514-5 Educational Software



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|(1) General Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. |

|Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and |

|animation such as those at . Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and |

|students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware. |

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|Review five or more pieces of educational software. You are free to choose any piece of software that is of value either for |

|instructional, administrative, or professional purposes. You must have hands-on experience with the software... watching someone's |

|software review is not sufficient. |

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|Write a paragraph describing each program and your professional opinion of its usefulness in education. |

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|At least one of your titles should be freeware or shareware that you have downloaded from the Internet. |

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|Include a screen capture from the software. |

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|Choose the best one from among these 5 for the formal software review/presentation. |

| |Title |Review |Screen Capture |

|1 |Finale |Finale: This program has been a must in my area of music education. This |[pic] |

| | |program allows me to create sheet music for the instrumental band classes | |

| | |and worksheets for general music theory. I have used this numerous times in| |

| | |my role as band teacher. In music there are different melodies given to | |

| | |different instruments in the band at different times. It has been necessary| |

| | |to copy parts onto this program to convert the music into a format that | |

| | |other instruments can read. The document to the side is an example that I | |

| | |created for a saxophone to read a trumpet part. | |

|2 |Al |This program teaches the theory of music in way that states the rules and |[pic] |

| |f |then allows the students the students to manipulate and experiment with the| |

| |reds |information given. First it states the concept complete with narration | |

| | |visualization and audio expamles. Then challenges the gives the students | |

| | |with sample questions, setting a goal for correct answers and instant | |

| | |gratification for correct answers. Volumes 2 & 3 delve a little too deep | |

| | |onto musical concepts that my beginning students would not understand. | |

| | |However if volume one is presented in the same manner then it would be | |

| | |beneficial to use in my classroom | |

|3 |Making |This program is designed to help students create music using the computer. |[pic] |

| |Mus |This program has many great features that allow the students to compose | |

| |ic |music much like they would create a picture using an art program. It lets | |

| | |the students choose which instruments to use, the melody and rhythms, speed| |

| | |of the music and even the dynamic markings. The best feature is the premade| |

| | |melodies and rhythms that can be changed by using a slider bar that allows | |

| | |different variations of the passage. However the biggest downfall that | |

| | |makes this program almost unusable is the lack of a method where the | |

| | |students can just pick a note value and place that note into the | |

| | |measure/staff. | |

|4 |Magic |This game has many activities that help students learn about Mozart’s life |[pic] |

| |Fluite |and has many ear training exercises that help with instrument and melody | |

| | |recognition. While very accurate, this 2 dimensional game will have | |

| | |problems keeping kids interest through the mini games/activities because | |

| | |all the tough competition that is out there these days. Not that the | |

| | |program is antiquated but it is not set up very well. Movement is slow, | |

| | |choices are very limited, and there is a 5 min intro that plays every time | |

| | |the game loads. I would recommend this game for students in 2nd -5th grade | |

| | |who already have some background in Music and Mozart’s life. | |

|5 |Explore|This is a gizmo that I downloaded off of explore . I have used |[pic] |

| |Learnin|this in class and had a very positive result from the lesson. This shows | |

| |g |visually and aurally how instruments are in tune or out-of-tune. With a | |

| | |little bit of training and active listening this helps the students hear | |

| | |that pulse in the sound-waves that occurs when they are out of tune. It | |

| | |also accurately shows the pulse increase when the notes are more out of | |

| | |tune. In my opinion this program is extreamly helpful in demonstrating | |

| | |visually how to play in tune. | |

|(2) Formal Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. |

|Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and |

|animation such as those at . Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and |

|students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware. |

| |

|Select one software product for formal review and presentation to the class. Write reviews for each according to the format |

|guidelines provided on the following page. Post you selection. |

Title: Alfred’s Esentials of Music Theory 2.0

(1) Description of Program

This program is designed to help students learn the complex theory of music. Alfred’s has been a long time name in music education. This program would be useful in music class, a computer lab setting or at home as homework for the students. As the students progress through the lessons they get specific and concise instructions through the software. It includes narration, animated examples, aural reinforcement and interactive elements that get the student involved in their own learning. Also includes ear training, a glossary of all terms and symbols with definitions, pronunciations, visual and aural examples. The students also tested and retested in the Review section while scores can be checked by students and teachers by clicking a different tab.

