Technology and Pedagogy

    I chose to analyze a lesson plan I found on the rock and roll website.  The lesson compares music of Igor Stravinky’s to modern rap and hip-hop with regard to rhythm and syncopation in a general music class.  I could definitely see myself teaching a lesson like this so I wanted to investigate. 
     The technology used throughout the lesson was fairly simple and surprising to me.  All that was listed under materials was a CD player and audio recordings of the examples being compared in the lesson.  The activities the students were doing in the lesson were fully supported by the strategies and technology the teacher used however, I found them a bit too simplistic for this age group.  Maybe I was thinking more of the 7th or 8th grade class as a possibility, but just clapping rhythms and listening to recordings could be achieved in a fairly short time. 
    The comparison of classical music to hip-hop is a great aspect of this lesson because it gets students thinking about culture’s impact on music, and how people have been criticizing new styles of music similarly throughout history.  If this was a goal of the teacher’s more group discussion could have been incorporated into the lesson.  Having students work in small groups and then come together to discuss their comparison of the two songs could also be effective.  Lastly, using a YouTube video to display the images of modern rap music to Stravinky’s ballet could also bring up some good discussion from the class. 
    I included music notation software as an missing technology from this lesson for a couple of reasons.  Providing the students with copies the teacher made of the rhythmic examples might be more educational for the students rather than using the board.  If the audience is a general music class, getting familiar with this software is an important part of general music education as well as aligning with more standards.  It could also take the class in a good direction to use more technology during lesson and as another resource.


Here is the link to my Spreadsheet