Adding apps to the Application Index (was: Re: [school-discuss] SoundTracker)

[Doug Loss <drloss@suscom.net>]

olc@starboard.anchor.net.au wrote:

> Quoting mikee <meschman@engima.com>:
>
> Is Audacity the product that is closest to SoundTracker (ie, the
> music tracking/sequencing program, as opposed to timidity which
> creates samples)?
>
> Is anyone aware of any tutorials/teaching resources (suitable for
> upper primary or secondary level students ... 4 - 12) based on
> tracking/sequencing programs (open source or not at this stage)?

I heard Mike's request to add SoundTracker to the SEUL/edu Educational
Applications Index.  I've been a bit loathe to add tools like these to
the index; my reasoning follows.

Some applications are obviously primarily intended for educational use.
Their inclusion in the Index is a no-brainer.  Other applications, while
being more general in nature, have obvious uses in education; it's not
hard to figure out that they should be included too.

But there are some apps that occupy a fuzzy area.  They are often fairly
technical and oriented toward production of some sort of output.
Examples of these are SoundTracker, Blender, Broadcast 2000, and many of
the molecular  (and other scientific data) visualization programs.
Their focus isn't toward education, but they _could_ have educational
uses, which would probably be limited to advanced classes in the upper
grades, or at university.

These require judgement calls.  Is this or that program sufficiently
useful in education below university level to warrant inclusion in our
Index?  Depending on what I can find out about it, my level of knowledge
in the subject, and how I feel that day, an application might get added
or bypassed.  This is certainly not the best way of doing things.

I'd like to hear from teachers who are using (or who know teachers who
are using) apps in the "fuzzy" area, or who see definite educational
utility in them, before I add them to the Index.  That way the inclusion
of these would still be subjective, but it wouldn't be just _my_
subjective judgement alone that makes the decision.

When I come across such potential apps in the future, I'll post a
message about them to the seul-edu mailing list (this is, after all, the
SEUL/edu Educational Applications Index).  The responses will determine
if we add them or not.

--
Doug Loss                 All I want is a warm bed
Data Network Coordinator  and a kind word and
Bloomsburg University     unlimited power.
dloss@bloomu.edu                Ashleigh Brilliant