Villanova University / University of the Arts Summer Music Studies
I. Instructor Information
Name: Dr. Scott Watson
Phone: 610-262-6035
Email: ascott@enter.net
II: Course Information
Course Title: Free
and Easy: Putting the Web to Work for You
Course Number:
Description: The Internet is becoming an increasingly more interactive and dynamic place, exploding with
intuitively easy-to-use, and free, programs for music teachers and their students. In addition to wikis, blogs,
and Google docs, there are a host of online music programs for teaching, creating and playing music. A
decade or so ago you needed specialized, technical knowledge to design a Web page, but now even
elementary school children can contribute to a classroom wiki easily. Several years ago you needed to
purchase a music notation program to use on a single computer, but now there are programs for composing
and arranging music for free anywhere you can get online. Because web applications are cross-platform and
mostly free, they are perfect for budget conscious programs.
In this timely course, participants will look at ways to use many useful “Web 2.0” applications in their music
teaching and professional development, engaging in several hands-on projects, and developing curricular
content for their specific teaching assignment. No prior experience needed.
This class introduces students to working with wikis, blogs, a host of online music apps (i.e. Noteflight,
UJAM, Soundation, iNudge, SoundCloud, Myna, to name a few) and some online productivity/misc apps
(i.e. Google docs, Jeopardylabs, YouTube, etc.). Review of conventional (non-Web 2.0) freeware includes
Audacity (digital audio) and some of the programs at TheMusicInteractive.com (interactive whiteboard).
The course also examines how many of these tools and resources work together with one another. For
instance, a music teacher's wiki might have audio made with Audacity or SoundCloud, notation made with
Noteflight embedded, a form for students to fill out (i.e. a survey or responses for a homework assignment)
made with Google docs, and a video from YouTube on some relevant topic (playing the Djembe, cleaning
your clarinet, etc.). Also included: social media for professional development.
The course will be taught in a Mac lab, but all activities are cross-platform (works on a Mac or PC).
Term (e.g. summer 2010): Summer 2012
Major Learning Objectives
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Discuss the characteristics of a Web 2.0 application (cloud-based or online app) and examine
several in use in general education (i.e. Google Drive apps, wikispaces, YouTube, Prezi,
jeopardylabs.com, etc.).
This course, and all materials fashioned for its delivery, © 2012, Scott Watson.
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Discuss several Web 2.0 music applications in use in music education (i.e. Noteflight,
iNudge, Soundation, UJAM, etc.).
Discuss the characteristics of freeware music applications and examine several in use in music
education (i.e. Audacity, Finale NotePad, interactive whiteboard apps at
TheMusicInteractive.com, Adaptive Use Music Instruments, MuseScore, MmmTsss, etc.).
Discuss the “Flipped Classroom” approach and how Web apps make this possible.
Discuss how Web 2.0 and freeware apps may be used in creativity-based, and project-based
music learning, as well as modes of assessment.
Share and discuss strategies for using Web 2.0 and freeware apps in a lab, small computer
cluster and the single-computer classroom.
Examine interactive websites of use in music education.
Explore curricular applications for these “free and easy” technology resources.
Discuss free apps for use on portable devices that have music education value.
Course Outcomes
Participants in this course will be able to…
 Demonstrate basic-intermediate facility working with Web 2.0 and freeware applications by:
o Creating a multi-page and multimedia-rich wiki.
o Creating a variety of Web 2.0 content (text, spreadsheet, presentation, forms, and other
Google documents; Noteflight music notation; SoundCloud audio; dynamic
presentations with Prezi; YouTube video, etc.) and linking/embedding these in the
wiki.
 Evaluate critically a variety of “free and easy” Web 2.0 and freeware apps (music,
productivity) in order to discern which might be useful in teaching K-12 music.
 Create a unit activity lesson plan involving Web 2.0 and/or freeware music and other
applications.
Required Texts/Resources
 Free & Easy: Putting the Web to Work for You course pack, by Scott Watson.
