There are many obstacles when it comes to using technology. Technology is something a teacher has to be passionate and strategic about. You can not just give students a tool and expect them to create a masterpiece. You have to be intentional and teach them the correct way to use it. When it comes to the arts, technology can be very rewarding, but also challenging.
Problem: In music, technology can be a wonderful tool, but there are many obstacles that need to be addressed. The first one is illegally downloading music. Although it is not as big of a problem as it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Roblyer (2016, p. 358), states that software like Napster, Pirate Bay, and LimeWire allowed peer-to-peer sharing of files and downloading music illegally to become very popular.
Solution: Students must be taught digital citizenship in every content area. This applies for music, and students must be taught the seriousness of downloading music illegally. There are also sites where students can find music and use it for free. The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality legal audio downloads inspired by the Creative Commons and Open Source movements. Creative Commons Music Communities also provides websites for music sharing under one of the four creative commons licenses.
Problem: When students are carrying out research or creating artwork on computers for websites or graphic design for art projects, they need access to images. Similar to students downloading music illegally, many students are using images illegally. The internet has made it easy to find and use the images. They are repurposing the images and plagiarizing (Roblyer, 2016, p. 366).
Solution: Again, going along with digital citizenship, students must be taught how to cite their sources. “Discussions should take place about issues of copyright law and what constitutes infringement” (Roblyer, 2016, p. 366). Roblyer also provides some resources to help students learn about using electronic sources from the Library of Congress website and also Duke School of Law. Easybib.com by Imagine Easy, (2014), is a Google Add-on that can be purchased for a school to use. It helps making citing sources easier for students.
These are just a few of the obstacles that teachers are finding when integrating technology. A solid foundation of digital citizenship can pave a way for students to be responsible and safe while using technology.
References:
Creative Commons. (n.d.). In Creative Commons Music Communities. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://creativecommons.org/music-communities
Imagine Easy Solution Inc. (2014). In EasyBIb. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.easybib.com/
Free Music Archive. (2009). Free Music Archive. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://freemusicarchive.org/
Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Teaching and learning with technology in music and art. In J, Johnston, (Ed.) Integrating educational technology into teaching (pp. 352-377). Boston: Pearson.
The obstacles you discussed are becoming more and more common now that teachers and students are using devices in the classroom. Without proper training and learning, these situations are going to come up. It is critical districts and schools have a plan for digitial safety and netiquette. Not only do they need to learn it, it needs to be practiced routinely and become common language in the school. I find that if skills are taught in a "Computer lab" setting those skills and knowledge are not transferring to the classroom. Should these lessons be taught by the teacher instead of the computer lab teacher/assistant? I also wonder if the teachers are comfortable with teaching this content?
ReplyDeleteI think that these skills need to be taught in the computer lab as well as in the classroom. Digital Citizenship and Netiquette need to be taught in every classroom. It is something that is so important. Teachers cannot just depend of a Technology Facilitator to teach our students these skills. It is a part of every content area, not just technology/computer lab.
DeleteYou bring up an issue that has a lot of repercussions, Copyright. This is a major issues within education circles now and Academic Honesty is again thrust into the spotlight. Your right that education and training needs to happen. It also needs to be part of the school culture. There is no point in sending mixed messages that students can use Copyrighted work in one class and not another. Also, what about Fair Use for Educational purposes? All of these issues are important and schools need to be aware of them and do the best they can.
ReplyDeleteTwo resources I would suggest are Creative Commons (they have an excellent video explaining this), and Everything is a Remix (free online). Both resources are great and wonderful resources for starting the discussion on Copyright in your class.
Thanks for bringing up the resources. I have never heard of Everything is a Remix. I will check it out.
DeleteThanks for sharing!