One of Purple Mash's most intriguing tools is the Busy Beat app. Your learners - and you- are able to put together a whole acoustic or musical arrangement, record it, integrate it into a video or simply have a fun DJ session with your class.

According to a 2016 study at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute music is directly linked to optimum brain development and has an affect on all aspects of development including language, emotional maturity and intellectual development. A link has been found that directly ties music to accelerated language acquisition and reading.

A common argument in support of including music and dance into our teaching resources is that children sing before they talk and dance before they walk. Music is an integral part in how we as humans function and metabolise data that the world gives us. As such it logically follows that to integrate music or beats into our teaching resources we stand to have a far more successful connection with our learners.

As you well know, Purple Mash has many tools to use when putting together a multimedia lesson or full curriculum. Whichever learning area you focus on, these apps can be used to add texture and variety to the aids you use when teaching a lesson. One of these tools is the Busy Beat app. You will find the learners are totally fascinated to try out the app for a lesson, playing around with various combinations of beats and rhythms. There is an introductory video to get even the most tech-awkward learner started. From there, the sky is the limit. Click HERE to go through to the video.

Once the learners are comfortable with the app they can integrate it into various other activities on the Purple Mash platform. They could insert a sound track on their game, add a background beat or sound track to any video they are creating. For that matter, you as the teacher could use Busy Beats for exactly that purpose. You could insert it into teaching videos or resources to add texture and interest to your resource.

This is a particularly good resource to use as a Life Skills teacher when teaching elements of music. You can include melodies and pitch with your creations, not just percussion, which opens up a whole world of possibilities for making your music classes more relatable to your learners context. Once again there is a video to get you started in the Help section.

Whether you are using Busy Beats to add interest to a resource or using it as the tool to teach music and rhythm, it will add significantly to the interest you will be able to drum up with your class. Happy playing!