Developing Web Pages for Various Types of Music Classes to Facilitate
Student- Centered Learning

James P. O'Brien, The University of Arizona
 

    Over the past three years, I have attempted to make learning in my music classes more student-centered. Rather than being the sole provider of information and knowledge, I have incorporated technology within the instructional cycle to enable students to work at their own pace and be more responsible for the outcomes of their learning.
    Recently, I developed interactive web pages on the Internet for each of my classes. This presentation focuses on the different type of instruction each course involves and the resulting varied solution to creating a home page in each.
    Music 100 (Basic Musicianship) is a music theory course which involves learning to read music, play the recorder and keyboard, and understand the structure of music as far as pitch and rhythmic notation, scales, harmony, and the like. The web page has links to material which enhances these goals.
    Music 444 (Arab and Asian Music) is a course which develops understanding of the culture, religion, social strata, and music of India, the Arab world, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The links in this course are much richer, including sites which develop understanding of each region's religions, political structure, history, and arts.
    Music 107 (Understanding Music through Listening) is a basic music appreciation course, including jazz, classical music, folk, and musicals, as well as of other world cultures. This page is more oriented to composers and styles.
    Although none of these web pages yet has sound, I will, as soon as funding becomes available, link each page with appropriate audio and video examples, using a seven-CD-ROM tower in the server in my college.