that show particular promise are wikis, ble. Student leaders could be selected to Ning, could serve as a repository for docu-
blogs, Ning, and SchoolTube. contribute their experiences to the blog as ments, and a means to increase the produc-
well. Unlike the paper newsletters so often tivity of the group. While regular Nings
Wikis sent home in student backpacks (never to have advertising content, the company will
be seen again) blogs can also contain audio remove the ads for educational Ning sites.
A wiki (the name comes from the and video recordings, providing a window You can find information on the educational
Hawaiian word for ‘fast’) is a website that is into your music class. uses of Ning, as well as a community of over
jointly created by multiple users. Wikipedia Blogs are also a powerful way to share 4,000 teachers, at
http://education.ning.com.
(www.wikipedia.com) is an open encyclo- with colleagues. A list of the first 100 blogs
pedia, jointly authored by its users and is on music education is available at SchoolTube
the most well known wiki. Sites such as
http://mustech.net/projects/100-me-
schoolwiki.com and
pbwiki.com allow bloggers. Periodically browsing these blogs Another prominent Web 2.0 site is
teachers to structure their own free wikis for is a great way to garner fresh ideas and per- YouTube. YouTube allows users to upload
their classes to use. These sites can be open spectives. Two prominent music education and share videos. A staggering number of
to the public, or closed, allowing only the blogs are written by fellow New Jersians, Amy music performance videos are available,
class members. Teachers can also set various Burns (http://www.amymburns.com/) and from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to
levels of authorship for students, and the Jim Frankel (http://jamesfrankel.musiced.net). Charlie Parker. (YouTube is a particularly
history of all changes made to the site can If you have something to say about music edu- rich resource for jazz, offering a plethora of
be viewed by the teacher, providing a record cation, consider adding your ideas to the blo- original videos of jazz greats). An increasing
of all the student contributions to the site. gosphere. number of school performances are also on
A wiki is an inherently constructivist Student blogs can be a great way to YouTube, often posted by proud parents
environment in which students can jointly foster student reflection. However, these without the knowledge of the director. (Are
create and share their knowledge. It is par- blogs are generally best managed within a you and your students on YouTube?)
ticularly useful for projects that broaden course management structure or a social For better or for worse, YouTube is
students’ understanding about music. For networking site, as opposed to an open blocked by many school district firewalls.
example, in performing ensembles, students blog. For example, student teachers here at Another concern with YouTube videos is
can research the composers and the histori- Rowan reflect on their experiences within that the content can become harsh and
cal contexts of the music they are studying, the university’s Blackboard courseware inappropriate for the school setting, if the
and jointly create a wiki on their concert system. This allows students the choice of user allows comments on the videos.
music. Since the wiki can be accessed via whether they would like to share their blog SchoolTube provides a solution to these
the Internet, this type of project can be with their classmates or not. If a courseware problems, by creating a space in which
assigned as homework, providing an effi- system is not available in your district, a videos are screened and approved for school
cient way to expand students’ knowledge Ning could be a good solution. use. SchoolTube has partnered with MENC
about the music being performed without to create a music section of the site. An
sacrificing rehearsal time. Ning explanatory video is available at
Wikis can contain a variety of media,
http://www.schooltube.com/video/16845/
including recordings. Another useful proj- Ning (www.ning.com) is a system MENCSchoolTube-Partnership .
ect could be to post rehearsal recordings on that allows users to create an open or closed Each of these Web 2.0 tools provides
a wiki set up for your ensemble. This wiki social networking site. Think of it as creat- teachers with ways to extend and deepen
would allow students to listen to them- ing your own mini Facebook or MySpace students’ musical learning. Creating and
selves, evaluate rehearsal recordings, and network. Each Ning user has his/her own sharing content on the web is becoming a
share their performance goals for the page, and the network has discussion normal everyday occurrence for our stu-
ensemble. These two examples only scratch forums. This allows a Ning to incorporate dents outside of school. While it is impor-
the surface; the possibilities for innovation many of the elements of wikis and blogs. tant to maintain the boundaries between
are exciting. Like wikis and blogs, multimedia can be school sites and personal sites, it is also
placed into Nings as well. Since Nings can important that we harness the possibilities
Blogs be closed to all except invited members, of this new medium for music education.
class work can be conducted without the
A blog (short for ‘web log’) is a site in worry of having strangers wander in. A Hold the Date
which the author posts periodic commentary, Ning also allows teachers the opportunity
usually on a particular theme. Blog sites, such to harness the positive aspects of social com- On an unrelated note, the 4
th
Annual
as WordPress (www.wordpress.org) and puting, while keeping the class sites separate New Jersey TI:ME in-service will be held at
BlogSpot (www.blogspot.com) provide free from personal social computing. East Brunswick High School on Monday,
and user-friendly platforms for bloggers to Another use for a Ning is to pro- October 12th. Please check the NJ TI:ME
communicate their thoughts and ideas. Blogs vide an efficient way for groups to commu- website for registration information and
can provide a powerful way to keep parents nicate between meetings. A Band Booster further details
www.ti-me.org/nj. We’d love
connected to events in your classroom/ensem- Ning, or a Music Curriculum Committee to see you there.
MAY 2009 29 TEMPO
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