| Dream Fusion's Music Zone is an immersive innovative pedagogical design for artistic engagement and learning using emerging technologies including the virtual world of Second Life, the learning management system Schoology, Google+, Blogger, and more. Modules include fundamentals needed to understand the structures and contents of sheet music as well as brief introductions to historical, anatomical, and societal aspects of music, and information on how instruments vary in function and sound. Using representative avatars, users within Second Life interact with scripted objects. Objects may contain links to supporting sites and/or videos or act as instruments that realistically animate the user's avatar to appear to play the instrument while emitting appropriate musical sounds. The different aspects of the Music Zone, including the various accounts necessary to experience it fully, are presented to users through assignments on Schoology. Assignments allow for guidance, opportunities for peer interaction, various assessments, immediate feedback, and more. |
