Introducing this Spark
Within this Digital Literacy course, these two AI Sparks enhance major elements of the class by shifting students from passive content review toward experiential, AI-supported learning. The first exercise replaces a traditional competency quiz and challenges the student to consider forms of learning based on simulation rather than simple rote memorization. The second exercise guides students through the structured use of generative AI to create a professional digital portfolio. It highlights the importance of quality source materials, clear seed ideas, and iterative refinement when using GenAI to avoid derivative or generic outputs.
Learning Outcome
Students will learn two methods for engaging with new course materials: one based on AI-generated self-assessment and one based on real-world simulation. The student will learn appropriate and productive approaches to using AI in the creation of personal promotional materials.
Directly addresses Digital Literacy learning objectives:
- Discuss digital technology trends and their professional implications.
- Demonstrate the ability to use digital technology effectively.
Featured AI Tools
Featured Skills
Implementation Guide for Instructors
The information below is provided to help instructors implement this AI Spark learning activity in other courses. It includes technical instructions for setting up the activity, a strategy for assessing student learning, and additional resources to help with AI tool configuration.
Assignments 1-3, Quiz Building and The Mentor and the New Music Innovation Lab Employee, use Gemini Notebook and a custom Gemini Gem to help students compare two approaches to learning course content: AI-generated self-assessment and scenario-based simulation. Students first use Gemini Notebook to generate and complete a quiz based on course source materials, then interact with a Gemini Gem that simulates new employee training in the Music Innovation Lab. The activity is designed to move beyond rote memorization by helping students apply music technology concepts in realistic troubleshooting contexts, evaluate the strengths and limitations of different AI-supported learning methods, and reflect on which approach best supports their learning.
Assignment 4, Using AI to Design a Marketing and Branding Plan for My Music Career, uses Gemini Notebook as a generative workspace for developing professional promotional materials. Students upload biographical, résumé, image, and career-related source materials, then use Notebook's chat and report-generation features to organize, refine, and generate content for a digital portfolio, media kit, and website or branding plan. The activity is designed to help students use AI productively and ethically for discipline-specific career development while emphasizing the importance of strong source materials, clear branding goals, iterative prompting, and critical evaluation of AI-generated output.
How to Create a Custom Employee Training Mentor Gem:
- Go to Gemini using your FSU email.
- Click Gems in the left sidebar, then click New Gem in the top right.
- Name the Gem: "The Mentor and the New Music Innovation Lab Employee".
- In the Knowledge field, add the following documents found in the course Gemini Notebook: Computer Overview.pptx, Web Design Basics.pptx, All About MIDI.pptx, and Introduction to MIDI.PDF. These are found in the Gemini Notebook link in the Resources tab.
- In the Instructions field, paste the complete system prompt provided in the Resources tab.
- Click Save and share the Gem link.
Gemini Notebook Setup: Prepare and share the course Gemini Notebook containing the lecture slide decks, documents, and quiz question imports.
Canvas Setup: Post the assignments across Canvas modules:
- Assignments 1-3: Provide the course Notebook link, the custom Gem link, quiz prompt instructions, and a submission point for the quiz screenshot, chat PDF, and 200-word comparative reflection.
- Assignment 4: Instruct students to create their own individual Gemini Notebook workspaces, upload personal career assets, generate a media kit report, and submit their link and report.
Spark 1 (Assignments 1-3): Students will be evaluated primarily on participation in the exercise and secondarily on their ability to identify transferable learning strategies across the contrasting approaches used in the activity.
Spark 2 (Assignment 4): Students will be evaluated on meeting the deliverables of the Digital Portfolio and Marketing Plan. Bonus points will be added for unique and non-derivative outputs that match the stated branding parameters.
Link to the Shared Gem: The Mentor and the New Music Innovation Lab Employee
Knowledge Source Materials: All sources can be found within the shared course Notebook (Computer Overview.pptx, Web Design Basics.pptx, All About MIDI.pptx, Introduction to MIDI.PDF, etc.).
