Lesson 5: Music on the Internet

Featuring EarthLink Digital Music

Student Objective: Students will discuss how Internet applications, such as downloading music, could be improved based on the knowledge and experience of their senior partners.
Time Required: Thirty minutes for student lesson preparation; one hour for lesson with seniors
Materials: EarthLink Digital Music downloaded to each PC computer (free version) or iTunes for each Mac computer (free version), name tags, list of senior participants and student teachers, computers with EarthLink software, coupon code for ten free Musicmatch downloads (available from [email protected] when you submit your request for EarthLink TotalAccess® software), Music—Old and New Student/Senior Worksheet 5 (PDF), pen/pencil for each student and senior, blank journal for students

Note: Free Musicmatch downloads will be available while supplies last.

Thirty-Minute Prep Before Seniors Arrive (optional):

1. Have each student put on their name tag and redistribute the name tags of each student’s senior partner, if necessary. Download the free version of EarthLink Digital Music to each PC computer (or iTunes to each Mac or PC), if necessary. (Click on Digital Music under the EarthLink Extras section on the left-hand side of your EarthLink Personal Start Page ^SM. Then click on the “Get Free Jukebox” button to install the free jukebox. Go to www.apple.com/itunes to access the iTunes jukebox.) Review Music—Old and New Student/Senior Worksheet 5 (PDF).
2. Ask: What do you think makes a retail location successful? As a class, discuss social and economic factors that have helped shape successful online businesses. Discuss how the rise of online music stores such as iTunes and Napster have influenced teen shopping habits.
3. Older Americans have watched many new ideas develop into successful businesses or products, and they have experienced the ebbs and flows of the American economy. Ask: In what ways could Internet technology benefit from the advice of older Americans?
4. Instruct students to consider what kinds of Internet tools or Web-sites would be useful or interesting to seniors during Lesson 5. Encourage them to ask seniors what they would change about the Internet, if they could.

Lesson Directions:

1. Seat seniors and students in the same pairs as for earlier lessons. Answer any outstanding or new questions pertaining to the Day 4 Lesson.
2. Instruct students and seniors to complete Section 1 of the worksheet.
3. After twenty minutes, ask each pair to take a five- to ten-minute break if time permits.
4. After the break, instruct each pair to complete Section 2.
5. After twenty minutes, reconvene as a group and discuss any questions.

Senior Homework (optional):

Ask seniors to search for background information regarding any song or artist of their choice. A brief summary of what they found may be e-mailed to their partner before the next class.

Student Wrap-up (optional):

For homework, instruct students to write a two-page journal entry that compares and contrasts the music choices made by seniors and students during Lesson 5. Describe how online music services could better serve consumers of all ages.