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Interactive Technology in the AP Music Theory Classroom
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by Eric Griffin
Olathe East High School
Olathe, Kansas
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| | Saving Class Time with a Virtual "Pen"
As technology tools become increasingly common in the AP Music Theory classroom, many teachers are asking students to use a variety of software packages for their homework or in-class assignments: music notation programs (such as Finale or Sibelius), instructional software, media packages, and more.
Now imagine teaching your AP Music Theory students in a way that instantly combines theory with practice, thought with sound, the page with the ear. A score -- any score -- is projected on your wall. Point to a place on this score, and a note appears and plays. Circle, highlight, and change the score with your finger or virtual "pen," and your notes appear and play simultaneously. Move on to another page or exercise, not by erasing and rewriting the score, but by pressing a single key. Your students get in on the act too, remembering more because they are actively "doing" more, hearing the application of theory as you teach it. Then you save all the day's activities for review on another day -- or even another year.
This is not just a possibility; it is a reality. Interactive systems for classroom instruction of this type are becoming much more common, and they hold exciting promise for music classrooms. These systems consist of a computer, an LCD projector, and a specialized electronic dry-erase whiteboard or a handheld electronic tablet. Such systems allow the teacher or student to annotate directly on anything that can be displayed and projected on the computer screen and recall the annotations for later instruction or review. In this article, I will explain the use of this technology and explore its application in the AP Music Theory classroom.
Whiteboards and Tablets
To get started, let's assume that your classroom already has a compatible computer and that you are already familiar with one of the available notation programs. From there, you select the rest of the system, which uses an interactive touch board of some kind. In general, these devices fall into two broad categories: interactive whiteboards and handheld tablets. An interactive whiteboard serves as both a projection surface and a pointing device. The computer projects its desktop through the LCD projector onto the whiteboard, which in turn senses input from the user. Rather than guiding a mouse to move a pointer on-screen, the user simply touches a finger (or a special markerlike stylus) on the screen to move the mouse pointer, click, or even "draw" on the screen with a virtual marker. The handheld tablets work in much the same way, except the projection surface can be an ordinary screen, and the user can walk about the room with the tablet and stylus.
Teachers can invest in any of the whiteboards on the market, which include the Smart Board by Smart Technologies and Mimio Boards by Virtual Ink Corporation. Tablets -- such as the SchoolPad by GTCO CalComp, StarTablet by Hitachi, or Podium Pro by Numonics -- are sometimes a less-expensive option. These systems have their own good and bad points; you just need to match the system to your classroom needs and budget.
One of the primary advantages of the interactive projection is the ability to demonstrate concepts on-screen to an entire class. If you are introducing scoring or music theory software for the first time, you can demonstrate the use of the software to students as you go -- live action, so to speak. The interactive aspect of the system encourages participation from your students. Touch pads are designed for intuitive use, and students are usually eager to come to the front of the class to work with just the touch of a finger or stylus.
Retrieving Samples Easily
In the AP Music Theory classroom, the use of a software notation package in the interactive system can create a virtual score that is infinitely more flexible than one created on a dry-erase markerboard, blackboard, or overhead projector.
Using your preferred notation software (such as Finale or Sibelius), you can prepare your lesson materials in advance and save them as a file, which you will recall later when you begin your lesson. During the course of the lesson, you can then refer to musical examples (without erasing and renotating on the blackboard). During discussion, you can then play back the examples on the computer from the materials you have created and stop or start at will.
Finally, at any point, you can change to the annotate mode on the interactive whiteboard or tablet and use a "pen" or "highlighter" to draw on-screen, focusing attention to specific elements of the lesson. At the end of the lesson, you can save the entire package (files, annotations, any changes) for recall or review on following days.
Strong Draw for Students
These interactive systems are powerful motivators for students. What computer-savvy student could resist the attraction of the technology? In the AP Music Theory classroom, it is also an effective resource for supplementary ear training because of the immediacy of feedback. For example, you can create a four-part dictation exercise resembling an AP Music Theory Exam question in which students must notate the soprano and bass voices while intuiting the roman numeral designations. A student can then approach the whiteboard (or take the tablet) and simply touch the staff where the desired note should be placed. The computer then plays that note along with the dictated pitch. The instant, auditory feedback links the sound of the note with its creation on the page, relating the note to its harmonic context and its consonance or dissonance. In time, the students should assume more control and confidence in their auditory skills, rather than wait for the teacher to let them know their work is correct.
Let's take an error-detection exercise as another example. You can display a four-part chorale and ask students to find errors in the part writing. Press the play button on the notation software, and the students can hear what they see. Have students approach the projection screen (or take the tablet) and indicate errors and how to correct them directly on-screen. Replay the corrected chorale and compare. Note that this method can certainly be aimed at different learning modalities: some students are more likely to detect, say, an improper parallelism if they hear it as well as see it because this instructional technique links sight with sound.
The Costs of Interactivity
There are some inherent disadvantages to the system, of course. One is the cost. The computer, LCD projector, and related software represent a substantial investment, but the interactive display board or tablet is usually well over $1,000 by itself and may be several times this amount depending on the brand and model chosen. Second, these systems do require some practice before they allow the teacher to work unimpeded by the technology. While the applications described in this article are easy to learn, preparing lesson materials will require some depth of study in both the notation software and the use of the system itself. Finally, in the case of the interactive whiteboards, calibration is required for accurate touch response. This is a quick procedure, but it must be done each time the system is powered up.
The possibilities for interactive technology in the AP Music Theory classroom are limited only by the imagination of the teacher. Besides motivating your students, the constant combination of teaching theory and ear-training together, the ability to recall past lessons (complete with notes), and the increased efficiency with instructional time make this an investment well worth considering.
Eric Griffin is currently director of bands at Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kansas. He teaches AP Music Theory and five performing ensemble classes at East. He received a bachelor's degree in education from Southwest Missouri State University, and a master's degree in music education from the University of Kansas.
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