Abstract
Videoconferencing technology can create opportunities to offer music teachers specific feedback that is crucial to satisfying their developmental needs by providing direct impact on instruction through online ensemble clinics.
Through videoconferenced ensemble clinics, teachers can learn from mentors and each other and can greatly enhance the scope of their professional development.
The necessity of professional development is clearly understood in most professions, including education. Participation in professional development activities by in-service and preservice teachers is encouraged and expected. But what usually occurs is a one-size-fits-all scenario that often does not directly relate to instructional situations in music classrooms or the specific needs of music teachers. This is because the challenges faced by music teachers are unique, frequently leading to a feeling of isolation. 1 Isolation is a common factor in music teaching that is seldom addressed in professional development activities. 2
This article draws from the experiences of three teachers in their second year of teaching. Davis (all teacher names are pseudonyms) teaches middle school vocal music in a suburban school district. The other two teachers, James and Janet, teach high school vocal music in small rural schools. In a project to provide mentorship to teachers in their first four years, a large midwestern university in the United States offered professional development through videoconference technology to their graduates. These three teachers accepted an invitation to be involved with this project. Although each teaching situation was unique in some way, all three expressed feelings of isolation in their first year of teaching:
Last year I definitely felt the isolation that comes from being the only vocal music teacher in my school. I had to spend many hours and emails trying to get in touch with experienced music teachers. My district mentor, an art teacher, was a great shoulder to cry on and had good advice but she didn’t teach music. It would have been great to have a district assigned mentor who was in the same field as I. (from a videoconference with Davis)
The feeling of isolation seemed to be augmented by a lack of relevant feedback, either feedback that confirmed success or suggested enhancement of instructional quality:
I have a fantastic administration but they aren’t knowledgeable in music. Their feedback is usually good for the classroom, but not sufficient to help me become a better music teacher. (from a discussion with Janet)
Administrators are well versed in dealing with classroom management, but curricular issues, assessment of student achievement in music performance, and the nature of the music instruction demand a unique approach to professional development.
Professional Development via Videoconference
Music teachers often need help with discipline-specific concerns and problems. 3 The goal of this project was to address the specific needs of young music teachers through the use of videoconference technology. James describes his experience with a mentor who observed a rehearsal through videoconference followed by debriefing:
It was great for me to hear the feedback. It had been more than a year since I was observed by someone with a musical background. The feedback was not new to me but consisted of things of which I had become complacent. They were wonderful reminders of what I had learned during student teaching. I incorporated those ideas and improved my future rehearsals.
It is not complicated to set up a videoconference for observation. Needed at both sites are
A high-speed Internet connection
A computer with digital camera, often built in to a laptop
A videoconferencing program, such as iChat, Skype, OooVoo, or Yahoo! (all freeware).
Once the Internet is up and the technology is connected, the observation is similar to a student teacher observation, with the intention of providing supportive feedback to help the novice teacher through challenging situations or to provide guidance for instructional enhancement.
There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, mentoring, reflective supervision, and technical assistance, most of which are provided as external feedback and discussion. Professional development can have a profound impact for music teachers when it is applied in concurrence with the act of teaching.
Professional Development through Videoconference Ensemble Clinics
A unique use of videoconference technology for professional development that provides a direct impact on instruction is through ensemble clinics. In a traditional clinic setting, the teacher observes a clinician working with the ensemble. As professional development, ensemble clinics can have a profound educational purpose:
When I had a clinician work with my students, I realized how many things that I could have been teaching. Being the only music teacher in the building, there is no one to observe and share ways to become a better teacher. (from a discussion with Davis prior to the videoconference clinic)
In a clinic performed through videoconference, the teacher does not remove himself or herself from the ensemble; he or she is directly involved. The clinician provides instructional feedback to the students while the classroom teacher continues to lead the ensemble and experience teaching the strategies offered. This was clearly evident to the clinician:
In today’s clinic, the music teacher not only observed but participated in my suggestions to the ensemble. I found that the students were able to switch their attention back and forth very quickly and to focus on both the director and myself. In reference to efficiency, this was one of the most efficient clinics that I had ever done because the director is able to communicate with the students, due to his relationship with them, much quicker than I could. I explained concepts and he got them to achieve it. It was really quite impressive and they were able to pick up on it quite quickly. (from a videoconference discussion including the researcher, Davis, and Clinician 1)
Each teacher was provided a clinic with his or her ensemble through videoconference. The clinics were led by university choral conductors. In these videoconference clinics, we used Apple MacBooks with a built-in camera and iChat for the videoconference. The students viewed the clinician on a large screen at the front of the room while the clinician observed, listened, and interacted through the laptop camera and computer monitor. In each case, the technology did not appear to hinder the clinic situation for students, the clinician, or the teacher:
