Common problem in Music schools – students do very well on the traditional assessments (multiple choice, essay) but don’t work well with the listening portion. They tend to take notes, have musical score in front of them, and listen to music, but all three aren’t connected, and music can drift into the background. Unlike visual art which is more directly perceived, listeners have to make a very conscious effort to concentrate on the music.

After using iPods for a year, the initial outcomes: students liked the constant accessibility, and said music was much better integrated into what they were doing.

Music Quiz for iPod: Using the iPod’s notes function, clips are played, then students are asked to identify the compuser/artist from multiple choice list. Students said this encouraged them to refer to their notes more often.

• How does it work? text between ‘title’ tag tags will appear as filename on iPod; ‘a href’ tag around “listen” link to an audio file on the iPod, and the ‘false’ attribute enables user to listen to playback without leaving the question page; while browsing q/a and underscore indicates the currently selected answer; audio files give feedback on whether answer is incorrect or correct.

Much of the buzz around educational podcasting centers on recording lectures, but this is a much more distinctly engaging application, and more pedagogically sound because it doesn’t just piggyback on what’s alreayd happening; instead, it adds an entirely new dimenstion.

Student Reaction: Assessment/Evaluation

• 92% quiz helped reinforce musical concepts
• 88% quiz was easy to navigate
• 80% podcasts were heplful
• 92% iPod a valuable tool
• Most Important: students recognized that the iPods were useful because the application was well-thought-out and made an immediate contribution to their study