‘ICreate’: Preliminary usability testing of apps for the music technology classroom

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, Jun 2015

In the world of music technology where, “music practice is challenged, mediated and redefined through performers’ and composers’ uses of ICT” (Savage, 2005, p. 168), curriculum change is necessary if the world of the classroom is to keep pace with the world outside (Cain, 2004, p. 219). For newcomers to music technology, the glittering array of increasingly sophisticated flashing, emulated, and modulated interfaces can invoke virtual interface dyslexia before giving way to options anxiety. Change is the only constant in the ever-evolving techno-scape of sound and music applications. This paper proposes that the development of an introductory tertiary music technology unit curriculum using loop-based music iPad apps may effectively engage non-traditional music (NTM) students in both music and technology. The course design was underpinned by two intentions. Firstly, the aim was to stimulate student creativity and secondly, to encourage immersion (focused attention) in sonic composition (Witmer & Singer, 1998). This paper reports on the preliminary usability testing of five loop-based music iPad applications. It is administered to a sample of one, namely the author, using the System Usability Scale (SUS) (Brooke, 1996) and is guided by the following questions: Would this testing methodology be appropriate? What factors specific to loop-based music app design might be pertinent for educators? Would this testing method indicate the potential for student immersion and creativity? While the pilot study, described here, is conducted solely by the researcher to determine the effectiveness of the method, future research intends the study to be administered to a small classroom group if determined appropriate.

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‘ICreate’: Preliminary usability testing of apps for the music technology classroom

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice 'ICreate': Preliminar y usability testing of apps for the music technolog y classroom Simon Order 0 1 0 Order, Simon, 'ICreate': Preliminary usability testing of apps for the music technology classroom, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice , 12(4), 2015. Available at: 1 Murdoch University - ‘ICreate’: Preliminary usability testing of apps for the music technology classroom Abstract In the world of music technology where, “music practice is challenged, mediated and redefined through performers’ and composers’ uses of ICT” (Savage, 2005, p. 168) , curriculum change is necessary if the world of the classroom is to keep pace with the world outside (Cain, 2004, p. 219) . For newcomers to music technology, the glittering array of increasingly sophisticated flashing, emulated, and modulated interfaces can invoke virtual interface dyslexia before giving way to options anxiety. Change is the only constant in the everevolving techno-scape of sound and music applications. This paper proposes that the development of an introductory tertiary music technology unit curriculum using loop-based music iPad apps may effectively engage non-traditional music (NTM) students in both music and technology. The course design was underpinned by two intentions. Firstly, the aim was to stimulate student creativity and secondly, to encourage immersion (focused attention) in sonic composition (Witmer & Singer, 1998) . This paper reports on the preliminary usability testing of five loop-based music iPad applications. It is administered to a sample of one, namely the author, using the System Usability Scale (SUS) (Brooke, 1996) and is guided by the following questions: Would this testing methodology be appropriate? What factors specific to loop-based music app design might be pertinent for educators? Would this testing method indicate the potential for student immersion and creativity? While the pilot study, described here, is conducted solely by the researcher to determine the effectiveness of the method, future research intends the study to be administered to a small classroom group if determined appropriate. This journal article is available in Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice: http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol12/iss4/8 Introduction Jay Dorfman, believes that smart phones and tablet devices “will revolutionize our work in technology-based music instruction” (2013, p. 188). Arguably, such devices are the next step in music pedagogy. Some have suggested that the emergence of the iPad in the music technology landscape will democratize music making further in the same way that the emergence of digital cameras made photography and filmmaking available to anyone (Tough, 2009, p. 4) . There are some distinct advantages to tablet devices, being relatively cheap compared to laptops, they are smaller, more portable, software updates are usually free and touch screen interfaces are simple to use. The culture of app development is also moving the technology forward quickly and there is still a lot of novelty attached to tablets as music production devices. These are strong reasons why students may find engaging with tablets a fun and creative experience (Dorfman, 2013, pp. 190-191). However, in comparison, to existing Windows, Apple or other PC/desktop audio applications, the iPad is a new technological environment for music production. The iPad’s lack of maturity will present challenges for educators but these may be mediated by the benefits arising from the novelty, portability and a sense of ownership/intimacy of the device itself (Goodwin, 2012, p. 22) . Preliminary research points towards the notion of “embeddedness” where the tablet device becomes a part of the student’s daily cerebral processes as a tool to resolve problems, socialise with the world, and perform common productivity tasks (Puentedura, 2011) . Early thoughts also cite the iPad as a “curiosity amplifier” (Brown, 2010) . These factors may motivate creative learning via music technology on the iPad and there is support for this belief. Teachers believed that optimal use of iPads was attained when students used content-creation ‘productivity’ apps as this developed higher order thinking skills and provided creative and individualised opportunities to express their understanding (Goodwin, 2012, p. 8) . In light of Goodwin’s observation, this paper presents the preliminary usability tests of five content-creation loop-based music technology iPad apps, prior to trialling in the classroom. The testing has been undertaken with the guiding intentions of provoking student creativity and secondly, encouraging immersion (focused attention) (Witmer & Singer, 1998) in sonic composition in the classroom. Creativity ‘ICreate’ in the title of this paper was chosen to emphasise the importance this author has attached to creativity. The word should be read as “I create” (where “I” is a st (...truncated)


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Simon Order. ‘ICreate’: Preliminary usability testing of apps for the music technology classroom, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 2015, Volume 12, Issue 4,