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Date added to database:

17 Sept 2023

Music Student’s Approach to the Forced Use of Remote Performance Assessments

Ritchie, L., & Sharpe, B. T.

2021

Assessment, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Summative, Piano, Woodwind, Strings, Brass, Voice, Percussion, Individual, Software

Music students at the University of Chichester Conservatoire completed questionnaires about their experience of the forced use of remote teaching and learning due to Lockdown, as imposed in the United Kingdom from March to June 2020, and how this impacted their self-beliefs, decision making processes, and methods of preparation for their performance assessments. Students had the choice to either have musical performance assessed in line with originally published deadlines (still in Lockdown) via self-recorded video or defer the assessment until the following academic year. Student’s choice to defer or submit the assessment during Lockdown was influenced by a range of forced factors, such as adaptions required by online teaching, limitations of rehearsal in their home environment, and the challenges in facilitating and recording their own assessments. Students completed online questionnaires about their self-efficacy, resilience, wellbeing, and provided free text responses explaining the reasoning for their decision to record their performance or to defer the assessment were coded to reveal patterns impacting their decision and preparation processes. Those choosing to submit their assessments demonstrated more strategies in their preparation and reported higher perceived self-efficacy scores. The specific conditions for this assessment, as a result of Lockdown, revealed correlations between resilience and both self-efficacy and wellbeing. The impact on teaching and the student experience is discussed and suggestions to support students in future settings of blended delivery are presented. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Ritchie, L., & Sharpe, B. T. (2021). Music Student's Approach to the Forced Use of Remote Performance Assessments. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 641667. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641667

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Fostering Creativity and Collaboration in a Fully Online Tertiary Music Program

Blackburn, A., & Hewitt, D.

2020

Assessment, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Summative, Peer-Assessment, Formative, Self-Assessment, Individual, Group, Software, Hardware

One of the pedagogical challenges for online teaching is preparing tertiary music students for collaborative work, particularly in performance, composition and production. This article surveys the use of online performance collaboration within a higher education music course. Using a framework of constructive alignment, synchronous and asynchronous learning tools are investigated and discussed. In order to achieve crucial lifelong learning needs, we determine how collaborative online performance tools can not only develop musical skills, but also breakdown the perceived limitations in an online course by enhancing creativity and building meta-capabilities such as networking, communication, independent thinking and problem solving that professional portfolio musicians require today.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Blackburn, A., & Hewitt, D. (2020). Fostering creativity and collaboration in a fully online tertiary music program. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 4(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1615/intjinnovonlineedu.2020035099

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Creative collaboration in the cloud: Using Splice Studio and Audiomovers to enhance online music education outcomes

Hill, B.

2021

Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Assessment

Software, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Composition, Ensemble, Conducting, Group

This article details online education design at an Australian university undergraduate music program. The author reviews the rapid development of online learning activities relating to music performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdown. The lockdown imposed serious challenges for music educators, the overarching one being how to engage students via a screen rather than in a rehearsal room. As the unit designer/assessor, the author utilized specific cloud-based audio software networking tools that are accessible to students (Audiomovers, Splice Studio) to devise learning activities that encouraged creative interactive learning. The author details the advantages and disadvantages of each learning activity. As a substitute for face-to-face interaction, online learning has substantial limitations in relation to music education. Student engagement with accessible online audio tools can enhance skills and knowledge development and interactive learning, thus maximizing student satisfaction and collaborative learning outcomes.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Hill, B. (2021). Creative collaboration in the cloud: Using Splice Studio and Audiomovers to enhance online music education outcomes. Perfect Beat (Equinox Publishing Group), 21(2, Part 2), 173–181. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.19304

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Preparing an Emerging Professional to Teach Piano Online: a Case Study

Pike, P. D.

