Technology put to use!

   I have been ruminating a lot this week on digital connections and how much we depend on certain things to lighten our load. For instance, I conduct an annual Messiah sing-along which includes an orchestra and a core choral group as well as soloists from the group and all of these people need to know what we are rehearsing, when, and at which location. I rely heavily on email to put out this information to each group, from the "It's almost time to start" email to the "The performances this year were great" and  all the technical information that is processed in between those two. When I first started conducting this group, about 13 years ago, I was not good with email and would have to collect email addresses each new year and write them out on a list we passed around which I then took home and put into the address section of my email. Over the years, I learned how to make a Messiah group, and then to be more specific with Messiah chorus and Messiah orchestra groups, so each musician got the information they needed. I remember thinking how much easier that made my life when I learned about group emails, and now I use them for the community band I direct year round as well.
    I read recently about a choral director who is using innovative technology in his choral class for everything from signing in, to sight reading, to warmups, to testing choral parts. When I read his blog, it sounded almost like the Jetsons, but as I've thought further about it, it is amazing how much time he is saving just by using electronic check-in on each student's ipad, not to mention all the in-class time that is saved by the students recording their parts and him having the ability to hear them on his own time, rather than in front of the whole class in small groups.
    I find technology fascinating and amazing and I do remember the pre-computer and pre cell phone era and the lengths one had to go to to find a pay phone that worked if you needed to make a call away from home!

So here's one form I created to help me in scheduling this year; it had cute little gingerbread men all around it!

Messiah rehearsals and performances

* Required

Name, first and last *
This is a required question
Your instrument *
Are you able to rehearse Oct.26?
• yes
Are you able to rehearse Nov.2?
• yes
Are you able to rehearse Nov.9?
• yes
Are you able to rehearse Nov.16?
• yes
Are you able to rehearse Nov.23?
• yes
Are you able to rehearse Nov.30?
• yes
Are you able to perform Dec.1 in Knoxville at 5 pm?
• yes
Are you able to perform Dec.7 in Norris at 7 pm?
• yes
Are you able to perform in Oak Ridge Dec. 8 at 5 pm?
• yes

Never submit passwords through Google Forms.

   So, as we work with different technology, like creating slide shows from digital pictures and then embedding them on my own page as part of a collaborative project, it really boggle the imagination as to what things we have yet to do and learn as we work together in this digital format. How much easier it is to drop someone an email, rather than spending time on the phone or money on a stamp. (However, I must admit that I still love receiving and sending letters to special people.) I am going to be writing an essay for a contest that is giving a scholarship to a music student who wants to go to an upcoming technology conference to learn more about using technology in the classroom.  I think there are a lot of things we can do more efficiently with digital tools which will allow us to spend our one on one time really being with the students where we need to be. I look forward to being more and more at ease with all things digital and hope to be a more effective teacher because of it.