A huge problem in Jewish Education is the need to develop study skills for Judaic subject matter. Students are at many different levels of learning, but the one thing they have in common is the need to learn study techniques. At the same time, after surveying a sample population at my school, virtually everyone surveyed stated that they enjoy music and can more readily remember song lyrics and tunes than they can remember information for a test. The results of the survey, which was created on Survey Monkey, are in the gallery below. Therefore, students need a way to learn and get ready for a test by singing the information instead of just trying to remember it. The Singfo is an app that will help all students learn their Judaic Studies material by singing. It will create songs and the rhythm and rhyme patterns will help students remember information.
Studies show that using music to learn reduces feelings of anxiety and stress, helps to regulate emotions, improves concentration and on-task behavior, and enhances the way students can process information, language and speech (www.thebestbrainpossible.com/how-listening-to-music-benefits-your-brain/; http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/boost-memory-and-learning-with-music/). This app will change any written information in any Judaic Studies subject that students learn into a song. For the prototype, I will be developing two songs that students can learn information about, based on meetings with the Judaic Studies teacher and her plans. In the future, I would like this to be a crowd sourcing app, like Waze, that people can upload Jewish knowledge songs to, and even have the capability to have students upload their notes and a song gets created based on the style of music that they like.
