Introduction
In March 2020, as the novel coronavirus Covid-19 was spreading quickly around the world, school districts in the United States were forced to close down due to quarantine and stay-at-home orders across the nation. Students cheered for an extended Spring Break. Parents worried about finding childcare. Many teachers were left to figure out how to continue teaching with little to no training or preparation. Many teachers were given a week's notice to figure out what to do, and they made it happen. Thanks to digital teleconferencing platforms such as Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams, teachers organized live lessons with their students. Teachers also used other technology, such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Blackboard, and Canvas, to supplement learning for their students. Distance Learning was frustrating for many teachers, students, and parents to coordinate. For the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, this is what school looked like for students across the country and around the world. "Distance learning can result in students and teachers feeling isolated and disconnected, which can impact engagement, achievement, and attrition. Perhaps the greatest challenge teachers and schools face in this pandemic is how to maintain relationships that have been nurtured for the first three-quarters of the school year." (Peterson, 2020)
While students and teachers transitioned to online learning, a whole other group of students and teachers wondered what this meant for arts programs. How do you teach meaningful and engaging music and art lessons online? Where do the arts fit in? Parents, administrators, and school boards sometimes look at the arts programs as something nice to have in schools, but they do not consider them essential to the education of students. However, for many teachers and students, the arts programs are crucial to their well-being. "Performing arts are one of the few highly emotive and inherently collaborative subjects left in schools. They are therefore uniquely capable of developing social and emotional skills, including adaptability, emotional recognition, empathy, creativity, grit, and confidence. Through music education, students can develop strong listening, communication, critical and creative thinking skills, as well as the ability to work as a team." (Levitt, 2020) Music students and teachers aren't used to making music by themselves. Many teachers have been teaching private lessons online so that students may still have the opportunity to play and perform for their teachers. Playing music and singing live online as an ensemble is not currently an option, due to lag time on the teleconferencing platforms and varying internet speeds. However, students can record themselves and submit the recording to their teacher. Teachers can, with some knowledge in video editing, combine the submissions to create a virtual performance. At Troy Hofer Elementary School in Illinois, the music teacher arranged a Virtual Fine Arts Night, "Jammin' in your Jammies," where students performed and displayed their art online for over 250 Hofer families. (Troy Community School District 30-C, 2020)
Engagement strategies used during online distance learning were many of the same that were already used in visual and performing arts classes. Many music teachers already incorporated some level of technology into their classroom instruction, whether it be in the form of submitting recorded assignments or taking a quiz online. Now, however, music teachers had to get even more creative. Interactive learning would take on a more prevalent role as teachers implement tools to engage students in online music learning. Many learning products exist online for supplementing music education. One product that stands out and uses several different strategies is Chrome Music Lab. https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments. "Many teachers have been using Chrome Music Lab as a tool in their classrooms to explore music and its connections to science, math, art, and more. They've been combining it with dance and live instruments." (Google, n.d.) On the main page, there are 13 different experiments from which to choose. Each activity has features that are fun and educational, but this report will focus on the first experiment, "Song Maker." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqncqSxIwgc&t=19s
Curiosity
When you begin a new project in Song Maker, you are driven by curiosity to create. There is an empty slate in front of you, just waiting for you to make it your own. "Curiosity is aroused by uncertainty or a desire to close a perceived gap in one's knowledge due to such things as unanswered questions or unresolved conflicts." (Reiser, 2018) Click on a spot and a note sounds. Click on a different space and a different note sounds. Click and drag the mouse up and down and all around, and many different notes are produced. Click on the various instrument pictures at the bottom to hear the notes played on different instruments. Speed up or slow down the tempo to listen to the music at varying speeds. Google calls these experiments because that is what you are doing; you are experimenting with sounds. When you have finished creating a song, you click save, and then you can share the link with your teacher, your friends, or the world.
Relevance
Ultimately, Chrome Music Lab is a game. Games are fun. Kids like to have fun. “All kids love music; it can motivate, set the mood, and excite them because music makes you feel. Music is inspirational and creative.” (Levitt, 2020) Creating music is very personal. The composer decides the tempo, the instrumentation, the melody and rhythm, and the lyrics if there are any. Not everyone will like every song they hear. When a student is asked to create an original song, that can be a daunting task. However, when a student is creating using Song Maker, it doesn’t feel as intimidating because it is fun. When learning is fun, it doesn’t feel like learning. “Relevance can also be achieved by creating meaningful challenges, especially for people with high needs for achievement, and giving them a measure of control over setting their goals and the means of accomplishing them.” (Reiser, 2018)
Positive Expectancies for Success
“A central concept related to building confidence in mastering learning tasks is that of control.” (Reiser, 2018) When creating in Song Maker, the creator has complete control. The teacher may give guidelines to follow, such as tempo, how many measures, or what instruments to use, but ultimately it is up to the student. When learning is fun, it doesn’t feel like work. There are no wrong answers when it comes to song-making. Therefore, students are much more likely to enjoy the opportunity to create their own songs. Teachers should offer constructive feedback after the song has been submitted. Students have fun creating their music, and they will be proud of their creation because they enjoyed making it. This technology sets student composers up for success. “The biggest loss during distance learning were annual rituals and traditions that the community holds sacred, including but not limited to graduation, sporting events, concerts, and retirement banquets.” (Peterson, 2020) One alternative to a missed concert would be to feature students’ recorded compositions in a video call for all to watch. Students stay motivated to create and perform for their school community.
