Monday, February 8, 2010

Noteflight for Web 2.0

After my blog last week and discussing how there seemed to be few if any music web 2.0 sites purely devoted to the skills used in a general music classroom, I found a site that could be used immediately in many of the music classrooms across our district. Noteflight (http://www.noteflight.com) is a music composition tool that is free to use and publish music on. In general music and instrumental classes, students are required to create their own composition showing the skills of meter markings, appropriate note length, and correct question/answer musical statements.

Having just talked with a general music teacher and having her voice her frustration in how unreadable her students work was, this seems to be the perfect solution. As do most of the web 2.0 sites, Noteflight does require a student to have a working email address to sign-up for the site. It may be possible to have the students simply use the teacher's site, depending upon how many computers can be logged into that account at one time (something for further investigation). Some teachers may argue that giving the students a computer instead of staff paper to write their piece does not truly measure their musical ability, but the student must still have a basic skill level to use the computer as well.

Not only will this help with students' penmanship and music creation, but it can also be viewed by others who have access to the site. This is incredibly important as our district has made an effort to ensure that all students across the district regardless of what school they attend should have the same quality type of education. By having students on all corners of the district discuss their musical compositions online, this would not only foster communication and collaboration between "rival" schools, but also help the directors and district make sure that students are attaining the same levels of music proficiency everywhere.

I will preface all of this with the idea that our district's computer network is seriously slow and failed completely when I previously tried to have students use an online web 2.0 tool. I am interested in finding out how this program will handle student traffic at the same time. Overall, I am very excited about this site, but am still working on trying to find a web 2.0 tool purely devoted to teaching the concepts of music.

3 comments:

  1. Can't wait to pass this info along to the General Music teacher at my school. Having taught the class myself I know how challenging it can be to motive the GM students. I am also familiar with the debate over whether or not composition should be done electronically. Seriously....time for the nay say-ers to join the 21st Century. Look at how much music is generated/performed synthetically. So how could one possible argue that it should not be created that way. Actually, apps like this are great because students can hear their work right away and make adjustments as needed. Or....enjoy the immediate gratification of hearing their own composition almost instantaneously.
    I think you can register you students as users under your account. They actually sign into your account (how much does that cost?) and then enter a user name or password that you issue indicating they have permission to access. Even if you just use the app yourself to demo key elements of composition I think it would be a valuable tool.

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  2. Noteflight seems like a great program for music teachers to use with their students. The fact that it allows students to create, view, print and listen to music is awesome. I really like the fact that the students can also share their work with others too. The fact that this program also provides an interactive way to learn to read music as well as to play it makes me think it would be valuable to use on SMART Boards. I think students will be more motivated to participate in music class with Noteflight. I am wondering if it is a new program because I am surprised more people are not talking about it. I am so impressed I forwarded the link to the music teacher at my school!

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  3. Since I think there are very few ways to engage most students in music class (based on my experience as the mother of three), I found this tool to be very intriguing. Giving students the ability to create musical compositions and then listen to their own creations sounds like a great way to help students develop an interest in music. I do not see it as limited to use in music class but utilized in other classes for many other activities, not just technological in nature. I think it may just be one of those tools that finds its own place because it is fun!

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