Music History Comes Alive with Digital Images and the Web

Mary Oleskiewicz uses technology in the classroom to bring music history alive through digital images, sound, and the Internet. Teaching her course, "The History of Musical Instruments," in a 'smart" classroom and she includes sophisticated PowerPoint presentations that give students sounds and pictures of instruments. Oleskiewicz notes that taking students to museums to see historical instruments is too difficult, so digital imagery and Web access in the classroom is crucial.

Using the Internet in her classroom, Oleskiewicz accesses on-line museums, historical Web sites, and sound files to illustrate historical instruments. She also uses a document camera to show students musical scores, portions of the Encyclopedia of Instruments, pictures in books, or visual and sculptural arts.

Having used similar technologies in her other classes, Oleskiewicz believes the interactivity of the technology increases student engagement. 'students respond well to hearing instruments and seeing the images. They become more engaged with the content and following discussion," she says.

When she began incorporating technology into her classes two years ago, Oleskiewicz was a frequent user of electronic reserves at the Healey Library. E-reserves allowed her to make vital course materials available in a secure online format. More recently, Oleskiewicz learned to incorporate technology through the Teaching with Technology program sponsored by the Instructional Technology Center. She encourages other faculty who may be considering adding technology to their teaching to start small.

She has also found that students are very forgiving when technology problems occur. "They are just so impressed and appreciative that I am using technology, that when something goes wrong they are sympathetic and try to help fix the problem," she explains.

Clearly, Oleskiewicz demonstrates how technology can alleviate these stresses and enhance teaching and student learning. To hear more, please visit the faculty interviews section at itc.umb.edu.

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