Week 7 Reflection - Productivity through technology

As I began reading this week, I was really excited to find myself thinking "ooo, I do that....I do that too!" at many of the technologies Bauer mentions in communication and organization. Perhaps what I feel I have gotten out of this class that has been so beneficial was how to combine certain technologies to make my life more efficient. For example, on the first week of class we were asked to set up a Feedly account. I had never heard of Feedly, but have since found it very helpful to get all that information routed into one location for my review. I even attached all our class blogs and twitter feeds into Feedly so I didn't have to go to three different places each time I needed to work on a PLN assignment. This week, I feel like One Note is the technology that has the potential to be a "Feedly" for my classroom. I can plan lessons, attach resources, send email, link notes and much more all in one place. I particularly liked how One Note takes certain aspects of other technology that I like to use (such as Google docs collaborations) and included those features in a more central location.

Throughout this music technology course we have been exploring how students relate to technology. Another feature that I appreciate a little more each day about technology is how more and more is available for free, cross-platform and "in the cloud" or available on any device. I find myself often beginning a project at school and having to finish it at home. I think back to my school days and the frustration I felt when I didn't have enough time in school to complete a project, so I wouldn't start until I got home. This was a waste of my learning time and frustrated both my teachers and me! Even if students don't have access to a computer at home, it seems that most have access to a smart phone or tablet computer. These technologies are making it so much easier to gain access to projects, reminders, notes, etc that students will soon have no excuse for not completing work because they "didn't have access" or it "got forgot at home..."

Perhaps what I find most amazing about many of the technologies we have studied over the past several weeks is the opportunity for collaboration. When all is said and done, our job as educators isn't to make sure each kid leaves with a vast knowledge of music (even though that is our hope and often our goal) but it is to make sure that each student leaves with the tools to become an upstanding, productive, collaborative and motivated member of society. This is exactly why we insist on the dreaded group projects...its not because we enjoy making you partner with someone you don't like, or because we are "life ruiners..." no, we want you to learn to work in diverse environments, with diverse people, working together to create something that betters you and the others around you. These technologies are allowing us to work together, while not physically together. The idea that you could create a song as a class and send it to another classroom across the world is a fantastic, but very achievable goal with the aid of technology. Overall, this course has excited me about the idea of using technology to enhance what I am already doing in my classroom and to explore new ides and methods to give my students better tools each day!