EarSketch
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Type of site
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Online education |
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| Available in | English |
| Website | https://earsketch.gatech.edu |
| Commercial | No |
| Users | 100.000 |
| Launched | 2011 |
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Content license
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Georgia Tech Research Corporation license |
| Written in | JavaScript (client), Java (server) |
EarSketch is a free educational programming environment. Its core purpose is to teach coding in two widely used languages, Python and JavaScript, through music composing and remixing. This learning environment was developed first at Georgia Institute of Technology (from 2011) under Prof. Jason Freeman (School of Music) and Prof. Brian Magerko (School of Literature, Media, and Communication).
EarSketch is web-based, which means users can access it with their web-browsers, and with no installation. No account is required to create projects or view existing projects.
EarSketch comprises different elements: a curriculum, a Digital Audio Workstation (or DAW), a code editor and console, and a sound browser. EarSketch's sound library was created by Young Guru, Jay Z’s sound engineer, and famous sound designer Richard Devine.
EarSketch has two main goals: to make Computer Science more engaging for students, and to diversify the population of students interested in Computer Science.
The US has a shortage of Computer Science students, not only because not all schools are offering CS classes, but also because students do not enroll in such classes. A study published in 2009 states: "The percentage of U.S. high school students taking STEM courses has increased over the last 20 years across all STEM disciplines except computer science where it dropped from 25% to 19%". Considering this, and the fact that all fields of the economy incorporate computing in their operations, EarSketch proposes to motivate students to enroll in CS classes and to pursue CS studies in higher education. EarSketch attempts to reach this goal by adding a musical side to coding. This strategy is a STEAMs approach to education that integrates arts into STEM teaching. A study conducted at Georgia Tech showed statistically significant results in this domain: students who study with EarSketch have been shown to make progress both in content knowledge and attitude towards CS (self-confidence, motivation, intent to persist, etc.).
Today female and minority students in CS classes are, like in other engineerging fields, underrepresented (with 22% of female students, 13% of African American students in US classes in 2015). EarSketch has demonstrated success in tackling this issue, partly because of the focus on popular genres of music such as dubstep, and because EarSketch provides a creative, expressive, and authentic environment (since students compose their own music).
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