Stetson School of Music Marching to a Different Drummer

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Stetson School of Music Marching to a Different Drummer

9/12/2006

By Linda L. Briggs

Document cameras, often referred to as ELMOs because of a leading manufacturer (ELMO USA Corp.), have been used in classrooms for years. They function like a high-tech version of the opaque projector of years past. The document camera can either be table- or ceiling-mounted, and ties to a large-screen projector. The document beneath the camera is projected onto a classroom screen for students to view; the cameras supplement or sometimes replace a classroom blackboard or whiteboard.

But at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, an hour north of Orlando, the school of music has elevated ELMOs to a new height. Instructors there are using the camera setup in new ways, such as helping music students learn by putting music scores under the document camera while the music on the score is being played.

The Stetson School of Music curriculum includes performance, music education, composition, and digital arts. Students are offered a variety of performing opportunities, including symphony orchestra, band, choirs, opera, musical theater, jazz, chamber music, and solo music. Classrooms throughout Stetson’s School of Music are equipped with ELMO ceiling-mounted and desktop document cameras, projectors, and screens.

While ELMOs are common in classrooms these days, the music school is doing something different. Gerry Ewing, Stetson’s Director of Instructional Technology, explains, “we’ve done something that we think no one else has done.” At Stetson, classroom screens display images from the ELMO cameras while sound systems play the music associated with displayed images. By using the document cameras, instructors can display images from books, pictures, musical scores, and even drill charts for marching bands.

“This should be done everywhere,” Ewing says. “It’s such a great notion.” Previously, faculty would hand out paper copies of the music, which were shared among students. But with the document camera, instructors can display a single copy of the score to the class, and as the music plays, “instructors can circle things, they can point out things, they can go back and review.” The camera system is especially useful for displaying music because it can be used to show images of large charts or pictures placed on a table. Through a remote control unit, instructors can zoom in and display specific areas.

The system is tied in to the school’s backend Blackboard system, so the instructor’s notes are saved and can be downloaded later by students.

Another interesting use that Stetson has made of the document cameras, Ewing says, is for studying halftime maneuvers for Stetson’s performing band. In that use, ceiling-mounted ELMO cameras are used to present large drill charts to students studying marching band techniques – how to write, drill, and teach marching bands as future band directors.