The Value of Technology in Music Education

~ mitchelljamesdavis

It has indeed been a short while since my time in secondary school. While I have grown up surrounded by technology having a place in many areas of everyday life, my time in school was perhaps just before the introduction of teaching methods more heavily centred on technology, although I was fortunate enough to have an apple laptop provided to me by my high school. I would say this helped with efficiency of learning rather than always directly making a difference in the specific style of learning I experienced.

Our lecturer James mentioned that many music educators have been found to be traditional in their teaching methods, or “conservative” and resist to “change” as he described, according to recent research. Howard Gardener has highlighted that technology use among young people in general can harm “identity, relationships, and creativity”, although has acknowledged that it can also be positive in these areas. 

However, James’ conversation with a representative of the Afghanistan National institute of music clearly can give us all as current or future music educators new perspective on technology in the classroom. By connecting their staff and students to music educators all around the world via video conferencing, their work is an inspiring example of quality music education in the 21st century. For me personally, this example gave greater gravity to the value of technology in modern music education, by creating an inclusive experience for young people and educators. Perhaps in the past I would have viewed the use of tech as somewhat of a novelty.

Following on from last week, I received an email from the Midnight music blog (Katie Wardrobe) containing 3 free lesson plans as a thank you for following her work. While not a direct example of tech in the music classroom, it is an example of communication using tech for the general benefit of music education, via one educator sharing their ideas for lesson plans. Her 3 free ideas were a rap activity, clapping game activity and an exercise with rhythm and meter. Once again, here is a link to Katie’s blog: Midnight Music.

In lighter news, we also engaged with some research into how to best engage an audience via a website. The “F shape” demonstrated by “laser eye tracking” made perfect sense. I am currently happy with my blog’s layout, however over time I will try to work towards the most convenient presentation I can.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more.

Mitchell Davis

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Published by mitchelljamesdavis

Mitchell Davis is currently a music education student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, born in 1997 in Sydney. Following a positive experience with music education in primary and secondary school combined with a personal interest in music as an art form and pastime, the decision to become a secondary school music teacher was naturally made. Complimentary to studying music education, Mitchell also holds ongoing experience working casually in a youth centre in his home town of Liverpool, New South Wales. After studying a Certificate IV in Youth Work, It was here that he initially found his confidence and appreciation for working with young people to achieve positive outcomes, predominately running various sport and recreational youth programs both in local Liverpool school environments and at the youth centre's facilities. Mitchell's specific area of musical expertise is in contemporary popular music. He is a guitarist and songwriter who enjoys genres such as heavy metal, extreme metal, hard rock, blues and pop. He has begun to write, release and perform his original music in order to gain greater experience in the world of contemporary music and give more value to his skills in becoming a music educator.

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