Category: Complexity

Demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of teaching and learning

Dynamics and the high 2nd finger

On November 19, 2019

In Assessment, Complexity, edci306a, EdTech, Growth Mindset, Learning Design, Tech Tools, Uncategorised

Overall, my experience of learning how to play the violin has been a pleasure. The immediate gratification that I’ve received from playing my first few tunes has been strong and has kept me motivated to learn more. In chapter 10 and 11 of “Violinworks” by Ros Stephen, I have learned how to read and integrate dynamics into my violin playing. Such things as crescendos and diminuendos are more complex to execute on a bowed instrument compared to a drum or guitar. For example to play quietly on a drum, one simply uses less force when striking the skin of the drum, whereas to play loudly one uses more force. This relationship between force and volume is present when playing the violin as well; the more pressure that is placed on the strings by the bow produces a louder sound, and less pressure makes a quieter sound. However, it is not as simple as that, because the speed with which the bow slides across the strings also controls the volume level. This is just one example of how to articulate dynamics on a violin, but it works to show how complex it is to play this instrument.

Chapter 11 introduces using the “high 2nd finger” which eludes to there also being a “low 2nd finger”. This was BIG NEWS to me, as I had been working ahead of the book and using all of my fingers to play by just sounding things out on my own such as “come on Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. I thought that instead of frets, there were 4 consecutive notes that corresponded to where the fingers naturally fell on the violin’ neck. What I’d forgotten about were sharps and flats! I can’t say I still completely understand it all yet, but I do know that on the top ‘G’ string on the violin, when the second finger presses down in low position (closer to the scroll), it produces a Bm note, whereas when it presses down in the high position it produces a B. In the book it only teaches to use the high position with the second finger. I may have to research another source to understand all of this better and figure out how to read these notes on a staff.

*I’ve realized that there is not much time left until I am supposed to have reached my learning goal of reading and playing the song “He’s a pirate”. Therefore, I have found the sheet music and begun to learn how to read it. Nervously, I decided to make my goal slightly easier by choosing not to learn “He’s a Pirate” and to learn to read and play two simpler songs, but I am having a hard time taking the easy way out. Let’s see if I can make it happen! If anyone knows where I can get 5 extra hours to add to my day, please let me know. Thanks!

Photo by Kenny Luo on Unsplash

Minecraft!

by dkaras

On November 4, 2019

In Augmented Reality, Coding, Collaboration, Communication, Complexity, EdTech, Educational Competencies, Gaming, Growth Mindset, Intellectual Property, Learning Design, Multimedia Learning Theory, Open Pedagogy, Pedagogical Practices, Personal Learning Networks, Technology Competencies, Working Collaboratively

Today in our EDCI336 class we were visited by a teacher and group of students from Colquitz Elementary and Spectrum High school. These bright young people helped teach our entire class how to play Minecraft– a dynamic video game that allows players to mine resources and use them to build all sorts of structures and tools. I had originally learned about the game from my younger brother who began playing it on X-box a number of years ago, and since its origination Minecraft has expanded greatly, becoming a valued classroom tool for teaching many different subjects. For those new to Minecraft, you choose a character and are set into a pixelated world of opportunity. On one hand, this limitless world of blocks can seem daunting, but on the other, it is exciting, for as you gain the knowledge and familiarity of how to play the game, Minecraft becomes an essential platform for creativity and construction. It can be used in the classroom to teach teamwork (by playing on the same server) and problem-solving, mathematics (especially in regards to patterns), art (a good alternative to a diorama), and many other things. It can even act as a platform for teaching how to code! As a pre-service teacher, this tool seems like it should be a staple in the classroom for its benefits towards pedagogy, and how it allows students to connect in a constructive way. With little instruction from educators, students are able to complete their own independent projects or shared class assignments. For example, making checklists of tasks for students to complete can be a great way of utilizing Minecraft to teach across an array of subjects all in one lesson, but one of the most effective parts is the reflection that students complete afterward. This allows students to connect what they’ve learned in the game to real life, whether that relates to environmental or mathematical lessons, or simply strategy and problem-solving. Another great feature in Minecraft is the crafting table, where players must put together certain combinations of resources to create new tools or materials. Allowing students the opportunity to figure these combinations out for themselves is greatly beneficial, as they are more likely to develop a deeper understanding than if they were told how to do it. They will also be more eager to teach the information to their friends, helping them to root these lessons deep into their memory.

