Technology Integration Article - Blog #3

Sichivitsa, V. (2007). Audacity in vocal improvisation: Motivating elementary school students through technology. Teaching Music, 14(4), 48. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ754960) Retrieved September 14, 2009, from ERIC database.

The article above describes a lesson to be used in an elementary music classroom involving the application Audacity, a program that allows you to record and edit sounds. In this lesson, the students use the software to create a voice improvisation for a jazz accompaniment. Students can do multiple voice recordings until they find one that they’re happy with, and once all recordings are made, they can choose which one to submit. The primary benefit of using this software is to minimize the self-consciousness factor for the students since they wouldn’t be singing in front of their peers. By each having their own computer, headphones and microphone, students can work independently without disturbing each other and feel more comfortable that no one else is judging or poking fun at them.

I chose this article because after using the VoiceThread software, I was interested to see what other voice-related software applications existed and how they had been integrated into the curriculum. Typically, when you think about technology integration, you tend to think about applications that are more visual or visual and auditory combined. I had no idea there were software programs that were so focused on auditory applications. Although the lesson was somewhat difficult for me to follow, since I don’t have the musical knowledge to understand some of the more technical information, I could still appreciate the benefit of using the software not only in a music classroom, but in other areas of the school as well.

In my school, our student population is over eighty percent Hispanic. We have eight ESOL teachers, some of whom work with primary students and others who work with intermediate students. I can see how Audacity could be used with these ELL learners to help them listen to and learn the English language. In the past, our county has purchased applications such as Rosetta Stone and Read 180 in order to help English learners. But Audacity is free and could even be used by students at home, if they have computers. ELL students benefit greatly from being able to hear and repeat English words, and this application would be a wonderful tool for that.