DOCUMENT RESUME ED 400 820 IR 018 174 AUTHOR Gray, Patricia Rhodes College and Opera Memphis Web Project. TITLE PUB DATE 96 7p.; In: Proceedings of the Mid-South Instructional NOTE Technology Conference (1st, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, March 31-April 2, 1996); see IR 018 144. PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Descriptive (141) Reports Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Computer Mediated Communication; Computer Uses in Education; *Educational Cooperation; Electronic Publishing; *Group Activities; Higher Education; Hypermedia; *Instructional Effectiveness; Multimedia Materials; Music Appreciation; Music Education; *Opera; *Student Projects; Teaching Methods; *World Wide Web IDENTIFIERS *Home Pages; *Rhodes College TN ABSTRACT The Rhodes College (Memphis, Tennessee) History of Opera class collaborated with Opera Memphis to create a documentary on regional opera production, to present online information about Opera Memphis through a World Wide Web home page, and to construct a class home page to be used as a repository for examples of creative writing. The project required students to work in teams and to publish their findings on the World Wide Web. Assignments included: interviewing a music critic, artists, and producers; performing in the production; photographing the production; and creating multimedia quizzes. Students gained experience with the production of an opera, and developed technical skills that can be applied across academic disciplines. Observations of the process determined: (1) the class worked as a team and interacted with each other in a more meaningful way than typically occurs in a lecture format class; (2) students' perceptions of opera changed positively; (3) students learned to appreciate the difficulty faced by arts organizations to achieve high quality on a limited budget; (4) students' writing was read by a worldwide audience; and (5) the class had pride of ownership in their work, because, unlike the usual research paper, their papers had a continued existence. 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O (NI 00 O O Web Project and Opera Memphis Rhodes College Patricia Gray, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Music Rhodes College Memphis, TN Abstract: Memphis to class collaborated with Opera The Rhodes College History of Opera online information regional opera production, to present create a documentary on class home page to be used as a about Opera Memphis, and to construct a writing. The project required students to repository for examples of creative students' findings on the Web. It resulted in work in teams and to publish their of an opera. It also enabled them to gaining experience with the production applied across academic disciplines. develop technical skills that can be "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS BY MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED Lucinda T. Lea 2 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." BEST COPY AULABLE 386 Overture In recent years a great deal has been written about the need to revise the way college classes 1 are being taught. In an effort to provide some alternatives to the traditional lecture format, educators have looked at methods that involve more active participation by students, working in teams, on projects that take them outside of the classroom. At the same time, the of exploring the resources of the Internet has become a part of daily life for almost everyone on college campuses today. The interactivity provided by the Internet and, more recently, that part of it known as the Web, has given educators a powerful new tool that enables them to connect class work to the outside world in some very concrete ways. A method of teaching that enables students to experience the subject matter is particularly desirable in fine arts courses. Reading about musical performances must be supplemented by more tangible experiences. In the case of a History of Opera course, involvement with actual productions is ideal. Act I In the spring of 1995, Rhodes College and Opera Memphis began collaborating on a project that brought some of the benefits of the Internet to both institutions. For several years, the Music Department at Rhodes has offered a History of Opera course. As part of the course, students have attended productions of Opera Memphis. In the past, students have been limited to observation. However, after teaching this course for several years, I felt that the experience would be improved if students were able to watch an opera being built from the very beginning. This would include attending rehearsals, interviewing singers and technicians, as well as talking with the business manger, the president of the Opera Board, the advertisers and others who had a part in mounting the production. At the end of this process they would compile their work into a unified class documentary. The advent of HTML and the easy creation of Web pages provided a perfect method for publishing the final product. 2 3 this idea to Michael Ching, Artistic Director of Opera In June, 1995, I presented whereby the History of Opera students would Memphis. We constructed a plan after the company's called "The Making of Rigoletto" create a documentary Verdi opera. In the spring of 1996 another October, 1995 production of the world premiere of Mike Reid's opera project would be created about the of a collaboration between Opera Different Fields. This new work was part Guild. The opera, which deals with Memphis and the Metropolitan Opera designed to appeal to a young audience. It corruption in professional football, is Internet might be one effective way to seemed logical that exposure on the advertise its performances. Fields, we about Rigoletto and Different In addition to creating the pages the for Opera Memphis to be run from decided to create an official home page This page would be maintained there music department web server at Rhodes. about It would contain information until Opera Memphis set up its own server. ticket prices, and a collection of the company's history, the current season, Members of the class would aid in production photographs from recent seasons. of opera companies with online home design and creation of this page. A survey the Metropolitan and addition to the major houses such as pages showed that, in Web. Opera