Nervous but excited

I've been tasked to learn something using only the internet as a learning resource. This "Networked Learning Project" (NLP) allows me to both learn something I’ve always been interested in, and also cements concepts we’ve covered in the course - such as how “affinity spaces” (Gee, 2018) are great ways to learn because of the way they are structured, they promote learning by design (which in turn promotes transfer – Bransford et al, 2000); or how different technologies lend themselves to learning different subject matter (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).

I have ALWAYS loved the violin - the way it sounds, how its music makes me feel. This NLP seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to try it out. For the next two weeks (hopefully longer), I’ll be learning to play violin, with the SMART goal of being able to play at least two lines of a song (maybe this one). My new violin arrives tomorrow!

"Violin" by pellaea is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

One of the first things I learned was how to select a good beginner violin. Workmanship, sound quality, and cost were all considerations. Consordini is a site dedicated to musical instrument reviews and offers a list of the best violin brands for beginners. This site was not well written, which made me suspect of its content. However, it was so comprehensive that ultimately I selected their number one recommendation, the Mendini MV300.

A second valuable resource has been Reddit. I expected Reddit to be a more useful site for providing actual learning tools – perhaps with further investigation it will be. But one post did help set my expectations for this learning experience – the violin is a complex instrument, which requires dedication to learn. And I shouldn’t feel bad if I sound like this at first:

References

Cici. [Cici_Lane]. (2021, August 20). should i learn violin or not？[Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/lingling40hrs/comments/p8419b/should_i_learn_violin_or_not/

Gee, J.P. (2018, February 26). Affinity spaces: How young people live and learn online and out of school. Phi Delta Kappan. http://www.kappanonline.org/gee-affinity-spaces-young-people-live-learn-online-school/

Hollinger, J. (2000). Violin. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/2ps9Ry

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

TwoSet Violin. (2021, March 20). Ling Ling Workout Ft. @Chloe Chua [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blHEB0iYoIo