Times are changing. Technology is growing.

Teachers are needing newer ways to be innovative in the classroom, connecting to their students through this technology, but still connecting the use of that technology back to the material and the purpose for learning in and of itself. That’s why the Apps in the Classroom series was created: to help teachers incorporate useful technology into their classroom.

There are multiple guides covering a wide range of subjects, each accompanied with a variety of activities for students to find more creative ways to learn. Out of all the guides, my favorites had to be Hopscotch, Stop Motion Studio, and Skitch because they synthesize fun into learning.

Skitch especially was an essential app in my eyes because it was a new way of note taking that students could modify to their own liking and needs. Students can share their creativity with one another as they crop, mark, doodle, and annotate work. This is a great way to help students finds what way of note-taking and research fits them best, and then they can discuss it even further together, challenging their peers to learn and grow. They can mark and add anything they need to so as to better help them understand the material in ways that best suit their learning styles. This would be great for analyzing music in my classroom setting; there would be less eraser marks, that’s for sure! You can find this app out of the 18 courses in the collection by looking in the Secondary Music guide.

This week, I chose to check out the free iPad app called Slate. This project was actually really fun! I wasn’t sure at first how to make a digital storyboard, but Slate made the project something that I actually wanted to do for this class.

My project is about music, of course. I wanted to briefly talk about the voice and how to embrace our own, and Slate allowed me to do exactly that–with ease and lack of complexity, I might add.

I chose this app over the others because it immediately caught my eye and held my attention. Options of style for the slideshow were readily laid out and available as the app itself walks you through each step in creating your story. There is a structured set of options provided of whether or not you add a picture, text, a link, etc., and the format that each of those are inserted and displayed is at your disposal, as well! There is even a sidebar where you can search for different pictures to fit your story if you don’t have any suitable ones. This app automatically makes you readily prepared and sets you up for success from the start. And did I mention that it keeps the reader interested because they never know the layout of the next page?

It’s so well formatted. I would absolutely recommend Slate because it has easy accessibility, multiple design options, no length or creativity limits, and is affordable. This is probably my favorite app that I’ve used all summer because it is interesting, engaging, and user-friendly!

How do you get your students interested in using their creative mind’s eye? By showing them that there are better, more innovative ways of doing things. In the One Best Thing iBook, “Six-Word Story, Six Unique Shots: Enhancing Writing Through Multimedia,” you can read about an awesome way to get your students’ creativity cogs turning.

In this iBook, the idea of creating a six-word storyline with no more and no less than six video clips is presented–just as the title suggests. I believe that this could be used as an avenue to so many different school appropriated topics to help students explore the content matter, as well as explore their own individual perspective on it. Students simply brainstorm a story made up of six words, in turn, sketching a storyboard out afterward. The iBook mentions all kinds of camera angles and technology that could be used, the timeline of how long the project should be and estimated length of creation time, and it even provides a rubric for the students to have as a visual for requirements. All of this information is very useful for the students to know exactly what the guidelines for the project are and still have enough freedom of creative thinking.

This is such a cool way to step outside the box containing regular poetry and story lines or scripted videos. I will use this information in my specific music classroom setting to see how music has impacted each of my students’ lives. If I better understand their perspective on music, as well as see their abilities to create based off of what they know about the material they’re given.

This is absolutely an iBook you should consider reading! Check out the link below for more information:

Six-Word Story, Six Unique Shots: Enhancing Writing Through Multimedia

For my 5th blog reflection, I reviewed the Tech Edge videos that dealt with music, seeing as I will be a music educator.

In episode 15 of the “Tech Edge: iPads in the Classroom” podcasts,  Guy Trainin and Allison High talk about different ways to engage students in music using various iPad apps, such as Glee and Tap Tap Revenge 4. Both of these apps being free, how could one not download them to get students interested in how music works?! The Glee app is somewhat of a karaoke game that a student can pick a song and aim to hit the right notes (as pictured below), challenging them in an exciting way where they can see their success. They can sing a simple melodic line or choose to harmonize, depending on the difficulty level they choose. Visually, they can see the intervals they are singing and how they relate to each other.

Tap Tap Revenge 4 is another great app to get kids excited about learning music. Right off the bat it teaches rhythm using songs they know and love. There are three difficulty levels and multiple songs to be unlocked. It’s a sort of Guitar Hero for a smart phone or the iPad (pictured below).

Both of these apps can be used to help students implement what they’re learning in class in a fun, easily accessible way. Watch the video below to check out these apps:

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The second video I watched was episode 16 of “Tech Edge: iPads in the Classroom,” where they display and break down certain iPad apps that are useful for teaching music. The one I liked the most is called Music Tutor (pictured below). This app is very affordable–because it’s free! Students are simply tested on their sight-reading skills with this app. This is a timed “game” where a student chooses the amount of time and what clef they work from, guessing the note names as they go. The cool thing about this app is that the student can go back and see the correct answers after the time is up. This helps them to make connections and see improvements over time.

This app is exceptional for use in the classroom because they can practice at home and be more prepared to read new music in class. Watch the video below to check out this app:

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Episode 146 of “Tech Edge: iPads in the Classroom” was about three music apps on the iPad that can be very useful for projects in the classroom. GarageBand, though I’m familiar with the computer application, was still my favorite out of the three talked about. Though it is priced at $4.99 (which can seem like a lot for an app), it is worth every penny. Students can choose their instruments, if they record, if they compose, if they loop, if they remix… The possibilities are virtually endless. They don’t have to have the skills needed to play all the instruments under the universe, because the instruments’ timbres are already provided. This is useful in the classroom because students are given the tools to understand how the building blocks of music work without needing a ton of experience. This can spur on a student’s curiosity and creativity within the music classroom.

Watch the video below to check out this app: