they could assess long-term student progress more efficiently.


Smartphones Smartphones can be a nuisance to teachers during lessons and rehearsals. If incorporated efficiently, however, these devices can actually be useful when attempting to maintain students’ focus throughout a lesson. Most Smartphones have recording capabilities via voice memos or other free applications (i.e., Super Note, iTalk Recorder, or Recorder


Plus),


which can be used during a lesson to record important information/ instructions, music accompaniments, or excerpts. Software programs can also be used to record, but those programs often require multiple steps for sharing the audio recordings with students. The main advantage of using the Smartphone to record is that recorded clips can be stored instantly and easily accessed as a reference during students’ practice time. Students can plug headphones into their phones to sing or play along with an accompaniment recorded during a lesson, instructors could record audio demonstrations of musical excerpts for the students to reference, or students could listen to a recording of themselves from prior lessons to reinforce the techniques learned during previous instruction. Students have been known to record entire lessons and never actually listen to them. By recording only the most important/impactful moments of a lesson—such as an excerpt of a technique they mastered on a particular day—students might be more apt to listen to recordings to reinforce performance goals.


Webcams Webcams can be used during both lessons and during practice time as a means for assessing student achievement. If the student owns a laptop computer, a webcam is most likely built-in. If not, external webcams can be purchased at minimal cost ($20–$30). Instructors


Fall 2013


can help students learn to assess themselves by using the webcam to video record short portions of the lesson, and collaborating with the student in viewing, discussing, and evaluating what they see and hear in the recording. Students could then apply this videotaping/evaluating process into their practice sessions to more effectively and independently assess their performance.


Social Media Social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, have the potential to extend communication beyond the instructor and individual student by establishing a dialogue among all students in the studio. Private group pages are easily created, and can be administered and monitored by the instructor. Because permission is required for participation in a social media group, the instructor should create a separate profile used solely for academic communication (which would also help instructors maintain a strictly professional online relationship with their students). By creating a studio “network,” students could share practice strategies, upload model performance videos and recordings, or ask/answer each other’s questions. With proper permission, students could even share short clips of their


own lessons or performances so that the page acts as an online studio class. Not only would this serve to increase students’ independent assessment, it could also build rapport among studio peers. Social media can be used to enhance communication and self-learning throughout the entire music studio, as long as it is used in a carefully monitored, positive manner.


Conclusion The possibilities for using technology to enhance practice habits are vast. With the wealth of software and devices available to today’s music student,


private instructorss have


an unending supply of tools to incorporate into their instruction to help their students implement the type of effective practice behaviors and strategies that researchers have identified. The ideas I’ve shared for integrating file sharing, Smartphones, webcams, and social media into studio instruction are meant to serve as inspiration for instructors to develop their own ways of structuring student practice, which are tailored to each individual student. Introducing technology into the studio routine may be challenging at first, but with patience, flexibility, and creativity from both the instructor and students, the benefits that should be apparent in student progress will make all the effort worthwile.


References


Barry, N. H. (2007). A qualitative study of applied music lesson and subsequent student practice sessions. Contributions to Music Education, 34, 51–65.


Cooper, T. (2004). Small moments, big impact: Teaching first-year students how to practice. American Music Teacher, 54(2), 33–34.


Koopman, C., Smit, N., de Vugt, A., Deneer, P., and den Ouden, J. (2007). Focus on practice-relationships between lessons on the primary instrument and individual practice in conservatoire education. Music Education Research, 9(3), 373–397.


Kostka, M. J. (2004). Teach them how to practice. Music Educators Journal, 90(5), 23–26.


Leon-Guerrero, A. J. (2004). An examination of the self-regulated strategies used by adolescent instrumental musicians while practicing. (Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University). Evanston, IL.


Miksza, P. (2007). Effective practice: An investigation of observed practice behaviors, self-reported practice habits, and the performance achievement of high school wind players. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55, 359–375.


Rohwer, D., & Polk, J. (2006). Practice behaviors of eighth-grade instrumental musicians. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54, 350–362.


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