Ever Since I can remember in Education, Technology in the classroom has been a popular avenue to explore for teachers, students, administrators, and more. For one thing, it served as a way to tap into money. The education system would create programs for school boards and schools to apply.
In an issue of “Professionally Speaking”, march 2020, a publication of the Ontario College of Teachers, I received yesterday, included a fact page showing figures about technology in Ontario school classrooms. Actually, this particular issue includes some other interesting pages about surplus teaching, retirement and the various comparisons over the years. I continue to be a member of the college because I wish to supply teach (and thus far, I have not completed one day of supply work!), and because I am in the schools with Music Alive Festival.
The fact page about technology sparked a memory for me. I think I may have been a member of the first group of teachers that embraced the new technology way back in the late 1980’s. When I started my career at St. Joseph High School, in Barrie, Ontario, I would use an Apple IIe computer with a midi sound card connection to my Roland JX8P Synthesizer to play back accompaniment tracks I inputted to accompany the choir I was directing. In the second and final year at this school, I used an Ensonique Keyboard synthesizer (rented) to playback MIDI tracks for the musical show we creatively put together in the Spring. I do not remember if I used a Roland sequencer, which I still have (although, it is inoperative).
After leaving St. Joseph High School and entered Father Bressani CHS, in Woodbridge, my journey to use technology continued. I developed a lab of computers to compose music, and actually offered courses of study. My colleague: P. Mannion was very supportive and helped me with my interest in technology. This lab continued to expand as the technology improved. I recall investing in a modem at that time, which helped me to connect to York University, sending student compositions to York University for comments. The music department was paying a monthly connection fee for the modem, and I had installed a dedicated line in the music department. The technology at the time was MIDI only. Moving forward, I continued to explore multimedia applications and my students were exposed to cutting-edge opportunities. Some of my students graduated and continued with Music & Technology post secondary studies.
When I left Father Bressani CHS to teach at St. Elizabeth CHS, I continued to develop a Music And Computers lab, offering students opportunities to compose music and also developed courses of study (compositional module-projects) for students to explore adding music to visuals, moving pictures, etc.
The point of all this . . . I am happy to say that I consider myself a pioneer in bringing technology into the music classroom, early in my teaching career and continued this exploration throughout my career of 30 plus years. I enjoyed it, and it certainly sparked the interest in students to consider taking a music course. You see, some students did not wish to play trumpet, or clarinet; but, they enjoyed music and wanted to explore their interest in composing, using technology tools available to enhance their learning and results. It was fun and exciting.
When I left full time teaching, I had established on-line composing with my students. The technology continues to grow and the possibilities are certainly endless.
Throughout the years, I not only explored technology at school but also with my own artistic work as a performer. In 2007, I explored the Roland V-Accordion, and while many accordionists struggled with the technology, I was very comfortable, even with my slightly older age. I continue to use the Roland Accordion and enjoy the myriad of possibilities. The technology has helped me to stay current and also enhanced my opportunities to get meaningful performances. Back in November , 2019, I recently purchased a Seaboard Roli keyboard, and although I have not started to explore as yet, I look forward to the possibilities, hoping to advance and enhance my compositions, creating backgrounds to my accordion playing!
Originally, when the cell phone first made an appearance into the classroom, teachers were advised to inform students that these devices were a distraction to learning; students were advised to put their personal devices away: “out-of-sight”. This approach was very challenging to uphold. Later years, things certainly changed whereby we were all to embrace this technology as a wonderful tool for enhancing the learning in the classroom. There were some tense moments where we were not allowed to touch a student’s property, that is, to take away a student’s cell phone in the classroom.
It was challenging as a music teacher, in rehearsal, noticing some students totally distracted by their phone, placed on their respective music stand. Some students would actually stop performing, right in the middle of a phrase, to text or respond to a text.
Now, with the current situation politically, the suggestion that students complete at least 2 on-line courses while attending high school. The biggest companies in the world: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook - the technology companies continue to influence the direction of the world. We have so many examples to be aware of: Tesla electric cars, AI, 5G, Driverless cars, Uber, SpaceX, on-line shopping, robots, quantum computers, etc.
In my career as a teacher in the classroom, I had a real interest in technology. I tried to talk about it daily in my lessons. I know that technology is (was) a big topic for all students. I enjoyed trying to keep myself current, as much as possible. In many ways, the technology and the future trends were (are) not only interesting, but inspiring in so many creative ways. Today, teachers are certainly challenged with so many changes to deal with in the classroom. The technology is changing so fast, and it is costly to the system to install new technology into every classroom. As soon as new programs and initiatives are developed and supported financially, it takes time to implement and sustain these new models. Then of course, you need to support the training for teachers. By the time you implement the new ideas with hardware and infrastructure changes, the new technology has been replaced by another new initiative. It seems that we cannot keep up! We need to carefully invest in new ideas, and keep as many windows to expansion open as possible. Students want the latest technology to be available. Some students have more technology access to the new in their homes than what is available at school.