Instructor Notes & Constraints: This type of Gem can sometimes lose track of the scenario and restart. Earlier versions asked students to choose a topic and continue through multiple tickets in the same chat, but the Gem sometimes ran out of context and restarted the simulation. The stricter step-by-step workflow appears to reduce this issue; however, if it occurs, students should start a new chat and begin again with the prompt.
Key Behavioral Constraints: The key behavioral constraint of this Gem is that it remains in the role of a mentor and focuses on real-world troubleshooting scenarios rather than simply giving students direct answers. Specific workflow instructions also address the Gem's tendency to restart the conversation before a solution has been found.
This Spark utilizes a shared Gemini Notebook. Due to technical constraints with sharing and copyright, links to shared Notebooks are not provided.
# Role & Persona
You are Mentor Strickland, a faculty member in Music Technology at the Music Innovation Lab. Your goal is to mentor a new student lab employee by guiding them through lab help tickets one scenario at a time.
# Role & Scenario
You are Mentor Strickland, a lab manager guiding a new student employee at the Music Innovation Lab. You walk the student through troubleshooting tech issues step-by-step using interactive scenarios.
# Instructions & Interaction Rules
1. **Initial Turn Only:** Introduce yourself and ask the student what type of ticket they would like to attempt. They can choose one of the following four topics:
- Topic 1: Computer Hardware and Software
- Topic 2: Networking
- Topic 3: Web Design and UX Principles
- Topic 4: MIDI Foundations
Ask the student to respond by typing "Topic 1", "Topic 2", "Topic 3", or "Topic 4".
2. Present a Help Ticket (Location & Issue) based on the selected topic along with the initial troubleshooting questions that will guide the student towards a solution.
3. **Subsequent Turns (Crucial):**
**DO NOT** repeat the full introductory greeting or re-issue a new Help Ticket after the first message.
- Evaluate the user's specific response: validate correct logic, gently correct mistakes, and explain the reasoning (e.g., how the PSU works).
- Advance the scenario logically based on what they checked (e.g., "You verified power at the outlet. What next?").
- If the user suggests internal checks (like checking the front panel power switch connector on the motherboard), confirm that as a solid next step and ask how they would safely proceed.
4. **Tone:** Encouraging, educational, professional, and peer-like.
# Core Behavioral Rules
1. DO NOT repeat your introduction or welcome message after the first turn.
2. Actively evaluate the user's responses. If they give a partial or short answer (e.g., checking a loose cable), acknowledge whether their diagnosis is logical, elaborate on why, and ask follow-up questions or move to the next step.
3. Keep a conversational, supportive, and instructional tone.
# Workflow
## Step 1: Scenario Presentation (Turn 1 ONLY)
Introduce yourself and ask the student what type of ticket they would like to attempt. They can choose one of the following four topics:
- Topic 1: Computer Hardware and Software
- Topic 2: Networking
- Topic 3: Web Design and UX Principles
- Topic 4: MIDI Foundations
Ask the student to respond by typing "Topic 1", "Topic 2", "Topic 3", or "Topic 4".
## Step 2: Generate a Help Ticket Based on the Selected Topic (Turn 2 ONLY)
Present a Help Ticket based on the selected topic along with the initial troubleshooting questions that will guide the student towards a solution.
## Step 3: Evaluation & Feedback (Turn 3+)
When the user responds:
1. **Validate/Evaluate:** Assess their answer (e.g., if they mention checking the IEC/power cable, confirm that physical power checks are the correct first step).
2. **Elaborate:** Explain the hardware concept (e.g., PSU role, internal vs. external connection checks, motherboard LEDs).
3. **Next Step / Follow-up:** Ask them what they would check next if that solution doesn't resolve it, or transition to the next ticket by going back to asking them to choose a new topic and begin again at Step 2.
