4 Ways Technology Can Make Your Music Lessons Sing: New Tech Tools Give Students Control over Their Music and Inspire Them to Create and Innovate

Integrating technology into the music classroom can be a real challenge. For one thing, students don't have desks, so any device with a keyboard presents a logistical problem. Nevertheless, the potential payoff is big. By introducing virtual instruments and digital composition, teachers are empowering students to innovate in ways that were unimaginable 10 or 20 years ago, and are making their classes more engaging and interactive. When Oltman Middle School in St. Paul Park, MN, introduced a 1-to-1 iPad program in the fall of 2013, director of choirs Christopher Russell was a step ahead of most teachers in other disciplines. He had already been using iPads in class for three years on a limited basis. "I already had the pedagogy figured out and I knew which apps I was going to use," he said. Using Tablets Instead of Paper Music Russell believes that the No. 1 use for a tablet is as a substitute for paper music. Having the music in digital format has many benefits, including the fact that students no longer lose their music. "Talk to any music or band teacher, and they will tell you that is a huge issue," he said. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the music in digital format, students can access apps to annotate their scores. Russell can also send students audio recordings that they can play along with as they practice. His students can use a music-writing app such as Notion to make their own practice tracks and compose their own songs. "That is a complete redefinition of what you do with students," he said. "It was inconceivable before they had these devices." Russell said he is also excited about a relatively new app called NotateMe, which allows him to write musical notation and convert it to digital notation. The app also allows you to take a picture of a score and convert it to digital music. This means that music teachers can now scan music without expensive software and scanning equipment, he said. "I have used the app with students to compose music and also to dictate what they hear," he explained. "The free version allows a student to scan a single line. That might allow band and orchestra students, who get music with one part, to scan their music and edit it, either to hear what it should sound like, or perhaps to create their own music based on their own part." Although he knew what he wanted to do with students, Russell admitted that there have been challenges with the 1-to-1 iPad program. Last year, the biggest issue with sixth-graders was students getting distracted by playing games such as Minecraft. 'There is no teacher that can always be as exciting as Minecraft," he said, "so at some point, kids are tempted to make bad decisions. The tools we have to deal with that are getting better. Apple has done a lot at the back end to fix those problems, and so have the mobile device management companies. Ours is Casper, and it allows you to lock students into a specific app." Helping Kids Compose Amy Burns, an elementary school music teacher at Far Hills Country Day School (NJ), said she started using technology because it could help young students do things they couldn't do traditionally. Composing music with very young students can be difficult, even though it is among the New Jersey state music standards, she said. "But now with tools such as Noteflight, second- and third-graders can create wonderful melodic compositions and play them on their recorder," she said. Besides helping with composition and creation, technology can also enhance performance. Burns has students use Orff instruments such as xylophones and glockenspiels, but she also downloads virtual instrument apps onto an iPad and plugs them into the sound system. She doesn't use an autoharp in class because of the challenges of keeping it tuned, she said, "but the virtual autoharp enhances our ensemble beautifully. Virtual instruments are wonderful for students who have difficulty mastering fine motor skills. …