MX GEOSOUNDS FINAL DOCUMENTATION

 Well, we really started developing Geosounds as a way to teach the growing population of digitally native children new ways of exploring and developing an understanding for basic principles of music. The cognitive skills that are byproducts of music education are what really drove us to find a solution.

The student Hub allows students to revisit the classroom experience

The rollover states of the site

Students can hone in on one fundamental while scrubbing

Graphs give the teacher a quick assessment of the classes progress

A portion of the site allows for user generated content to be shared (edited curriculum by teachers)

Lessons on a timeline. comprehensive notation

Those lessons are utilized by the table.

Clicking and dragging of the nodes allows for alterations by teachers

New tones can be added to each shape and lesson to add for unique experiences

Teachers can revisit the classrooms accomplishments during freeplay

MX: student hub visual direction

Moving forward Patrick and I tried to keep the simplicity of our first visual direction and use the

MX: visual directions

MX: branding the concept

as for now we have landed on the name geosounds. The idea is that the prefix geo relates to the inherent geometry of our platonic solids. Geometry too is the study of the earths most basic shapes and forms which ties in appropriately with our system of fundamentals relating to music. Sounds, well sounds obviously is about the sound created during the learning process. Geosounds.

MX: SPATIAL WIREFRAMES

Today in class we took a look at a scenario from our wire-frames we built out to walk through our music education concept. We chose to take a look at how information could be depicted in three dimensions regarding the modules, levels, platonic solids, and tangibility of our interface. The marsh mallows represent levels and exercises all connected to the noodle ( a module ) as an experience. The cups represent our platonic solids having layers of information and tactility.

Early Childhood Music Education

Learning the fundamentals of music theory at a young age Patrick Drake and I

We have constructed a group of platonic solids that react to touch with color and sound. These objects will be utilized by children to 1. complete lessons created by the teacher and 2. explore. In addition to our 3-d objects (our individual device/ small screen) the medium screen is a touch sensitive table that reacts to the user and platonic solids. The table displays an interface that takes the children through the activities as they explore individually or in groups. The table displays user information, class modules, progress, and visuals for the children to follow along with. The hub is located online in a larger network that can be accessed from an iPad, laptop, or desktop. The hub allows teachers to monitor the class, create lessons, and share lessons. For students, the hub displays their progress in the class as well as recordings of objectives and “free-play” sessions. Our community of kindergarten music classes can benefit from this system in multiple ways. Music education is known to have bi-products that enhance the cognitive skills of developing minds. By creating a simple tangible object (rather than just touch) that targets different fundamentals of music theory, we hope to bridge the gap between technology and music for young children which is something xylophones and boom sticks cannot offer. It is also hard for teachers to totally understand whether or not each child is keeping up with the exercises and retaining the information. With the hub, not only will the instructor have a better grasp of how to tailor to each student or group but the parents too, will be able to monitor their child’s understanding of music theory.

SENSE of COMMUNITY

McMillan & Chavis' Psychological Sense of Community consists of four parts: Membership, Influence, Integration & fulfillment, and Emotional Connection. For me, the last component is the most important of the four. It is perhaps what makes community a "community." It is what makes people want to continue membership, influence others, and fulfill personal and group needs.


Little League— Possibly the first Sense of Community I can remember.

Athletic teams have incredible psychological senses of community. I was put in city league sports at a young age by my parents. For us kids, it was at the time, very much based on emotional connection. This is where most of my friends came from. We wanted to play sports, and our parents wanted something for us to do outside of school, so the most obvious thing to do was to sign up for a team. It aligns closely to McMillan's example of the rec team having a sense of community. What made little league memorable was the time spent together with the families. It was more than my teammates and I relating on a loss or win. It was Just by us playing on the same team created this sense of belonging for us kids as well as our parents. We had common goals and interests that made us proud to be a part of the team. There were a lot of "firsts" in those years that made us relate and bond with one another.  Blood (minimal amounts), sweat, and tears, right? 

MX- The Beginning

Its easy to laugh at this video but it is interesting that in our culture we are starting to rely so much on user generated content. Contribution to the internet in any subject, no matter how frivolous it may be, we are concerned with learning from each other and teaching one another. The theory of multiple intelligence has been of interest to me recently as ive been listening to lectures on lateral thinking and new modes of solving problems. Being aware of the fact that slower doesn't necessarily mean less intelligent is something that will and is shifting the way teachers interact with their students. If we foster this thinking, some serious problem solvers will emerge from the next generation. Ken Robinson poses the grand question of, how do we educate for the future based on the past? What we collectively have decided over time, as to be the steps to success, are not necessarily true anymore. Things are changing rapidly and education must learn to flex with the times. GoodMagazine has a series of videos called future learning that I have been following for a while. Its amazing what groups can do. Ken says something like, " we used to call it cheating, and now its called collaboration"
Mitra's experiments boil down to collaboration being key to the future of learning. There is a vast bucket of information that anyone can tap into. This has changed the role of teacher and student. The one to one model is out. Problems will be solved in groups, not by one single genius.