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EDCI 336

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Free Inquiry – Week 5

It is week five and things are going great! Both the left and right hand are coming along nicely, and I am feeling more and more confident about beginning to try hands together. I can definitely hear and feel the improvement, and I believe that I am on track to “perfect” the piece by the end of the term. Of course, it will never be perfect, but I believe that by my last submission I will be able to play the piece hands together at the right tempo with little to no mistakes. Fingers crossed!

One tool that I found particularly helpful when I was beginning to learn the piece was the PlayScore 2 app. This was a simple app that I downloaded on my phone at no cost. It allowed me to take a photo of the sheet music, and it would play back the notes exactly as they were written. This was incredibly helpful as, although I knew the melody, every arrangement of a piece is a little bit different. This allowed me to hear exactly what the piece was supposed to sound like before I had even sight read it. It is much easier to sight read a piece when you have heard it before, which is exactly what this app allowed me to do.

Image Credits: PlayScore 2

I am very pleased with the way my inquiry project is turning out. One of the main reasons that I chose to learn a new song was because I am so busy now, and I never get a chance to just sit and play piano. I used to sit at the piano for hours a day, and now I am lucky to sit down for half an hour a week. This project has forced me to take time out of my day to intentionally do something that I love, and I am so happy that it has.

Assistive Technology and Equity

After running my blog through the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool, I was pleasantly surprised that my website did not have too many accessibility issues. When I pasted my blog link into WAVE, it went line by line, link by link, and colour by colour to determine any accessibility issues I might have.

WAVE website screenshot showing a summary of accessibility errors and alerts on my blog
Image Credits: Anna Palmer (Alternative text is embedded in this image)

Although this may look like a lot of issues, the only actual accessibility problem is the contrast. The grey text on the white background provides a very low contrast, which can be difficult to see. I will of course look into changing this as soon as I can.

This is an aspect of digital accessibility that I had never considered. I have always had excellent vision, especially in relation to colours, and have never had an issue discerning one colour from another. Now that I know that this can be an issue, as well as how easy it is to mitigate, I will try to provide as much contrast as possible whenever it is applicable.

For my accessible video, I used the video I made at the beginning of the term of my introduction to Rich. I think that this was a good video to use, as I was talking clearly and relatively slowly the entire time. I made it accessible by adding Youtube automated captioning. Surprisingly, the captions were relatively accurate. The only words that I had to update were proper nouns such as “Shawnigan” and “UVIC,” which is to be expected.

The captions on the video may have to be turned on manually.

3D Printing

The use of 3D printing and design in the classrooms provides many educational opportunities that have never been seen before. For example, 3D printing allows students to express their creativity in ways that they have never before been able to. As I was not a particularly artistic child, I know that a program like this would have captivated me much more than traditional painting and drawing. Further, students are evidently far more likely to be engaged with a lesson that they can relate to. As children spend more and more time on screens, a lesson that incorporates technology such as this is a great way to allow students to do an activity that is at the same time educational and interesting to them.

Of course, 3D printing is not a plausible lesson plan for all students or schools. The machines that are used are extremely expensive, and while 3D printing can be great learning tool for students, for schools with limited financial resources, there are many necessities that must be acquired before considering additions such as these.

By using the Tinkercad website, I was able to design and submit my own creation. I was able to choose essentially any form that I wanted, and alter it in size, shape, and colour so that it would fit in with my design. I really enjoyed the experience of formatting and finalizing a design to be printed. In all, this program was much easier to use than I was expecting. I had a bit of a tricky time with alignment, but when I realized that I could input coordinates manually, I was able to get all of me letters to match up in size and positioning. I have included a photo of my design below, and I am very excited to see how it turns out!

Free Inquiry – Week Three

It is week three already, and I definitely think that I am making progress with this piece. My right hand is coming along very nicely — I am making fewer and fewer mistakes each time I practice. The same goes for my left hand; however, I definitely feel that it is a little bit harder. Although the right hand is far more complex, as it is the melody, I have an easier time with keeping the tempo. As you can see and hear from the videos, I still make mistakes as I am playing, but I am confident that in a week or two I will be able to start playing hands together. Further, the length of the videos for both my right and left hand lessened by about three to four minutes from my last videos, indicating that I am getting better and making fewer mistakes.

