Fife Council Visits UoD

We had a visit from numerous ICT specialists from Fife council who demonstrated to us, how the used ICT in the primary schools to develop learning. We got to use software like Comic Life, Pivot and Skoog and it was very insightful to see how I could potential use these as a teaching tool to enhance the learning of pupils. Birney (2012) discussed the aim of teaching ICT in schools as, “Not using ICT as just a skill but making it relevant to Curriculum For Excellence and the experiences and outcomes”. (no page given).

Buckingham (2007) discusses how much computer technology has advanced in recent years, “The possibility of ‘digitizing’ a whole range of different forms of communication (not just writing, but visual and moving images music, sound and speech) transforms the computer into much more than a calculator or a typewriter with memory. It becomes a ,eams pf delivering and producing not just written texts, but texts in a variety of media, and, as a result, the digital screen has become the focus of a whole range of entertainment, information and communication options.” (p.79). With this in mind, the area which I have chosen to look at and reflect on is using music with ICT. We were introduced to the software which was called ‘Sequel’ and it allowed you create your own music. There were an extensive library of instruments, genres and the user has the opportunity to change keys and balance the volume. 


Below is a picture of the Sequel editing screen.

I think the software would be a useful tool to use in the primary classroom because it would allow children’s creativity to flourish as there are so many different tracks and instruments to choose from. This could come as a hurdle in the classroom as pupils may be overwhelmed by the choice but to overcome this as a teacher you could narrow the options down by stating exactly which style of music you wanted them to create. I believe it would also encourage children, who are not competent at music as a subject, to take risks because the instruments you chose automatically blend in together. This relates to Curriculum For Excellence as it covers the ‘Personalisation and Choice’ principle as The Scottish Government (2004) state, “The curriculum should respond to individual needs and support particular aptitudes and talents. It should give each young person increasing opportunities for exercising responsible personal choice as they move through their school career.” (no page given). This software reflects this as, alongside supportive teaching, there are so many opportunities for individuals to develop their skills through using more complex functions; adding instruments at different times, introducing different beats and the chance to record a play a live instrument. Another useful tool was the ability to match a picture to the instrument and this would really appeal to visual learners as it allows them to easily identify what they are choosing and would therefore relate the sound to picture. A negative point about the software is that it looked complicated to use and I feel that if I was to use it as a teaching tool there would have to be a lot of teaching on how to use the software first before children would create their own pieces of music.

Overall, I would feel confident about using the above software in a classroom as it provides a motivating and engaging way to create music. I would probably group the children accordingly so that I would have a range of learners in one group and they would develop each other’s skills and this is known as social constructivism.

From another interesting analyse of using Sequel software see:

Chloe's Blog

And for wider overview of the Fife Council visit see:

Ashley's Blog

References

Birney, J. (2012).   Information and Communication Technology Elective. School of Education, Social Work and Community Education, University of Dundee  

Buckingham, D. (2007). Beyond Technology. Cambridge: Polity Press

The Scottish Government (2004). Curriculum for Excellence: Principles for Curriculum Design. Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20178/45862 [Last accessed 05/02/2010]