Kathryn Koscho teaches Class Piano, Piano Pedagogy, and Applied Piano at Oklahoma City University. She is a doctoral candidate for the DMA in Piano Performance with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma and holds degrees from the University of Kansas and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Kathryn Koscho
Department of Music
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
405.208.5632
kkoscho@okcu.edu
In the technology demonstration, "Integrating Smart Board Technology Into the Group Piano Lab," Courtney Crappell presented an overview of the University of Oklahoma's new piano lab, provided uses of Smart Board technology for group piano, and showed video clips on using Yamaha Clavinova features for special needs students by Dennis Stanfill.
The University of Oklahoma piano lab contains sixteen Yamaha Clavinova keyboards that are connected to a Yamaha console. Audio from the teacher console can be sent to the student keyboards or to the desktop Mac computer, which can then be heard through the classroom sound system. Video from the computer runs through a projector onto the Smart Board; the projector also is connected to a document camera.
Crappell explained how he integrates one use of the computer in his classes. Students can save performances as mp3 files in the keyboard lab using recording software on the computer, and then the instructor can post these recordings on Desire 2 Learn, a web-based learning interface for classes.
The Smart Board, a touch-sensitive board mounted on the wall like a chalkboard, provides an interactive visual atmosphere for the classroom. Teachers can write on the Smart Board like a white board using Smart Board. Once a pen is lifted, that color is activated on the board, and any writing done with the pen or with the finger will appear on the board in the designated color.
Smart Boards come with Smart Board software, which allows the screen to be used in many different ways. Using the Notebook software, teachers can create numerous slides of information. One touch on the toolbar will provide a new, clean screen, which eliminates the need to erase. However, the old information is not deleted; it is treated as a separate slide, which the teacher can bring back in view at any point by simply touching the thumbnail of the slide in the right sidebar. In fact, slides can be prepared in advance, saved, and quickly referred to in class by opening the saved file. Crappell mentioned that slides containing standard information like scale fingerings could be made prior to class, saving time. Smart Board slides can be saved as notebook files or can be exported as tif, jpg, html, or pdf files.
Crappell noted that using a Smart Board allows the teacher to stand at the screen near the visual information. In other classrooms which project information from a computer onto a screen, the instructor would need to sit near or hover over the computer and use the mouse to manipulate information on the screen. With the Smart Board, teachers can just touch the screen.
Crappell then discussed creative ways of working with notated music. Teachers can project scanned pdf files of music onto the Board. By using the Smart Board pens to mark on the projected score, the messy clean-up required for overhead projector slides vanishes. The view zooms in and out with one touch on the toolbar, making adjustment on the screen easy. Also, for visual clarification of scores, the Spotlight tool highlights a certain area of the board and darkens or dims the rest. This allows the teacher to draw attention visually to specific sections of the projected piece.
Projecting Finale files onto the Smart Board yields even more interactive opportunities for the classroom. Teachers can make use of the playback feature in Finale to immediately hear any projected notation. Crappell says that using Finale files for long-term notation projects works well; students can modify a score over time without having to re-write the example for each class meeting. He shared that his students enjoy entering notation directly onto the touch-sensitive Smart Board and suggested having students write out their improvisations on the Board.
In the question and answer portion of the presentation, Crappell said that to run a Smart Board, one needs a computer, a Smart Board, and a projector. The Smart Board is not connected to the piano keyboards. He recommended purchasing a projector with a high number of lumens; in a well-lit classroom, the screen will need to be bright in order to be legible.
Crappell also showed video clips of Dennis Stanfill discussing the use of the Yamaha Clavinova for special needs students. Mr. Stanfill showed two ways that special needs students might use the Yamaha Clavinova. First, the Any Key Mode in the Guide Mode allows a player to press a single key, either with a finger or with a paddle, and have a fully orchestrated part sound. It does not matter which key is played, but in order for the piece to sound like it should, the player must follow the lights behind the key and press the key in rhythm. Students with little to no mobility in the hand can make music at the keyboard using this function and learn about rhythm.
Second, the Follow Lights Mode works like the Any Key Mode, but the player must press the correct key for the fully orchestrated music to sound. Students follow lights which light up behind a specific key when it is time to play. Stanfill noted that this can work well for students who need to learn how to focus. Generally, students tend to start playing with just one finger, but eventually change to using more than one finger and then adding the second hand.
In conclusion, Stanfill told of a visit to a music class with special needs students at Boca Raton High School in Boca Raton, Florida which made use of these two functions. A young woman with MS used a paddle to successfully play a piece in the Any Key Mode. Also, a young man with Downs Syndrome used the Follow Lights Mode to play a piece with both hands in a focused manner.
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