That’s one of the most common questions I hear – where do I start with technology in the music classroom? And what the options are for incorporating technology in a meaningful way?
You may feel overwhelmed with the number of choices you have – which devices to purchase or which apps to explore – or you may feel like you have some holes in your tech knowledge. You may have even returned to teaching after a period of time away and feel like everything has changed!
No matter what you do with technology, always have a contingency plan. Plan for things to go wrong and work out what you would do in a “worst case scenario”. Once you’ve done that, you can survive anything! It’s not a bad philosophy for general life too.
Below are 7 easy ways you can incorporate technology into your music classes. Choose just one to start with!
Here’s a sneak preview of #7!
7. Create a “Singing Wall” display
How to create a “singing” wall
Add audio or video to your wall displays with QR Codes. Display a picture, piece of writing or notation and add a QR code that links to an audio or video file of the student singing, playing or speaking.
Basic steps:
Create the visual element – something to display on the wall
Record the students singing, playing or speaking (audio only or video)
Upload audio or video file to an online location (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Youtube, Soundcloud)
Copy the link to the audio or video file
Go to QR Stuff and paste the link into the box
Download the QR code, print it out and add it to the display
Students, parents and other teachers can scan the QR code use a free QR code reader app on their smartphone or iPad.
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