Image credits: Markus Gjengaar

I noticed while I was playing that the majority of my mistakes — with both the right and left hand — were near the end of the piece. As I thought about why this might be, I realized that I practice the first part of the piece more often than the end. This is not something that I do purposefully; however, anytime I mess up when practicing, I often go back to the start to try again. Although this doesn’t necessarily sound like a problem, if I am continuously going back to the start of the piece and re-playing the parts I know well until I make a mistake, I am effectively practicing the parts that I mess up. Now that I am aware of this, I will adjust my practicing strategies accordingly. Instead of restarting the entire piece, I will focus more on specific measures of the song that I need to improve.

Free Inquiry – Week Two

I have decided that I am not going to post videos updating my progress every single week. Instead, I think that video updates every two weeks will allow for more drastic progress to be seen from video to video. That being said, I am continuing to practice and improve both the right hand melody, and the left hand accompaniment. Both parts are coming along; however, I feel that I am having an easier time improving on the right hand. This is to be expected, as the right hand is playing the melody, which is definitely easier to pick up.

This week, I thought I would provide a little bit of backstory on the song I chose to learn for this project. As I have mentioned, “Rewrite the Stars” is originally from the 2017 movie “The Greatest Showman.” When I first saw this movie in theatres, I was awestruck. From the costumes to the dancing to the singing, I loved every bit of it. However, the performance that Zac Efron and Zendaya put on when they sang this song captivated me for weeks.

O’Connell, S. (2018). CinemaBlend. https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1753179/the-stressful-way-zendaya-and-zac-efron-filmed-their-big-number-from-the-greatest-showman

In the movie, Zac Efron’s character, Philip Carlyle, and Zendaya’s character, Anne Wheeler, come from very different backgrounds. Philip comes from a well-off family and lives in the upper echelon of society. Anne, in contrast, lives with her brother as typical “circus freaks,” upon who Philip’s family and friends look down. Throughout the movie, their love story unfolds. Upon first glance, it is clear that the two have feelings for each other. However, they both know that the society they live in will never allow them to be together. Their performance of “Rewrite the Stars” is the culmination of all of these feelings. They sing with such emotion, and it is clear that they want to be together, but know that they cannot.

I think that this is the main reason that the song resonated with me so heavily. Emotionally charged songs are so much more fun and interesting to listen to, which translates directly to me playing the piece. I can clearly feel the emotion when I am playing, and I am excited to continue to improve so that I might add extra emphasis and drama in certain places, to truly convey the love and torment that Philip and Anne are feeling throughout the song.

GenAI

Incredibly quickly, GenAI has become a widespread tool in the modern world. From ChatGPT to Microsoft Co-Pilot, there is no shortage of AI resources to help with everyday activities from assignments to budgets to lists. I have found AI, ChatGPT specifically, has been relatively helpful to me, in the short time that I have had access to it.

In relation to schooling, aside from the obvious fact that it would be academically dishonest to submit something written by ChatGPT as my own, there are other reasons why I would never do it. Primarily, I have found that any piece of writing that ChatGPT produces sound drastically different, and oftentimes worse, than a piece of writing that I myself would create. Instead, I have found that ChatGPT is useful in giving me ideas for what to write about. For example, if I am stuck on a topic that I want to narrow down for a more refined research question, I can ask ChatGPT to give me suggestions. More often than not, I don’t actually use any of the suggestions that I am given. Instead, I am able to think about topics that I hadn’t previously, and dive deeper into my own research in ways I wouldn’t have thought about before.

Using ChatGPT for this assignment, I found that the responses it gave me varied dramatically as a result of minor word changes. For example, with the generic prompt “tourism Victoria BC,” I am given a very generic answer.

However, as soon as I provide it with a specific tone in which I would like the response, the answers begin to change. As you can see below, the simple contrast between “neutral” and “bored” — two words which in many instances could be synonymous — change the responses immensely.

