WeVu for Music
Case Studies
There are so many ways to use WeVu in Music Schools
(These are real screenshots, so we've blurred them a little to anonymize them.)
Self-recorded practice & assessments
Students record on their phones and submit to a WeVu assignment box. The teacher can go through them quickly one by one and leave feedback or grades. Jeff Hanlon, teaching a guitar class, said "They were happier; I was happier".
Music History
Students are tasked with finding audio or video clips of a particular genre or period. They then privately make time-specific comments and the professor can respond and assess the student's work.
Interpretation and Criticism
Students are assigned an audio or video recording of a performance. Then there can be a group dialogue, with or without the instructor, to discuss the work, its performance, and its significance. Unlike in person, students don't have to struggle to get a word in edgewise.
Ensemble and Orchestra Rehearsal
The rehearsal can be filmed and then immediately afterwards all the players must watch and listen, making relevant comments at specific points, tagging them with hashtags like "#brass" so a large number of student comments can easily be filtered.
Studio
WeVu allows for more reflection on studio work. Student and teacher don't even need to be in the same place at the same time. Or the video can be shared anywhere in the world with just the right teachers and mentors.
Conducting
Video is probably most powerful of all for conducting. Only with video can students really see and believe what improvements they could make in their conducting practice. Some instructors just prompt students to reflect carefully rather than saying immediately what the student has done poorly.
Who's using WeVu? And How?
Queen's University Music
'They were happier; I was happier.' I used WeVu with a guitar class. Two tests were on WeVu.
A great deal of class time was saved for instruction instead of summative assessment.
Some students tend not to perform well in front of others. Allowing uploads removed the nervousness factor.
Students can record many takes and submit their best performances through WeVu. So I can set higher standards for their performances.
It is much easier to give detailed feedback through WeVu than during an in-class session.
I allowed students to submit videos well before deadlines. I was able to assess and give feedback on their submissions within a day, allowing them to re-record, re-submit before the deadline and obtain higher grades. They were happier; I was happier.
Rowan University
We enjoyed very much using WeVu last semester, in particular with the Conducting class. It was an ideal format for making comments on student-submitted videos, and we took advantage of that all the way through the semester. I also used my Wind Ensemble & Concert Band sites in WeVu on a couple of video projects and results there were also positive.
Eric Jones Piano
I see video as a key strategy for motivating students and helping them to be exposed to both great performances and feedback on their own playing.
UBC School of Music
I think WeVu is a really good device, especially for learning conducting. I am glad my professor decided to use this system. THANK YOU very much for designing and bringing this interface to university learning!
UBC - Vancouver School of Music
I think WeVu is a really good device, especially for learning conducting. I am glad my professor decided to use this system. THANK YOU very much for designing and bringing this interface to university learning!
Indiana Wesleyan Music
WeVu has been a remarkable asset in my conducting classroom! The students are able to dive in deeply to assess every detail of their conducting technique and comment on it in a very specific way. As their teacher, the ability to ask direct questions and give specific feedback is invaluable!
University of Victoria School of Music
It is a great tool, especially in situations when there is no time for talk.
UBC - Vancouver School of Music
This is a fantastic way for students to review their own playing and for professors to give highly specific feedback.