When it comes to teachers using Minecraft, not only can they control a character in the same server as their students, but they monitor their students using their unique facilitator account and adjust or limit certain abilities for each student. This allows them to keep students on task when using Minecraft to teach a particular lesson.

Apart from its pedagogical benefits, Minecraft can also act as a tool for students to connect over. For those students that are more comfortable playing a cerebral game rather than competing in physical activity, Minecraft can offer a safe place for friends to socialize with friends, making it a very inclusive tool. Needless to say, my brother is going to be quite happy when I tell him how I plan to incorporate Minecraft in my classroom!

No one said it would be easy!

by dkaras

On October 21, 2019

In Complexity, edci306a, EdTech, Free Inquiry, Growth Mindset, Uncategorised

Well, I am a little closer to my goal, but somehow I also feel further away. The further I dive into learning how to play the violin, the more I realize how challenging it truly is! I admit that I may have been a touch over-confident in my earlier assessment of what it would take to learn to play the violin, however that doesn’t mean that I am any less confident about reaching my goal. It just means that it’s going to be more challenging than I thought! In my last post, I covered some of what I learned about the basics of the violin, like how to keep proper posture and tune the strings. In this post, I describe my experience working through chapters 4, 5, and 6 of “Violinworks” by Ros Stephen (http://violin-works.com), as well as the details of my practice up to this point. Since my first post, I’ve been able to put my theoretical knowledge to the test by finally picking up the bow and trying my best to produce a good clean sound. What I’ve learned is that holding the bow properly, keeping proper angles and alignment with the strings, and remaining relaxed are all very difficult to do, especially when focusing on all of them at once. I am able to run the bow along a string smoothly if I am to focus solely on my contact point, but as I begin to shift my focus to the placement of my left hand on the neck, I notice my bowing form suffers. I suppose that practicing each of these skills individually is important as a beginner, and as the muscle memory starts to take shape, things will sound better. However, this requires patience and discipline to practice rudiments skills rather than attempting to play more exciting pieces of music, something a fairly intermediate guitar player like myself doesn’t like to do.

My music reading, on the other hand, has improved greatly! The repetition of reading from my instruction book, practicing in class and teaching drum lessons on the weekend has got me more confident than I’ve ever been. I’ve got a strong base, and now I am ready to read more into the different notes and strings specific to violin sheet music.

I still have not looked at the sheet music for “He’s a pirate”, but I have been practicing two songs by ear. Working these out has been fun, and definitely helped with learning the spatial awareness of the notes on the neck. The first is twinkle twinkle little star, which sounds good when played fast or slow, and incorporates playing on multiple strings. The second, I was inspired to learn because I love the song and because the violin solo in the introduction was fairly easy to sound out. With that, it is safe to say that my roommates are extremely tired of hearing my scratchy, barely recognizable rendition of ‘Come on Eileen’ by Dexy’s midnight runners, but I certainly am not! This song uses all of the strings and incorporates long and short strokes which makes it very fun to play. I have sounded it out in a different key than the original, but it still sounds proper. I will play what I can of this song as well as twinkle twinkle in my video to show my progress.

In chapters 7-13 of my instruction book, the focus shifts from bowing to using the left hand, and to how to properly utilize each individual finger. I’m going to try to progress a little bit faster than I have so far in the semester by working through the book a little bit quicker. I hope to have read to Chater 10 by next week. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!