of time without lots of kids in my day.

The real reason I keep up-to-date with Finale? It is SmartMusic.

Finale has the ability to create SmartMusic files.
If I need a file that isn't in the SmartMusic library,
I know I will be reaching for Finale.
There are other great notation software programs out there.
Finale is the one that will do this work.

I know in the world of business that having two flagship
products is a bit of a business "don't".
These two products were made with each other in mind.
I wouldn't use one without the other.

UPDATE: It was here waiting for me after my
son got out of school. Going to install mode STAT!

YouTube in Music

2010-06-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8676380.stm

YouTube in Music Education

YouTube has popped up in my PLN over the last couple of days.

Did you know that YouTube now gets 2 billion hits a day?

To get traffic like that, you must be filling a need. I don't think that it is all entertainment based. YouTube in some ways has become our "go to" place to see how things are done.

I've used this in my classes.

Want to show kids how Mission:Impossible could sound? Search YouTube and there is the BBC Big Band recording with Lalo Schifrin himself at the piano. The Limp Bizkit version is there too. (Does this piece really work in a simple meter?) Wander around a little bit and you can find the Swingle Singers covering it. There is a gamelan version and a bunch of ensembles, school and garage bands. The version that has me curious is the OST Angklung version. Angklung? I must have missed that lecture at college. But that's ok, Wikipedia will have an article on how they work.

Interesting. Learning by wandering around a little bit. There are other directions my curiosity could have taken. Each noun mentioned in that last paragraph could have been a little side track on the way to becoming an expert.

Some people need a little bit more structure for their classes. Sometimes the language in the comments isn't sanitary enough for your classroom. (You DO PREVIEW these materials, right!?) For those times, I would suggest that you use the button and copy the bit of code there. Use that code to put the videos you want right into a web page (Moodle page, Wiki page, Blog entry) without the comments. Then send your students to that page instead of YouTube. Same movie without the worries and more focus on what you want the kids to see.

I haven't even mentioned the learning possibilities of posting your own work on YouTube. Authorship easily generates higher level thinking. Are you doing that with your kids?

There is a book for YouTube in Music Education that I know I will be reading this summer for even more ideas. My PLN is recommending it and I am looking forward to digging in next week!

MobileMe Rumor

2010-05-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/05/11/rumor-mobileme-may-soon-be-free/

I like the idea of MobileMe becoming free. I use it and my family benefits from it.

I know I can get all the services MobileMe provides elsewhere for free, but for a Mac user it is hard to find something as easy to set-up and use.

All the computers in the house can get at all the information on our piece of the cloud. Calendars, documents, photos. The storage there is useful for backing things up and, lord knows, most of us don't do that well.

When one of my kids has the computer tied-up, it is nice to have the same bookmarks in Safari on another machine. This has prevented a lot of grumpiness in our house.

I bought my wife an iPod Touch mostly for the calendaring via MobileMe. I subscribe to hers and she has mine. The kids' calendars are there too. Strange how active kids make the calendaring complicated. It is very nice to have all of these schedules sorted out and in your pocket.

I'm sure there are a lot of services out there that duplicate MobileMe, but MobileMe has them all in one place and I don't need to remember more passwords to get there. Why go anywhere else?

I think it is a good deal at $99. Free would make MobileMe even more of a bargain. I better stop before I jinx the rumor.

Who am I following?

2010-05-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.howtopractice.com/

I have to say I am for practice! I know, way out on a limb Whaley, duh.

I think I find practice more enjoyable than most people. I enjoy figuring things out for myself. Spending time doing just that figuring by myself is a luxury that I don't enough of these days.

That may make me odd.

I know that many of my students sometimes look at practice as a chore. That is what practice can be. Does it have to be that way? Practice should be something more than time spent on the instrument. How do you get that across to your students?

I have found help with motivating my students at How to Practice. I have also found help explaining practice techniques there as well. I have found ideas for me there as well, ways to make my time more rewarding.

Mike Saville has created a site that deals with many aspects of practice. It is a tough subject and one that is very important. His site is worth a read. He is also worth following on Twitter @howtopractice.

