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Glass and the Screencast feature

<excitedly> I finally got my iPhone working with Glass. When I picked up Glass from Google in November the Glass employee told me that, naturally, Glass would work better with an Android phone. 

Over the past couple of weeks I've spent time on the Glass Explorer community site reading posts and gleaning useful information. Screencast popped up in one of the forums as a tool for presentations. Basically, through shared wifi or bluetooth, the wearer of Glass can project what s/he sees onto a device, such as an iPhone, iPad or laptop (presumably.) I immediately went to work figuring out if this works for iOS software now or if it's strictly android. Finally.. FINALLY -- Apple caught up and an app appeared for Glass. 

After several halfhearted attempts, I got my Glass and my iPhone to pair and I can now see everything on my phone, and soon my iPad, that the wearer of Glass can see. 

Why does this thrill me? I'm using Glass more and more with kids and it's imperative that I be able to see what they see. Firstly, Google mistakenly did away with the safety feature - Guest Mode, that keeps people from seeing personal information such as calendar appointments and emails. So anytime I hand Glass off to the curious among me, I can't be sure they won't see the latest odd email chain circulating amongst my friends that links to the "Which Character Golden Girl Are You?" quiz, or that the balance on my PSE&G bill is over $200. Guest Mode was awesome - buggy, but awesome.

Secondly, using Glass with people new to the Glass interface can be challenging because I can't see what they see and thus cannot help them navigate without staring awkwardly at the backward projection. This is especially important for instructing the kids on how to use it. I am guaranteed I'll always know what they're doing. Also, when I get too close to Glass, it picks up my voice and follows the commands as I explain them to students. 

Armed with this new feature, and especially excited about Screencast, I'm off to work on a presentation for teachers on using Glass in the class.

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More Glass exploring with kids

Lately, though I have yet to write about it or even think about how I may present this info, I have been letting the kids use Glass in completely random, though educational ways - all in the moment, all of it just popping up as I see ways it can be useful. 

My impressions remain the same: This is a great personal tool for reflection and documentation. For archival purposes - both personal and educational, Glass stands out because it is handsfree. 

Student use for recording solo playing

I teach clarinet to beginning students, mainly 5th graders, though I have a couple of middle school students as well. My beginner class is comprised of 11 boys and girls, with a range of prior experiences in music. One student is a novice clarinetist but is achieving at a high level on the piano. Similarly, there is a wide range of motivation for and execution of at practice. I'd 75% do not pick up their horn between our weekly classes. I'd have to do the research to find this out, but I believe this is probably the norm for beginners. Thinking back to my own practice on the clarinet/piano/voice - I hated it until I got to a more advanced level and practicing began to pay dividends in the form of acceptance and high ratings at state and county ensemble competitions. Speaking to some of my colleagues in the music department, the percentage seems about the same throughout the sections, from flute to trombone. 

Another motivating factor for my kids has been the chance to use Glass to record their playing. Last week I sent two kids into the practice room, briefly showed them how to record - either by voice recognition or with the frame-mounted photo/video button. One child plays for the other and then they switch. This method of documenting their playing is providing opportunities for assessment that I formerly only had with teacher to student playing. Yes, this work can be done with an iPad, flip cam, or laptop camera, but again, handsfree really sells it for me. 

In another class, 5th grade general music, the dance teacher and I have been working on choreography and original [improvised] music to accompany ancient Chinese poetry. Perhaps I've mentioned this project earlier in my blog!? I had originally been using Glass to film the students as they dance/play for each other, but upon our return from Winter Break decided that they should record each other. So I handed Glass over to one student at a time - one who would be playing an instrument while his or her partner danced, and instructed them to record as their partner danced. Glass is really good at picking up the sound being made by the wearer. The music made is heard loud and clear. This use provides the students an artistic perspective in the performance of music and dance and also has them investing more seriously in their own performance because of the documentation. 

