Selecting Courseware

by Peter Workman

Ten years ago there was a relatively small selection of programs to choose from and the biggest question was “Take it, or leave it?” With the plethora of high quality courseware available, the educator’s task of selecting software for classroom use has become much more involved. Software can be evaluated based on two primary considerations:

Curriculum Content
What does this software teach? How closely does it tie in with my curriculum? Software can be sorted into the following categories:

* Early Musician Development - Teaches and reinforces early music skills
* Music Reading Skills - Teaches and reinforces note names
* Listening & Performance Skills - Involves interaction using rhythm, melody, or harmony
* Music Theory - Teaches or reinforces written music theory skills
* Keyboard Studies - Covers the rudiments of playing piano.
* Jazz & Improvisation Studies - Assists with improvisational skills
* Band & Orchestra Pedagogy - Teaches or reinforces instrumental music techniques.
* Music Appreciation/History & Composers - Teaches or reinforces music history.

Instruction Type
How is the material presented? How easy/difficult is it to use? What is the appropriate age/grade level? Listed below are some common methods of presentation:

* Tutorial - Software used to tutor students. It introduces some type of musical concept (s).
* Drill and Practice - This drills the student in a repetitive way on a given musical concept or concepts.
* Exploratory - This type of program has no definite starting and stopping point for the student. The student can branch from one area to the next.
* Regimented - Definite starting and ending point. The student must start at point “A” and go through point “B” to get to point “C”.
Simulation - Simulates an environment or activity.
* Gaming - Reinforces curriculum content through some type of game or arcade environment.
* Testing - Tests students for purpose of evaluating whether or not (and to what degree) they have learning the targeted concepts.