Music Students Experiment with Wii Technology in the Classroom
By Mark Lamb
The use of technology is integral in the advancement of education. We live in a time where students have unlimited information at their fingertips and can communicate instantly with anyone in the world within seconds! To help prepare our students for the changing world, technology experiences and knowledge is invaluable. The sheer act of being exposed to technology allows our students to be better prepared to face the next new piece of technology. The past week, elementary music students have been busy taking quizzes and interacting with musical lessons using Wii technology. Now don't think we are just sitting around playing games, because what we are really doing is using the technology of the Wii remote to create interactive learning opportunities!
This is all made possible by Johnny Chung Lee. Johnny Chung Lee, a former doctorate student at Carnegie Mellon and current Microsoft developer, began experimenting with the Wii to see how it worked. He discovered that the Wii remote (or 'Wiimote' for short) has a very advanced infrared camera. The Wiimote is used to see infrared light emitted from the sensor bar while playing Wii games to determine which way, and how hard the player is moving the wiimote, thus deciding how hard to swing the tennis racket or baseball bat while playing a game. The Wiimote in the music room is instead used to transmit an infrared flashlight pen onto a screen, which then controls a computer from a distance. This allows for a teacher to have complete control of their computer while standing at the front of the classroom. The Wii creators use Bluetooth technology to connect the Wiimote to the Wii console, just as it is used in hands-free phone devices. This technology allows the Wiimote to communicate without wires, and this is how we connect the Wiimote to the computer.
After discovering how to connect the Wiimote and computer, Lee then developed software that would allow the Wiimote to become a very inexpensive whiteboard. For those not familiar with whiteboard technology, there are many companies out there that have developed a board much like a chalkboard/dry erase board that allows the computer desktop to be displayed. With the technology, then the chalkboard/dry erase board becomes interactive and allows for writing and control of the computer with a specially designed "pen". To purchase one of these interactive whiteboards (such as a SmartBoard, or Promethean Board) is very expensive. The cost is anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000! However, Johnny Chung Lee has developed the near exact technology at a fraction of the cost. The supplies needed are: a Wiimote (is about $30 and can be picked up nearly anywhere), a bluetooth adapter (which can be easily found on the internet for less than $10), and an infrared pen light (which can be made or bought for about $10). So for less than $100, we can equip one classroom with nearly the same whiteboard technology... at a fraction of the cost.
The best part of Wii technology is watching students create and experiment with music! We have used the Wii technology to create music using a virtual recording studio, to manipulate and cut music that we have recorded, to highlight and develop diagrams for better understanding of time periods, to experiment with notes, values, and rhythms, and to take virtual field trips to places like Paris, Vienna, even downtown Meriden - all by using just a simple pen light! If you are interested in seeing this educational technology tool in action, stop by the music room sometime. We would love to "show off" what we know!
*If you want to try this for yourself feel free to check out http://www.johnnylee.net/projects/.