Another way students used Glass in the last two weeks was in recording a choral singer's perspective. An 8th grade boy took control this past week while we rehearsed for an upcoming concert. I understand fully that my voice is picked up clearly, but the kids don't quite know/get that yet. So this 8th grade boy recorded me conducting and by extension recorded himself singing his part within the context of a choral rehearsal. Again, more personal reflection for me as a choral conductor with unfortunate side effects - is it possible the camera adds more than 10 lbs? I catch myself lecturing them about being respectful: "That's all I ask," I say, after one 8th grade girl proclaims loudly that she hates a song we're singing. The really important piece to this form of using Glass was that I have this kid in a recording, singing! There's so much that I can do with that information. I can move him to a more appropriate voicing if needed, I can pull him for extra part help, and I can monitor his interactions with other students, among other uses.

As I continue to use Glass in class, I am looking for more ways to utilize the instantaneous computing component. I found a cool list of things to google with Glass, and I'm developing my own list to use with the kids in a music setting. 

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#throughglass #nycsnow

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#throughglass #nycsnow

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6th graders learn to count to ten in Arabic via YouTube.

#throughglass #musedchat

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"You're one of them,"

said my 6th grader after seeing me enter our morning check in room today with Glass on my face. 

"I was always one of them," I replied, one eyebrow raised.  He thought on that momentarily. 

I have this great [Glass] photo of another student, 5th grade, giving me the "Live long and prosper" sign yesterday. He likens my new eyewear to that of Geordi LaForge from the popular show Star Trek: The Next Generation. Though quick to compare Glass to LaForge's gilded, banana clip visor, the two are quite dissimilar. 

His VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) (OF COURSE it's an acronym) allowed LaForge to see - a prosthesis of sorts. Glass is no where near that cool. I mean, I can't even see ultraviolet or infrared, or anything along those lines, but I can capture every member of my choir singing (or not) during a rehearsal of our concert pieces, and that? Priceless! 

I took video of them singing this morning and reviewed it afterward. To my horror and annoyance, I can mostly hear my voice overly annunciating Hebrew text. Occasionally I call out to them advice on posture or vowel placement. So I hear a lot of me. On the other hand, I am also delighted to be able to see and hear them and pinpoint, say, when my part 3 boys have gotten lost and consequently stopped singing, or tune into the moment an 8th grader tunes me out and opens a beauty parlor in the third row, braiding the hair of the 7th grader in front of her.  What does this help me to do more than anything? Cues mainly, more attention to said sections or 8th graders. It helps me personalize their experience: Their experience in the ensemble, and their experience of me as the director of the ensemble. This is what I want: for if it's personal to them then "it" is sinking in. "It" is passion for singing and music, specifically the music we're singing and if they're passionate about the music, then they sing with joy, and if they sing with joy.. well, that's the icing on the cake. 

This is an excellent tool for personal reflection, too.  I have direct evidence of what I am and am not doing well as a choral director from my very own perspective. My college choir director, mentor, and friend, David Weiller of the University, Nevada-Las Vegas, would probably have plenty to say about this record of my teaching and what it reveals. I can hear his voice in my head almost: Ms. Klem - Be sure to put a button on it. This is like saying, "if you liked it then you should've put a [button] on it."(kind of) Finish up the song with praise or something to work on before going on to the next activity. Don't let the moment elapse without acknowledging what just happened. 

What just happened? Another use for Glass was discovered. 

#musedchat #startrek #throughglass

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"OK Class"

For those who know nothing about the operation or interface of Glass, it uses both voice recognition ("OK Glass, record a video) and touch via a touch pad on the arm of the Glass frame. 

I trotted it out in my 5th grade clarinet class last week to their amaze-/amusement. I tried to be all casual-like and pretend I wasn't wearing a bright orange, futuristic glass apparatus on my face. Since I've become very good at ignoring children yelling out in my general direction it was easy enough to get them seated, thus diverting their more pressing questions to a larger class discussion about Glass. 

We talked briefly about Glass in the music room, how I'd be wearing it most times we met, how they couldn't really use it just yet but that I would try to find a way to get them involved, and how it generally works through voice recognition and touch.  I ended up with great shots of them playing and video of our version of London Bridge. I'm working on blurring faces so that the video/photos can be shared here in a limited way.  

