Portable Productivity:
The iPod in the Elementary Music Classroom
A Case Study by Barbara Balch Packales
Abstract
This case study describes the implementation of Appleʼs iPod technology into the Elementary music class-
rooms in MSAD #11 in Gardiner, Maine. Music teachers that travel from building to building often have to
carry numerous CDs and a portable CD player. This study suggests that the iPod can replace bulky older
technology with more time and space-conserving emerging technology and also meet ISTE (Instructional
Society for Technology in Education) standards.
Goals
The primary goal of this study is to examine the feasibility of providing music educators with a viable
alternative to using traditional CDs and boom box type players in multiple classrooms. The study will specifi-
cally address efficiency issues.
Review Partner
Dr. Michele Kaschub, Music Education, is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of South-
ern Maine. She has presented workshops at the National Convention of the Music Educators Conference on
interactive choral rehearsal structures and using composition as a teaching tool in the choral classroom.
Michele has published internationally with articles appearing in Research Studies in Music Education,
the Choral Journal, the Music Educators Journal, and the Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning.
A native of Maine, Michele completed her Bachelor of Science in Music Education at USM in 1990 and then
taught vocal and general music in the public schools while finishing her Masters in Choral Conducting at the
University of Maine. Michele's doctoral work studying children's compositional processes and products was
completed in 1999 at Northwestern University where she studied with Bennett Reimer and Peter Webster.
(University of Southern Maine, 2008)
Case Study Overview
MSAD #11 incorporates four towns in rural Maine: Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittston and Randolph.
There are currently five music teachers in MSAD #11. Two of those teachers travel between the five Elemen-
tary schools (K-5) and transport materials from building to building.
CDs for the basal series textbooks that the District uses consist of between six and ten CDs per
grade level. Fourth and fifth grade Chorus requires numerous CDs as well. The physical transferring of CDs
requires organization and assumes that a teacher will remember to remove all CDs from a CD player before
leaving a building. The reality is that there are times when a necessary CD is left in a player in one building
and the loss is not discovered until a class has begun in another building in a neighboring town.
MSAD #11 utilizes a standards based curriculum and standards based grading. Most classes require
the use of pre-recorded CDs to complete assessments during the once a week meeting of a class. Entire
units may revolve around one CD. The transfer of all audio files onto a single iPod that is readily available
for each class will not only provide easier transport of music, but also eliminate the human error of forgetting
a CD in another building. The iPod has the advantage of having a backup set of files in the laptop computer.
Theoretical Perspective
Technology is no longer the wave of the future. Technology is now. Dramatic changes have come
about in how we access, store and disseminate information. Education needs to make the same types of
dramatic changes in order to compete in a global market. Over 150 million iPods have been sold worldwide
as of March 2008 (Gaba, 2008) Bridge Ratings, LLC predicts that by 2009 approximately 250 million MP3
players will be in use. (Bridge Ratings, 2007). Education professionals cannot ignore the benefits that this
type of technology can provide.
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