The clinician was able to be there for the students just as if she was right in the room. She was able to hear the students and work with them. I was next to the screen so the students were watching both of us. It was a great team effort. I see this as having an advantage over a traditional clinic. I would hear her suggestions and figure out how to conduct it. During the clinic I found myself thinking about how I would use this in the future. Many clinics are a “flash in a pan” experience, you have it and then it’s gone. The students learn but this learning doesn’t often stick with them. But I think by having me directly involved in the clinic, what was learned is going to continue. I learned things that I can change in future rehearsals. (Davis)
Original skepticism concerning student engagement with a virtually present clinician dissipated as soon as the clinic began. Both the teachers and the clinicians expressed that the student engagement was not impeded by the use of technology or by the virtual essence of the clinician:
I felt that the engagement between the students and myself as clinician was there. We built a rapport very quickly being able to joke and connect with them. The major difference from an onsite clinic was that I didn’t do the actual conducting. I handed that over to the director. But that was good because he will be doing the conducting in the future. The coolest part was that I had to keep my instructions short and let the director do all of the things in his own way. That was really great to watch. (Clinician 2)
The students appeared involved throughout the clinic experience. The teachers were pleased with the amount and quality of student learning associated with the videoconference clinics:
During the clinic when the students heard comments that were the same as they had heard from me in former rehearsals, they looked at me nodding that they recognized what they were being told. This was good for me as a young conductor affirming that I was hearing and addressing the same things. (Janet)
New teachers not only need to identify areas of improvement, but also need confirmation of successful teaching. This is one area where traditional forms of professional development seem to be lacking. What could have been focused as a clinic for students, the videoconference was an experience equally as instructional for the teacher:
As I watched my students during the clinic, I recognized that I was learning new things too. As a conductor I would listen to what the clinician was suggesting, then feeling the difference as I conducted the new way. I thought, “Oh yeah, it does work better this way.” (Clinician 1)
Because the director was actively involved in the clinic, the experience was beneficial not only as a tool for developing students’ skills but also as an effective method of professional development for the teacher, as described by James:
I got more out of a videoconference clinic than a normal clinic because I felt the clinician and I were interacting. He was giving instruction to me, then I would interpret it with the choir. Quite often I would turn around and ask “Is that what you are going for?” As a director, I got a lot out of the day.
All the clinicians and the classroom teachers expressed the desire to include the experience again in the future, not only for the enhancement of their students’ skills but also for their own personal professional development:
I would do this again and I plan on doing this again. I learned just as much as the students, and maybe the teacher. This was a wonderful teaching tool for me because I had to keep my talking to a minimum.
I’d do it again in a second. It was a huge learning experience for me and the kids. The kids were so excited. They said, “There is the neat thing happening in class with microphones and projection screen.” Anything we can do to make singing fun and make the music better is an encouragement to them. Many of the students asked, “When are we going to do it again?” and I am thinking the same thing.
Perhaps the greatest technical challenge to overcome when using videoconference with an ensemble is enhancing of the sound quality for transmission over the Internet. The small microphones on the laptops are sufficient for speaking but hinder the high and low frequencies of a musical ensemble:
I was continually wondering as I listened to the ensemble, what was lost in terms of the sound. I might not have been able to hear the basses as well as if I was in the room. With Internet technology, there are a new set of variables that we face: the quality of the microphone, the placement of the mics, the quality of the Internet connection, and the speed of the computer. (Clinician 3)
After experiencing this challenge during our first videoconference clinic, we strategically placed microphones in the room to enhance the sound quality. The teacher used microphones that were available at the school and mixed the sound with a small audio mixer. The signal was inserted through the microphone jack on the laptop. In our third clinic, we used an Oberheim USB recording microphone. The use of both external microphone setups clearly resulted in improved sound.
The other problem that may occur is in the amplification of the clinician in the rehearsal room. When using an external microphone to pick up the ensemble, it is essential to place the speakers in such a way as not to create a feedback loop. We accomplished this by assuring that the speakers were placed behind the microphones.
It is exciting to know that as we increase our familiarity with technology, we might find more ways to connect with our students and enhance the educational impact of our teaching. By taking advantage of videoconferencing and other similar technologies, music teachers can address professional isolation with peer mentoring, feedback from teaching observations, and online face-to-face discussion of our occupation. This technology will open doors to enhanced educational experience including virtually bringing composers into our classrooms, sharing performances across/among schools, and online master classes for individuals or groups of students. When used for a clinic session, videoconferencing is a powerful way to excite student interest while enhancing instructional abilities of music teachers. But if for no other reason, it is worthy of consideration as an efficient use of resources by eliminating the travel time and costs associated with ensemble clinics and professional development opportunities.