My other 5th grade classes of the day were equally amazed and interested in Glass. Two of my students - siblings in different classes, have actually met one of Glass' developers and were able to use Glass and get a sense for how it works. I'm always amazed by the people my students interact with in their family lives. (Notably, some years ago, a former student told me that she and her parents - philosophy professors, often had dinner with Noam Chomsky.) This moment was no exception. As the child of a Strip performer/musician growing up in Las Vegas, I only occasionally rubbed elbows with Siegfriend and Roy's elephant, but that was about it.

More thoughts on Glass' functionality/usefulness:

Fully charged, the low battery message came up after 29 minutes of video recording, with 29% battery remaining.

The outside case of the touch screen gets pretty warm when in constant use.

I now know I can take a photo and video record with the buttons. Declaring commands in the middle of a class can be rather disruptive. 

I can't stress enough how easy it is to photo/vid document what's happening in my class! Not just for archival purposes but important for assessment [in this overly assessing world in which we live]. 

Acoustic instruments can easily be heard in in videos; speaking voice, not so much. 

By the end of the lesson, one of my clarinet players began talking to her classmates as if they responded to voice recognition (ha - this would be a feat): "OK Class: Stop talking." Google, can you work on that one? 

Tomorrow? I roll out Glass in my 48 voice middle school choir! 

#googleglass #musedchat

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TSC's Library and a Pipa player from the group Music From China

#musicfromchina #musedchat #throughglass

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1st Class Glass

Well, I rolled out Glass in my after school clarinet/sax lessons today. 

Initial impressions: 

Video/Picture quality are both pretty good!

It's picking up instrument sounds very well, which is exactly what I thought/hoped would happen. 

The kids are crazy about it! 

Some eye strain from its use

The ability to take a photo of my beginning players in the moment is priceless! I got a great shot of one little boy who is having a hard time with his embouchure, so I set him up with the correct embouchure and took a pic so that he could bring it home to refer to. 

Tomorrow I'll use it with more clarinet players and two fifth grade classes.

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Glass-taken and shared to tumblr

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Caution: Glass everywhere

I picked up my Google Glass this week from Google's NYC offices in Chelsea Market. 

I'm such a nerd, I know this. To me there is nothing better than unwrapping a box of brand new technology. From the anticipation of opening the box, to the breathless waking remembrance that the device is sitting on the bedside table plugged in, fully charged, and waiting to be explored; I just love to use these new toys, and I know I am not alone. 

I knew a bit about what my appointment at Google would hold from my friend Eve Becker, who went through all of this some months ago.  I arrived to be greeted by a young man - mid twenties, perhaps, who lead me through reception into a wide open loft space with about twenty, beauty counter-type tables with attached mirrors placed in a staggered fashion around the room.  There were about five tables occupied with Glass staff and new customers. Each Glass employee - even in reception, was fitted with Glass. All were mid-twenties to mid-thirties.  

Matt was his name, and as we walked through he gave me a chance to choose a color for my Glass other than the one I had chosen online.  I put on each pair - white, slate, tangerine.. I think, and sky blue, maybe. I don't really remember the names, but I settled on the orangey-red pair. Indeed, veering away from my original, dull choice of slate. 

My host sent one of the workers off to get my Glass package. The black bag and enclosed white box, pristine presentation, were placed in front of me. I took out the box and slowly pulled the lid off. Inside of course, was my tangerine Glass. If a soundtrack had been playing at that very moment, exultant trumpets would herald the unveiling. I was very excited, and definitely told this fact to my young host more than once. 

Together we set up an account for Glass and walked through the features. It's a very intuitive platform - so far, and I am finding the voice recognition to be seamless, really. Though I sent a message to my friend Shaun, and Glass transcribed his name as SEAN, but maybe I'm just being picky. We took a picture from the loft's grand windows overlooking Chelsea - I've posted it on my blog directly from my Glass, and also set up features such as wifi and my iPhone's personal hotspot so that I can use Glass on the outside when there's no wifi.

I can use it to call people (through my phone), text, email, all via voice recognition. I called my mother last night using Glass.  Our connection was a little spotty and I ended up switching to my phone, but regardless, how cool is that!?

The rest of the weekend I will spend enabling some of the apps on the Glass site, as well as fleshing out some plans I've begun for use in my classroom.

