Blog

Yeah we doing this whole thing again. Posting regularly on all platforms. I decided it was time to really get my music going as hard as it can. When you make original music it can feel like you are just communicating into a void. In some ways you really are. But it can be so much more than that. You have to get creative to get reach though. So let’s see how this experiment goes. LET’s GO!!!

I wanted to dive into some specifics on what I think have been the biggest shifts in technology over the last 10 years that have helped virtual teaching. I think mostly it comes down to Wifi, Internet stability, Video call clients, and webcams/iPads/iPhones.

Wifi has gotten so much more reliable and fast over the years. This allows so many of my students to just set their iPad or phone by their piano or on their music stand and start learning. Imagine if a wired connection was still necessary to achieve the upload and download speeds for a video call.

I have really been pleasantly surprised with how stable my internet is in our area. It was down for 3 hours in the morning once during the entire quarantine for scheduled maintenance. Other than that I have been able to teach 2 weeks with no interruptions and slowdowns. I think if you live in a decently populated area we finally have internet that is as stable as the other utilities such as water and power.

The options abound for video call clients these days with Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, Google hangouts, etc. All of these really do get the job done. I have been most impressed with Zoom and FaceTime. They do a really good job of cutting down on audio issues such as distortion and have a good high level of quality. I will say that Zoom has the edge with features and running on almost everything. Facetime though still seems to be the highest video quality without messing with anything.

Finally what has really helped as well is the availability of HD video/higher refresh webcams. The jump to HD has made students following along with what I am doing a breeze.

I will say that most of these improvements will benefit my students seeing me far more than it helps me seeing them as I can control my setup but can’t control theirs but at the end of the day it is about them learning not my comfort. All of this to say I think virtual lessons in 2020 is not just a temporary method to deal with quarantine but part of the vast array of new educational methods created using technology.

To be honest it has been easier to switch than I thought. I have been teaching virtually for 3 weeks now and yes there are some things that are difficult but for the most part it has been a pleasant experience. Here are four things that I think have made it easier

• Technological improvements
• Necessity creating willingness
• Structure
• Prepwork

I want to spend a bit more time with each of these concepts but let me just throw out my overarching thoughts. Good teaching is like mentoring and as long as communication is possible in any way you can mentor. I think you could theoretically encourage and mentor with smoke signals back in the day if necessary. So let me finish this by saying make sure you keep your goal in mind and let everything else fall by the wayside.

RCM

Making an update. Trying out the blog building a website. Takes some time. A bit of a learning curve but all good