Online 2012

IWBs in the Music ClassroomSession 2Katie WardrobeMidnight Music

Resource creation: an introduction to the IWB software 4

What does the IWB software do? 4

Inbuilt resources 4

Why use the IWB software? 4

Limitations of this course 4

Finding more help 5

Recommended skills 5

Creating a lasting unit of work 5

Multimedia presentations 5

Gathering and Organising Your Materials 6

Title slide with background image 6

Overview of steps 6

Before we start: two VERY important rules! 6

Background image 6

Text 7

Locking objects down 7

Composer information 7

Overview of steps 7

Background colour 7

Text 8

Finding and downloading images to use 8

Link To A Website 8

Listening and notation examples 9

Basic steps 9

Background colour, text and image 9

Notation image 9

Audio !les: preparation 9

Adding Audio 9

Using the whiteboard the old-fashioned way (sort of ) 10

Basic steps 10

Matching game 10

Basic steps 10

Finding ready-made !les 11

Using and sharing IWB software !les 11

Powerpoint !les 11

Useful links 11

Homework task 12

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Resource creation: an introduction to the IWB software

What does the IWB software do?

IWB software is like Powerpoint on steroids.

They are graphic-style programs: you can create shapes, text, add images and audio and everything can move freely around on the page (slide). Here are some of the things that most IWB software programs will do:

• Draw free-hand with pens

• Use pens of different colours, thicknesses and styles (highlighter, smiley faces, fancy colours)

• Convert handwriting into typed words and shapes

• Draw shapes: triangle, square, circle, oval, hexagon and many more

• Draw lines: thick, thin, dotted, dashed

• Incorporate images

• Link to websites

• Embed audio

• and more!

Inbuilt resources

Most IWB software also has some supplied resources and I urge you to check these out. There are usually some music resources - staves, notes, clefs and instrument pictures. Sometimes there are also inbuilt interactive games that you can adapt by adding your own content.

Why use the IWB software?

So how can we use all of that in the music classroom?? During this session and the next one, we will look at speci!c ways you can use the software.

The interactivity is very strong when you use the software to its fullest. The best thing is that once you have created resources, you can use them over and over again and you can have different versions of the same resources for each class.

No more losing your work at the end of the lesson when the next teacher comes in and rubs out everything on the board!

Limitations of this course

Whenever I run an IWB workshop or course, everyone attending is using different software. During these sessions I will be giving general instructions so that they can be applied to any type of IWB software, or even to Powerpoint or Keynote. Most techniques (but not all) will be achievable in each software programs.

My main focus is the application of the software in the music classroom, rather than the nitty gritty!

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Finding more help

If you need help with your software:

• Consult a colleague or your IT person at school. Most schools have a resident “IWB expert”

• Google your problem and include your IWB type in your search query

• Type your query into Youtube. There are lots of tutorial videos available

• Check your IWB software reference manual

• If the other methods fail, send me an email and I will try to help!

Recommended skills

When using your IWB software, the following skills will come in handy:

• Duplicating objects

• Ordering/arranging (change which object is on top)

• Word translation: convert handwriting to typed text

• Adding website links

• Adding pictures

• Adding music (audio) and video

• Using sound effects, other special effects

• Reveal answers by erasing

• Animation

• Record yourself drawing symbols

• Using provided games (#ash games)

Creating a lasting unit of work

Multimedia presentations

Using Peter and the Wolf as an example, we’ll create a multimedia !le that incorporates the following:

• Importing an image

• Changing background colour

• Including text information about the composer and work

• Linking to a website with further information

• Incorporating notation graphics

• Attaching audio !les so you never have to search for a CD again

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The skills learnt can be adapted for any unit of work you might be doing with your students: 12 Bar Blues, Instruments of the Orchestra, Carnival of the Animals and more.

Gathering and Organising Your Materials

Keep all the images, audio !les, videos and anything else you’re going to use to create your presentation in a single folder together on your hard drive. If there are items you think you’ll use repeatedly, save them to the Gallery or Resources area of your IWB software program so they’re easy to !nd.

Title slide with background image

Overview of steps

• Set background image for the slide

• Create text about piece and composer

• Format the text

Before we start: two VERY important rules!