My Glass host told me that Glass is not recommended for use with children under the age of 13 as their eyes are still developing and it could be detrimental. This, I say, is a great way for me to avoid letting them use it. They will all be interested, surely.

So, all new-toy fun aside, here's what I am thinking for uses in the first couple of weeks.

On the spot fingering help for private lessons. "Ok Glass, google how to finger an e-flat on the clarinet."

Google hangouts with remote music classrooms. Want to join me?

Recording excerpts of the class to be placed on the school website either for instructional purposes or for showcasing student work. 

My blog, well tumblr really, accepts photos and video directly from my Glass, so that's a whole other use for it. I don't know that I'd give students access to my blog - THIS blog, but I can see setting up a different blog for them to use where we can collectively store information for my music classroom. 

That's where I'm at with Glass right now. I'll unveil it in school on Tuesday of this week to my beginning clarinet players. I want to record each of them playing a short piece for assessment purposes. After that, I teach two fifth grades and plan to record them improvising music and dances to an Ancient Chinese poem. Eventually, I'd like to use these videos I take with Glass as additional media for a performance. Still thinking on that one.. 

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Photo taken with Glass from Google's headquarters in Chelsea. 

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Glass bag and box

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My adventures as a Googleglass Explorer of a certain age.

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Glass get prattle

I'm thrilled to be blogging, pre-Google Glass get, about the lead up to,  purchase of, and Music classroom implementation of this device.  With some trepidation I've named my blog Glassophobe, though it's not so named for my phobia of using glass - though that's making more sense now as I think about it. Actually, I pun as easily as I breathe - to the mild irritation of students and friends, and when attempting to come up with a blog title, Glassophobe seemed a perfect fit.

Glossophobia, famously defined in a Google advert by an adorable, mouth-jewelry clad adolescent, is the fear of public speaking. I am not a glossaphobe, no not at all. As a performer and teacher, I long ago got over any fear of being in front of audiences, big and small. Though were you to ask the 8 year old me to sing at a wedding and you'd hear a different story. 

I am, however, slightly afraid of using GLASS in public for fear I will be labeled a Glasshole, publicly castigated for having the device at all, and/or mugged. This is New York City, after all. A coworker, and friend - Eve Becker, who blogs on this very site, and is also piloting educational uses for Glass in the classroom, was shamed on Gawker recently for her use of Glass at a Banksy unveiling. The ensuing blog entry was picked up by Huffington Post and speaks to my fear quite nicely. 

As early as April I saw Glass out and about. People seem to be mostly keeping it under wraps though. I haven't seen it in the newly-wifi-connected subway stations beneath Manhattan, or in Starbucks or any other spot where people may be "resting productive". No, I was at a concert, Fitz and the Tantrums, and noticed a man with Glass. This was before I really knew anything about it, but anyone who pays attention to the news would recognize Glass upon seeing it. I assumed that like anything with which one has a heightened awareness, I'd see Glass everywhere once I'd seen it at all, but not so much.   

It seems the first wave of Glass Explorers - Eve is one, were given three invitations to pass along. Some said explorers are auctioning off these invites on eBay for a tidy sum, in fact. Eve put a call out to the faculty at our school and I jumped at the chance to join her in this quest to see just how Glass can be used in a school, and more specifically, in a music classroom.

To explore Glass one must be willing to part with $1500. I am not. I cannot. I won't have to, fortunately. My school will be picking up the tab, in part to support my work with Glass. The head of our technology department, Pablo Zatz, is also interested in Glass' usefulness in education, so with two devices on hand, more exploring can be done.

Eve submitted my name to Google, and I should receive notification from them shortly, confirming my participation as a Glass Explorer.  

So, this is the beginning of my journey with Glass. I'll share with you the process by which I get and learn Glass, and the ways in which I incorporate it into my life at school. I am already thinking of ways I can use it with students, but I'd love to hear from other educators/music educators. If you have anything you'd like me to try, please get in touch and let's start a dialogue. I am a 5th, 6th, and 8th grade general music teacher, clarinet teacher, and middle school choir director, but I have access to each grade, K-8. 

If you're interested in Google Glass in the English classroom, take a look at Eve Becker's blog.