Hacktivism Intent-AndrewG
Several Highschools across the state have cut funding to the performing arts educations. Some students may have an interest in learning how to play various instruments, yet are unable to get their hands on those instruments due to a rental shortage, or the lack of financial support from schools. Music is essential for some people, being able to express yourself musically is a great way for young scholars to discover themselves and their passions, and is a great way to practice being creative.
- what is your concept/idea
I want to build an app that allows music directors from any school across the country communicate and organize rentals, sales, and concerts. The application can be used by students to locate a specific instrument that they are interested in, find the best match by sorting through price, age, and condition. Students can use this application to communicate with their directors with any specific questions, and teachers can use it to create schedules for rehearsal/ general announcements. This application would function similarly to slack, allowing persons who play the same part to have a group and communicate freely to one another about the music or just to chat. Alongside the communication features, this app will include a metronome, pitch pipe, keyboard, and any other essential tool for musicians.
- why this is important and for whom?
This is important for any student who has interest in learning to play an instrument, and for teachers to organize their storage and be able to rent out their own equipment in order to make a small profit and provide resources to other schools to share and learn. It is important for a student to have all the doors open to them when they are deciding what instrument they want to play. Experimenting with music is a great way to train young minds in mathematics, and builds confidence, which is essential for the mental wellness of a growing mind. It will also help teachers share instructing strategies amongst themselves, such as ideal warm-up routines.
- what New Media/hacktivism strategies will you use and why?
I will be using the many to many strategy in this project by connecting music departments from around the country. This allows instructors to give critique on any aspect of instructing, which can lead to growth for the instructors and will benefit the students attending rehearsal. Allowing students to communicate amongst similar parts allows them to gain a deeper understanding of a part and builds confidence in them as growing professionals. Any feedback can be accessed by any user, allowing people to critique critiques, leading to a higher understanding of a topic amongst the entire audience. People can also contact the developer with bug reports, they can request features, or just say hi.
- Who is the audience and how do you hope it will influence them?
My audience is students interested in performing arts, and music directors. I hope that by allowing people with similar interests and passions to communicate, awareness of underfunded schools becomes a more mainstream discussion. In order for this to work, people have to be willing to give and receive critique without taking anything too personal. I hope this connects the music departments of many schools and create a network of instrument sharing between these schools, allowing everyone to play what they are interested in learning.
- Rough budget for material, time, space needed to build; this can be a bullet list:
- Coding the app: many hours
- possibly a small team to help develop the app
- A common meeting place to host meetings
- A target audience to run trials on. (local high school)
4 thoughts on “Hacktivism Intent-AndrewG”
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Concept
what media is the intent/project? 1-1, 1-many, many-many? explain
The media is many-many, as the project will be used to allow many people to all speak to one another.
does the idea enlist any of the New Media Strategies? If so which & how?
I would say this could be called Direct Action, as it works to shine a light on a problem ignored by most.
what major issue(s) does the project engage?
It addresses the issue of school budget cuts, as well as the neglect of expression young people in poorer areas are exposed to.
does the concept interest you?
I love this concept.
Design
is the design clear and appropriate?
I think the design has a solid foundation and is very appropriate.
does the design invite attention and/or participation?
It invites attention and participation from all parties involved, instructors and students.
Technical
what tech is used? is it appropriate?
I would assume that a computer is the tech involved. Beyond that the creation of a website is what would be involved in this ‘hack’.
what is the cost? is it affordable for most people? the planet? is it sustainable?
This app would be quite cheap to create, and could likely be distributed for free. The only problem I could see is sustainability, because the site would require updates and maintenance to stay operational.
Audience
who is the intended audience?
The intended audience is music educators and students across the province/state/country depending on how successful the project is.
how is the project geared to the audience?
It is geared so that it can be an effective tool both during everyday music use, making it accessible in the classroom, as well as useful outside of class for sharing music/ideas/instruments.
would the project appeal to or challenge the audience? how/why?
It would appeal to the audience in rural and underfunded areas quite a lot. The challenge would be in getting well funded schools to share their recourses.
Creativity
does the idea stem from some personal passion of the creator?
I would say that this was motivated by some personal gripe or experience. As a musician who grew up in a rural underfunded district, I sympathize.
can you detect the mark of a particular sensibility?