2020

Instrument/Subject Focus, Technology Focus

Education Programs, Software, Piano

Adults use technology as a tool to learn, and the Internet is an important platform for knowledge acquisition. Music students and teachers use interactive websites, online apps, and/or computer programs for learning, feedback, and creative engagement during formal lessons. Anecdotally, more piano teaching is occurring online, but future educators have rarely experienced online lessons. Videoconferencing and online platforms bring music instruction to remote and underrepresented populations, and online instruction can be as effective as face-to-face lessons. Existing technology allows digital or MIDI-enabled acoustic pianos to connect synchronously over the Internet, producing reliable instrumental audio, separate from the video-conferencing platform. Research is needed on how to help teachers transition to the online format, make teaching modifications, and codify best practices in synchronous online piano teaching. Currently, tertiary piano pedagogy and music technology training rarely include online teaching, even though musicians will need to teach online upon graduation. This case study explored a pedagogy student's experience of taking synchronous online piano lessons and identified pedagogical skills needed to transition to online teaching. Online lessons occurred during a ten-week period using the Internet MIDI software program. Data were gathered and triangulated through student and instructor post-lesson journal reflections, in-depth interviews, and observation of lesson videos. The following themes emerged: pre-lesson apprehension about studying piano online, quickly dissipating technology concerns, typical lesson behaviors, and positive opportunities resulting from the technology. The pedagogical experience provided the student with a comprehensive set of strategies for effective online teaching that could prepare future teachers for teaching synchronous online piano lessons.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Pike, P. D. (2020). Preparing an emerging professional to teach piano online: A case study. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1615/intjinnovonlineedu.2020034417

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Creating Virtual Ensembles: Common Approaches from Research and Practice

Cayari, C.

2021

Activity Type, Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus

Group, Hardware, Software, Ensemble

A virtual ensemble is a digital musical product that uses multiple recordings edited together to form a musical ensemble. Creating virtual ensembles can be a way for music educators to engage students through online music-making. This article presents eight steps for creating virtual ensembles in music education courses and classrooms. The steps are (1) identifying objectives and desired outcomes, (2) selecting repertoire, (3) developing learning resources, (4) creating an anchor for synchronizing, (5) choosing a recording method, (6) set- ting up a collection platform, (7) editing in postproduction, and (8) distributing the product. As online music production becomes more prevalent, projects like virtual ensembles can pro- vide creative and exciting experiences for music teachers and students, whether produced in the classroom or through remote means on the Internet.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Cayari, C. (2021). Creating virtual ensembles: Common approaches from research and Practice. Music Educators Journal, 107(3), 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432121995147

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Performance Practice in a Pandemic: Training Ensemble Skills Using E-Tivities in Music Teacher Education

Karkina, S., Faizrakhmanova, L., Kamalova, I., Akbarova, G., & Kaur, B.

2022

Instrument/Subject Focus, Technology Focus, Activity Type, Assessment

Ensemble, Education Programs, Software, Group, Summative, Sel

The emergency situation due to the spread of COVID-19 has brought new requirements to Higher Education to continue the learning process. In musical ensemble class, performance practice is mandatory and plays a crucial role in musical education. The pandemic has forced all classes online, but for performance practice, it was mandatory to implement a new type of student-teacher interaction, such as e-tivity. It is a dynamic and interactive learning process led by a teacher online. The investigation of the efficiency of e-tivity for training musical ensemble skills was carried out in this paper. The research was tested through experimental work that took place at Kazan Federal University (Russian Federation). Due to a complete shift in the education process to distanced learning, all disciplines were studied online, including the specific musical courses that required collective work with face-to-face interaction. The curriculum of future music teachers includes an ensemble basic course to train students‘ musical performance skills in groups. For the study, 114 students from classes with instrumental and vocal ensembles were gathered and were organized by means of e-tivity based on several online tools, including Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. This tool creates a video with a split-screen effect. By using such a tool, students created the video by following the teacher‘s instructions separately, and afterward they united their musical records in one video with a split-screen effect. At the end of the research work, musical artworks belonging to certain art styles, namely classical, Tatar and Russian folk music, and jazz, were collected. The analysis of the obtained data exhibited a high level of results in each criterion scale and effectiveness of the online work with musical ensembles. Students saw improvement in self-education by the means of creativity and critical self-assessment. The increasing frequency of students‘ listening of their own performance during the ensemble music-making by e-tivity brought advantages for the involuntary repetition process.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Karkina, S., Faizrakhmanova, L., Kamalova, I., Akbarova, G., & Kaur, B. (2022). Performance practice in a pandemic: Training Ensemble Skills Using E-Tivities in music teacher education. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.817310

