Evolving technologies require educational policy change: Music education for the 21st century

Abstract

There is growing discussion among education and government authorities on rethinking education in the 21st century. This increasing area of interest has come in response to the evolution of technology and its effect on the future needs and requirements of society. Online applications and social networking capabilities have accelerated in popularity, revealing their potential. The recognised benefits of technology for the use of music education have resulted in collaborative projects and learning and teaching that is not constricted by walls or location. Music education can be accessible to all young people through a combination of social media, blogging and interactive creative musical activities to engage students in all locations, including rural and remote areas. In this 21st century classroom, music education includes online resources, digital learning, in-school workshops, online master classes and live concert streaming where a range of musical styles are explored. This article explores the learning and teaching outcomes of Project Music X, an online music education project designed to fill an important gap in the provision of music education programs in regional and remote schools using a range of web 2.0 technologies. Technology in this context does not only align with the thinking of young people, but also provides a platform for students in remote and rural areas to engage with high quality music education and performance experiences that they would otherwise not have access to.

Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in music education research: An authentic analysis system for investigating authentic learning and teaching practice

“…The aim of IPA is to rigorously investigate personal meaning and lived experience. This resonated with a series of studies being conducted by the author on authentic learning in music education (Crawford, 2009, 2013, 2014). This research began in 2005, with the aim of investigating the philosophy and practice of authentic learning and digital technology in the secondary music classroom.…”

“…Explicit links need to be drawn for students so that they can develop metacognitive skills and processes, which will allow them to contextualise learning in the real world. The fluidity of knowledge in this regard is constructed through authentic learning in a highly effective way, which is not only accepted by students, but also considered valued knowledge (Crawford, 2009, 2013, 2014). Many constructivist perspectives recognise that the construction of knowledge and learning is mediated by the influence of socio-cultural factors.…”

“…In IPA this double hermeneutic or two stage interpretation process involves, first, the participants trying to make sense of their world and, second, the researcher trying to make sense of the participants trying to make sense of their world (Smith & Osborn, 2015). In the context of the authentic learning music education study, the researcher is trying to establish an understanding of the students’ experiences with music-making activities that emulate real life, and also the teachers’ experiences in implementing a change in their own pedagogy (Crawford, 2009, 2013, 2014). Reflexivity is critical in this process, which required an awareness of how complex layers of meanings and knowledge are constructed.…”

“…Critical hermeneutics has influenced qualitative research by stressing the importance of the researcher recording their judgements and potential prejudices during their investigation, which then becomes an integral part of the study. As such, a researcher’s journal was used throughout the studies that investigated authentic learning and digital technology in the music classroom (Crawford, 2009, 2013, 2014), providing an authentic and accurate account of the researcher’s perceptions. Gadamer (1965/1989) asserted that the social sciences must not suspend the subjectivity of the researcher, but instead engage with and challenge these prejudices as part of the continual meaning-bearing process.…”

A Postdigital Future for Music Education: Definitions, Implications, and Questions

“…There is also a growing number of music education studies that explore technology through a theoretical lens (e.g. Bauer 2014;Clements 2016;Crawford 2013;Ruthmann, Tobias, Randles, and Thibeault 2015;Thwaites 2014). Even as digital technology was coming of age in the early twenty-first century, Madsen (2000), in Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on Music Education, declared that as a field we need to be both proficient and knowledgeable with regard to technological changes while "recognizing the importance of people coming together to make and share music" .…”