Riley, Patricia. Teaching, Learning, and Living with iPads. Music Educators Journal September 2013.
In this article, Dr. Riley did her own study (of sorts) with pre-service music educators about the usefulness of iPads in the classroom. During their practicum experiences, the students were to reflect on their use of iPads in the classroom, rehearsals, private lessons, their own practice, etc., at the end of the semester. They were to reflect on the following categories: Rehearsal/Performance Assistance, Creating Music, Teaching Instruments, Providing Virtual Instruments, Audio/Video Recording, Listening Resources, and Organizational Support. The students had wonderful reflections on each of these categories, especially about lessons involving students using the iPads to create music. Overall, the students believed it was a great way for students just entering their musical training to get engaged and involved with making music since they do not have the technical ability yet to play an instrument or haven’t developed enough vocal skill. For students with a musical background, the iPads were very useful for tuning, giving pitches, ear training, playing chords, and especially composition. Both types of students particularly enjoyed the composition aspect. The pre-service teachers also found the iPad a great aid with recording themselves and reflecting, keeping organized, and writing out lesson plans.
I really see a lot of potential with the iPad in music classrooms. I can see it taking some experimenting on my part to see what sort of lessons I could do and see which prove effective. However, I see myself using this in a general music setting at a middle school or high school, or using iPads in the elementary setting as well, especially with music theory and ear training. Another use would be integrating the different core subject areas into music. I see a thousand more opportunities of content overlap by using the iPad as compared to what I can do on my own. Studies have proven that reading is more engaging on an iPad with interactive eBooks, interactive lessons in the different sciences, and engaging in other subjects. Personally, I am not familiar with iPads or hardly anything Apple/Mac-related, so that is something I need to learn on my own. This article contained several different music-related apps that I definitely should try out.