Running head: TAKING BAND INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

Literature Review
Taking Band into the 21st Century Classroom with iPads
Zack Voll
Bowling Green State University

TAKING BAND INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

Introduction
The last 5 years have shown an enormous increase in technology use in the classroom
with one of the biggest influences being Apples iPad. The iPad will celebrate its 5th birthday in
April of 2015 and with each passing year more and more school districts are purchasing and
implementing the iPad in their classrooms. For some, perhaps its just a few iPads for individual
teacher use or an iPad cart for a single classroom us. Meanwhile, other districts are spending
thousands, even millions of dollars to use iPads for 1:1 instruction. In September, the Los
Angeles Unified School District began carrying out a $50 million plan to equip 30,000 students
in 47 schools from kindergarten through 12th grade with an iPad (Leonard, 2013). Proof that the
change is happening and administrations are recognizing the need to get with the times. Sadly,
many of the programs and resources that exist for technology purchasing and improvement focus
on CORE Curriculum and those of us in the Arts are forced to fend for ourselves if we want to
use this technology in our classrooms.

Background
iPads have been slowly integrated into music classrooms since their release in 2010
utilizing basic functions like audio recording and playback and the ability to make listening
examples more portable. As soon as music teachers began doing this though, they would start
saying Wouldnt it be nice if you could do this or that with an iPad? Slowly, app
developers have listened to, researched, and collaborated with music teachers to create apps that
could do the very things teachers had these grand ideas of. Now, the possibilities are virtually
endless with both Apple and third-party developed apps for the music classroom.

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Personally, I have been using one iPad in my classroom since December 2011. I started
by attending a Technology n Training Professional Development Day at the Northwest Ohio
Education Technology (NWOET) Foundation on the campus of Bowling Green State University.
The cost of the iPad was included in the registration fee which my school paid for and I havent
looked back since. I continue to addend professional development, collaborate with other
teachers, and research how to better use and evolve using the iPad in the classroom. Ive reached
a point now where I cant go much further unless we bring more of the tablets into the
classroom.

Research Findings
A study at Oklahoma State University concluded that 75% of students agreed that the
iPad enhanced their learning experience (Wainwright, 2014). Using these devices engages
students at a much higher level and is much more familiar to them since a majority of students
have touch-screen phones. This helps bridge the gap with the students traditional education
methods are losing. According to Open Colleges, 81% of U.S teachers think tablets can enrich
classroom learning, and 86% of students believe that tablets can help them to study more
efficiently (Wainwright, 2014).
In the music classroom, and more specifically the band classroom where I would be using
them, iPads present an entirely new medium for creating, practicing, and performing our music
and marching band drills. There is one high school band in Ohio that I am aware of that uses
iPads with every member of its band primarily during the marching band season. Beth Voll, my
sister-in-law, is the band director at Archbold High School in Archbold, Ohio and she was
interviewed by local and regional news affiliates for the bands use of iPads to learn their

TAKING BAND INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

marching band drill. The idea for using the iPad to learn drill came from the Ohio State
University Marching Band. We saw that they were using their I-pads for drill," says band
director Beth Voll, "and since we already had the I-pads, we figured maybe we could do the
same thing (Geftos, 2014). "I think it's a great way to meet the students where they're at and
bring the technology to them, which they're already using all the time," continued Voll (Geftos,
2014). She said, Technology comes second nature to these kids, so just showing them the
program, they probably know more about it than I (Pugh, 2014). It was later determined by Mr.
Geftos that Archbold was the only school in Ohio incorporating the iPads on the marching band
field in this way.
Benefits
With only one available example of a marching band using these tools, conclusive
benefits and challenges are not necessarily widely accepted but there are some very obvious
outcomes which favor the use of iPads.

Going Green: One of the largest uses of paper in school goes to its Arts department.
During the typical marching band season, every band member receives copies of music
and drill. This past season, each member of my marching band received at least 80
pieces of paper for music and drill from July through November. The band from
Archbold did the math and estimate for this season, they are saving more than 11,000
pieces of paper (Geftos, 2014). This also would save the time of making the copies and
distributing them allowing for more instructional time.

The best way to look at the other benefits are by looking at the benefits of the various apps we
can use.

