I’ve used several blogging sites over the years. Xanga was a very cut and dry online journal. We used in the early to mid-2000s as a pre-Myspace page. I don’t even know if it still exists. Wordpress was the on again/off again relationship when you think you want to be serious about creating a blog, but the relationship just doesn’t work out. There’s a lot of potential, but the usability just isn’t there. Blogger was the old standard that has reinvented itself so many times. I’ve tinkered with it recently, but now that I’ve begun building a professional website, Wix seems to be the best place to settle. Most blogs have some forms of style editing, but the usability of Wix combined with the website building capability seemed the best way to build a platform that can grow as you do. A blog is a personal digital editorial publication. You can curate exactly what you want in words, images, and videos. Ultimately, you are engaging the audience as a reader. It goes beyond simple vlogs/glogs because those can be included, but typically it doesn’t stop there. A blog doesn’t have the same type of interactivity as a discussion board would and it’s typically got some sort of agenda like a regular website, but it’s more personal, because it’s a form of idea expression.
The capability of blogs for learning are varied. As a learner, I’ve used blogs to document my growth throughout a course. I’ve used blogs to curate specific assignments, either essays or reflections on that week’s topic. Some blogs required feedback from classmates or professors and some were meant to be independently assembled and submitted at the end of the course for proof of completion, but not graded on content. I believe the blog is similar in functionality to the written journal. It allows for expanding on ideas and thoughts when the learner is outside of the classroom. I also believe that the blog can be used as a measuring stick of learning by documenting the student’s progress throughout the course.
If I were to use blogs in my own classrooms, I appreciate the reflective nature and would use this as a check-in on the student’s learning. In my piano course that I recently designed, a blog/vlog could be very helpful to monitor the student’s progress in practice. The student could record themselves playing through their assignments and theory and submit to their blog. This would enhance the instruction as this is something typically observed during 1:1 lessons, but could be documented throughout the week. I also think it would be interesting to use a blog to have the student find musicians who are inspiring to them and music that is inspiring to them. Their blog could be used a way to write about their inspirations and establish goals. This assignment would be transformative because finding the learner’s motivation for learning music can be difficult in a regular piano 1:1 class. Utilizing a blog, the student can generate their own inspiration and make content that is important to them.
For the blog as journal:
Content:
Some learning objectives I would establish for this assignment would be: 1. The student will reflect on their weekly practice skills through video recording and writing blog/journal entries. 2. The student will assess their technique and strategize for next week's assignment through analyzing their video blogs. The student would be analyzing and evaluating (Bloom's levels) their own progress.
Pedagogy: This is a reflective approach to teaching/learning. I have used this previously as a teacher with written journals and as a learner in other classrooms.
Technology: The blog in this instance is the perfect place for the student to log their reflections on the practice regime they have created with the instructor. The reflections and assessments could be written and posted on the blog or done with the video of the practice to capture real time critical thinking.
For the blog as inspiration & goal setting:
Content: Some learning objectives I would establish for this assignment would be: 1. The student will identify and relate the musical experiences of inspirational musicians. 2. The student will connect and articulate why inspirational musicians made an impact in musical history. This assignment will meet the understand and apply levels of Bloom's.
Pedagogy: This is certainly in integrative approach as it is pairing practical musical skill with history, research, and writing. I've not used this approach before, but I think it could be very helpful, particularly if the student was taking other courses where the assignments could be related.
Technology: The technology works well as a curation of the different musical inspirations for the student. They could keep the completed piece as a reference after the course as they continue their musical journey.
Here's a video by Candace R. that I used to better understand the TPACK model as it applies to understanding using Blogs in instructions.
The last line of this video is that the "heart of TPACK is meeting students' needs." I couldn't agree more. For piano specifically, students come to lessons with all sorts of levels of pre-knowledge and learning styles. Blogs may not work for some students when they are trying to learn piano. There may be some students who simply find it irrelevant. I think that utilizing technology in a piano course will always have pushback. People assume that you can only learn an instrument from an instructor who is in the room. However, most folks will be surprised with how much they can teach themselves once a teacher has helped them establish the fundamentals. There are so many online tools that technology would be wasted if they weren't used. A blog might seem unnecessary or wasted time while learning the piano, but the benefits that come from appreciating the musicians who came before you and from documenting your own progress so you can witness your growth are far greater than the pushback would be.
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