We have passed an interesting corner with SmartMusic

2010-04-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

I sent out some minor scale exercises to my 7th graders last week. The problem with the minor scales is there really is three for each key. So this assignment LOOKED bigger than it was. When I sent it out, we talked in class about natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales. The reason why the assignment is really three scales (I did save to my files as a unit for next time.) I also took some time to explain that knowing how to play in a key was important...analogous to an alphabet to writing and learning these patterns would help with things like correct notes in their other playing.

A couple of rehearsal later, I asked my band if they had it turned in yet and a small number of them said no. The students who had it completed it were very quick to say how easy it was and how they could see how it was helping them with the right notes (yes, I do have a minor key song in the May concert.)

The early completers also wondered aloud, "What are you waiting for!? This one is important!"

I love it when the group nudges itself in the right direction. It was a good rehearsal.

Evernote

2010-04-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.evernote.com/

Do you find yourself "clipping" ideas you find on the internet?

I used to spend a lot of time clipping photos I liked out of magazines and newspapers to study. It is surprising how that helped my photography. You figure out how a successful photo was made and when you get into a similar situation, you have a place to start.

You can't do that with scissors anymore. At least not the ideas you find on your computer...that would make a mess of your monitor!

Evernote is my new scissors. If I find a webpage I think may be important later for a project, I send it to Evernote. I can organize it and look back on it later. Pretty handy, especially for teachers working on their next lecture with up-to-the-minute information. Worth a look and there is a free level of service.

The iPad came for a visit yesterday...

2010-04-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

The iPad came to our district for a visit yesterday.

We got to take a look. Corey from Apple actually let me try a few things on his personal iPad
(the show and tell ones were getting put away.)

First impression was "wow this thing is pretty snappy." I was expecting gen 1 iPod speeds. Things loaded quickly and switched pretty quickly.

The second thing to notice was the very nice display. I am a photographer and when I saw the cute kitten pictures I had to do that little pinch move on the screen to enlarge them to ridiculous size... pencil sized hairs... I think people will need to sharpen their camera skills if they are going to display them on one of these. Tack sharp or edit it out.

I hear the battery life is way up there. Close to 12 hours? Wow. A guy could forget to charge it and still get a lot done on his next work day.

Bento. So this may be the reason to learn Bento for a FileMaker Pro guy. I see it syncs wirelessly.

I also saw that Citrix was installed! Whoa, so if there isn't an "App for that," you could potentially run the program on your desktop and interact with it on your iPad via Citrix!?

What it won't do:
No printing yet. But aren't we supposed to be paperless soon?

No Finale or SmartMusic yet. I am guessing those will be a ways off.

No Flash. Start learning HTML 5.

I love "white lists" in Safari for my kids at home. Yes, my kids can surf the internet, but only on parent approved sites. Here Safari is either on or off. Be ready to watch students closely when they are surfing the net.

Where would this be a good fit?

This could be a great desk tool for kids. Especially in the lower grades. If most of what you do is consume media, read email, read books, do some flash cards, look stuff up (does this sound like early elementary?) this is your tool. If you are looking to create, especially audio and video productions, the laptop or desktop is the way to go.

Go iPad and have a lab available for the creation-type projects?

You know what your budget is, you will have to make some choices. If I could swing a laptop for everyone, that would be great and probably preferable. If I couldn't, an iPad 1:1 project can make sense. Though the price break doesn't seem that big when comparing the iPad to a low end laptop....

This would also be a GREAT present for someone you love. Father's Day would be a great time to test this theory at my house. (Hint, Hint..)

Free Collaboration Tools

2010-04-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/50-free-collaboration-tools/

A major 21st century skill is collaboration. The link will take you to a site that has 50 free tools for students to use to collaborate. It is a great place to start looking for ways to do collaborative work.

Schools should be providing opportunities to do collaborative work because work places require those skills. I once heard a comedian riff on the "I like to work with people" answer in a job interview. His response was something along the line of we ALL work with people. It's true.

Now back in my early school days, they used to call working together "cheating." Minnesota also had an education commissioner, Cheri Pierson Yecke, who was concerned about students doing social loafing instead of work. (Her book.)

To say there may need to be some controls on a group project is an understatement. People will be concerned about the learning and how we are monitoring the projects.

Some of the collaboration tools mentioned in the link let you play back and review the work as it happens. You can tell who is the worker and who may be the loafer. Everyone's contribution is documented.

School should look a little more like work in the collaborative sense. Where else are kids going to get those skills? I would suggest you take a look at this list. Do you have a few to add?

