AITSL: Standard 3.4 - Mind Mapping
Technology Reflection: Week 5 - Mind Mapping
Upon reading forum posts from some of my peers, I noticed discussion of creating mind maps focusing on particular topics that my peers were looking to teach in the future, such as science, music, history etc. With the goal of becoming a secondary music teacher in mind, I decided I would create a mind map for a high-school music classroom. Drawing from my first prac experience last year where I participated in year 7 and 8 music classes, I noticed that when it came to aural analysis of a piece of music, many students struggled to recall all of the six basic concepts of music. I felt that the six concepts of music would make for a great mind map. I was inspired to construct a colourful mind map of the six concepts of music (Texture, Pitch, Dynamics & Expressive Techniques, Structure, Tone Colour, and Duration). Branching out from each sub heading, I included prompting words and ideas that specifically related to each concept. The aim of this is to jog student memory when discussing a concept so that they might be able to elaborate more easily when discussing a piece of music.
After perusing the link http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-mind-mapping-tools/, I settled on using ‘SimpleMind’ which provided a free trial version of the program which was fully functional and extremely user friendly. Colour coding, text formatting and mind map layout adjustment were exceptionally simple to execute. Once I had completed my mind map I was able to export the mind map as a .png image file, which I then embedded onto my eportfolio. I feel that the simple mind map that I created would work quite well as a large poster on a music classroom wall.
Upon reading forum posts from some of my peers, I noticed discussion of creating mind maps focusing on particular topics that my peers were looking to teach in the future, such as science, music, history etc. With the goal of becoming a secondary music teacher in mind, I decided I would create a mind map for a high-school music classroom. Drawing from my first prac experience last year where I participated in year 7 and 8 music classes, I noticed that when it came to aural analysis of a piece of music, many students struggled to recall all of the six basic concepts of music. I felt that the six concepts of music would make for a great mind map. I was inspired to construct a colourful mind map of the six concepts of music (Texture, Pitch, Dynamics & Expressive Techniques, Structure, Tone Colour, and Duration). Branching out from each sub heading, I included prompting words and ideas that specifically related to each concept. The aim of this is to jog student memory when discussing a concept so that they might be able to elaborate more easily when discussing a piece of music.
After perusing the link http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-mind-mapping-tools/, I settled on using ‘SimpleMind’ which provided a free trial version of the program which was fully functional and extremely user friendly. Colour coding, text formatting and mind map layout adjustment were exceptionally simple to execute. Once I had completed my mind map I was able to export the mind map as a .png image file, which I then embedded onto my eportfolio. I feel that the simple mind map that I created would work quite well as a large poster on a music classroom wall.
Mind Map for a Secondary School Music Class: The Six Concepts of Music
Mind Map .png: /uploads/4/9/4/0/49401059/concepts_of_music.png
Prompt Question 4: “What tools could be used to be creative? Identify and explain the risks to students’ well-being and safety while using these creative resources and describe how to mitigate these risks”
To answer this prompt question, I will use the context of a highschool music class, and will draw from my own experiences as a student and my practicum experience to inform my answer.
ICT (both online/web-based, and offline) can play a very large role in the modern music classroom. In terms of offline resources that promote musical creativity amongst students are many different types of programs that all execute different creative functions. Music notation and composition software such as Sibelius, Guitar Pro and MuseScore allows students to create, notate and play-back original compositions or their own arrangements of existing works. These programs often feature ‘Realistic Sound Banks’ that allow a student to play back a composition they have created and be able to hear back an approximation of what the piece would sound like, if played on real-life instruments. These programs also provide functions for dynamic and technical expression, tempo adjustment, virtually limitless instrumentation, and lyrics display. Another type of offline musical software that promotes creativity is DAW’s (Digital Audio Workstations) which allow students to compose and record their own real-life musical performances, and convert those to a digital audio file. DAW’s are generally quite powerful and have a wide range of functions and abilities. Some DAW’s can take students through all the processes involved in producing a song, such as microphone selection/placement and recording, mixing, mastering, arrangement and sampling. I would think that risks to students’ well-being whilst using these types of programs would be minimal. Because these programs are ‘offline’ programs there is essentially no risk of cyber-bullying or cyber-crime. Safety issues related to music notation software and DAW’s would fall more toward risk of physical injury such as electrocution from electrical musical equipment, increased risk of hearing damage (if listening to loud music for extended periods of time), and strain injuries from poor posture, extended periods of sitting, and eye-soreness from being exposed to computer screens for too long. Ways to mitigate these types of injuries would include:
* Setting time limits for use of software and digital equipment
* Educating students on the dangers of handling and operating electrical musical equipment, and ensuring safe procedures are always undertaken during operation
* Setting dB limits for volumes of headphones whilst students work on their musical creations
There are also a great number of online and social media resources that are useful and suitable for music students. Websites such as Youtube, Vevo, Soundcloud, Triple J Unearthed, Spotify and Facebook all promote the sharing, exploration and exposure of music both from established artists, and unsigned musicians. The aforementioned websites are great social-networking tools for students to share musical ideas, sound recordings and scores with a potentially massive audience. These sites generally allow for complete artistic and creative freedom. There are also a great many websites (such as Ultimate-Guitar, Youtube, Musicnotes, 8notes, TheGuitarSystem) that are dedicated to music tuition, performance advice and skill development. Often these websites contain instructional video content, music notation, and mp3 sound files. Whilst online ICT resources can be extremely useful for music students, there are also increased risks. By simply being ‘online’ there are increased risks with regard to privacy, computer viruses, explicit content, quality control, cyber-bullying, hacking, and other online crime. In an educational setting, attempts to mitigate risks associated with online resources include Department controlled content blockers, restricted access to certain websites, and teacher control of potentially harmful websites. Teachers can take personal initiative to investigate websites and online resources fully, before instructing or directing students to use these online resources. Teachers must also ensure that any content they wish to present to students is appropriate and relevant to students’ particular class prior to a lesson. The Australian Government has set up the Cybersmart group (found at http://www.cybersmart.gov.au) which provides vast amounts of information regarding cyber safety, internet security and online crime. Cybersmart also offers professional development training for educators regarding the safe and appropriate use of online resources in the classroom. There are also numerous government approved cyber safety programs aimed at students, constructed to inform and educate youth about cyber safety, legal issues, and tactics for remaining safe online.
