Using Technology in the classroom

There are many pros and cons of using certain technologies in your classroom. The technologies I would use (some I also have elaborated on in other blog posts) would be, Sibelius and other music software, Youtube (computers in general), microphones (for recording purposes only), earplugs, (for safety), and playback devices to have students listen to themselves. Technologies that I would never use in a music classroom would be a SmartBoard, (they hold no place in a music classroom), a synthesizer, my students will learn to play their own instruments..I would never use a radio or tell my students to listen to the radio. The radio plays the "popular music" of today, i.e, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Diddy etc. These artists know how to create popular music that young generations love listening to, but chordally and when analyzed down to its fundamentals, they know absolutely nothing about music. Their music is not interesting, it is not fascinating, and half the time they don't even write their own music let alone how to create a proper chordal sequence. All of the popular music of today is I-vi-IV-V-I.
There are some technologies that are helpful in the classroom. There are many however that are not helpful. Technology can make students to feel overwhelmed, and as the teacher it will also overwhelm me. The students get better at their instruments not through CANVAS or any blog writing..but by physically taking part in playing their instruments. I will never use CANVAS to outline a unit of mine or to show my students specific topics. They don't want to learn how to navigate another website, their brains can hardly handle what we throw at them on a daily basis. I will use PowerPoint and demonstrations with real instruments if I want my students to learn about the nuances of the clarinet. If I need to teach the history of some composers, I'll use time-lines, PowerPoint, Word, Excel even!
My goal is to have my students to understand and comprehend the subject matter I present to them. We have been educating students for hundreds of years, just because new technologies exist doesn't mean it makes it easier for the students to learn..that is false. Be open to new technology, but relying on them can greatly prohibit learning.