Just Back From The Mother Ship

2010-03-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

I am just back from the Mother Ship. Apple HQ in Cupertino.

The folks over in the Apple Education Division helped our 21st Century Skills group get its head on straight about the role of technology in a modern education with an Apple Executive Briefing.

No, it wasn't all about tools (as you know, they do sell those.) I would say it is all about how students learn to be productive citizens in their near future and promoting student learning.

How do you get your information? How do you get current information? How do you collaborate? How do you find the next useful idea? How do you create your next big idea? How do you tell the world what you know? How are we going to promote higher levels of thinking? How are we going to promote deeper understanding? How do we do all of this and keep our kids safe?

Can you really say you are doing all of this without technology? Any of this?

Yes, they have solutions for these questions and I am sure they would be happy to take our request for a bid. Yes, they did have a principal talk to us about pulling off a one to one initiative. Don't worry about the hard sell. They really didn't push for a sale at this meeting.

This really is them providing you the opportunity to think about what we are doing. When was the last time anyone did that for you?

I would say that, if you are ever invited to an Apple Executive Briefing, accept.

Thanks Apple.

P.S. No, we didn't get to see the new iPad. I am sure they are really busy getting the launch ready to go. I know what did get to do was way more important. Thanks again Apple.

Grading

2010-03-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

http://dougbutchy.edublogs.org/2010/03/19/elementary-band-grading/

Doug Butchy has a conversation going about grading elementary band on his blog. Worth a read.

I wonder about grades as well. Letters rarely line up with growth, effort or progress. I haven't had to struggle in school, so I couldn't personally say if they were really a motivator. I hope that kids take my class for more than just the grade.

I have the usual daily rubric and the required concert performances. I also use SmartMusic assignments to be sure that practicing is happening and to document what students are accomplishing. I'm covered for grade justification.

I think SmartMusic helps with more than just grades. I was really worried about this year's 7th graders. They were the first class hit with no sectionals after 5th grade. They were also our first group we really pushed to use SmartMusic. Next year's registration for 8th grade band will be as big as it ever was. I think that is because these students know what they can do and are confident about their success. I wish they knew more as they go to the next building, but I am really glad they are sticking with it!

If I had to pick sectionals or SmartMusic, I think I would pick sectionals. I miss the ability to have conversations with my students in a small group setting. It is much easier to tell kids what they need to know in those settings.

But if sectionals came back, I think I would still be using SmartMusic as much as we are now. It is a tremendous practice guide. If you beat the machine, you have a really good start on the music and are ready for rehearsal. Why would you give that up?

Kindle, iPad and library musing.

2010-03-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Is there an app for that?

I am just wondering what is going to happen to libraries when books disappear.

We have a model of what can happen to a type of media when a device fills the same niche. Remember record (CD) stores? They went away when the iPod and other mp3 players took over audio.

Now we have the Kindle and iPad. What is going to happen to libraries and book stores? It doesn't take much of a futurist to come up with that answer.

I know. I love the tactile feel of a book too. But what if they aren't printed anymore? Or if they are printed it is as an art piece. Not as something to throw in your pocket and take somewhere.

The real tragedy may be the libraries. Right now they are an opportunity to learn for free. Where are the free "books" going to come from? Has anyone started an app for that?

SmartMusic and Mp3 Import Feature

2010-02-20T05:09:00.000-08:00

MP3 Audio files http://www.smartmusic.com/Support/QuickStart.aspx

If you aren't the patient type the Mp3 audio import is for you.

It seems to be taking forever for SmartMusic to get your song into SmartMusic? Is your series missing something? Found the perfect assignment for the students, but it isn't in SmartMusic? The vocal library isn't big enough?

Do you have a digital audio recording of it? You can add it to your SmartMusic library. Follow the links to the QuickStart videos and you will find out how to do this. It is fairly simple. Watching the video can take longer than actually doing the import.

As with many short cuts, there are some problems when you import audio to get what you want. You may have to convert the file to a Mp3 format (iTunes will do this and it is free.) On-screen assessment (red notes/green notes) doesn't happen by magic, so some kids will wonder if SmartMusic is working when the assessment is not there (listen to the recording.) In spite of those issues, it is still a wonderful way to manage the documentation of your kids' progress and worth the effort.

Why wait?

