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CONTENTS
1. Workshop focus
2. Introduction
3. Snapshots: innovative examples of design and research in music technologies
4. Ways forward
5. References
The Futurelab Innovations Workshop series aims to help pioneer new ways of designing and using emerging digital technologies. By bringing together experts from the creative, education and technology communities, our aim is to create a space where practitioners can discuss the future of digital technologies for learning. One of the 2005 series of workshops was on music technology. Specifically this workshop addressed the role of technology in enhancing public appreciation of and participation in making and listening to music.
This document provides an overview of the key trends which informed our discussions during the workshop and the outcomes of the workshop day.
1. WORKSHOP FOCUS
- Musical networks and interfaces: where do the new opportunities lie and how can we build meaningful musical experiences using integrated, pervasive networks?
- New musical practices for the 21st century: to support innovations in teaching music using digital technologies, what kinds of learning contexts do we need to develop?
To address these questions, we invited relevant practitioners to present and showcase their work. Working in small groups we developed 'future visions' of how music technologies will enhance public appreciation of and participation in making and listening to music in the year 2015. These 'visions' are summarised within this paper.
2. INTRODUCTION
Music technology is often discussed in relation to secondary education, where it is used prolifically (keyboards, computers, electronic instruments) and has become a recognised subject area in its own right. However in discussing future scenarios it is important to acknowledge the relevance of music in children and young people's lives, and the musical cultures and communities that emerge in and around clubs, garages, rehearsal spaces, homes, arts centres, conservatoires and schools. The work discussed in the following sections attempts to pull together research across formal and non-formal learning sectors and the creative and software industry. This is not an exhaustive review but an indication of current trends in the field.
2.1 Music technology in school settings
Music technologies (keyboards, computers) were first introduced into UK secondary school classrooms during the early 1980s. Since then there has been a steady growth in the availability of ICT across the curriculum. However it was not until the 1990s that music technologies were explicitly referred to in the National Curriculum. Although they are currently advocated at all key stages, it is not until Key Stage 3 that they are specifically referred to as a means "to explore, create and record sound" (National Curriculum Orders for Music Education, in Rogers 1997).
In a recent survey carried out by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), findings indicated that:
"ICT has had a positive impact on teaching and learning in music in the majority of secondary schools. Music technology is often used successfully to enhance the development of a wide range of musical skills, as well as being an area of study in its own right." (Ofsted 2004, p4)
Despite several survey reports on the application of music technologies within schools (Dillon et al 2001; Mills and Murray 2000; Ofsted 2002a, 2002b, 2004; Pitts and Kwami 2002), little detailed work has been carried out on how they actually influence learners' processes (creative, collaborative or individual) and musical understandings. Research that has been carried out across various primary (Mellor 2001), secondary (Dillon 2003, 2004; Folkestad, Hargreaves and Lindström 1998; Seddon and O'Neill 2001) and non-formal (Dillon 2004) learning settings has focused on different technologies and research questions, and so although our knowledge is steadily growing, work in the field has tended to be sporadic and centred on individual researchers' interests and orientations.
For example, studies have shown that teaching practices tend to focus around particular hardware and sequencing or notation packages. Consequently learners' experiences are limited and the full potential of music technologies has not yet been fully explored in school. As noted in the recent Ofsted report:
"Most music departments base the majority of work in music technology on one piece of software - typically either sequencing or score-writing. This can result in pupils gaining limited experience in the wide-ranging applications of ICT in music. A minority of departments make good use of a range of software, including audio editing programs and CD-Roms to develop skills such as aural perception and understanding of musical form and history." (Ofsted 2004, p4)
Consequently innovation in music teaching with technology tends to be driven by individual teachers who are passionate and interested in this area. Similar to the use of ICT in art (eg refer to Arts Council of England, 'Keys to Imagination ICT in Art Education', 2003), exemplary music technology practices are unusual and sometimes little known outside the school or department context.
This is not to take away from the successes of music technology in schools. Various surveys (Mills and Murray 2000; Ofsted 2004) have reported that teachers find music technology opens up the curriculum and allows all abilities access to music. In addition technology provides teachers with an additional toolkit through which they can engage young people in the sophisticated process of composition (eg through sequencing packages such as Cubase and sampling software such as eJay) as well as enhancing music appreciation (eg through the use of CD-Roms, web etc). Teachers have also cited more functional benefits of using computers for storing, saving and retrieving music, which they find useful to track pupils' progress (Dillon forthcoming; Dillon et al 2001; Mills and Murray 2000; Ofsted 2004; Pitts and Kwami 2002). On a negative note, some of the most commonly cited problems with using ICT in music are lack of funds, inadequate training and lack of technical support, particularly when computers crash etc (Dillon forthcoming; Dillon et al 2001; Mills and Murray 2000; Ofsted 2004; Pitts and Kwami 2002).
From our perspective, it is necessary to not only share examples of exemplary school practices but also discuss how schools can become sites of musical innovation, which embody both traditional and contemporary approaches to music, by providing rich musical experiences for all ages and abilities.
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