Today I completed the learning activity on royalty free music - visiting www.incompetech.com and downloading a piece of music to my hard drive (which I uploaded to a music hosting website and included in a link here: zSHARE - Swimmey Texture.mp3). The piece of music I chose was a calm, relaxing number called Swimmey Texture. A music file such as this would be perfect to play through the IWB sound system as the class completed a quiet activity at their desks or participated in silent reading. A more 'up-beat' track would create a more appropriate mood for times when students are tidying up the room or are involved in a more active task, such as an art activity.
During our tutorial group’s visit to Parkurst State School earlier this month, Kath Warcon (a year 4/5 teacher), described how she often plays educational tracks from itunes (that she has downloaded for free) as the students; prepare for another activity, are moving about the room or tidying up their places. Kath also uses music as an instructional strategy. When it comes time for students to finish up a task (in preparation for lunch or another activity), she plays ‘the popcorn song’ through her ipod and the IWB sound system. Whenever students hear the song, they know that it is time to pack up and finish what they were doing. Another example she gave (and played for us), was a number facts song which the students sing along to. Thus, music can also serve as a direct educational tool and would be ideal for those students with a strong musical intelligence (Birmingham Grid for Learning, 2010).
Music could also be incorporated into lessons as a hook or as a background track in power point presentations - further enhancing the learning process. Music, like images, can be a powerful tool for evoking emotion in learners and can contribute towards creating a positive classroom climate (DoL 1). Furthermore, music stimulates another sense among learners and according to The Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence (2000), the input stage of active learning involves input from multiple sources and multiple senses. Thus, by incorporating music into lessons, teachers promote active learning.
