Music and eJay: An opportunity for creative collaborations in the classroom

Theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on orchestrating creativity and collaborative learning

“…Kobbe et al, 2007). This review is in line with the notion that orchestrating learning must be both pedagogically structured and flexible in order to reach learning goals (Dillenbourg & Jermann, 2010;Gall & Breeze, 2008;Sawyer, 2004). Thus, the learning goal (task which the learners' strive to complete) and its contextual needs set the limits for how much learning should be designed and instructed (Arvaja, 2007;Hämäläinen & Häkkinen, 2010;Kelly, Crawford, & Green, 2001).…”

“…This means that tasks should be designed based on research findings regarding the cognitive, social and motivational effects of creativity and/or collaborative learning. The aim is then to design the learning situation to encourage learners to challenge themselves in shared knowledge-construction processes with the support of learning resources and teacher scaffolding (Gall & Breeze, 2008;Hämäläinen & Häkkinen, 2010;Jeong & Hmelo-Silver, 2010;Mercer et al, 2010;Palincsar & Brown, 1984). In practice, this means that, for example, a mediating role for solving conflict and controversy can be created by providing student materials with conflicting evidence (e.g.…”

Towards an effective freeware resource for music composition in the primary classroom

“…Such an approach is employed in the sequencing software eJay, an accessible environment for exploring form, structure, style and texture (see Figure 3). Several studies have focused on the effectiveness of eJay in promoting considerations of these musical dimensions in young learners (Dillon, 2003;Gall and Breeze, 2008;Mellor, 2008). To paraphrase the new curriculum, these examples can be thought of as 'other musical notations' through which the 'inter-related dimensions of music' (DfE, 2013: 2) may be made apparent, or may become interactively attainable, providing that there are opportunities for students to further explore the shape and subtleties of musical materials.…”

Technology Integration: A Research-based Professional Development Program

“…Collaboration among teachers is essential to developing positive feedback on the collaborative use of ICT in education. Collaboration and negotiation are important to the educational experience, and teachers have a key role to play in facilitating communication between students that enhances the combination of the various sets of background information and experiences individual students bring to the collaborative learning experience of the classroom (Gall & Breeze, 2008).…”