Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Phyllis Tallent

Abstract

Technology is at the forefront of education as teachers expand their instructional strategies to incorporate technology in the hope of educating students to be 21st century learners. As more and more districts encourage educators to use technology in all classrooms, teachers search to find programs that will help their students in their particular subjects. The band classroom is not immune to this push in education; therefore, we find band directors searching for a tool to use in their band rooms.

This study looked at a web-based music program designed for performance-based groups. The purpose of the study was to examine three middle school band directors and their use of SmartMusic® in their day-to-day classroom activities. Specifically, this case study looked at the various implementation avenues, the process teachers followed to use the program in the band setting, barriers to using the program, and successful strategies used by teachers. Through observations, interviews, and artifacts the researcher was able to paint a holistic picture of each teacher and how they used SmartMusic® in their classroom.

Conclusions were drawn that each implementation process was found to be similar. The actual utilization of SmartMusic® was found to vary from teacher to teacher. Students enjoyed using the program and were a source of encouragement for teachers to continue use of SmartMusic®, thus increasing the self-efficacy of teachers. Barriers were rare, and success was found when teachers used the program consistently. Professional development was recommended for teachers using the program due to the lack thereof and at teachers’ requests. Future studies include the precise utilization of the program and the effect using SmartMusic® has on a whole-group setting.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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