As we get very close to our BETA version of the Singdaptive adaptive learning platform, there is one feature we haven’t talked much about: practice tracking.
As we developed our platform and talked with singers, we heard one clear piece of feedback about online learning (and any learning in general): It can be difficult to remember the specific items we’d benefit from practicing.
When we received this feedback, we had already designed our Action feature, which provides practical steps to go with every lesson that lock in your knowledge or help you go deeper into the subject.
But what about when a lesson includes something you can practice?
Presto! A Practice Tracker
Practice trackers allow you to track when and how long you practice. We didn’t feel that offering a regular old practice tracker was a priority, unless there was something unique we could offer.
And now we do!
Anytime you take a lesson that contains material meant for practicing, you can select “Add to Practice.” This adds that exercise to your practice regime – in our practice tracker.
When you come to your practice tracker, you can note how long you practice, as you would with any practice tracker, but with Singdaptive, you can also see a list of practice items you’ve learned about. You will also have direct access to audio or video tracks associated with the practice exercise. Finally, you can check it off to keep a record of what you’ve worked on and what you haven’t.
We also decided to include a practice journal. We have never met a singer who journals about their practicing and regrets it. Journaling about your mood, health and challenges after practicing isn’t something you necessarily do every moment of your singing life, however, journaling can be incredibly informative to unlocking goals.
What else can you track?
Once we had the practice tracker, it provided a simple format to track a few other key happenings in a singers life: performance, coaching sessions and general musings.
The combination of these tracking tools allows you to keep a record of your goals, experiences and life as a singer. Reflecting on your time as a singer can be a big motivator in developing your next opportunities and overcoming your current challenges.
Kevin Alexander is CEO and co-founder of Singdaptive, bringing his past experience as CEO of the singing technology company TC-Helicon, as well as live sound, recording and love of music. Recently, he has been a university instructor in Multimedia Learning and is helping to envision an exciting future with technology at the research firm Kinsol.io
