Rethinking Assessment
One of the challenges of online learning is finding ways to assess students. I think it’s important to reconsider what the real purpose of assessment is. When I first started teaching, I thought it was all about instilling work ethic and responsibility in my...
Setting the Record Straight
In this post, Dr. George Hess discusses a way forward for large ensemble classes. Observing the reactions of music teachers to the events around us, it's clear many of you are going through the seven stages of grief. Beginning with shock, and followed by denial,...
What does having my own website mean?
Christopher Boyd discusses website hosting basics and how to maintain control over your own site. It would seem that my recent blogs are inspired by questions posted on Facebook groups. At Musitex we rely heavily on questions people ask in order to generate our...
Copyright: Can I do that?
Christopher Boyd discusses the issues of copyright and intellectual property as they relate to online learning. I have seen a few different questions recently on the use of music for graduation ceremonies. First, I should say that I am not a lawyer, nor would I...
What We Can Teach
Large ensembles aren't the only way to teach music. Dr. George looks at some of the possibilities. eniThere has been a lot of gnashing of teeth lately as reports are coming out that large classes and specifically, ensembles like band, choir, and orchestra, won’t be...
Online learning is not our problem
In this post, Dr. George Hess discusses the real reasons we struggled to close out the year. As you approach the end of this school year, many of you have come to the conclusion that online learning doesn’t work. It’s understandable; your entire year has been...
Process not Product (The Journey not the Destination)
I was recently hired to help bring together a virtual orchestra for a local school district. While I have the technical skills to do this, I’m not a big fan of them. I question their educational value unless the students are doing most of the work. In this case, I...
Five Things We’ve Learned About Online Learning
We’ve now completed our first month online. My university has an unusual schedule in that our two long semesters begin in March and August. So unlike many of you in the US, rather than finding a way to make to the end of the term, we knew from the beginning that we...
Bandwidth! or “Why Does My Video Look Bad?”
As we all are using more video in our daily lives, I wanted to throw out some technical information that may improve your results. It’s kinda dry, so as not to bury the lead in general: Enterprise Backbone > 5G Cellular > Wired Ethernet > WiFi > 4G...
Lesson # 1: Failure
Several years ago I heard a radio program on the TED radio hour about failure. I won’t share too many details because they did a better job than I could and I encourage everyone to listen to it (Failure Is An Option). I am not hoping that anyone fails, only that...