Tapping Into Technology Rajan Summary

In the article, “Tapping into Technology: Experiencing Music in a Child’s Digital World,” the author, Rekha S. Rajan, reviews how children experience music through technology and provides ideas for encouraging music listening, music making, and music watching at home and in the classroom. He concludes that these ideas can implemented in home and school settings. The author hopes that music teachers use the new technology to engage students into new, innovative ways and to build on how children already experience music in the digital world (Rajan, 10). The new generation is growing up in the digital world. Even though technology is advancing every day, there’s nothing better than being able to play an instrument with your own hands; while Rajan

All the data came from the authors own research and observations as a parent and a teacher and music educator. He stated, “As a parent, I am often left wondering whether this provides my son an advantage or a disadvantage in comparison to his peers. As a teacher, I am constantly challenged with being as digitally savvy as young children--keeping up with the latest--and often expensive--devices and finding ways to use them effectively in the music classroom. I have observed that many music teachers want to incorporate technology in the classroom, but without proper training or an understanding of how to use new, multimedia devices to support music learning, the options can be overwhelming” (Rajan, 9). Rajan plays many roles in his

She selected two case study sites: a community college children’s school and a private family day care. She collected data through observational field notes, visual and audio artifacts, and qualitative interviews with a total of four head teachers. Her research included different perspectives such as: the theory of multiple intelligences, teachers’ self-efficacy, and the framework of Pedagogical Content Knowledge encompassing teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about music, technology and digital media, and teaching and learning. Findings of this study indicate that teachers’ uses of recorded music are motivated by their own interests and backgrounds, the interests and desires of children, standards, curriculum, and culture and community. Additionally, recorded music is found to raise teachers’ musical self-efficacy and be both calming and dysregulating in the classroom. This study makes an important contribution to the literature because it is the first study to investigate teachers’ uses of recorded music in the preschool classroom. This author openly encourages the use of technology in young