• Rule 1: when you are creating slides using your software, you must get into the habit of going back to your Select Tool between tasks. The Select Tool usually looks like a black arrow and is located on your toolbar at the top of the screen, or on the #oating toolbar

• Rule 2: when you add images, text and shapes to your slides you must lock them in place (unless you want students to move them, that is) so that students don’t accidentally drag them out of position. More about that later....

Background image

You can change the background of your slide to an image, or to any colour you wish.

In some software programs, you can right-click on the slide and choose “Background” or similar from the menu. You can also usually !nd the options for changing the background of a slide in the Format or Edit menus.

Choose the “background image” option. Next, you’ll need to click on the “upload image” or “browse” button and navigate to the image on your computer’s hard drive. Click Open.

There are usually options for the way you want the image to display:

• Tiled: the background will have small, repeated images (like tiles)

• Stretched: if the image is not the same shape (dimensions) as your slide, it will be stretched to !ll the space

• Fit to size: the image will be expanded to !ll the space

Try each option until you !nd the one you want.

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Text

Add some text to the slide. There is usually a text button on the screen, or on your #oating toolbar. In some programs the button looks like this:

Aa

Once you click the text button, click on the slide and then start typing. It doesn’t matter where you click because you will reposition the text box later on.

While in text-editing mode, highlight the text in the box and use the formatting buttons to change the text size, style and colour if necessary.

When you’ve !nished formatting the text, click on your Select tool (the black arrow) so you’re free to move on to the next task.

Locking objects down

Any object that you add to a slide (text, images, shapes and so on) can be “locked” into place. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of locking objects down so that students cant drag them out of place accidentally.

You can try it with the text object on this slide:

• Select the text object

• Choose the Lock, Locking or Lock in Place option (it’s different in each program). This can often be found in the right-click menu, the object menu, or the Format menu.

Composer information

Overview of steps

• Set background colour of the slide

• Create text about composer and format the text

• Insert an image of the composer

• Resize it or move it if necessary

• Create a link from the image to a website with more information

Background colour

Change the background colour of the slide to something of your choosing. As before, in some software programs, you can right-click on the slide and choose “Background” or similar from the menu, or !nd the options for changing the background of a slide in the Format or Edit menus.

White, or dark colours work well. Some bright colours do not look great on your IWB, especially if you have a classroom that has lots of natural light (that you can’t block out). Test a few different colours and check them when you are plugged into your board in your classroom to see which ones work best.

Also bear in mind that any text you add should be in a contrasting colour. If your background colour or image is dark, make sure your text is white, or another light colour.

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Text

Add text about the composer and/or piece as before.

Finding and downloading images to use

You can !nd a great selection of images online that are legal to use. Look for Creative Commons licensed (the creator assigns a license which allows reuse) or royalty-free (which doesn’t always mean cost-free) images.

Two useful places for images:

• Clip Art by Phillip Martin - http://www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/homepage.htm

• Search Creative Commons Images (Photographs) - www.comp!ght.com

Download the image by right-clicking on it and choosing Save Image As or similar. Save it somewhere useful and give it a descriptive title. I usually save the name of the creator of the picture in the title so that I can attribute them when necessary.

Insert images

To add the image to your presentation:

• drag it from the Explorer window (PC) or from the Finder (Mac) straight on to the current slide in your IWB software

• or insert it by going to the Insert menu and choosing Picture or Media

Link To A Website

You can link images, or text in your presentations to external websites that provide more information about the subject. When a student taps on the object, your web browser will launch and the webpage will open.

• Select the image !rst (or text object) and then choose Link or Hyperlink from the Insert menu

• You can often also right-click on the object and choose the Link option there

• A window will open and there will be a place to insert a website address (URL). Leave that open like that for a moment

• Open your web browser and visit the webpage. Copy the URL (web address)

• Go back to your IWB software and paste the URL into the Address box

• Read the rest of the information in that window (!) and choose appropriate settings: there are often options for launching the website “when the object is clicked”, or for having the web address display on the slide. Choose “launch the website when object is clicked” or similar

• Click Insert link or OK to exit the window

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Listening and notation examples

Basic steps

• Set the background colour

• Create text: title and description

• Insert an image of the character/animal (ie. Peter and the bird)

• Insert an image of the notation

• Create a link from the notation image to a sound !le

Background colour, text and image

Set your background colour, create the title and subheading text and insert the Peter and the Wolf image as before.

