Music Education: Collaborative Student Driven Learning: Zoltan Virag at TEDxWestVancouverED

[@jessieallstaedt3229]

I just stumbled upon this video and was excited about the Recorder Master App. But it looks like it isn't available in the US. Bummer!! My kids would love this. I love integrating technology into my music lessons on a a daily basis.

[@yunsukchoi4338]

YAY!!! his my Music teacher at Irwin Park......He was my best Music teacher ever...

[@artiox7715]

Same!

[@deanvalentino3693]

My difficulty is the affordability of the devices. If the school cannot afford the technology what other options exist outside of the voice and traditional instruments for elementary level (recorder, Orff, etc) and used or student level instruments for secondary?

[@user-jk2zb8uc5y]

funny... he's my teacher this year! Great Job Mr. Virag!

[@willfitzsimmons5377]

lmao ryan wassup

[@최윤석-d7q]

Mr. Virag is my favourite music teacher he is enthusiastic, wealthy, jolly and also professional. But I sometimes don't like his mood because he acts a bit rough and embarrass everyone.

[@thepianoplayer416]

Using technology in learning is getting to be much more common. Nowadays, when people talk about playing piano, it refers to an electronic keyboard with a piano sound and a MIDI cable that connects to your computer through a USB connection. Learning is increasing done though software & online tutorials. An electronic instrument allows those on a shoestring budget to get into playing. And there are already many young people who participates in music ensembles rather than taking lessons just as an academic exercise. Playing a real instrument takes hours of practice. People who had taken lessons in the past such as piano played on acoustic instruments. Many are not be keen playing in front of friends & family members. To make a connection between playing Guitar Hero and a the real instrument one needs to do a survey the # people who played Guitar Hero who decided to pick up a guitar later. The TV commercial for Apple iPad Mini with the theme song "Heart & Soul" by Hoagy Carmichael started with 2 fingers playing the accompaniment on a keyboard on an iPad touchpad followed by 1 finger on a keyboard on an iPad Mini doing the melody. Playing a tune on an iPad / iPad Mini looks fun & easy but playing a real piano requires more than just 2 fingers and a lot of practice. Likewise guitar playing is more than pressing 6 buttons. Playing guitar you can get into Classical learning to read notes on sheet music or just playing a few chords which is much less time consuming & achievable.

[@zoltanvirag5544]

Dear thepianoplayer416, Thank you for contributing into the discussion! You are completely right that using technology in learning is getting much more common, however it is still a rarity in the public school systems, at least here in British Columbia, Canada. This of course varies with education systems around the world for a variety of reasons. Now if you review the video at around the 3:30' mark, you'll notice that worldwide trends of guitar sales has increased dramatically starting at the launch of the original Guitar Hero franchise over a decade ago, and arguably the two are closely linked. And it was the rise of these "gamey" musical experiences that inspired the consumers to pick up an acoustic guitar, and inspired developers to create more serious teaching tools, one of which is Yousician, for example. That program is currently blurring the line between online lessons and video gaming (especially with the social/tiered/and achievement level organization). I'm curious as to what you think of Yousician as a piano and guitar player yourself.

[@thepianoplayer416]

Guitar is seen as the "cool" thing to learn because the focus of Guitar Hero is "Pop" music. The marketing trick worked. If you program the music of Beethoven or Mozart into Guitar Hero, I don't think the crowd would be as enthusiastic. When it comes to a piano keyboard, people tend to associate it with Classical music of bygone composers. In my family we grew up with a toy keyboard (no more than 30 keys). As a child, anything can be a curiosity and fun. It came with an easy song book with the notes in different colors to match the keys. Does it translate to any of us learning to play the piano or a keyboard? We played with it for a while but nobody at home got far enough to be playing a full-size 88. Getting kids to learn "Classical" music & reading music is definitely a turn-off for many. I actually picked up piano playing later in life not because of hype but just to be able to play some of the pieces I listened to on the radio.

[@jean-mimi]

Great presentation Zolie. I like your "enhance, not replace" message. Would love to try this out with my 2s!

