BP9_Final Project

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

David Middlebrook

Brief Overview: A RILS will be carried out with a small group of students in an after-school setting. Since the project will be implemented during the first week of instruction for the new school year, I will have to utilize returning students for the project. The students will collaborate in groups of two and utilize a web 2.0 tool to create music from readily available music tracks, beats, and loops. The project will be very hands-on, teacher facilitated, and learner-centered. Once students have been given the basic rules for the project, they are free to explore, collaborate, and design some new music in any style available through the tool. Once the music is created, the teams will create a tutorial for other classes on how they used the tool to create music.

•    Target Audience-

•                Two to four high school band students grades 9-12

•                After-school setting (eventually in the regular school setting)

•                2 to 3 hours

•    Materials–

•                Computer with broadband Internet access

•                Speakers or headphones

•                M Audio interface and microphone

•                Musical instruments if needed

•                Aviary account

•                Screencast-o-matic account

•    Objectives– At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to:

•                Evaluate two different web 2.0 creation music tools (Aviary Myna and     Roc)

•                Differentiate the capabilities between the tools and determine which they  
              will use to create their music.     

•                Create music paying attention to form, style, and musicality.

•                Demonstrate how they implemented the tool by creating a screen capture video utilizing            
             Screencast-o-matic.

•    Procedure–

1.     Students will be introduced to the web 2.0 tools Aviary Myna, Roc, and Screencast-o-matic.

2.     Allow the students to watch any of the tutorials listed here. 

3.     In their groups, students will assign roles as needed in order to build their music creations. These roles could consist of: Creative artist, Media producer, Mix engineer, and Documentarian.

4.     At this point, students should be given time to experiment with styles and sounds to come up with one that works for them.

5.     The producer and artist collaborate on ideas to help the engineer with dropping the correct beats, as well as the supporting instruments that are supplied by the tool.

6.     Once the music is created, give them an opportunity to record any available instruments into their creation to add more effect.

7.     Have the groups demonstrate their project to the other groups and explain their process in creating it.

8.     Have each group self-evaluate their project:

o   What did you like/dislike about the project?

o   How could you improve upon what you did?

o   How could you explain the steps in doing this project?

9. Have each group create a screen capture using Screencast-o-matic.com describing the steps necessary to create their project that could be utilized in another class.

•    Web 2.0 Tool– Aviary Myna and Roc are web 2.0 music creation tools that are very different in nature. Myna is a music creator that gives the client 10 music tracks where they can record in, or utilize the available music loops and sounds to design their own music with. Roc is a much different program that doesn’t show tracks with sound wave visuals, but has tracks with a series of on/off buttons in order to tell the sound when to play or be silent. This one is good for creating a looped beat. Screencast-o-matic is an online screen capture tool.

•    Social Participation/Social Learning– The learners during this RILS will have plenty of opportunity to work with their peers in a collaborative environment. Each person in the teams will be responsible for a different segment of the project and the team will make decisions as a team on how to implement the project as a whole.

•    Making Connections– This scenario will help the learner connect on multiple levels.

   v Students will use previous knowledge about music form, styles, and theory to create.

   v Students will pick a style of music that is familiar to them.

   v Students will share their creation with their classmates, other teachers, administrators, and parents.

•    Create/Produce – The end product will be either an mp3 transferred to their player, or a CD to take home, and a video tutorial to share with other classes.

•    Assessment – *See the following rubric.

•    Reflection – Students will document their ideas about their project using the following questions as prompts.            

v Did you like/dislike your project?

v What would you have changed if you disliked it?

v What advice could you give other students if they are to use the tool?

The teacher will document or videotape a narration regarding the use of the tool, the process used to utilize it, the usefulness of it, and the possible outcome.

*RILS Assessment Rubric

	25 points	20 points	15 points	10 points
Music Creation through loops and sound clips	Learner created a complete song following conventional song form and converted to mp3 or wav form.	Learner created a complete song following conventional song form but did not convert to mp3 or wav form.	Learner created a song but did not follow conventional song form, nor converted it to mp3 or wav form.	Learner did not create a song.
Form and style	Learner made critical decisions about the style and form of the song in a collaborative effort.	Learner made decisions about the style and form of the song with some collaboration.	Learner made decisions about style but no collaboration was present.	No decisions were made about form and style and no critical thinking was present.
Reflection	Learner participated in the reflection and gave insight into a deeper understanding of the topic	Learner participated in the reflection and showed a basic understanding of the topic.	Learner participated in the reflection but gave basic comments like “It was good” or “I didn’t like it”	Learner did not participate in the reflection.
Tutorial	Learner created a screen capture tutorial and described in detail the steps in creating the music.	Learner created a screen capture tutorial and described the steps with some detail.	Learner created a screen capture tutorial with very few helpful details.	Learner did not attempt to created a screen capture tutorial.

·      Reflections and Recommendations                   

           

            The RILS project was a great introduction into introducing web 2.0 tools to my students. The students involved in the process were asked to meet after school, since this was the first week of the instructional year. My plan called for one to two hours of time to complete the project. When I actually implement this with a larger group I will consider increasing the time needed to complete the tasks.

            Students involved in using Aviary Myna, Roc, and Screencast-o-matic, were completely excited about playing with the new tool. They were engaged in the process, and were quickly able to navigate the tool and create a product. It took longer than expected to complete parts of the project due to some technical difficulties but the students were still able to complete their assignment.

BP9_RILS Publication from David Middlebrook on Vimeo.