References:
Australian Government. (2015). http://www.cybersmart.gov.au
Prompt Question 4: “What tools could be used to be creative? Identify and explain the risks to students’ well-being and safety while using these creative resources and describe how to mitigate these risks”
To answer this prompt question, I will use the context of a highschool music class, and will draw from my own experiences as a student and my practicum experience to inform my answer.
ICT (both online/web-based, and offline) can play a very large role in the modern music classroom. In terms of offline resources that promote musical creativity amongst students are many different types of programs that all execute different creative functions. Music notation and composition software such as Sibelius, Guitar Pro and MuseScore allows students to create, notate and play-back original compositions or their own arrangements of existing works. These programs often feature ‘Realistic Sound Banks’ that allow a student to play back a composition they have created and be able to hear back an approximation of what the piece would sound like, if played on real-life instruments. These programs also provide functions for dynamic and technical expression, tempo adjustment, virtually limitless instrumentation, and lyrics display. Another type of offline musical software that promotes creativity is DAW’s (Digital Audio Workstations) which allow students to compose and record their own real-life musical performances, and convert those to a digital audio file. DAW’s are generally quite powerful and have a wide range of functions and abilities. Some DAW’s can take students through all the processes involved in producing a song, such as microphone selection/placement and recording, mixing, mastering, arrangement and sampling. I would think that risks to students’ well-being whilst using these types of programs would be minimal. Because these programs are ‘offline’ programs there is essentially no risk of cyber-bullying or cyber-crime. Safety issues related to music notation software and DAW’s would fall more toward risk of physical injury such as electrocution from electrical musical equipment, increased risk of hearing damage (if listening to loud music for extended periods of time), and strain injuries from poor posture, extended periods of sitting, and eye-soreness from being exposed to computer screens for too long. Ways to mitigate these types of injuries would include:
* Setting time limits for use of software and digital equipment
* Educating students on the dangers of handling and operating electrical musical equipment, and ensuring safe procedures are always undertaken during operation
* Setting dB limits for volumes of headphones whilst students work on their musical creations
There are also a great number of online and social media resources that are useful and suitable for music students. Websites such as Youtube, Vevo, Soundcloud, Triple J Unearthed, Spotify and Facebook all promote the sharing, exploration and exposure of music both from established artists, and unsigned musicians. The aforementioned websites are great social-networking tools for students to share musical ideas, sound recordings and scores with a potentially massive audience. These sites generally allow for complete artistic and creative freedom. There are also a great many websites (such as Ultimate-Guitar, Youtube, Musicnotes, 8notes, TheGuitarSystem) that are dedicated to music tuition, performance advice and skill development. Often these websites contain instructional video content, music notation, and mp3 sound files. Whilst online ICT resources can be extremely useful for music students, there are also increased risks. By simply being ‘online’ there are increased risks with regard to privacy, computer viruses, explicit content, quality control, cyber-bullying, hacking, and other online crime. In an educational setting, attempts to mitigate risks associated with online resources include Department controlled content blockers, restricted access to certain websites, and teacher control of potentially harmful websites. Teachers can take personal initiative to investigate websites and online resources fully, before instructing or directing students to use these online resources. Teachers must also ensure that any content they wish to present to students is appropriate and relevant to students’ particular class prior to a lesson. The Australian Government has set up the Cybersmart group (found at http://www.cybersmart.gov.au) which provides vast amounts of information regarding cyber safety, internet security and online crime. Cybersmart also offers professional development training for educators regarding the safe and appropriate use of online resources in the classroom. There are also numerous government approved cyber safety programs aimed at students, constructed to inform and educate youth about cyber safety, legal issues, and tactics for remaining safe online.
References:
Australian Government. (2015). http://www.cybersmart.gov.au