Module 6

This week one of the things I was most excited to explore was the WebQuest assignment. I have heard of WebQuest before in connection to general education classrooms, but have never looked into how it could be used in the music.

The reason I had not considered using WebQuest (or an activity like it) in music, is that I hesitate to include activities where students passively learn about music instead of creating music themselves. These concerns were noted by Dr. Bauer in his description of how students learn. Dr. Bauer reminds readers that students learn through personal context, active experiences, social interactions, and reflective thinking (p. 147 - 149).

As I considered what topic to address in my WebQuest, I referred to the research Dr. Bauer shares on how students learn. Many elementary music teachers include the instruments of the orchestra in their curriculum. However, in my experience, this unit has a tendency to cater toward passive learning due to the exclusive use of direct instruction (p. 1518).

Perhaps the easiest way to teach about the instruments of the orchestra is to have students memorize facts about the instrument families and practice aurally recognizing them when heard in a piece of classical music. Speaking to my own experience as a music student, that was what my teacher did when I was in elementary school.

At this time the instruments of the orchestra are not included in my K - 5th grade music curriculum, and I recognize this gap in the curriculum is a disservice to my students.  Because I have not yet come across a contextual, active, social, and reflective plan, I chose to make it the topic of my WebQuest. My hope is that through this project I can create an intentional, active, and musical learning experience for my students.

www.instructionaldesign.org

To do this effectively, I began by thinking from the very end of the process and working my way forward (p. 152). I also explored the book’s website, digitalmusicking.com where I found a variety of information on the site, www.instructionaldesign.org.


Through the use of backward planning, I thought about what I want my students to be able to do with their knowledge of the instruments of the orchestra. Part of my music education philosophy is that I want students to create music, and to thoughtfully interact with the music of others. Thus, the final evaluation of my WebQuest is for students to arrange a short known folk song with orchestral instruments and share it with their peers. In addition, I want students to articulate their own personal preference for specific instrument families.

I have been challenged through this process to integrate technology into my existing pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge. However, with the three of these combined to form my TPACK (p 147), I know the result will be more rich, student-centered, and successful for my students.

I am excited to continue to work on this project and I have confidence my students and I will both benefit from it.