[@Roseraefit]

My music teacher

[@artiox7715]

Same I'm pretty sure you were in my class , it's Arthur

[@RoxyGirl1551]

OMG IT'S MR. V!! HI MR. V:))))

[@w3llplad783]

This has to be one of the worst Ted Talks I have ever seen. I agree with the general premise of his speech that technology can change how people learn and perceive music, but I entirely disagree with his points and his implementation of technology in classrooms. His first point on how technology played a role in popularizing music was the increase in popularity of rhythm games like Guitar Hero. He stated that playing these games gives people an experience of what it's like to play instruments in real life. This is simply not true. Playing a guitar hero is nothing like playing a real guitar. You can literally play Guitar Hero without a guitar controller and instead use the keyboard on someone's laptop. If that is the case, saying that playing guitar hero gives someone experience on what it's like to play a guitar is to literally say that playing piano tiles gives someone experience on what it's like to play the piano. Playing these rhythm games also doesn't teach a student anything in terms of music theory or reading music. Furthermore, the increased sales of instruments are not solely caused by the rhythm games in Guitar Hero. This is a correlation, not causation. Btw, I personally love rhythm games, and I play osu! religiously. Moving on to his second argument, he stated that other music apps like "piano dustbuster," which is essentially simply piano, teach children how to play the piano. This is 100% not true. These apps are not effective, and they are not replacements for getting a teacher, since an app cannot differentiate different dynamics, musicality, and other nuances that a player does. It can only tell if someone plays the correct note and if it's on time. I also didn't understand his points on how these games are inclusive for all students. I'm assuming that what he's trying to say is that these apps are fun, so everyone participates in the activity. If so, that is not a good long-term solution for when those students get older and more challenging tasks are given to them. Overall, I disagreed with many of his arguments, but I guess the children in the video played quite well, so I'm pretty sure he is a good teacher.

[@hassankhoshsiar6760]

Hi Mr Virag it's me parham

[@amelia-tz3kb]

Hes my music teacher

[@petergouzouasis2716]

NIce job, Zoltan.Well done. Like professor, like grad student :-)

[@Manu-kk9ce]

It’s manu

[@youye-000]

He is my teacher lol

[@moderndaywarrior5775]

If our current music education system is so wonderful, why has instrumental music completely disappeared from our culture? Instrumental music in the United States really doesn't exist outside of government funded institutions, even though there are thousands and thousands of adults in this country who participated in instrumental music ensembles in school. Those adults have no respect or appreciation for instrumental music or the people who have dedicated their lives to composing it, performing it, and teaching it. Those adults think instrumental music is stupid and boring, just like adults who did not participate in instrumental music ensembles in school. Adults who think instrumental music is stupid and boring do not support music education. Music education is dying because even people who participated in music education do not care if it lives or dies.

[@hopps118]

That guy was the worst teacher in be ever had

[@moderndaywarrior5775]

The only people who really care about music education are music educators. There are thousands and thousands of adults in this country who participated in school music ensembles when they were in school and few, if any, of them care if music education lives or dies. This is why music education is dying. Short-sighted and self-serving music educators don't want to waste precious rehearsal time teaching their students the significance of music education. Music educators don't receive plaques or trophies for teaching their students the importance of music education. Music "educators" also don't want to waste time teaching their students the significance of the people who have dedicated their lives to composing, performing, and teaching the music performed in school music ensembles, or even the significance of the music itself. This is why music education is dying.

[@TheVanwayne]

+Modern Day Warrior There's no need to blanket every aldult as a music hater you douche. Music education isn't dying. What are you on about?

[@TheVanwayne]

+Modern Day Warrior Seriuosly what are you even talking about?

[@TheVanwayne]

+Modern Day Warrior Where did you get this information?

[@TheVanwayne]

+Modern Day Warrior You just made it up.

[@TheVanwayne]

+Modern Day Warrior You actually talk so much shit.

[@Manu-kk9ce]

Lol parham

[@benzqoa]

Wtf he is up there lol