The Australian Landscape of Online Bachelor of Music Courses Pre-Covid-19

Abstract

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and safety precautions resulted in many Australian higher education music courses being taught online. However, it has yet to be established to what extent were music courses offered online pre-pandemic in Australia. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify online music program offerings at the bachelor level in Australia before COVID-19, identify similarities of pre-COVID online music class offerings in Australian universities, and provide implications and recommendations resulting from the findings. Using a document analyses method, findings indicated 20% of Australian bachelor of music (BMus) programs offered one or more core and/or elective music courses for music majors via online (asynchronous) learning prior to January 2020. This implies that during the online teaching that occurred due to 2020-2021 lockdowns in Australia, 80% of BMus programs in Australia were limited in preparedness for the required pivot to online teaching. The implications of online Australian BMus courses are addressed as are the opportunities for supporting music students' digital literacy through online music course offerings. Finally, the paper highlights recommendations for student preparedness, academic staff development, and areas for future research.