companies also had a presence on the La Scala, many regional opera its is in its 40th season. It was clearly to Memphis has a distinguished history and companies on the Web. advantage to join this list of important opera History of Opera home page to be a Finally, I constructed a Music 121: the It contains the class description, repository of materials relative to the class. elsewhere on the Web. syllabus, and a listing of important opera resources for the publication of essays on opera Primarily, however, it serves as a site written by class members. Act H the History of Opera class in the fall The eighteen students who enrolled in in with the Internet and no experience semester of 1995 had limited experience them had ever been involved with opera the creation of Web pages. None of novices on all fronts. In the first production. Therefore, they came as complete exploring the Web and exchanging three weeks of class they became comfortable projects used multimedia opera documents over the campus file server. They also created with Digital Chisel authoring software. which assessments about After working with them for the first few weeks, I made the concept and made tasks were appropriate for which students. I explained 3 4 388 suggestions about how duties should be divided. However, they made the final decision about how they wanted to participate. The major areas covered were: Music Criticism: One student interviewed the music critic on the local paper to see how he went about evaluating a performance. Happily, the critic was so interested in the class project that he wrote an article about it for his newspaper, The Commercial Appeal. Interviews with Artists: Several students interviewed singers, chorus members, and other performers to find out what is required to be a professional performer. The interviews were done during breaks at the rehearsals. Interviews with Producers: Several of the interviews were with the people responsible for financing and producing the opera. The interviews were conducted over the telephone or at the offices of the various business people. Performance: One student agreed to be a member of the chorus. This involved two weeks of rehearsal and large commitment of time and energy. Photography: One student attended several rehearsals and the performance in order to photograph the building of the work. We scanned her photographs and inserted them into the appropriate locations. Multimedia Quizzes: Three students learned the basics of creating interactive tests using Digital Chisel software. They created two multiple choice quizzes about the history of Rigoletto. These products were compressed using Stuffit Deluxe and imbedded in the home page. Act III The class did most of their interviews and research in the two weeks preceding the performance. They attended the performance as a group, very well versed in information about the opera itself as well as knowledge of this particular production. In the days following they submitted electronic copies of their reports. In some cases their articles contained names and terms that could be linked to other locations on the Web. They provided a listing of these URLs with their paper.When all the information was collected I constructed the documentary. However, students were involved in decisions about design, layout, 4 389 and the choice of graphics to be used. The final product was online within a month after the project started. After the Rigoletto project was finished students continued to use the class home of Don Giovanni and Carmen, page to publish papers they wrote on comparisons comparisons of the Bayreuth and the Metropolitan productions of Der Ring des Nibelungen, and a finally set of reviews of several 20th century operas. Each reader reaction to their work. paper contains a mailto function that encourages What the Critics Said "The Making of Rigoletto" documentary, the Opera Memphis Home Page, and of the Music 121: History of Opera home page required a significant amount work for both professor and students. The question must be asked if the extra be time and effort was worth it. The following observations of the process may helpful in evaluating its effectiveness: Members of the class worked as a team and interacted with each other in a in a lecture format class. It was more meaningful way than typically occurs virtually impossible for a member of the class to chose to be passive and invisible. Students began to perceive opera as engaging and entertaining, not simply as a relic from the past. Students learned to appreciate how difficult it is for arts organizations to produce the highest possible standard of work and at the same time live within limited budgets. Students were very aware that their writing was being read by a worldwide audience. Within the first month, the project had been viewed by nearly a eight hundred visitors. The class seemed to have a pride of ownership in their work. As the of visits, it semester ended and the pages continued to receive hundreds became apparent that their work had a continued existence, unlike the usual research paper. From this experience I concluded that a project of this type is valuable in the teaching of music history. It serves as an enhancement to the more traditional 5 6 3'00 that they skills and ideas students with It provides the material. requires them to assume of teaching ways effort element situations. The team apply to other and their peers. can the professor to both be accountable responsibility and to signifcant work is a of the class into the rest will blend seamlessly the challenge Making projects more common, projects become However, as these technologies and even challenge. with new still have to cope is to present, students ongoing challenge be met. At networking. The computer the concepts of overshadowed by with the basic work so it is never of the class inherent value increase the it forward. vehicle that carries 6 if 7 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ERIC! Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) I NOTICE REPRODUCTION BASIS This document is covered by a signed "Reproduction Release (Blanket)" form (on file within the ERIC system), encompassing all therefore, or classes of documents from its source organization and, does not require a "Specific Document" Release form. 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