 Course Wiki: http://watsonmusic.wikispaces.com/Free+&+Easy
Course Software: The following are software and web resources used in this class:
 Google Docs, Wikispaces (K-12 educator), Prezi, YouTube, jeopardylabs
 Programs: Audacity, Finale NotePad, TheMusicInteractive, MmmTsss, GarageBand (Mac)
 Noteflight, SoundCloud, Soundation, UJAM, Roc and Myna (Aviary), Incredibox
Assessment (see below for detailed list of assignments)…
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Course Lab Activities (short tasks to confirm mastery of various features) will be evaluated
as pass/fail.
Course Projects (music productions created according to specific criteria) will be evaluated
via rubrics.
Integrated Web 2.0 (and freeware) Activity Lesson Plan and Presentation will be
evaluated according to a criteria list.
Participation Grade will be evaluated by attendance and comments submitted to the course
blog.
This course, and all materials fashioned for its delivery, © 2012, Scott Watson.
Grading
Participants grades will be based on the following:
 80% - In-Class “Lab” Activities: Each activity awarded points based on scope of activity, but
participants receive full credit for each “good faith” effort made for all in-class activities. See the
five categories of activities below.
 10% - Activity Lesson Plan and Presentation
 10% - Post-Class Projects: Equivalent of 15-hours, self-directed, reported to the instructor via email
(see below).
Contacting Me
Before, during, and after the course, participants are encouraged to use email to contact the instructor:
watsons@parklandsd.org.
Disability Services
Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability should provide an
Accommodation Form from Disability Services prior to the start of class.
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DETAILED LIST OF ASSIGNMENTS
Participants in this course will be required to complete a variety of investigative, hands-on, and pedagogical
activities in five categories. Most activities produce work products which will be posted to each student’s
course wiki. Others will be assessed informally as they are completed in class, or formally as they are turned
in to the instructor or presented to the class.
1. PRIMARY APPS
All participants must complete all of the following with a number of very useful, “primary apps”:
 Create a wikispaces wiki with multiple pages.
 Use Google Docs/ Document to create a parent letter, etc.; link in wiki.
 Create weekly (or other) teaching schedule with Google Docs/Spreadsheet; embed in wiki.
 Locate 2-3 YouTube vids good for teaching music; embed in wiki. If YouTube is blocked this may
need to be done outside of class.
 Make brief podcast w/Audacity: voice-over narration, 3 sound clips w/fades and ducking (i.e. “This
Week at Bywood School,” “Favorite Things,” or “About Music”). Post to wiki.
 Make a listening guide or worksheet for your podcast using Google Docs/Document; save as PDF
and link on wiki w/podcast.
 “Theme-in-Music” wiki page: typeset theme w/Noteflight, embed in wiki page; create 2 sound clips
of theme in action in piece using Audacity, embed on same wiki page; include explanatory text.
 Create a Multiple Choice (or T/F) Quiz (or Survey) using Google Docs/Forms; use Flubaroo script to
auto grade.
 Add Google Translate Widget to wiki.
 Create a LINKS page with at least 10 hypertext links to valuable sites.
2. MUSIC PRODUCTS
All participants must complete all of the following with a number of music-related apps:
This course, and all materials fashioned for its delivery, © 2012, Scott Watson.
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Produce a 30-45 sec. loop-based composition using Soundation.
Create a brief (24-48 measures) composition or arrangement for piano and at least one other
instrument using Noteflight.
Typeset a short melody using Finale NotePad.
Use Audacity to create a sing-a-long, karaoke track from a commercial CD.
Use Audacity to slow down the tempo of a publisher demo track.
Create an iNudge performance piece.
Create an Incredibox v1 or v2 performance piece.
Export a Noteflight doc as MIDI file, then open in GarageBand and UJAM.
Export a Noteflight doc as XML, then open in Finale.
Produce a folk tune or rote song in UJAM (or import Noteflight MIDI file).
