Assessing my first week
Well…….This first week has been a hectic one. I’ve been introduced to so many new forms of technology that could be used for teaching and learning. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I think the diigo book marking site is a great tool to use when doing research. I like how I can highlight and comment on certain sections of an article or webpage and refer back to it later. So far for me, the most challenging part of this first week has been the discussion….I have been thinking and worrying so much about whether I am teaching something or posing a challenging question in my discussion posts and responses that I didn’t even know where to begin! So far the first discussion has brought back some familiar thoughts and areas of education such as constructivist teaching, mastery learning and emotional intelligence – all important to consider when teaching music (and all other subjects) and developing course content.
Designing an online version of one of my courses is going to be quite an exciting challenge. There have been many topics that have come up in our first week of discussion that I will consider when designing my own course. When I think of how to go about designing an online music theory course, my mind keeps coming back to the area of aural skills in music. I think integrating music listening and dictation will be the most challenging aspect of my course design – trying to design material that is challenging to students of many different ability levels. (3)
