In mid-October I had the pleasure of visiting Appalachian State University for the Tablet PC Tech Forum. What I found there was a hidden gem!
Come on - how many universities invite vendors to campus, take care of accommodation details, and ask for feedback and collaboration? I can think of many others that demand vendors to offer price cuts or giveaways without conversation, but App State is different in a very refreshing way. My hat is off to Corporate Relations Director John Krumrine and team for making us feel welcome during this engaging and productive visit.
We were joined by representatives from Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to see how App State faculty are integrating technology into teaching. The star of the day was Dr. Jennifer Snodgrass of the faculty of Hayes School of Music. We already knew Jennifer was great due to the DyKnow webinar she gave this summer, but seeing her and her students during actual classes on campus revealed her passion and technology competence even more!
I must say as a former music student I wish I could have taken music theory in an environment like Jennifer's classroom. Her energy matched with Tablet PCs and DyKnow software fit in nicely with the notation- and media-heavy activities in music theory. Students even reported higher classroom learning/mastery due to the technology and related teaching/learning practices. I think they have that quote on video - I hope!
The innovations in music are just the tip of the iceberg. A course sequence on the "physics of music" is planned for the future. This is the result of sciences and music faculty working together with a common technology to interest non-science and non-music major students, and it looks fantastic.
We also enjoyed meeting the deans of arts/sciences and music, as well as university IT director, chief of staff, and even the chancellor. This showed how high the commitment is to effective teaching with technology at App State. Stay tuned - some great things are happening there!
Come on - how many universities invite vendors to campus, take care of accommodation details, and ask for feedback and collaboration? I can think of many others that demand vendors to offer price cuts or giveaways without conversation, but App State is different in a very refreshing way. My hat is off to Corporate Relations Director John Krumrine and team for making us feel welcome during this engaging and productive visit.
We were joined by representatives from Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to see how App State faculty are integrating technology into teaching. The star of the day was Dr. Jennifer Snodgrass of the faculty of Hayes School of Music. We already knew Jennifer was great due to the DyKnow webinar she gave this summer, but seeing her and her students during actual classes on campus revealed her passion and technology competence even more!
I must say as a former music student I wish I could have taken music theory in an environment like Jennifer's classroom. Her energy matched with Tablet PCs and DyKnow software fit in nicely with the notation- and media-heavy activities in music theory. Students even reported higher classroom learning/mastery due to the technology and related teaching/learning practices. I think they have that quote on video - I hope!
The innovations in music are just the tip of the iceberg. A course sequence on the "physics of music" is planned for the future. This is the result of sciences and music faculty working together with a common technology to interest non-science and non-music major students, and it looks fantastic.
We also enjoyed meeting the deans of arts/sciences and music, as well as university IT director, chief of staff, and even the chancellor. This showed how high the commitment is to effective teaching with technology at App State. Stay tuned - some great things are happening there!
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