I interviewed a teacher from Hillsborough, NJ. She teaches
ninth through twelfth grade band and works closely with the teacher who teaches
music theory to tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The teacher was not familiar
with NETS for Students 2007 at all and no knowledge whether they were being
incorporated into other classrooms in the school. Her first reaction was
skeptical as to why there were separate sets for teachers and for students, since
there is only one set of any other type of standards with an understanding the
teacher uses these to create a lesson to indirectly achieve their goals with
students. She also noted that while the NETS are a good idea, technology should
be integrated into the classroom, not integrating a lesson plan into
technology. As far as she is aware, the school is not implementing NETS specifically,
although they encourage the usage of technology to aid the lesson. Most of the
more advanced/newer technology occurs in specific tech and programming classes,
both at the school and in the Vo Tech program. The school system also reinforces
using technology throughout the district, exposing younger students to the
internet basics and the safe way to use it, as well as other common programs.
These are reinforced and built upon as students progress through the school
system. I was not surprised by her responses. This is a very middle-class
district that cannot afford super expensive technology in every single one of
its classes. For her personally, the most technology used in an ensemble is a
CD and the stereo system. She plans on introducing SmartMusic if the budget
allows within the next three years. This allows students to record their
practice sessions for the teacher to hear as a homework assignment, and gives
them tips on their playing, such as correcting wrong or out of tune notes. For
her colleague's music theory class, they use several programs for ear training
and theory exercises on the computer.
I feel the best way to expose teachers to the NETS is to
show them how much they could benefit from using technology in the classroom.
Making it a reality and having them actually do it may be difficult, though,
especially for older teachers who are stubbornly set in their ways. It will
also be difficult to have teachers create a lesson plan based around
technology, as opposed to integrating the technology into a lesson plan. I also
feel that it is difficult enough for teachers to plan valuable lessons for
their students while following their subject area standards without bringing
another set of parameters into it.