SmartMusic-- Beta Testers Wanted.

2010-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

http://www.smartmusic.com/blog/post/2010/02/12/SmartMusic-Beta-Testing.aspx

If you are a SmartMusic user, here is something that may be of interest to you. SmartMusic is looking for beta testers for the next version! Follow the link and read more about it.

Nice to see any company really trying to see what the users think.

Modbook and Finale

2010-02-17T05:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=home

I don't play keyboards well enough to do a really good job of playing my work directly into Finale.

I know you can set the quantization to cover for the lack of organ lessons, but that is usually more work than I want to do two minutes before class starts. I also can get around in speedy note, but that isn't all that speedy for me.

I have found a solution that I like better. The stylus-based Mac put together by the people at Axiotron is a nice solution for those of use that have mouse intensive projects to do. Put the point of the stylus where you want it and the cursor shows up there in an instant. No more picking up the mouse to cover a lot of screen real estate. This is more natural for the people who want to go back to the pen, but really shouldn't.

You will still want to use a keyboard if you have typing to do. Bluetooth or USB works for that.

I haven't played with the handwriting recognition yet, but will keep you posted when I do.

It can be pricey, but I think I got a good deal on eBay.

The other way to go after the stylus approach to Finale would be a special monitor with the same features built in. Which is just as costly or more so. Or, the Interactive White Board may be the solution (I'll have to try that sometime...when I need a large muscle work-out.) Make the tools work for you and not you for the tools. I'm pleased with my Modbook.

Seth Godin's Frightened, Clueless and Uninformed Riff

2010-02-09T05:47:00.000-08:00

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/frightenedcluelessuninformed.html

I think there is something to this Seth Godin post. When I look at change at my school, there really are people in each of these camps: Frightened, Clueless and Uninformed. I am sure there are at least three camps, because I have been in all three at one time or another.

The neat thing about all of these groups is that it is possible to get out of each of them! In some cases it may take a little help, but each of these groups is possible to get out of with a little education and a dash of empathy.

If you are trying to change your school, the Frightened will not help you move to where you want to go. They will be clinging to the safety of the way we have always done it. Don't be surprised if this group completely undermines your plan. I've seen it done.

I am not so sure that any organization that did wholesale top-down decision making ever did well initially. If you remember Moses and those tablets there were some problems. Then there was that part about wandering in the desert afterwards for a long time. Do you think it will go any better for you? Can any organization afford that kind of desert time?

Oh sure, there is the military for a top-down management style, but that group is prepared with lots of training and backed with lots of support and tools. This group is not frightened, it is prepared. That kind of preparation takes time and resources.

The Clueless are easy to get going with you if you can raise their consciousness. It will take some information and some time, but if you need everyone it will be worth it.

Same with the Uninformed. Take the time to inform them.

All three groups are going to require training and time. Teach them.

Ustream

2010-02-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.ustream.tv/

Need to send out a live video feed?

Sure YouTube will let you post a video... What do you do with a live event?

We have a dodgeball tournament at my school and the coach was wondering how to get video out to the school. Kids want to watch the finals and there really is no room in the gym for an audience. (Yeah, when we are not playing dodgeball, we watch it. Dodgeball fever! Crazy for dodgeball!)

She was right. The best way to turn this into a big event would be to televise it somehow. Looking at our resources and our budget was a problem. Whenever in this type of situation, I always say to myself, "Google is my friend." Free Internet Video Streaming turns up Ustream.

Turns out, it is not too hard to use. I was expecting a whole bunch of hoops, additional software, super-cryptic directions and hundreds of ads for services I wouldn't want. Not so. Plug in the camera, go to the web site, login, follow a couple of links and you have your TV station. Fun!

So, if you can think of a time you could use your own live TV channel, Ustream is worth a look. And the show wouldn't have to be about dodgeball...

SmartMusic as an audience.

2010-02-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.smartmusic.com/Community/Default.aspx

I am surprised by how much better an assignment sounds after the SmartMusic has been turned in. Significantly better. As in I-wish-there-were-a way-to-count-the-right-and-wrong-notes-in-an-ensemble-so-I-could-seriously-measure this effect.

I suppose I could round up a bunch of laptops and SmartMusic the whole ensemble, but try to get everyone to start at the same time...

I believe the effect is there and it is there even when I don't use the notes on screen assessment features.