Instructions for Students
In addition to helping students understand the purpose of this AI-based learning activity, the information below provides step-by-step instructions for completing the assignment and includes a micro training on how to use the featured AI tool(s).
Assignments 1-3 (Quiz Building and The Mentor and the New Music Innovation Lab Employee): These assignments will use two AI tools, Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems. Gemini Notebook is an AI-powered research and note-taking tool from Google, designed to help you organize, analyze, and create content from multiple sources. This will be used to create a personalized quiz based on source content from our course (Assignment 1). Gemini Gems are custom versions of Google's Gemini chatbot configured for a specific purpose. In this activity, the Gem acts as a guided mentor that uses selected course materials to create interactive, scenario-based troubleshooting conversations, helping you apply course concepts in a practice-oriented way (Assignment 2). Assignment 3 consists of a comparative reflection on the efficacy of Notebook vs. the Gem as a learning tool.
Assignment 4 (Using AI to Design a Marketing and Branding Plan for My Music Career): This activity will again use Gemini Notebook. However, this time the tool will be used to organize and generate content for your Digital Portfolio and Marketing Plan as a musician, combining biographical materials and source content into marketing materials and a media kit.
Assignment 1 - Quiz Building
Step 1: Open the MUS-2360 Gemini Notebook.
Step 2: Under the Studio Panel, select Quiz to create a new quiz using the course materials.
Step 3: Keep the Number of Questions set to "Standard (Default)" and the Level of Difficulty set to "Medium (Default)". Select the following sources: "All About MIDI.pptx"; "Canvas_Quiz_Import.csv"; "Computer Overview.pptx"; "Digital Audio and Soundwaves"; "Introduction to MIDI.pdf"; "Web Design Basics - V4.pptx".
Step 4: Under the textbox labeled What should the topic be?, enter the following prompt:
"Create case study scenarios for me to solve using the sources and original quiz questions as reference. Make the quiz multiple choice, but present the question as if they are real-world case studies indicative of the types of questions and troubleshooting techniques needed to solve problems found in a Music Technology Lab."
Step 5: Click Generate.
Step 6: Once generated, take the quiz. Retake the quiz until you score at least 80%. Use the suggested Learn More topics to expand your learning or fill in gaps. Take a screenshot of your final score.
Assignment 2 - The Mentor and the New Music Innovation Lab Employee
Step 1: Click on the custom Gemini Gem link provided in Canvas. Start the training by introducing yourself with the following sentence: "Hi, my name is [Your Name]. I am ready to begin my training."
Step 2: Select your first topic by typing "Topic 1", "Topic 2", "Topic 3", or "Topic 4" (Topic 1: Computer Hardware and Software, Topic 2: Networking, Topic 3: Web Design and UX Principles, Topic 4: MIDI Foundations).
Step 3: Answer the mentor's questions to the best of your ability until a solution is found. Remember that the mentor is designed to coach you through interactive problem diagnosis rather than handing you the answer. Work through the physical and internal diagnostic steps systematically.
Step 4: Select a new topic when prompted and solve that ticket. (If the simulation gets confused or stuck, restart a new chat with it).
Step 5: Once you have solved tickets for all four topics, click the button labeled "Convert chat to PDF" and export your chat as a PDF.
Assignment 3 - Comparative Reflection on AI Learning Methods
Write a 200-word comparative reflection of Assignments 1 and 2, focusing on the pros and cons of each and which you found most effective for your learning style.
Assignment 4 - Using AI to Design a Marketing and Branding Plan for My Music Career
Step 1: Open Gemini Notebook and create a New Notebook titled Marketing and Website Plan for [Your Name].
Step 2: Upload all relevant content that best describes your professional identity (at minimum: professional bio or résumé and professional-style photos of you making music, performing, or practicing services like music therapy or mix engineering).
Step 3: Use the Notebook's Chat collaboratively to explore and generate content toward a media kit. Generated content can be added back to the Notebook as additional sources.
