b. Deciding Whether to Use ICT

There seems to be a wide range of options for dealing with this topic. The teacher could:

• Attempt to meet the objectives with live instruments only.
• Use a variety of pre-recorded pieces and seek to meet the objectives by discussing them.
• Use pre-recorded pieces available in digital form and have pupils alter instruments and sounds using composition software.
• Have pupils compose their own pieces and then submit them to modeling by the software.
• Have pupils use their own pieces, and compose straight to the software using the modeling functions of the software to influence composition.

Of course, combinations of the options are also possible, but we shall discuss them all, and your work will involve considering several of the options alone and together.

Questions for Consideration

• How many of the options above do you feel comfortable about at the moment, and could you suggest any others?
• What are the benefits and difficulties of using live instruments alone?
• What are the main differences between off-line composition and modeling-software influenced composition?
• Look again at the objectives for this case study - do you think any of them match up with the options listed?

Keep a short record of your responses to these questions for discussion with your mentor.

c. Selecting ICT Resources