Written by American EdTech guru Catherine Dwinal, Interactive Visual Ideas is geared specifically to the American education system but has many approaches which are very applicable to the British classroom. The book mostly focuses on simple tech-based solutions to common problems.
I appreciated the early reference to Puentedura's ‘SAMR’ (that technology should initially be a substitution for existing methods and develop to the point it can augment and modify teaching practice before finally redefining what is possible), an approach which Dwinal represents through the layout of the book. Initially she discusses simple additions to traditional pedagogy before slowly looking into more complex ideas, which could significantly develop what students could achieve.
Several of the initial simple tips and tricks I had heard before but had either forgotten to try out (such as keyboard shortcuts for dual screen displays) or hadn't thought about (shortcuts to make a screen blank) but it is really useful to have all these tools presented in one place. There were several moments of ‘Doesn't everyone do this?’, such as the suggestion to use a projector to display images and play videos for the class, although I appreciate that it can be useful to start simple if you are relatively new to using technology in a classroom.
I loved the suggestion of doing some simple composition a phrase at a time in conjunction with a class at another school (possibly even from another part of the world), with each class writing a line then passing it electronically to the other for further development. In the current climate, with interaction outside of individual schools almost nil and with most people's new-found grasp of Zoom and the like, I could see this developing into a really rewarding project.
Something I was a little uneasy with was the continued reference to QuaverMusic.com, a subscription-based resource for whom the author works as a consultant. While I don't doubt that the platform is very useful and quite possibly worth the fees charged, there were a number of activities featured which were effectively descriptions of those which can be undertaken on QuaverMusic. Clearly these are activities the author makes great use of but, given how tightly budgets are stretched, I'd have liked to have seen more information on free or cheaper platforms, as there were times when the detailed descriptions came across as an advert.
That said, while some of the activities suggested do require expensive tech that may be out of the reach of some, the book is helpfully split into sections sorted by the tech required, with whole chapters on activities using simply projectors or interactive whiteboards – tech which a wide range of teachers will have at their disposal. All the suggested ideas presented are accompanied by simple step-by-step instructions, which should allow even the most tech-shy teacher to expand their repertoire of teaching tools. I particularly appreciated the way that each activity was broken down into sections titled ‘resources’, ‘before class’ and ‘during class’, making it easy to see how they might slot into a lesson or scheme of work. As such, I have now got a number of activities which I'm looking forward to working into my practice in the coming weeks.
For further ideas on using technology in the classroom, you can watch Music Teacher's ‚Music technology in education‚ online conference, which took place over four days from 12–15 October. The event, for teachers, SEND coordinators, education advisors and school governors, features a range of keynote sessions and practical seminars. It's available for three months after the live date for £99 + VAT.www.musictechconference.co.uk/home.