Find a short video clip from YouTube appropriate for video scoring and download it as an MPEG or
MOV file using Keepvid.com
3. INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS
All participants must complete one of the following that employ Web 2.0 tools:
 Create a Prezi on some music topic and embed it in the wiki.
 Create a screen capture computer app/task tutorial with Jing and embed it in the wiki.
 Create a Jeopardylabs review game on some musical topic and link to it in the wiki.
 Create a brief instructional video using PowerPoint (w/Audacity narration) or PhotoBooth or your
own camera; post to YouTube; embed in wiki.
4. DEMONSTRATION
All participants, working with a partner, must prepare an informative/instructional demo of one of the
following:
 Adaptive Use Musical Instruments
 The Music Interactive (2-3 apps other than Staff Wars)
 MuseScore
 MmmTsss
 Aviary Music Apps: Myna and Roc
 Creating Music website
All participants, working with a partner, must complete an online review of an assigned Web 2.0 music app
or teaching utility, and make a presentation to the class demonstrating the app and summarizing their
findings.
5. LESSON PLAN
All participants must write and present a lesson plan using any of the tools introduced during the course.
 All materials relating to the lesson plan should be posted to the student’s course wiki. A “formal,”
lesson plan must be prepared using Google Docs, shared with the instructor.
 The lesson plan should follow the format used in Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity
(Watson). The lesson plan must be designed for delivery in a “single-computer classroom” and a
computer lab (or laptop/iPad cart, etc.).
 An example of any products expected of the student in the plan should be prepared to share.
 Each class participant will have 15-20 minutes to present their lesson to the class using a computer
projected to a large screen, and a sound system, including time for questions and discussion.
This course, and all materials fashioned for its delivery, © 2012, Scott Watson.
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PRE-CLASS AND POST-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS, also found at:
http://watsonmusic.wikispaces.com/PRE- and POST-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (Villanova)
Pre-Class Web 2.0 Site Registrations [2 Hours]
A number of the online applications and utilities we’ll use in the course require users to register a personal
account. At least some form of all the applications is free to use when registered and logged in. As part of
this class, and our exploration of the best free and easy Web 2.0 apps for music teachers, you will need to
have (free) accounts by registering with the following sites. All of these resources are FREE! Please
complete this before the first day of class. NOTE: PLEASE, Please, please record your user name(s) and
password(s) at all of these sites. Don’t be that person on the first day of class who laments, “I know I
registered for this site, but I just can’t remember my password!”
Web App
Wikispaces
Google Docs
Noteflight
UJAM
URL
www.wikispaces.com
www.docs.google.com
www.noteflight.com
www.ujam.com
Myna, Roc
advanced.aviary.com
Soundation
soundation.com
SoundCloud
soundcloud.com
Optional: Prezi
prezi.com
Required to register
password, email address
password, email address
password, email address
password, email address (or
facebook)
username, password, email
address (or facebook, twitter,
google, etc.)
username, password, email
address
password, email address (or
facebook)
name, password, email address
(or facebook)
Post-Class Review and Reflection [2 Hours]
Following the course, students will write a brief essay (two pages, typed) reflecting on the class, and how
they intend to utilize techniques presented in the class during the school year ahead, and later. Other items to
address include content students found most helpful/interesting, areas students wish to know more about,
content that students found unhelpful or confusing. The essay should be submitted as Google doc link within
one week of the conclusion of the class. The instructor will assign a grade based on the thoughtfulness of the
essay, as well as the quality of the writing (grammar, language, etc.). Send the link for the Post-Class
Reflection to watsons@parklandsd.org.
Post-Class Wiki Creation [11 Hours]
During the course, all students will begin creation of a music course or program wiki. Following the course,
students will continue to develop this wiki, adding pages, content, and student instructions and resources.
The instructor will assign a grade based on the quality and number of these site improvements, based on a
discussion with students at the conclusion of the class and a supplied list of criteria. Once the update is made,
email the instructor at: watsons@parklandsd.org. Students may take up to two weeks from the close of the
class to submit their wiki update.
This course, and all materials fashioned for its delivery, © 2012, Scott Watson.