Music Education in The United States - Introduction of Technology

Introduction of Technology

Throughout the history of music education, many music educators have adopted and implemented technology in the classroom. Alice Keith and D.C. Boyle were said to be the first music educators in the United States to use the radio for teaching music. Keith wrote Listening in on the Masters, which was a broadcast music appreciation course. Another advocate who promoted the use of technology was Marguerite V. Hood, who was born on March 14, 1903 in Drayton, North Dakota. Hood graduated high school early, at the age of sixteen. She then attended Jamestown College, in Jamestown, North Dakota where she graduated with degrees in romance languages and music, and minors in history and English.

Hood's professional career led her to Montana in 1923, where she pursued teaching, writing, and public speaking. In 1930, Hood became Montana's second state music supervisor. During Hood's teaching career, the radio was used as an educational tool. Montana received poor radio reception because of the mountain interference, so Hood created local radio station broadcasts. Hood began the music education radio broadcast project, Montana School of the Air, in 1937. These broadcasts aired weekly on four radio stations. Using the radio for educational broadcasts received positive reviews because it allowed students to be reached all over the United States during the unstable time of the Great Depression. Radios were cost effective and could reach isolated, rural schools.

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) played a major role in music education. NBC would broadcast musical examples for students enrolled in public school. Walter Damrosch directed the radio program, Music Appreciation Hour. In the course of this broadcast, teachers were able to obtain the musical selections in advance along with student notebooks and teacher instruction manuals. Two other popular music broadcast programs were Alice in Orchestralia and the Standard Symphony Hour. These broadcasts were an innovative teaching strategy which promoted and encouraged active listening and music appreciation. Prior to the radio, listening to music was limited to live performances and the skill of the teacher to play music, specifically on the piano.

The impact of the radio in the 1930s can similarly be compared to some of today's technology, such as iPods, compact discs, and computers. Technology has become much more widely available in the classroom since the 1930s. Today, children have access to many musical devices and options that were not available in the 1930s. In essence, technology has been used in music classrooms throughout the United States with the intent to improve the quality of music education for students.