Further, the tone words “angry” and “happy” provide very interesting insight into ChatGPT. As you can see, although the “angry” response tries to dissuade you from visiting Victoria, it acknowledges the “stunning gardens and gorgeous views.” It highlights some of the negative aspects of the cities without lying about its natural beauty, which is something that I did not expect.

Starting My Free Inquiry

For my Free Inquiry Project, I have decided to learn the song “Rewrite the Stars” from the movie “The Greatest Showman.” I have played piano since I was very young — around three or four years old. I took piano lessons all my life, but had to stop when I went off to boarding school for my high school years. Although I still love to play, I have found it difficult to find the time amidst work, school, and friends. This project is a great opportunity for me to get back to playing, and to find an “academic excuse” to do something that I love.

The first thing that I did when starting my project was sight read the music. I have included pictures of the sheet music ( I used, as well as links to the videos of me sight reading both the right hand melody and the left hand accompaniment.

For my first true attempt at playing the piece in its entirety, I think it went pretty well! I am glad that both videos are around the same length, meaning that I wasn’t playing one part way faster than the other. For now, I will continue practicing hands separately. I will also work on getting the tempo correct, as well as smoother transitions between notes and page turns.

References

Pasek, J. & Paul, J. (2018). Rewrite the Stars [Sheet Music]. The Greatest Showman: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack. Fox Music.

Screencast and H5P Tutorial

Today we learned how to use Screencast to create video tutorials, as well as H5P to create interactive videos. There are many ways in which Screencast and H5P can be extremely useful, especially for a future educator such as myself. For example, when teaching students a new math or science concept, I can record myself solving the problems in real time and share it for my class to see. The H5P extension allows for interactivity throughout the video, something that is extremely beneficial to students’ learning. I can create multiple choice and true or false questions throughout the video in order for students to test their understanding of the concept.

This technology is useful for primarily older students, as younger elementary students likely do not own their own screens. However, I could create a video ahead of time and play it for my class of younger students, and have us answer the questions together. For older students, many of whom have their own personal devices, technology like this can be extremely useful as an in-class or homework assignment.

I have included below my first attempt at a Screencast tutorial. I enjoyed the process of recording and editing my video, as well as adding in a multiple choice question. The instructions for installing both the Screencast and H5P extensions were extremely clear and useful. I think in the future I could spend more time editing so that my video appears clean and professional.

Changing Pedagogy – Challenges and Benefits

When schools attempt to change pedagogy on a large scale, they are generally met with quite a bit of resistance. At the centre of this resistance is fear. Fear from students that they would not be able to attend post-secondary without traditional schooling methods, and fear from parents about the future of their children.

Using High Tech High as an example, it is easy to see the positive aspects of an alternative approach to learning. It is made clear from the 2015 “Most Likely to Succeed” documentary that the students are able to create projects that they are passionate about, and that they are able to demonstrate their learning in any way that they would like. This approach can be extremely beneficial to students who do not respond well to traditional methods. The same student who might fail a test on a certain subject, may very well be able to produce a play detailing the topic. Despite it not being the standard method of learning, it is a clear indication that they have truly internalized and understood the concept.

Photo credits: Mikhail Nilov

However, it is also acknowledged that this approach would not work for everyone. I can say for certain that this format of learning would not benefit me in the same way it might my classmates. I know that I work best when I am given very specific instructions and a very clear rubric so that I know exactly what I must do to get the grade that I desire. I know that I would also worry about my chances of getting into university, as well as knowing where I stand academically in relation to the rest of the country.

This is addressed in the documentary, however, when they reveal that the students from High Tech High scored 10% higher than the state average on the Senior exit exam (Whitely et al., 2015, 1:19:58). Further, the High Tech High college acceptance rate is a staggering 98% (Whitely et al., 2015, 1:20:09). These statistics alone illustrate the type of schooling happening at High Tech High to not only be adequate, but perhaps in some instances superior.

References

Whiteley, G., Dintersmith, T., & Leibowitz, A. (2015). Most likely to succeed [Video]. One Potato Productions. webapp.library.uvic.ca/videos/viewlinks.php?vfn=Most-Likely-To-Succeed-(2015).mp4

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