Exploring a virtual music community of practice: Informal music learning on the Internet

Abstract

Over the past ten years, online communities of practice have evolved in cyberspace formed around different folk music genres, including Bluegrass, Irish Traditional, and Old Time (OT) music. Using Wenger's (1998) social learning theory as a framework, and informed by Hine's research in cyber ethnography (2000), the purpose of this article is to explore the informal music teaching and learning practices that characterize the OT music online community as a community of practice (CoP). What defines the OT online community as a CoP? What technologiesincluding software programs -do learners use and how do learners modify these to fit their needs? What practices characterize learning in this online community? Information gleaned from this article will serve a twofold purpose. First, the exploration of music learning in this online CoP will have implications for lifelong music learning and formal school music education. Second, this study will demonstrate the appropriateness of employing cyber ethnography as a method for conducting online narrative research in music education.

Offering Authentic Learning Activities in the Context of Open Resources and Real-World Goals: A Study of Self-motivated Online Music Learning

“…Many thriving online musical communities of practice already offer learners a variety of content, informal support, and formal help in the context of goal-oriented activities (e.g. Lysloff, 2003;Waldron, 2009). I have not yet found any that focus on the creative uses of theory, but involvement in this type of offering may be an important step for my future action research.…”

2015: Fourteen Years of NIME: The Value and Meaning of ‘Community’ in Interactive Music Research

“…Of course, attempting to educate through an apprenticeship model in modern academic settings is indeed impractical, hence the choice of applying structured pedagogical strategies. Nonetheless, as shown in the music domain, informal learning environments within communities of practice have proved successful in improving students' learning of performance, improvisation and composition skills, as well as enriching their own personal learning experiences [25,45,44].…”

“…However, this ambiguity provides the basis for creating new practices. Despite the usage of online resources for communication and storage of materials, geographical location is not a strict condition for the establishment of a community of practice [44,49]. Indeed, one can see that on some live-coding sites (for example, the Supercollider, Max/MSP or ChucK forums), levels of engagement and exchange are rather high [28].…”

Beyond Mentoring

“…Other reported benefits have included the ability to have reflective discussions, because participants can reread online postings multiple times, have extended time for online discussions, and benefit from multiple teachers' contributions (Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit, & McCloskey, 2009;Roddy, 1999), and a sense of camaraderie, and the ability to share emotions with others who understand their situations (Babinski, Jones, & DeWert, 2001;Gleaves & Walker, 2010;Hur & Brush, 2009;Klecka, Cheng, & Clift, 2004;Qian & Tao, 2005). Some researchers have explored online communities of musicians who engage in activities such as uploading their own music for feedback or commenting on various other musical artifacts (Salavuo, 2008;Waldron, 2009), but these communities focus on musical performance rather than teaching.…”