I think it has something to do with kids using the playback to self evaluate. Yes, he was talking to me about diction/articulation/breath support. Time for take two. SmartMusic is very much like a mirror for my kids.

If kids still don't seem motivated, put the SmartMusic assignment in this frame: we are going to send this recording to someone.

Our writing teachers always talk about considering the audience when you write (It is good advice.) This can be the music analogy to that advice. SmartMusic provides the chance to perform for an audience as an individual, so, do a good job, kids!

The iPad

2010-01-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

I got lucky with my lunch break today... the time zones aligned and my lunch hour (actually, lunch 20 minutes) worked out to be the same time as the iPad roll-out. I think it is fun to read coverage of an event while it is happening. We live in amazing times.

Say good-bye to books on paper. I know others have done it first. I know that Amazon has its Kindle. But this seems like a very good fit for the other Apple on-line sales efforts. Is this the synergy that e-books need, or is Apple too late and the other earlier entries into this kind of book sales/publishing gotten to big lead? I don't think Apple is too late and the presentation is wonderful.

Putting my school teacher hat on:

(Warning! These are pretty random.)

If a teacher couldn't find a use for this in the classroom, they are not trying very hard. This could easily become the entry level learning tool for many learners. Will we be putting something like this in every student's hands anytime soon?

The price may seem to be a little high, but have your priced a text-book lately? Replace a back-pack load of books with this and get the internet and some computer power at the same time. I think the iPad may be close to a great deal.

The cost of books is a concern at school. Is there going to be a library app? Maybe there is already and I don't see it. There is a Kindle app from Amazon for the iPhone and Touch already. Free content? I don't know where to find that app.

The ports that don't seem to be there may be worry-some. We will have to see what developers can do with that dock connector.

I am hoping that there is some decent way to project what is on the teacher's (or student's) iPad to show the rest of the class. I suppose that a document camera could do this.

As a music teacher, it would be nice to be able to attach a high quality mic for one of those recording apps. I can do that pretty easily with Firewire or USB a computer now. I guess that a more powerful computer will always need to be there for a certain creative class of user. I didn't notice, Garageband? (I need a longer lunch break.)

No multi-tasking? Most kids I know don't work this way. It is good to be able to have a couple of programs open at the same time. Maybe that will come with generation 3 or so of these. In the mean time, think of it as focusing attention and working one step at a time...

I am looking forward to seeing one of these in the wild. It really gets the creative thoughts going. The iPad has some real possibilities as a school-changer. It is great to see a browser, a suite of office tools, access to a whole bunch of apps, choices on connectivity and disc size in a 10 hour portable for less than a $1000. Amazing.

Mac Mini as a Server

2010-01-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10433446-263.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt

This is an interesting review of the Mac Mini/Snow Leopard Server Combo offering.

I have a Mini at home in the kitchen and it does very well at web browsing and e-mail. It is also very reliable and has given me very few problems, so this may be the server of choice for the home and small office.

The review mentions that it has some limitations so for the small office you may want to think twice.

As far as "why the heck would I want this?" I don't know if I have a solid answer. If you want to do away with your Mobile Me account, it seems that iCal could run on this server. How about if you do development at home and would like a server to experiment with? FileMaker Server works best on its own server...

So if budget is an issue, maybe this is an answer. I wish I had the $1000 to try it out.

ITablet Rumors and Speculation

2010-01-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

I wonder if these folks at Axiotron are a little worried about the rumored Apple iTablet (iSlate, iThingee... maybe the name could be the next office pool! )

I suppose that depends on how close to a computer the iThingee is going to be.

If Apple leaves out the jacks and ports for usb, audio and video, Axiotron is still in the game. If it is more like an iPod and it only does one thing at a time, Axiotron and their Modbook is still in the game.

But the closer the rumored product is to a full featured computer...

I haven't written for a while!

2010-01-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a great couple of weeks.

Education wise, I won a piece of Chad Criswell's Music Ed Magic give away. The real prize on his site is all the information he is just giving away, so don't feel bad if you missed his contest! http://www.musicedmagic.com/music-in-general.html

Thanks Chad!

I'm down ten pounds since Christmas. There is an app for that called "Lose It!" It's available at the iTunes app store. I like tracking the intake with this app and my iPod enough to make the diet work. Nothing fancy. Just know where you are at calorie-wise for the day before reaching for extra desert.

