Jen’s Blog

Image source: http://www.csad.uwic.ac.uk/music/images/music_technology.jpg

As a future teacher particularly interested in Creative Arts, I thought it would be interesting to focus on the role technology can play in music education in the primary classroom in my blog and in my critiques. As the “Pencils Across the Curriculum” critique highlights, many schools are attempting to incorporate computers across the curriculum, yet resources are tight and there are often logistical problems with small numbers of computers. I thought that by reading articles and reflecting on them, my own insight into integration of ICT and music would be enhanced and I would be better able to achieve integration in my teaching.

Much of the research seems to be based upon a constructivist view of learning, where the teacher adopts the role of facilitator and mediator. Students are provided with scaffolding, but are encouraged to think creatively and produce their own creations.

According to the research I have read, technology for music education seems to be evolving right across the globe. There seems to be a great focus and a great number of benefits in using music technology for composition. A number of programs have been developed with children in mind. Students do not require musical notation knowledge and do not need to be able to play an instrument to create fairly sophisticated compositions. However, there needs to be greater research into using technology for musical theory, and other important aspects of music education.

Despite the many benefits of using technology in music education, there appears to be a clear warning to educators in the research that technology must be incorporated in blended learning sequences. Technology must not replace face-to-face interaction, it must be “a means to an end, not an end itself” (Pugh and Pugh, 1998, p.100, Tooley, 2005; Jennings, 2005; McDowall, 2003). Researchers also urge teachers to use technology for valid pedagogical reasons, creating sound learning experiences rather than using technology for technologies sake (Murphy, Mercer & Rose, 2007).

Perhaps one of the greatest and most exciting aspects of using computer-mediated technology is the opportunity it gives students to have their voice heard. The Internet provides many opportunities for students to publish compositions and to appraise other works on a worldwide stage (Murphy, Mercer & Rose, 2007).

References

Jennings, K. (2005). Hyperscore: A Case Study in Computer Mediated Music Composition. Education and Information Technologies, 10 (3), 255-238.

McDowall, J. (2003). Music Technology: New Literacies in the Early Years. In J. Wright, A. McDougall, J. Murnane, & J. Lowe (Ed.), Young children and learning technologies : selected papers from the International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 3.5 Open Conference, Sydney, Australia, July 2003 (pp. 83-88). Sydney, NSW: Australian Computer Society.

Murphy, E., Mercer, A. & Rose, A. (Writers), Murphy, E., Mercer, A., & Rose, A. (Directors). (2007). E-teaching [Motion Picture].

Pugh, A., & Pugh, L. (1998). Music in the early years. London: Routledge.

Tooley, S. (2005). Technology Drives a Rethink. Music in Action, 3 (3), 18-21.

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