Technology Standards - Oregon 6B

Oregon 6B states: Students transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

As educators, we hold high hopes that our students will be able to take things that they learn and apply them to new situations. Playing an instrument is based on building blocks, basic concepts that build upon themselves toward more and more difficult layers. Once I learned how to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on one instrument, I began to see how easy it was to do the same thing on many other instruments knowing that several things remain constant. I see my students applying this same thinking to technology.

One opportunity for transfer occurs when students navigate on the computer. Several of the buttons and processes in software programs remain constant and most programs allow you to "undo" an action, so students see no reason to pause when deciding whether or not to click on something. Much of the Internet using similar constant factors, such as drop down menus, image maps, hovering over something to see the description, etc.

I am very curious about current and future hardware technologies for music. Most all students understand that such tools require power of some kind and immediately go searching for a power button. They understand that sound must go through some kind of output such as headphones, built-in speaker, or connecting it to an amplifier. My questions are, 1) Do they understand that there are most likely menus and sub-menus to change the settings in some fashion?, and 2) Do they understand that there might be other applications for trigger inputs, or interfacing with computer software?

I am seeing more and more technologies coming available at reasonable prices. I hope to invest in as many as we can afford for my classroom, especially those that support children with adaptive needs. I would hope as we acquire these new tools, students will do exactly as Oregon 6B states: transfer knowledge.