OneNote in the Music Classroom

Microsoft OneNote for Teachers

As a Surface Pro 3 user, one of the powerful tools at my disposal is Microsoft's OneNote.  While I have used it for personal use (particularly for taking quick notes), it is a powerful resource for use in the classroom as well.  It is important to note that OneNote is not just for Microsoft hardware users, but it must be downloaded by most non-Microsoft devices since it is not a native program for them.

This post specifically addresses the use of OneNote for Teachers as a high potential resource for classroom educators.   One of my biggest struggles in the classroom is managing all of the different aspects of teaching in a myriad of locations.  It is often the case that I use multiple platforms for different needs.  Most of my administrative work happens with Office documents/Google Docs/Google Drive while my gradebook is managed in ProgressBook.  My classroom lessons (the ones involving technology) typically use websites or Google Classroom.  Communications happen mostly through e-mail, texting and website posts - so there are a number of different platforms in which I tend to operate on a daily basis.

A Multitasker

Microsoft OneNote for Teachers is one platform that is designed specifically to streamline the many platforms educators typically juggle with.  The ability to integrate highly personalized and interactive lesson plans into the program itself, along with connected grading, e-mail, easy linking and cross-platform connectivity is a powerful tool on in an educator's belt.  On OneNote's website, they even show a video with examples from a biology classroom, music classroom and geography classroom.  The music classroom piqued my interest for obvious reasons, but more so because of the built in ability to add audio or annotations.  This is a critical point for me, since I often like to walk my students from point to point in my lessons allowing them to engage with the material in a meaningful way at each point.  This sort of "guided tour" curricular model would be particularly powerful with differentiation and pacing in the classroom.

Here is a screenshot from the tutorial demonstrating the music lesson and annotation abilities with embedded audio interaction:

And here is the tutorial video for creating an interactive lesson such as this.

Another advantage of this sort of program is the ability to provide enrichment to each student that is more customized to them.  The interactive lesson concept allows students who might struggle to pace themselves more slowly while the students who have mastered the concept can move ahead.  The teacher could provide additional materials at the "end goal" of the lesson that could help to solidify/reinforce what was taught during the lesson.

This above example is just one way that OneNote for Teachers could be used in the classroom, but I encourage you to go to this website for further reading!