Last year I completed all of the physics requirements in my degree. This meant that at times I was much more a physics student than a music student or an education student. I wouldn't say that I was out of my element but I certainly was not in it at the start of the year. Throughout the year I learned many amazing things- some of which were easily translatable to the other subject areas that I was studying or even to my daily life. One thing that has recently come in handy is the use of Open Source Software. Some of you may already know about this stuff and use it on a regular basis but I really hadn't started exploring the Open Source world until last year in my lab course.
The general idea of Open Source Software is to provide people with an accessible version of software that can help one become more productive in their learning, business, research, or whatever else. Once someone has used the Open Source Software of their choice the idea is that this same person will then iron out some of the kinks that they may have experienced in the software and then put that up for others to access. Then, throughout the years, this software will become better and better and continue to keep up with the times. The problem that one can sometimes run into is that these programs may not be very user friendly or they may be very new with many kinks to be ironed out.
For the many years that I have been in music school I have been putting off buying certain software such as Sibelius and Band-In-A-Box because they cost a little bit more than I was willing to pay for them. Last week I was finding myself in need of their services but my Sibelius trial had just expired. After a moment of wondering what I would do, I decided that I would try to find an Open Source alternative. After about 5 seconds of searching through the Google results I found an alternative called MuseScore. After a 30 second download I have been able to enjoy all that I required of a notation program. I honestly feel as though I have to watch what I say because it feels like I just stole software, but I didn't! I was just able to experience the miracle that is Open Source Software.
The thing is, in taking part in this software one cannot simply expect to be a consumer forever. Eventually it will be time for you to contribute to the Open Source community- to pay forward what other people helped you obtain by developing next generation's software or by simply updating and editing the old software. Not that anyone will force you to do so but it just is not cool to take advantage of other people's ideas and work without contributing any of your own. Not meaning that you must know how to enhance the programming of an application before using anything but just that you will one day pay forward these resources that these developers have given to you.
In the end, my reflection for the week is simply about being diverse. It is a good thing to be diverse: to try things that are outside of what you would usually do and to really learn as much as you can from every experience that have. I have always been a believer of this and I think that as teachers we should encourage students to be versatile and holistic in their learning. Some of our students will be the next top notch physicists, professional athletes, architects, and musicians but I truly believe that in order for these students to be the best that they can be they must be able to relate to the concepts that they play with from many different perspectives. I believe that the best learners are indeed versatile learners. If I had not paid attention in my physics courses I would not know about the world of Open Source Software. If Shaquille O'Neal had not been a team leader during his NBA basketball career he would have had a much more difficult time relating to his doctoral research (about how CEO's and principals use humour in the workplace). I simply believe that there is value in having a broad range of interests and we should encourage our students to pursue these interests, but make sure that they are constantly reflecting on how these varied experiences relate to one another.
Lesson for the week: There is value in diversity. Take every opportunity that you can to broaden your worldview as these opportunities will help you learn concepts, both old and new, in ways that you could have never understood before.
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