Notation image

To create an image of a snippet of notation from Sibelius:

• Create a new score in Sibelius

• Input the notes, dynamics and articulation

• Press Alt+G (Option+G on Mac). Your mouse pointer will become a cross

• Click and drag around the part of the score you want to make into an image

• Adjust the size of the “box” if necessary by dragging the handles

• Press Ctrl+C (Command+C)

• Go back to your IWB software program and press Ctrl+V (Command+V) to paste

• This works in Word (great for creating exam papers), IWB software, Powerpoint and Keynote

Audio !les: preparation

It’s a good idea to prepare the audio before adding to a presentation. If the audio !le is short, you may not need to do anything at all. However, if you need just a small part of a longer audio !le you can edit it in the free audio editor Audacity !rst. Audacity allows you to chop off the beginning and/or end and create fade-ins and fade-outs.

Adding Audio

You can “attach” an audio !le to an image or to a text object so that the audio starts playing when the object is tapped.

• Select the image/text

• Go to the Insert menu and choose insert sound/media/audio/music (called various names in different programs)

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• Click on Choose File or From File

• Find and select the audio !le

• Click Insert/OK

Using the whiteboard the old-fashioned way (sort of)

Basic steps

• Set the background colour

• Create text: title and description

• Insert images of the instruments

• Lock the instrument images in place

In this example, students will identify each instrument (or family) and write the name on the whiteboard.

You can use the handwriting recognition tool to change handwritten names in to “proper” typed words.

Matching game

Basic steps

• Set the background colour

• Create text: title and description

• Insert images of the instruments and characters

• Attach audio !les to each of the characters (optional)

• Lock the character images in place

Here’s another example, using the same techniques you’ve learnt in earlier examples.

In this matching game, students can tap on the characters on the left and hear the character’s theme (if you embedded the audio !le). They then need to identify which instrument or group of instruments played the theme and drag the instrument picture on top of the character.

This example would also work well without the embedded audio !les - students simply match the characters and instruments by remembering what they heard in Peter And The Wolf.

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Finding ready-made !les

Using and sharing IWB software !les

There are LOTS of !les that you can download, ready-made from the internet. Many teachers share their work freely on their own websites, or on the IWB websites in their “sharing” area.

Even if you !nd a !le that is in a different format to the software you use, you may still be able to use it. For instance, ActivInspire software (that comes with a Promethean board) is able to open SMART Notebook !les (for Smartboards).

To !nd !les, go to Google and type in something like these search terms (substitute your own brand of IWB for Smartboard):

• Peter and the Wolf Smartboard (or other musical work: Carnival of the Animals, Night on a Bare Mountain etc)

• Smartboard music !les

• Interactive whiteboard music

• Music theory interactive whiteboard

You get the idea! Don’t be too speci!c - you’ll end up with more results.

Powerpoint !les

There are also lots of ready-made Powerpoint !les online. Don’t forget that you can use Powerpoint !les on any IWB.

Useful links

Links  to  music  teacher  websites  and  other  ar3cles:

• IWB Music Wiki (multiple teachers sharing !les) http://mustech.pbworks.com/w/page/21952707/FrontPage

• Mrs Friedman http://musicteach.pbworks.com/w/page/21946172/SMARTBoard-Lessons

• Amy Burns IWB resources: http://www.amymburns.com/Amy_M._Burns/Interactive_Whiteboard_Resources.html

• Amy Burns blog: http://musicroomburns.net/

• Pinterest page curated by (so many links here!) http://pinterest.com/annelyon/smartboards-in-the-music-classroom/

• IWB Music blog by Will Braune http://iwbmusic.blogspot.com.au/

• Katie’s article: 10 Excellent Ways to Use An IWB in the Music Classroom http://midnightmusic.com.au/iwb

• Smartboard videos on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BA4CA0E288D5F595&search_query=smartboard  

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• Kelly Riley’s Presentation at the TI:ME Conference: http://klsriley.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/smart-boards-in-the-elementary-music-classroom/

Homework task

Your tasks this week:

• Re-create the slides I showed during the session. I have created cheatsheets for some of the IWB software brands. If yours is not there and you need help, please contact me and I’ll do my best! There will be some more examples to create next week, so you’ll all be experts by the end of the course!

• Explore some of the links above. Report back if you !nd something extra-special or useful!

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