Conclusion
Every student and teacher in America was affected by school closures last Spring. Many people had a rough time not being able to see their classmates and friends. Music students and music teachers especially had a difficult time; they still needed to make music, but they couldn’t sing or play their instruments together in an ensemble. Interactive learning environments created by the teachers encouraged students to continue making music. Many apps and online platforms incorporate games into learning to keep students engaged. Music education games and learning products motivated teachers and students to continue making music throughout this unprecedented time in our nation’s history. How will music education grow and change as a result? We are at a pivotal moment in history. Technology has undoubtedly played a significant role. It will be interesting to look back ten years from now to see how music education has changed as a result.
References
Google. (n.d.). Chrome Music Lab. Retrieved from Chrome Music Lab: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
Levitt, N. (2020, March 13). Don’t Forget Music Education Amid Coronavirus Closures. Retrieved from Thrive Global: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/dont-forget-music-education-amid-coronavirus-closures/
Peterson, L. (2020, June 29). A rapid response to COVID-19: one district’s pivot from technology integration to distance learning. Retrieved from Emerald Insight: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0131/full/html
Reiser, R. A. (2018). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, 4th Edition. New York City: Pearson.
Troy Community School District 30-C, L. O. (2020, May 14). Troy Students Continue Music Education During COVID-19 . Retrieved from Patch: https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/troy-students-continue-music-education-during-covid-19
Song Maker: Task Mastering
Song Maker is app that is very close to a DAW program. It allows you to create a musical piece. The notes are placed by touching, clicking, singing, or using a midi keyboard. People who are already musically inclined and want to learn to compose their own music will be very engaged in this. It will help them with mastering composition. Using an instructive etude will create or improve the learner’s technique. Pupina said that it is not to demonstrate performing skills in mastering all its components or to embody author’s reflection, but to develop and improve students' practical skills (2020). This will work for distant learning and will allow for one to try and master…
This case study discusses Song Maker, a Chrome Music Lab website, as a tool used by music educators for distance learning. Recent events keeping classrooms closed have required a bit of ingenuity on the part of fine arts teachers who rely on in-person and group instruction to convey and evaluate learning.
Engagement Method 1: Stimulation of Curiosity
Opening up the Song Maker app alone gives the excitement of a completely blank canvas. For a music student, they have complete freedom to experiment with music composition in a way they might not have experienced from in-person instruction. Reiser and Dempsey (2017) write “curiosity is aroused by uncertainty” (p. 80). Making music becomes a Problem Based Learning (PBL) assignment, where perhaps there…
There have been many significant advances in technology that have impacted the way in which society functions from day to day. These advances have helped to improve livelihood, decrease the amount of time that it takes to perform both personal and professional functions, connect family and friends, and the list goes on. Learners who have grown with these tech improvements such as the use of a microwave and libraries on the internet seemingly have an advantage in that many of the tools necessary for success are readily accessible. While this perspective is prevalent, it is critical for educators to understand that having tools and knowing how to utilize them are not synonymous. Reiser & Dempsey (2018) provide several ways in…
While checking out some of the features of Google Chrome Music Lab I ran across this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j9VELn-Xps. I'm so impressed and intrigued that in lieu of completing assignments, I want to go play!
This is so impressive because I can only imagine the hours that students can spend engaged with this tool. I think that this product can also be motivating in helping the learners believe that there are skills there that can be mastered. At the end of the day, they are allotted the opportunity to experience something they themselves created.
How awesome to use something similar to the video I posted to teach specific assignments! You can use music to cross teach multiple subjects and take advantage…
I agree; the emotive power of music is often taken for granted in school curriculums. It’s especially challenging as recent studies indicate emotional responses and cognitive activation occur simultaneous, and not separately as previously believed (Darby, 2018). While I imagine many administrators understand that, there is still a stigma against activating emotions in learning.
The Chrome Music Lab, and other similar music creation tools, are invariably vital during the pandemic. Burnard and Dragovic (2015) make the connection between collaborative music-creation and improved well-being (p. 373). Though physically distant, sharing music created in the program between students recreates certain successful elements of the study, such as autonomy, togetherness, competence, and co-creation by encouraging a more collaborative process which address basic psychological…