EdTech in the Field

About a week ago, I eventually got a chance to teach one of my friends from China how to use SoundTrap, an online music production app I introduced in my last post. The process went not very well but it was still fun and educational. Here are some short responses to the reflection questions regarding this experience.

What did the guests learn or what skills did they gain as a result of this station?

- The guest has basic music knowledge and she learned how to cooperate with other uses when using the app making music

What did you do to prepare for the evening?

- It's funny that you ask. We have a 13 hours time difference so it was morning here in Platteville and it was night time in Wuhan, China. We actually didn't think it's going to be that hard but we forgot Google, Facebook and so on are blocked in China - even Zoom. So we end up using QQ, a Chinese instant messaging app to do the video call and screen sharing. 

How did you adjust for different age groups?
- I wouldn't teach this online to very young children or very old people because they need more direct and practical instructions to keep them on track. Also, latency is a huge problem. Music is about playing in time so for some students with bad networks, they will struggle to understand the time signatures because the audio and video they receive are laggy and delayed. 

If you could do it again, what would you do differently?
- If I could do this again, I'd do it in person so I can provide more hands-on help to the student. If I have to do it online then I'd do it with someone within the country so there's less latency.

Here's a screenshot of the experience.

Also here's the project we made - it's a very popular Chinese song called "学猫叫" ("Meow like a cat")
https://www.soundtrap.com/playlink/4e2315b0-16aa-4bd0-a4fd-28e1922a4ba4/

Choice Project

Recently I have discovered a great online app that can help students make simple music and beats. The website is called Soundtrap. It is so easy that I can finish making a small demo in less than 10 minutes. It requires some basic knowledge in terms of musical instruments and music theory but I believe anyone can figure out how it works just by playing around with it. I think it is a great tool for students who don't have access to a musical instrument to explore what each instrument sounds like and how they work in a band.

Although this app could be more useful in a music class, still it has great potential in an English class. I plan to use it in the creative writing classroom since students will be writing poems, lyrics and so on. I can have my students write some lyrics and come up with a melody in groups. Then have group members cooperate putting together a legitimate song in Soundtrap since multiple users can work on the same project together at the same time. By providing my student tools to make music, they will be more invested in writing creative poems and lyrics. In the end, they will have a sense of accomplishment.

If you are interested in the app, I highly recommend you buy a MIDI keyboard and it's going to make the best experience using Soundtrap. You can usually find a really good 25 keys MIDI keyboard under $50 which is way less expensive than buying a saxophone or a piano. Digital music production is now the trend!

Demo:

Demo mp3

Project:

https://www.soundtrap.com/signup?ref=f706bc935e6c45d44199ea43c51962ac

Feel free to add more to the song!