The Project

Multimedia in the Classroom

Integrating multimedia applications into music and computer curriculum that build computational intelligence and nurture critical reasoning

Overview

During the time I was in grade school, multimedia in the classroom meant watching an informational video via VHS and a television set. The video was always presented a week or two after the related lesson was taught–most likely because it took a few weeks to reserve the resources. Today, most educators and school administrators are embracing multimedia as a tool to increase student achievement. The result, along with the advent of technology and computer labs, has been a drastic increase in multimedia projects that are being integrated into educational curriculum.

Why I chose multimedia as the main topic

  • I have always been interested in multimedia from an early age and my professional background consists of technology and music.

What is the purpose of the project?

  • To introduce emerging multimedia applications that music and computer educators can collaboratively integrate into their curriculum
  • To present analysis and interdisciplinary curriculum for two of these emerging applications

What is the criteria for the applications presented in this project?

  • There are a plethora of multimedia applications to use in the classroom. This project will focus on music and computer applications that build computational intelligence.

Why use more than one discipline for collaboration?

  • Motivates learners to connect subjects and to think out of the box
  • Motivates learners to think critically about their tasks
  • Builds on constructionist learning theory–people learn best when they are active participants –because learners are designing their project from the ground up
  • Multidisciplinary collaborations are beneficial for both learners and educators

Why incorporate a blog?

  • Using this blog as an informational tool, the project’s content is presented in four sections–as shown by the sidebar’s categories to the right.

Sections

Section I introduces computational and electronic music applications–that incorporate programmatic thinking–to computer and music educators. The primary goal of this section is to inform educators what these applications are all about–hopefully a springboard leading to collaboration and integration.

Section II utilizes instructional design techniques to illustrate how music and computer curriculum can work together to create a rich and complex multimedia umbrella project.

Section III presents the implementation centerpiece of the project: One unit of development for Reason 3.0 and Scratch 1.4 applications.

Section IV documents my peer and project evaluations and my reflective thoughts regarding my experiences with this project.