(2) Basic Information

(a) Alfred’s Esentials of Music Theory 2.0

(b) Alfred Publishing company

(c)29.95 student version volume 1

99.95 educator version volume 1

$1,299.95 for all three volume lab set

(3) Target Population

This program would be useful band, choral, or general music programs at the high school or middle school level and is a great tool for both teachers and students. Because of the vocabulary involved in the review questions and in the instruction it would need to be preceded by a lesson in the classroom to insure that younger or slower students would understand the verbiage. If this software was presented as a classroom assignment the students would find it more interesting than a book or pencil and paper assignments but it does not pretend to be a game where the students learn concepts inadvertently.

(4) Content Goals

Volume 2&3 introduce concepts such as Scale production, key signature identification, triads and chord progressions. These ideas are intended for students already well versed in the basics of music. However Volume 1 (the version I did not have) would be well suited for the beginners that I tend to work with. The concepts are taught and tested within the lesson and gives detailed explanations and examples that the students can experiment with and gives instant feedback. It does what a teacher should naturally in the classroom but at an individual level. This program provides all this in one neat package where conventional teaching can not.

(5) Process Goals

To quote you ”Rote memorization, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, deduction, induction…” it does it all. In order to understand and flourish in music a student needs to be able to do all these things simultaneously. The only area that this program is weak in is synthesis. The students could be guided through the way a song is constructed and find different ways to create their own song, I guess there is plenty of other software out there for that. Again the benefit of this software is the accessibility for individual students and the presentation of knowledge in an interactive package.

(6) Lesson Plan

First, I would use the program in class (on a big monitor) and walk though the lessons having the students “walk up to the board” and demonstrate questions. Primarily I would be teaching them the music theory and secondarily I would be showing how the program works. Most of these concepts would need to be covered in class before expecting most of the class to be successful.

One specific task that I would have the students do is just answer the review questions within the program. There is a section where the students and teachers can check the scores for those review tests and how many times they attempted the test. I would have the students retake the test until they received a 90% or higher. The tests display the exact part of the lesson that they needed to review thus making them return to the lessons and reread the material.

In the educators version you can make up random tests and other worksheets that give the students more opportunity to visit a subject. I would use the worksheet generator to create assignments where the students name notes over and over again. This is one area that rote memorization is essential for quick recall.

(7) Summary

I would definitely us this software in my class. At the very least I would like to use this as another way to demonstrate lessons during class. I already have my class set up to view material off my computer and to use it as a question and answer would be quite helpful.

I would like implement this into their computer lab time where I would check their progress and make it part of their grade. Some students would even be able to do work at home, while others could work on it after school in the tutor guided “boys and girls” club.

The main issue is cost. For a classroom set it is $600-$1200 depending on whether or not I get just volume one or all three levels.

|(3) Formal Presentation of Software: One or two sessions will be scheduled for formal software review. During these sessions you |

|will present your software in small groups or to the class using network sharing software such as Apple Remote Desktop. Once you |

|have decided on software to review, post your decision on the newsgroup as specified in class or on the web-page. first-come, |

|first-served. |

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|Make a presentation of your software using the following guidelines Each presentation must be limited to 15 minutes. |

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|Your presentations should stress how this software can be used effectively in the curriculum. |

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|Do not spend time discussing mechanics (menu structure, etc.) nor shortcomings |

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|Illustrate how the software can be used to enhance instruction. |

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|Provide your peers with a "hands-on experiences" lesson if at all possible. |

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