Step 4: Generate a report using the Studio Panel. This report will serve as the foundation for your media kit and website design plan.
What to Submit
- Assignment 1: Quiz Score and Results: Screenshot of the Quiz Results.
- Assignment 2: Gemini Gem Conversation: PDF containing a copy of your conversation with the Gem.
- Assignment 3: Comparative Reflection: A 200-word comparative reflection of Assignments 1 and 2 focusing on pros/cons and learning style efficacy.
- Assignment 4: Gemini Notebook: Shared link to the Gemini Notebook.
- Assignment 4: Media Kit Report: A full report (Word or PDF) generated by Notebook that will serve as the foundation for your professional media kit.
What is a Gem? A Gem is a version of Google's Gemini AI chat that your instructor has preloaded with instructions. There’s nothing to set up — open the link and reply to its questions like a text conversation. Read more about Google Gems.
- Sign in. Open the Gem link and sign in with your Google account. If you see "You don't have access," you're likely signed in with the wrong account — sign out and try again.
- Send a message. Click the box at the bottom ("Ask Gemini"), type Begin Session, and press Enter. Replies appear above the box; wait for the reply to finish before responding.
- Reply in the same chat. The Gem remembers the whole conversation. Don't click "New chat", which will start the session over.
- Lost the page? Go to gemini.google.com → open the sidebar (☰) → Recent → click the conversation to continue where you left off.
- Copy the output. Hover over the top-right corner of the gray text box and click the Copy icon, then paste with Ctrl + V (Win) / Cmd + V (Mac).
- Good to know. Type text, rather than use voice (Gems don't work with Gemini Live). Don't enter passwords or sensitive personal information. Keep in mind that the Gem may ask you to expand a short answer.
- Access via FSU. Always access the tool via your FSU institutional account; personal accounts will default to an unconfigured model that produces generic, overly harsh, or ungrounded responses.
What is Gemini Notebook? Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is an AI study tool from Google that works only from the files you give it. Upload your course materials, then ask questions or generate study aids; every answer is drawn from your sources, with citations. Read more about Gemini Notebook.
- Sign in. Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your FSU Google account.
- Create a notebook. Click “Create new notebook”, then upload your first source. Click the notebook title at the top to rename it.
- Add sources. In the left Sources panel, click + Add. You can upload PDFs, Google Docs/Slides, paste a website link, or add a YouTube video. Uploaded sources appear in the list with a checkbox – leave them checked so Notebook uses them.
- Know the three panels. Left = Sources (your files). Middle = Chat (ask questions; answers include numbered citations you can click to see the original passage). Right = Studio (one-click study aids).
- Generate a study aid. In Studio, click a tile such as Flashcards, Quiz, Mind Map, Infographic, Report, Slide Deck, or Audio Overview. Generation takes a few seconds to a few minutes; the finished item appears in the Studio list.
- How to play an Audio Overview:
- Locate the Notebook guide: Look at the top-right corner of your screen for the Notebook guide panel. If it isn't visible, click the Notebook guide button in the upper right to open it.
- Find the Audio Overview tile: Inside the Notebook guide panel, locate the section labeled Audio Overview. If one has already been generated, you will see an audio player card displaying a title and playback duration.
- Press Play: Click the circular Play button on the audio card.
- Use playback controls: Once playing, a player bar appears where you can pause, skip backward or forward 15 seconds, adjust volume, or change the playback speed (e.g., 1.25x or 1.5x). You can also click the three-dot menu on the card to download the audio file to your device.
- Customize or revise. Before generating, click the pencil icon on a tile to describe what you want (e.g., "focus on chapters 3-4, harder questions"). To revise something already made, type the change in Chat or regenerate with a new prompt.
- Good to know. Upload only course materials and reliable sources – Notebook is only as accurate as what you give it. Your notebooks save automatically and stay in your account. Take screenshots with Win + Shift + S (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + 4 (Mac).