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Improvising to a Covid Tune: Redesigning a Beginning Jazz Improvisation Course for Instrumentalists Trained in Other Styles for Fully Online Delivery

Phipps, B., & Dilworth, E.

2021

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus, Assessment

Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Group, Individual, Software, Formative, Summative, Self-Assessment, Peer-Assessment

The teaching of improvisation at tertiary institutions has primarily been through face-to-face methods in jazz education contexts and music education more widely. Jazz is a music that is performed with others in shared spaces and is similarly learned in social contexts. It is because of these social learning dynamics that pedagogy often relies on social constructivism. The social constructivism and inter-corporeal nature of jazz education has led to specific challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has also allowed for experimentation with teaching practice and rethinking of how improvisation can be taught, particularly to novices. As Australian universities transitioned to fully online learning rapidly in March, questions quickly arose about how curriculum, learning activities, and assessment could be delivered in compliance with social distancing requirements. In this article, we discuss the transitioning of a beginner improvisation class of 21 students at a tertiary institution, primarily in their first or second year of university, to fully online delivery using a flexible research design that embraces a self-reflexive and peer dialogue approach to researching and redesigning the course. In reviewing previous research literature, we have identified the reliance on pedagogical approaches previously deemed questionable by many jazz educators and the affordances and limitations of utilizing technology to teach music online. We outline the adaptations to teaching improvisation for beginners, which use a more structured and evidence-based informed pedagogical approach in contrast to most tertiary jazz education. Subsequently, we conclude the article by offering a prospective model to advance the teaching of improvisation online to novices based on evidence-based learning and teaching strategies.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Phipps, B., & Dilworth, E. (2021). Improvising to a covid tune: Redesigning a beginning Jazz improvisation course for instrumentalists trained in other styles for fully online delivery. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 5(1), 19–37. https://doi.org/10.1615/IntJInnovOnlineEdu.2021038381

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Toward a meaningful technology for instrumental music education: Teachers’ voice

Michałko, A., Campo, A., Nijs, L., Leman, M., & Van Dyck, E.

2022

Technology Focus, Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type

Software, Hardware, Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Conducting, Group, Individual

In musical instrument training, researchers have gradually started exploring the potential of interactive technologies supporting learning processes and teaching methods. Although numerous technological tools have been proposed to enhance instrument learning and teaching, these methods rarely find their way into daily practice and teaching routines. In this study, we report data from an online survey study administered to violin and drum kit teachers. Results reveal distinct learning profiles of novice violin and drum kit students and exhibit a variety of teaching approaches toward adults and children. Furthermore, they provide more insight into teachers’ opinions on the use of virtual reality (VR) and smart wearable technologies in early instrumental training, as well as their attitudes regarding technology design. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of involving teachers in the initial stages of technology design to facilitate technology acceptance and adoption, prevent potential mismatches between requirements regarding technological functionality and actual user needs, and promote musical growth and skill acquisition.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Michałko, A., Campo, A., Nijs, L., Leman, M., & Van Dyck, E. (2022). Toward a meaningful technology for instrumental music education: Teachers’ voice. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1027042

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Implementation of a Remote Instrumental Music Course Focused on Creativity, Interaction, and Bodily Movement. Preliminary Insights and Thematic Analysis

Schiavio, A., & Nijs, L.