Yes, a love of music and expression.
Concept
1. What media is the intent/project? 1-1, 1-many, many-many? explain
Many to many. This app idea focuses on uniting a legion of students and teachers based off their common interest in music. The many to many principle is addressed in that users are encouraged to establish an online community.
2. Does the idea enlist any of the New Media Strategies? If so which & how?
Direct action, as it addresses an immediate problem.
3. What major issue(s) does the project engage?
This project engages the issue that high school music programs are frequently under-funded.
4. Does the concept interest you?
It interests me very much because I can directly relate to this situation and genuinely think it’s a good way to tackle this problem.
Design
1. Is the design clear and appropriate?
Yes, the design is well explained and aided with a visual.
2. Does the design invite attention and/or participation?
It’s clear a template was used to show app interface and structure, but the design doesn’t fit with the theme of ‘music,’ however understandably so since this is an outline.
Technical
1. What tech is used? is it appropriate?
This is a mobile phone app. It’s entirely appropriate because it assumes a platform that’s available and convenient to the intended audience.
2. What is the cost? is it affordable for most people? the planet? is it sustainable?
No app cost was addressed if a user wanted to buy it – I assume it would be free or quite cheap, especially when considering the ‘underfunded’ part of the equation. It’s certainly sustainable as it’s just an app.
Audience
1. Who is the intended audience?
The intended audience is teacher and students of high schools with underfunded music programs.
2. How is the project geared to the audience?
The project is geared toward this audience because its platform is readily available to this group of people. It seeks to unite a mass based on common interest.
3. Would the project appeal to or challenge the audience? how/why?
It would appeal to the audience because it provides an outlet for common problems of underfunded school programs. It also challenges the audience to talk to each other.
Creativity
1. Does the idea stem from some personal passion of the creator?
Absolutely. I know the creator and he’s greatly involved in music and absolutely has personal ties to this project.
2. Can you detect the mark of a particular sensibility?
His experience would show that this is indeed the case.
Concept
1. what media is the intent/project? 1-1, 1-many, many-many? explain
This is a many to many approach. By creating an app such as this, it connects many different people across the country to one another.
2. does the idea enlist any of the New Media Strategies? If so which & how?
Yes, it enlists the Distribute and Connect Information strategy as well as Tap into Local Networks by tapping into the school networks and connecting them together to distribute information about where certain musical instruments are available and information about how to learn them.
3. what major issue(s) does the project engage?
The main issue that this engages is the declining funding and education of performance arts.
4. does the concept interest you?
I personally was never into performance arts in high school, but I do believe that this is an important issue.
Design
1. is the design clear and appropriate?
Yes, it addresses a clear problem and gives a specific way to counter that problem.
2. does the design invite attention and/or participation?
Yes, due to the design anyone who is interested can participate.
Technical
1. what tech is used? is it appropriate?
It uses an application that can be used on your phone, which is appropriate.
2. what is the cost? is it affordable for most people? the planet? is it sustainable?
The application itself is affordable or even free so long as the user has a device with which to use it. A phone app has no affect on the environment and it should be sustainable.
Audience
1. who is the intended audience?
Mainly high schoolers and performance arts instructors.
2. how is the project geared to the audience?
It is geared to the audience because of its availability and the fact that it is much needed in their community as a whole.
3. would the project appeal to or challenge the audience? how/why?
It would appeal to the audience due to the fact that it is a favorable improvement to their education.
Creativity
1. does the idea stem from some personal passion of the creator?
Yes, the creator is passionate about music.
2. can you detect the mark of a particular sensibility?
Yes
This sounds like a clear and specific need addressed by a single APP. The interface is simple but a good start. Would the app be used by teacher, students or both? Does that affect the interface? How do you safeguard the instruments, and keep them safe from breakage? or loss? This is certainly a trust system , like for library books, but with much more costly equipment. But it is a clever way to respond to diminishing resources by sharing–where everyone benefits.
How can you create a culture that would adopt the APP–do you think there is already a sharing mindset among tears students?
Are there other ways the app could support music/arts in the schools–i’m not saying to get broader, just to consider its overall impact.
Cite NMD strategies, get a clear logo and interface design…poll some music students/teachers to see if/how they might use it.