Collaboration
Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using Skype's free videoconferencing technology.
Joseph Pisano, a music professor and conductor at Grove City College, and Travis Weller, a composer, instrumental music instructor, and director of bands for grades 7-12 at Mercer Area Middle School and High School, are working together to explore the teaching potential in Skype, the well known Internet communication tool owned by eBay.
Using Skype, both educators have invited experts in the music industry into the classroom for two-way conversations from remote locations. Students and guest speakers can see and speak to each other through a broadband Internet connection using Skype software along with a Web camera and a microphone connected to a computer. In addition, the classroom includes an LCD projector along with the Webcam and microphone in order to project a view of the guest speaker.
In a May concert, Pisano and Weller teamed up on a presentation that integrated real-time interviews with composers into student performances. Weller was conducting the students live in a concert hall before an audience of some 500 students, parents, and educators. The composers were included via Skype videoconferencing into a two-way interface with the audience, where composers commented on and addressed questions about the work being performed.
"We brought three noted composers live into a concert setting," Weller said. "We used Skype to bridge the gap between composers and audience and performers.... It made for such a more meaningful concert experience."
"Skype is a well known quantity" that almost all his students are familiar with, Pisano said. "It's very reliable and allows us to do things for free.... I've brought in a number of composers, some technology experts, and even some conducting experts."