Chung-Ha Kim is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), majoring in piano performance with piano pedagogy as her cognate area. Ms. Kim has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Germany, and has received numerous prizes in the "Jugend musiziert", and Steinway-Competitions in Germany, as well as an award for outstanding performance of music by J. S. Bach from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Ms. Kim worked as a teaching assistant at the College-Conservatory of Music from 1999-2004, teaching both group piano and private lessons. She has been invited as a judge for the OMTA Auditions Festival for the past three years, and has twice been nominated for the "Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Assistants" at CCM. She is currently teaching class piano and in the Preparatory Department of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Ms. Kim holds a Bachelor of Music-degree from the Manhattan School of Music (NY) and a Master of Music-degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Chung-Ha Kim
Department of Music
Millikin University
1184 West Main
Decatur, IL 62522
800.373.7733
chkim@millikin.edu
Blackboard is an Internet-based software that facilitates classroom teaching. Developed in1997, it is used not only at universities and colleges, but also in primary and secondary schools, government agencies, and businesses. The version used at universities and colleges is currently available in 11 languages.
Once an institution has acquired Blackboard, instructors can set up their own websites within the system. A student can access these websites after logging in. Instructors can post announcements, syllabi, assignments, and maintain a grade book on Blackboard. Class lists also facilitate e-mailing the entire class or individual students.
Participants cited many uses for the software. Dr. Andrew Hisey from the Oberlin Conservatory uses Blackboard to host discussion forums. Students post questions and opinions, and discuss various topics outside of class. Dr. Barbara Fast from the University of Oklahoma values Blackboard's instant accessibility by students and teachers, and its ability to keep all of her graduate assistants informed and coordinated. Dr. Ken Renfrow from the University of Miami asks students to send their assignments through Blackboard, using a "Digital Drop Box." These assignments can take the form of MIDI-files or Sibelius-scores. Posting PowerPoint-presentations on Blackboard also enables students to review them after class. Dr. Susanna Garcia from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette posts MIDI-files of repertoire pieces and accompaniments on Blackboard. For many students, this is the only way to listen to a variety of pieces that are not available as regular sound recordings in the library.
As a relatively new "member" to the Blackboard-community, the author of this article values the coordinating aspect of Blackboard most: once all teachers add their classes to the system, students no longer need to check several different websites set up by individual professors. And with more and more students coping with an increased credit hour-load and part-time jobs, anything that can save them time and hassle is greatly appreciated.
As with all things, Blackboard comes with disadvantages, too. The system is rather expensive to purchase and install, and when it breaks down there is not much a teacher can do about it. However, in light of its many advantages, these points should not prevent instructors from using it.
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