Odd. This diet thing started with a tech thing too. We were looking ahead to summer vacation. We were looking at a vacation planning web site and thought it would be fun to ride the mules down into the Grand Canyon. I either can't go, need to lose some or need to ride naked to make the weight limits. Naked in the desert sun just doesn't do it for me. Time to cut a few.

Better lose enough to take my camera too!

I will have a second vocal music test on SmartMusic in the near future. Second time seems to go much faster. More on that later.

Trouble? What Trouble?

2009-12-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

http://wayspace.wayzata.k12.mn.us/blogs/digitaleyes/ Look for the Digital Coping Skills postings.

and

http://xkcd.com/627/

I think these topics are related. We as teachers need to toughen-up when it comes to our tech problems. No, new technology is not going to work great all the time. So figure it out, cupcake!

Start with xkcd.com/627/ flow chart. I think I have been doing this for years. A little curiosity and the knowledge that you probably aren't going to make things worse will make you a better computer user.

If you still don't have it working the way you think it should, you may have a million dollar idea for a software developer! Make a few calls or email someone!

I suppose that now the cat is out of the bag about my secret to success, I should retire and go on the lecture circuit....

Google Wave at School part 2

2009-12-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

So I got some Google Wave invites and I pass one along to the Gifted Talented/Computer Teacher.

She found a use for her invite almost right away. She is working on movie scripts with her students and it is time to discuss and peer edit them in class. She has her talented kids broken into small groups and is going to use Wave as the medium to discuss and edit.

Of course, there has to be a catch... What is your school student e-mail policy?

You need an address to get invited. We figured out a work around with dummy e-mail accounts where the teacher is the only one with full access/password. Kind of like giving her computers e-mail accounts. Hopefully that will work for her, but it does mean logging in each computer to get at Wave.

The better plan would be to set kids up with their own e-mail accounts. Less login time and a more authentic experience. But that is going to take a change in policy. We don't let kids use their e-mail at school.

I think we can keep kids safer if we teach them about privacy, cyber bullying and proper internet manners if they actually get to use an account. Set them up with an account we (parents and school) can monitor for behavior. Right now, we are so worried about what evil they may do with an account that we choose to completely ban them at school.

It is like worrying about what kids will write with pencil and paper so we ban that stuff too.

The tools aren't the problem. It is the problem behavior that is the problem. We can work on the behaviors. It will just take a little extra effort.

This may be the time to revisit policy.

Google Wave at School

2009-12-03T06:08:00.000-08:00

I took some time yesterday and this morning to play with Google Wave.

My friend George is a bit ahead of me on waving, so it was good to try it out with him. He walked me through a couple of things using the embedded file features and got me out to the public waves. Thanks!

It doesn't take long to see that this can be useful for adults trying to organize a project. That seems to be the first thought for a number of people in the Eduwave. Eduwave is a public wave that, as of this morning, already has 557 ideas on it.

When it gets that big, it feels a lot like Twitter. Lots of ideas that come at you very fast. Of course this isn't a very focussed wave. It is a lot of people getting their feet wet with wave (oh, you knew THAT pun was coming, stop groaning!)

To me, that large public wave may present a problem if you were to try it with a classroom of kids and trying to stay on topic. At least where I work (middle school.) Students may have their own agenda or wander off into misconceptions. This could work with kids, but my students would need supervision.

The private wave might be better for teachers and students. Try it as a clever way to turn the traditional worksheet or writing assignment into a more interactive student-teacher experience. Drop in on their wave and ask them "how did you get that answer?" or "have you tried this?"

Some projects may work in both public and private venues. Wouldn't that be interesting. A chance to coach a student a bit in a private wave. Then send them off to the deep end (you knew that pun was coming too) of the discussion in the public forum. This approach would help a student develop his or her ideas and build confidence before going into the discussion.

There are some good possibilities here. Get a wave invite and try it out.

Google Wave Invites

2009-12-01T07:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.waveshare.org/

Did I mention that I finally got a Google Wave invite? I am making it sound like more work than it was.

Go to Waveshare and put yourself down as needing an invite. After you get your invite, share two (more if you would like!) of your invites back at Waveshare.

Simple!

So is Wave ever going to be released? Or is this method of "testing" creating a viral buzz about this product? Or both? Hmmm.