TAKING BAND INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

DrillBookNext: This is the app used for learning marching band drill. The director
creates the drill formations using their computer. Once they are completed, PDFs each
students marching coordinates are created and then uploaded into the app on each
students iPad. They can then watch the formations and their particular spot move in
real-time. Something never possible with paper drill charts. Also, this allows the
director to make revisions without have to waist more paper.

forScore: forScore is a PDF Sheet Music Display app. Music is scanned into the PDF
format and then downloaded by the student. Once they open the PDF in the app, they can
turn pages, make markings, and even organize the order of the concert all in the app. The
issue of lost music is now a thing of the past and every student can then have access to
the music.

SmartMusic: SmartMusic is a subscription based rehearsal and performance assessment

tool. Exercises or songs are assigned to individual student accounts by the director.
Then, students can log onto their SmartMusic account to complete the assignment. It
records the performance and assess that performance in real-time giving the student
instant feedback. This also a way to avoid director bias or subjective scoring on playing
quizzes. Even when the teacher isnt there, a student can play a song receive feedback to
know what they need to fix. The student can submit their assignment and then it lets the
director listen to it so they can hear the students progress.

Endless Possibilities: One last benefit to mention is that you never know what the future
holds for technology like the iPad. Apps and accessories are always evolving to fit a
wider and more diverse base of users.

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Challenges and Limitations

Though there are many benefits to using this technology in the band classroom, one
cannot discount the challenges that come with using them or where it may not meet all of your
needs.

Stuff Happens: With electronics, it is inevitable that at some point they will break or
not work. A Guilford County, North Carolina school has run into this problem. Kids are
generally going to be hard on computers. Ten percent of the tablets already have broken
screens. In addition, one had actually melted after overheating because of a problem with
the charger (Brustein, 2013). The debate of intentional versus accidental damage is
constantly happening between students and administrators in buildings with school
provided 1:1 technology.

Apps: Youre at the mercy of the developers and the distributors. App distributors like
the Apple store can pull apps whenever they please without regard for the user.
Likewise, the developer controls updates, cost, and availability. An app that was free
when you got it one year may not be free another year. Along with this is in-app
purchases. This is where the app is free but in order to use it to its full capability,
purchases must be made from within the app. The SmartMusic app I mentioned earlier
cannot work unless each student pays a yearly subscription of $40 to use it on each
individual iPad.

$$$: There will always be extra costs that become necessary purchases to fully use your
iPad. Cases, protectors, and charges to name a few. The Los Angeles Unified School
District spent $678 per iPad after buying all of the add-on accessories and apps.

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Maintenance and Permissions: I have attended a number of professional development

seminars about group policy and management of mobile devices. Theres good and bad
news. The good news is the manufactures have done a good job of keeping up with the
times to make them safe for use in schools. The bad news is the students always try to
get around it and it takes more and more time to administer over these devices and keep
them current. Some districts employ a second or assistant tech coordinator strictly for
group policy purposes.

Conclusion
For me, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. That is, if we can get the money to
purchase these devices. That truly is the greatest hurdle. Granted there will always be a learning
curve to incorporating new technology but its worth it once you get the technology streamlined.
In order for the band room to keep up with the rest of the school, technology must be
incorporated on a regular basis and become an integral part of the class. For the Archbold
Bluestreak Marching Band, it's a mash-up of technology and tradition is keeping this band one
step ahead (Geftos, 2014).

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References
Brustein, J. (2013, October 11). Tablets in Schools: What Could Go Wrong? Retrieved
December 15, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-11/tablets-inschools-what-could-go-wrong
Geftos, T. (2014, August 24). Archbold Marching Blue Streaks going high-tech. Retrieved April
25, 2014, from http://www.13abc.com/story/26355931/archbold-marching-blue-streaksgoing-high-tech-on-field
Leonard, D. (2013, October 24). The iPad Goes to School. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/the-ipad-goes-to-school-the-rise-ofeducational-tablets
Pugh, D. (2014, July 30). AHS, OSU Marching Bands Learn Routines With iPads. Retrieved
August 25, 2014, from http://www.archboldbuckeye.com/news/2014-0730/Front_Page/AHS_OSU_Marching_Bands_Learn_Routines_With_iPads.html
Wainwright, A. (2014). 8 Studies Show iPads in the Classroom Improve Education.
Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://www.securedgenetworks.com/strategy-blog/8Studies-Show-iPads-in-the-Classroom-Improve-Education