Task #3

   


Introduction: Spotify is an audio streaming platform in which listeners can stream music and podcasts. Spotify users have the ability to make, share, and collaborate on playlists. Although initially Spotify may seem like an online streaming service that only serves as a way to participate as a listener, it also holds space as an informal learning opportunity. Spotify can serve as a way to discover new music and even explore various genres and decades of music as well. Spotify users have access to new the music the minute it is released and no longer have to add any inconvenience into their day to access this music. In addition to music, Spotify offers listeners the opportunity to practice learning a second language, follow a guided meditation, listen to a health and wellness podcast, or listen to poetry. The opportunities for using Spotify as a learning tool are endless. In addition to the content that can be absorbed by the listener, there is also a social element to this platform in which users can collaborate with others or see the playlists other users have created.





Strengths: One of the biggest strengths of this online resource is the amount of content available. Having access to a music catalog such as this on a smartphone or laptop provides endless opportunities for listeners to search and discover new music as quickly as their mood or need changes and evolves. The streaming service uses an algorithm to generate playlists specific to individuals' specific music tastes and streaming habits. Spotify uses a process called collaborative filtering to predict what music listeners will want to hear. Read more about the way the algorithms are used, here. Another contributing factor to the success of this learning space is the opportunity for collaboration. Spotify allows listeners to collaborate on playlists and search through the lists of others. In their 2007 article "From SuperGoo to Scratch: exploring creative digital media production in informal learning", Peppler and Kafai remark that "the educational function of creative production lies in learning to write these multimodal texts but also in understanding the complexity of the design process. The cultural and political function of production includes a better understanding of larger issues of power: Who is doing the writing? Whose voice is being heard? Who is being positioned in certain ways within a particular text and for what purposes?" (p.152). Is it the voice of the artist, the audience or both? It becomes somewhat of a social networking site with the ability to create a profile and connect with others. With the social element of this streaming service, Spotify users can see what their facebook friends are listening to in a display on the right hand side of the desktop. Another strength is the diverse range of content available. A quick search led me to a wide selection of art and art education podcasts. It appears as though there is not a topic left unexplored when it comes to content of the podcasts available.


Weaknesses: One of the largest weaknesses of this informal learning space is that it is not free. Spotify costs $9.99 a month. It is available for free, without the opportunity for listeners to create their own playlist or select specific songs. This costs makes this exclusive to those that can afford the cost, causing it to not be an inclusive source for all to use for learning. Another weakness is the controversy of the ethics of using streaming platforms in general. Thinking about the compensation artists receive for their music to be available on Spotify could be enough to make any music lover think twice about the most effective ways to support artists. Rolling Stone published an article in 2018 debating just that.

Read the article here.

Another weakness is the inherent lack of visual content available when streaming podcasts or music. As we explore varying styles of learning such as visual learning, a podcast would provide the opportunity for auditory, rather than visual learning.

 



Opportunities: The opportunities Spotify provides as an online informal learning space are individualized to the interests of the learner. As an educator, it is a relatively accessible way to find professional development in the form of podcasts. Spotify also offers prompts for reflection in the form of personalized playlists such as "Your Year in Review" in which the service creates a playlist with your most frequently listened to songs and podcasts. With music being a deeply personal and emotional art, this act of reflection can lead to an opportunity for self study. Spotify now offers a "behind the music" feature, in which facts appear on the screen as music plays, detailing information about the song and the artist. These facts can serve as a catalyst for connection making with the music that is being streamed. Listening to music is a highly personal and connected experience. By offering listeners the chance to get to know what they are listening to can help users form deeper connections with the music they are streaming. Listeners are listening to and creating their own collections, similar to that of the experience between teacher and student being created by these technological sharing opportunities. Patton and Knochel's 2017 article "Meaningful Makers" remarks on this relationship and the connection achieved by bringing these spaces into focus.  They write, "teachers and students are eager to share what they made, the connections between all types of makers build community through the creation, presentation, critical viewing, and discussion of making practices" (p.42). This eagerness then fuels production and the learning community and the possibilities within grow larger.

References:

Gershgorn, D. (2019, October 4). How Spotify's Algorithm Knows Exactly What You Want to Listen       To. Retrieved from https://onezero.medium.com/how-spotifys-algorithm-knows-exactly-what-             you-want-to-listen-to-4b6991462c5c.

Ingham, T. (2018, December 7). Should Spotify Change the Way It Pays Artists? Retrieved from             https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/should-spotify-change-the-way-it-pays-               artists-763986/.

Kylie A. Peppler & Yasmin B. Kafai (2007) From SuperGoo to Scratch: exploring creative digital            media production in informal learning, Learning, Media and Technology, 32:2, 149-166, DOI:            10.1080/17439880701343337

Music for everyone. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.spotify.com/us/.

Patton, R. M., & Knochel, A. D. (2016). Meaningful Makers: Stuff, Sharing, and Connection in 
      STEAM Curriculum. Art Education, 70(1), 36–43. doi: 10.1080/00043125.2017.1247571

Spotify. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://strugglingmuso.wordpress.com/tag/spotify/.