With permission from the parents, I returned to private teaching this week. This last 2 months may have dented my student’s progress in learning but I’m quite adamant that they would catch up again.
Children can absorb fast if you provide the right learning stimulants. I decided to use musictheory.net for my lessons today to help a pair of siblings to revise their note reading and intervals.
As good as technology and internet maybe, as educators, we must understand that these modern tools are just simply TOOLS. Tools can’t come to life on its own. Somebody has to operate the tools to enable a process and generate an outcome.
I used my iPad to access musictheory.net and set the parameters (e.g. Middle C notes) for the note reading exercises. I instructed my students to read the note and play it on their piano before they select the correct answer on the iPad screen. This way the student locate and audiate the note before hearing the answer played back to them.
Even though the siblings spent a good 15-20 mins on this, I didn’t want to concern myself that they didn’t play a song or they didn’t accomplish some theory work. I think this exercise already accomplish both practical and theoretical understanding. Most importantly, the students are engaged and they could see themselves progressing (The exercises indicate immediate results, e.g. 100% means no mistakes at all).
I went home feeling satisfied that we (students and myself) are heading somewhere in this. I’m looking forward to exploring more tools, offline or online. #musiceducation #onlinemusiceducation #musicteacher #personaldevelopment
