Interactivity #2: The History of Technology in Schools

Step 1:

            Based on the video, I would have to say that the technology that has influenced music education the most, starting from 1900, would be the radio. As mentioned in the video, the radio is the first medium that was used to broadcast music education programs, specifically by WHA in 1917. Even before this began, the radio was most likely the main way that students were exposed to music of the current time. In music classes with younger students (ie. early elementary school), the two main activities that take place are singing and listening to music. I remember spending much of my time in elementary school listening to different pieces of music and discussing them and answering questions about them. My teachers did not use radios, but they used similar devices, such as CD/cassette players and even a record player. I suppose that the one problem a radio would propose in this case (that would not be an issue with a device such as the ones listed previously) is that teachers and students cannot select specific songs to listen to at specific times.

Step 2:

            After reading both of Dr. Domine’s writings on technology in the classroom, I have decided that the technology that has had the most impact on music education is the television. Although I was never able to witness a world without this technology for sake of comparison, I think that its invention marked the biggest turning point in the advancement of education. This argument may seem unlikely at first, especially after my remarks about how the television is becoming an antiquated technology in Interactivity #1. When thinking about it in simplest terms, the purpose of a television is similar to that of a radio; both provide exposure to current events, be it informative news, entertainment, or a combination of both. The television, however, offers a whole other sense to be captured, that of course being sight. In the article “A Social History of Media, Technology and Schooling,” Grace, the interviewee, comments that upon first seeing a television at the 1939 World’s Fair in London, her great grandmother thought of it as merely a “big radio with a window on the front.” Grace’s mother, on the other hand, thought of this window as a “window to the outside world.”

I think that is a perfect way to describe television’s early influence on education. As I mentioned previously, the radio is a main way that students were able to learn about the music of their time. The television was able to serve this same purpose with the addition of a visual representation. Grace mentions that the television’s use in the classroom was limited at the time her mother was teaching, as television programs consisted primarily of “musical recitals, short talks, recitations, and skits.” I think that all four of these methods of communication through television are excellent and captivating educational devices. In the case of music education, students can observe so much through the viewing of a musical recital. Many music classes in college require that students attend a certain number of live performances for the sake of observing professionals, critiquing others, and learning about social/cultural settings. Watching a performance on television allows students to do the same, except for the fact that the students are at the mercy of factors such as camera work and broadcast quality.

Steps 3-4:

Television: a window to the outside world