Dr. Widen has a Bachelor of Music Education (BME), a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (BM) and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Dr. Widen also holds a Ph.D. in Music Education/Piano Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. The title of Dr. Widen’s dissertation is Field-Dependent/Field-Independent Learner Response to Technologies Used in College Level Group Piano Classes. In his study, Dr. Widen studied the kinds of educational technologies students with a specific learning style chose to support their learning in group piano classes.