Module 2 - Creating Music with Technology - An Overview of Creativity and Improvisation

This week's module was lots of fun!  The primary points of the week were a discussion of creativity and a discussion of improvisation.  Additionally, we used free software programs for music notation.  And, as we will always, we interacted with one another on our PLNs, finding useful information that could be immediately applied to our positions regarding music and technology incorporation.

Our discussion of creativity was very similar to the course that many of us were part of in the fall semester.  We discussed the basics of creativity, such as its utmost importance in well-rounded students and future workers.  We also discussed how difficult it is to assess creativity, and that it is born in every person, but must be developed.  It was good to review these concepts of creativity as we ventured into the next topic, improvisation.

Our discussions of improvisation took place on the discussion board.  Our creativity class in the fall talked about improvisation as part of the creative process, and, as we discussed in that class, many of us have not had much experience with improvisation.  For most of us, it was completely ignored unless we were part of performing jazz ensembles.  In our PLNs, many people posted excellent sources for the incorporation of improvisation in our classrooms, and the textbook discussed a 7-step model for the steps of teaching improvisation to our students.

Undoubtedly, the most purely fun portion of our assignments this week was our use of copying scores from MuseScore and Noteflight applications.  I found that both of these applications were much easier to use than Finale and Sibelius, and, as an added bonus, they are both free to access.  MuseScore is a downloadable application, and Noteflight is on the internet.  I think I will create a Noteflight project with my students since we have 1:1 laptops for 3rd and 4th graders, and they can actually notate music that they compose for me into "fancy form," as I'll call it, print it off, and take it home to show off to parents.  I think the "official-ness" of the formally printed music notation will help the students feel even more proud of their work.

Overall, this was a fun and insightful week.  I look forward to expanding upon our discussions of improvisation and creativity along with other uses for technology in our music education classrooms.