2022

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Woodwind, Group, Individual, Software

In a newly designed collaborative online music course, four musical novices unknown to each other learned to play the clarinet starting from zero. Over the course of 12 lessons, a special emphasis was placed on creativity, mutual interaction, and bodily movement. Although addressing these dimensions might be particularly challenging in distance learning contexts, a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the learners revealed how the teaching approach proposed has generally facilitated learning. Qualitative findings highlight the importance of establishing meaningful relationships with the musical instrument as well as with other students to build musicality, and of the interplay between creativity and control in individual and collective music-making activities. We suggest that remote music tuition with a small group can be a valuable resource to start learning music and that a creative, collaborative, and movement-based approach can contribute to musical growth.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Schiavio, A., & Nijs, L. (2022). Implementation of a Remote Instrumental Music Course Focused on Creativity, Interaction, and Bodily Movement. Preliminary Insights and Thematic Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.899381

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Teaching Music Online: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Prerecorded Lessons

Norman, T. D.

2021

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Piano, Brass, Woodwind, Voice, Percussion, Strings, Conducting, Composition, Ensemble, Music Theory, Music History, Musicology, Education Programs, Software, Group, Lecture

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many schools temporarily moving to online learning. For some general music teachers, this involves prerecording lessons. This column discusses how general music teachers can create prerecorded lessons using Microsoft PowerPoint.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Norman, T. D. (2021). Teaching Music Online: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Prerecorded Lessons. General Music Today, 34(3), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371321996292

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

Using mobile applications in the study of vocal skills

Han, Y.

2023

Instrument/Subject Focus, Activity Type, Technology Focus

Software, Voice, Individual, Group

This article reflects the results of a study involving second- and fourth-year students from Harbin University (Harbin, China), the Chinese Academy of Arts (Hangzhou, China), and the Central Academy of Drama (Beijing, China). The work analyzed the impact of specialized mobile applications Vox Tools: Learn to Sing and Swiftscales Vocal Trainer on the vocal learning process, depending on the age and gender of students. The study, which ran from February to June during the academic year 2020-2021, involved 180 students. The study confirms the effectiveness of multimedia, demonstrating the higher scores of the experimental groups on the five assessment criteria, compared with the control groups, which did not use mobile applications. It was also found that age in two groups of students (second and fourth year) had no effect on performance, regardless of whether the mobile app was used for vocal training. A correlation was found between age and overall student performance, with second-year students showing lower grades in all groups compared to their fourth-year counterparts. Research on current mobile vocal training apps can help improve vocal learning.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Han, Y. (2023). Using mobile applications in the study of vocal skills. Education and Information Technologies, 28, 2107 - 2127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11268-1

Date added to database:

5 Sept 2023

MusiCoLab: Towards a Modular Architecture for Collaborative Music Learning

Alexandraki, C., Akoumianakis, D., Kalochristianakis, M., Zervas, P., Kaliakatsos-Papakostas, M., & Cambouropoulos, E.

2022

Technology Focus, Activity Type

Software, Individual, Group

This paper presents current developments taking place in the context of the MusiCoLab project. MusiCoLab aims at delivering a comprehensive and efficient web platform for music learning and teaching, by building on prior research experience of project partners, as well as by investigating the integration of state-of-the- art tools in intelligent music composition, performance, and discovery within an educational context. Compared to existing relevant initiatives, MusiCoLab offers a suite of innovative tools that may be used to enhance collaboration and engagement in networked/virtual settings. These tools are sought both in the context of asynchronous student/teacher interactions (i.e., course preparation and scheduling, student assignments and self-practice) as well as synchronously, i.e., serving as groupware to facilitate live music lessons by manipulating intelligent collaborative digital artifacts.

Link to full journal article

Publication abstract:

Citation:

Alexandraki, C., Akoumianakis, D., Kalochristianakis, M., Zervas, P., Kaliakatsos-Papakostas, M., & Cambouropoulos, E. (2022). MusiCoLab: Towards a Modular Architecture for Collaborative Music Learning. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6770559