Ciara comes home to surprise STEM students

Posted January 6, 2020

External Article: CNN

EarSketch, a computer program created by School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor Brian Magerko with School of Music professor Jason Freeman, was mentioned in an article from CNN on Jan. 6, 2020.

EarSketch is a free-to-use program that teaches students the programming languages Python and JavaScript in the context of creating and manipulating songs in a "digital audio workstation." It is used by more than 375,000 students and instructors in 50 states and more than 100 different countries.

The program got some celebrity exposure recently when star R&B singer Ciara came to Paul Duke STEM High School in Norcross to speak to students and listen to remixes of her songs that students created in EarSketch. Students could submit their creations for the Ciara Remix Competition, run by Amazon and Georgia Tech.

Excerpt:

Ciara told CNN the program not only is empowering to the students, but also targets underserved students who might otherwise be at a disadvantage in a world so clearly driven by technology.

"Coding is really the way," she said. "What I've learned through my experiences with Amazon, in particular in this program, is that it's now almost in some places a requirement to get a job. I said to the kids today, when you walk into a room, you have an extra level of cool by adding coding. You automatically level up your game."

Read the full article here.