String Pedagogy Online Learning Community

String Pedagogy Online Learning Community

Grant:
Faculty Development Fund (FDF)
Academic Year:
2012 - 2013 (June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013)
Funding Requested:
$5,280.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
mhopkins
Overview of the Project:
The String Pedagogy Notebook (http://stringtechnique.com) is a website I began in 1995 while a graduate student here at U-M, as a final project for a course taught by Professor Emeritus Robert Culver. The original website contained a few web pages of notes taken from the class and included some images and a couple of videos. I was inspired by the idea that all people in the world, regardless of where they live, can get access to quality information about string pedagogy through the internet. From 1996 to the present I have continued adding more and more content to the website. Today the site has over 100 movies and over 100 images demonstrating techniques. Since this website first went online, I have received emails from people all over the world thanking me for the website. I have used the website as a "virtual textbook" for my string pedagogy courses, and have received emails from many colleagues at other colleges and universities that they use the site with their students as well. Many in-service teachers in schools and private studios use the site as a reference. Over the past decade websites have increasingly shifted to a "Web 2.0" model that features higher levels of information sharing and collaboration. The goal of this project is to convert the SPN into an "online learning community."

continued in project objectives...
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

Project overview:

Changing the design of the SPN from a virtual textbook to an online learning community will provide the students in my courses with new opportunities to participate in active learning activities, knowledge creation and sharing. Students will develop their problem solving and communication skills through the creation of multimedia projects demonstrating important concepts and teaching techniques. The new format will allow students to share their class projects within an online forum that is reviewed by their peers, U-M faculty, and by outside experts in string pedagogy. They will become active contributors to an important body of knowledge. Student contributions to the online learning community will connect them directly and immediately to the professional string pedagogy community outside the school. Students in the course become teacher trainers themselves, influencing all who come after them in the course. Their contributions remain on the website long after the course is over, providing them with lifelong reference material in the area of string pedagogy. Converting the site to an online learning community will enhance the Music Education Department and School of Music, Theatre and Dance's goals in the area of educational outreach.

Project objectives:

The purpose of the project was to convert my website for string pedagogy from a virtual textbook to an online learning community to provide the students in my courses with opportunities to develop their problem solving and communication skills by creating multimedia projects to demonstrate important concepts and teaching techniques.

Project Achievements:

Students in my MUSED 201, 202, 370, and 475 courses created pedagogical videos and contributed to the online learning community. Over the course of the project, I learned how to structure the assignments and guide students so that the projects were well-focused, pedagogically sound (rather than merely entertaining), and beneficial to the learning of students in my courses. I also learned about the variety of available tools for video creation, and the benefits and challenges when students create with mobile devices vs. higher-quality video production equipment.

Continuation:
My department has moved to using iPads and apps for video projects, along with M+Box for sharing, in the years since I received the grant for this project. The use of M+Box instead of a Wordpress/YouTube platform has helped address challenges I found using an online learning community approach. The Wordpress platform that was recommended to me for this project required ongoing updates, technical expertise, and was vulnerable to hacking.
Dissemination:
I frequently present on pedagogical topics at state and national conferences and share information about the website project with participants. I have shared information about the web project at our departmental retreats and at our graduate seminars, and collaborate with other faculty in my department to develop further technology initiatives.
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