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Technology can help choral directors communicate about their program.
This cohort trained a number of choral music directors how to create websites to organize and teach.
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Technology has no place in art, and certainly not in art education! Right?
Wrong. James Daugherty, Choral Music Education professor and faculty advisor for the Choral Music Online cohort, will tell you that technology has a very useful and productive place in art and art education. As faculty advisor for the Choral Music cohort, James himself has been part of the sometimes difficult integration of technology into music education. "The technology makes it more possible to teach," he said. "Online, you can do more constructive things."
While technology may seem out of place in public school choir classes, the Choral Music Online cohort believed that incorporating an online element to choral education would allow for deeper learning. Therefore, the cohort worked with choir directors from West Junior High and Central Junior High in Lawrence and Topeka High School to implement online elements, sharing guidance and resources for choir directors all over the world via the web. "The schools are embracing it in a big, big way," James said.
Using the Internet to provide choral students with resources to supplement rehearsals has proved to be beneficial for a number of reasons. James said that his website has allowed him to incorporate elements, such as background information for and history of choral pieces, that he otherwise wouldn't have time for because of the need to rehearse. Using the web also allows students to extend rehearsal beyond regular class meetings. The web provides midi files of songs, diction practice in audio form and score markings. Also, incorporating online elements allowed James to include the national standards of choral education in his choir classes at KU. "Not many conductors want to take up rehearsal time doing that," James said. "But we could incorporate the national standards and still rehearse."
Another way the Choral Music Online cohort educated choir directors about using the Internet to enhance choral education was through a summer class offered in 2001. The class, Choir Online, offered public school teachers the opportunity to learn about the aspects of online integration that most interested them. "Word starting spreading from there." James said. "It grew to where we got other faculty here [at KU] interested."
The cohort also shared its expertise at the convention of the National Association for Music Education in Nashville, TN in 2002. "It seemed natural to try to do something with music," James said. "I'm involved in modeling integrating online [supplements] for choral rehearsals…We thought, how can we spread that word beyond KU?"
On having been involved with the cohort and the integration to technology into Choir classrooms, James said, "We're glad and fortunate that we were included…It changed my way of thinking as a teacher. It opens up a whole new world."
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