Opening All Doors: Digital and Hybrid Music in Music Teaching and Learning
Overview
Overview
Abstract
Have you ever wondered what types of music learning experiences might encourage more student involvement in your school? Or pondered the types of instruments and music students were really interested in learning? These types of questions have always challenged me to think differently about my music teaching, the approach I use in my classroom, and my responsibility in assuring all students have access to music in school.
In my previous music teaching placement, approximately 50 to 55% of students participated in the wind band, chorus, and orchestra ensembles that were offered. When comparing these statistics to those related to music participation in public schools across the United States, our ensemble participation was generally quite high (Kratus, 2007; Williams, 2007, 2012). However, during my tenure, I began to recognize that I did not know many students in the school. The reason was quite clear: They were not active music-makers in the formal ensembles offered at our school.
I remember walking through the hallways during lunch break unable to recognize many students simply because they were not active musicians in school. Over time, I pondered about these students and what would happen if they had the opportunity to make music in school. I found myself asking questions like:
Why did these students not make music in school? What types of music are they interested in? Did they play an instrument outside school? What types of music did they listen to?
These types of questions made me reconsider what I was teaching and the ways I might achieve a space in school where students could participate, experience, and learn music in ways that were of personal interest. Furthermore, I wanted to offer music experiences that did not require a prerequisite set of skills or techniques on an instrument or voice. These types of questions led me to think about the opportunities that existed in digital music, where students could create, share, and perform music in self-directed ways. In this same avenue, I considered a new model of music instruction where learners would be placed at the center of the learning experience, chose their own instruments, and performed or recorded music (Kladder, 2019). I wanted it to be a creative space, for exploration, mistake-making, and learning.
Maybe you have considered these ideas in your teaching context as well. Or maybe you are considering these questions for the first time.
What Is “Digital and Hybrid Music” and Where Can I Learn about It?
This year the National Association for Music Education national conference in Orlando, Amplify the Future of Music: Opening Doors for All Students (November 6–10), is an excellent opportunity to learn about hands-on approaches and ideas for including or creating new music-making opportunities for students in your school. If you are faced with similar thoughts as I previously mentioned, I would like to encourage you to attend the one-day workshop experience entitled, “Digital and Hybrid Music.” This experience will offer hands-on, practical, and experiential opportunities aimed at broadening music learning opportunities for students in your school context. The session will offer new and broad perspectives around music-making that aim to engage and embrace a range of instruments and music.
We will begin by exploring digital music, as the majority of music in contemporary culture is now technologically mediated. Our focus will be in two areas: online platforms for creating, sharing, and performing music, and digital ensembles. Both experiences will provide opportunities to learn and make music, consider practical applications to your teaching context, examine costs associated with such technology, and discuss curricular ideas to enhance your understanding of the methods and approaches within this medium. The final portion of our day will be spent learning about hybrid ensembles, a new model of music instruction built around a learner-centered approach, that encourages student ownership and agency, where students are placed at the center of the learning experience with guidance and facilitation from the teacher. You will be provided opportunities to make music in a hybrid ensemble, discuss and create ideas for application of these ideas to your school, and examine the relationship of standards to this model of instruction.
In “The Learner-Centered Music Classroom: Models and Possibilities” (Williams & Kladder, 2019), the contributors suggest benefits associated with embracing new models of music instruction, including increased engagement, excitement, energy, and learning outcomes when students learn through alternative and self-directed approaches. As music in contemporary culture continues to shift and change, our understanding of music teaching and learning will need to embrace alternative music-making opportunities across the music curriculum as well. I believe, as I am sure you do too, that all students are inherently musical and most make music outside school, even if they do not participate in a formal ensemble. These experiences can enrich and encourage new and innovative approaches for music-making.
It is our job as music educators to offer space for students to explore, create, and perform music. I would encourage you to attend the 2019 NAfME National Conference in Orlando and come ready to explore, learn, and be inspired to try new ideas in your school context!
