CESI Conference January 2002 St.Patrick's College

Seán Mac Liam,Music Department,St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9

Abstract
The increasing influence of music technology in contemporary musical life requires that it be afforded its due regard and status in the school curriculum. Computer-aided learning is here to stay, provided we can find a correct use for it. This paper considers a number of pertinent principles and practices and advises on the use of music technology in teaching and learning at both first and second levels. Hardware resources and software categories are reviewed, and guidance is given on their appropriate use in an educational environment. Finally, this paper speculates on recent developments, which challenge the need to have extensive performing and theoretical skills as a prerequisite for exercising one’s musical creativity.

Introduction
In real life, music technology is used

· to control, create and enhance musical sounds in performance, in the recording industry as well as in broadcasting

· to aid the composing of music and in music typesetting, editing and publishing

· to enhance the teaching and learning of music and

· to help research the many forms of musical experience.

Such multifarious and pertinent usage requires that it be afforded a greater regard and status among music educators than heretofore. The consensus view is that computer-aided learning is here to stay, if only in acknowledgment of the value placed upon it by present-day society. However, in education we must find an appropriate and correct use for technology, if only to guard against what might otherwise be seen as an all-too-ready response to the exigencies of vogue. With the prospect of computer technology achieving the status of a freestanding curriculum subject in its own right, some consideration of its credentials as an agent of learning becomes even more imperative.

Rowntree has shown that, used with discrimination, computers have the potential to be proficient instructors.[31] A computer can

· store great amounts of information

· select requested information at great speed

· present the learner with instant audio-visual images

· respond to typed instructions

· give instant feedback

· allow for self-assessment and

· cater for different levels of proficiency and ability.

In addition, computer technology is useful for illustrating more impressively and effectively many forms of classroom presentations.

Principles
Although the guiding principles governing the use of computer-aided teaching and learning in schools are not yet fully researched or codified, sufficient evidence has been accumulated which suggests a degree of consensus about its proper usage. Indeed music technology might easily degenerate into a kind of present-day popular trend without such rationale to inform our understanding of and attitudes towards its proper use in education.

With creative roots firmly established in humanities rather than in science and technology, music educators perceive computer technology as a means rather than as an end in itself. If it is to be of any value in the music classroom, the focus of the learning must always remain on the musical and educational objectives and never on the technology itself. There must be no ambiguity in this regard and the chosen content must always reflect the true nature of the subject (music) and never solely on its means of delivery (technology). Lesson objectives and content should never be stated in terms of familiarity with chosen software or hardware but, instead, they must have real musical goals. Thus, the objective…to familiarise the pupils with the use Cubase may be an important objective in technology but it is not a fundamentally valid concern in the formation or education of a musician. Conversely, the objective… to enable pupils to create and understand rounds and ostinati with the aid of sequencing technology does demonstrate the point that, used with discretion, computer technology can enhance the learning environment with vital and creative engagements so necessary in an active subject like music.[32]

Teachers often report the considerable time involved in preparing for and setting up lessons involving music technology. This is understandably true and necessary to ensure an appropriate mastery of resources, a security of delivery and a successful learning outcome. Pupils come to a lesson expecting to be educationally engaged and challenged. If, however, an undue amount of class time is lost setting up the learning resources or if, through the teacher’s inability to effectively troubleshoot minor technical problems, students are left to their own devices for inordinate periods, they will quickly loose interest and trust. Hence there is a need to ensure that technology resources are fully tested for reliability and compatibility beforehand. Effective time management is a major concern when utilising technology in music lessons, especially where schools cannot avail of the services of appropriately qualified technicians to support the teaching. Because music teachers need to be completely skilled in and knowledgeable about the technology they use, they will necessarily devote considerable time to preparing lessons and resources beforehand to ensure that they flow without undue interruption and are free from the routine ‘crashes’ which often adversely effect lessons involving technology.

In a recent study, Mills and Murray describe the shared qualities noticed in all successful music lessons involving technology. In good computer-aided music lessons

· the teacher’s example and attitude encourages the pupils to take music, and the use of ICT in music, seriously

· the teacher is knowledgeable and skilled in the use of the resources used

· the teacher considers how the resources can be used to promote progress in music

· the teacher organises the resources so the pupils time is used efficiently and effectively

· the teacher encourages the pupils to use their initiative, and so think about what they are doing

· lessons are clearly music rather than technology lessons.[33]

Hardware requirements for use in music education
The minimum hardware requirements for computer-aided teaching and learning include

· an appropriate computer with monitor

· an internal (or external) sound module

· two powered speakers (or amplifier and speakers)

· a MIDI keyboard (or conventional instrument(s) with electronic controllers providing a MIDI interface)

· a printer (optional)

· a tape recorder or CD writer (optional)

· connecting cables as necessary

All components and devices must be capable of communicating via a standard MIDI interface and should be compatible and suitable for running music software. Advice will vary depending on the choice of software.[34]

Music software categories and educational practices
It is more useful, when describing music education software, to use categories that reflect the essential nature of the teaching and learning practices employed. It is for this reason that practitioners prefer a classification system based on the ways programs are used in music education rather than the function each piece of software provides. It is the extent of their suitability in achieving specific objectives in music education, rather than any technical merit in the programs themselves, that ultimately determines their educational validity and value. Floyd Richmond identifies four common types of computer-aided instruction and argues the relative strengths and weaknesses of each one.[35] Abeles et al add a fifth.[36] However, I think that, in computer-aided learning, there are six strategic classifications for describing how music software functions in an educational environment viz.

· as tutorial programs

· as drill and practice programs

· as games

· as computer simulations

· as tool programs

· as reference resources.

Many music education programs employ more than one strategy and this is increasingly so with recent sophisticated packages and upgrades. Notwithstanding this, some consideration of each educational strategy employed will aid the music educator assess ultimate goals and values as well as possible educational deficiencies.

Tutorial Programs
The tutorial package is the most frequently used learning strategy in music technology. In their construction, tutorial packages employ either linear or branching programming. Essentially, they present the learner with basic information or instruction in a logical sequence and test its acquisition. The more sophisticated packages also include a graded series of tests, the results of which provide the teacher and the learner with feedback on the successful acquisition of the knowledge, the level of understanding or the basic skill. Most of these programs allow for some degree of interaction between learner and software. When positive responses are given, the learner is often greeted with positive affirmation either in sound (e.g. a trumpet-like fanfare or applause) or visually (e.g. a smiling face or thumbs-up animation). Negative responses are greeted with a thumbs-down animation, ‘try again’ sign or other indication of failure. Tutorials are most effective when promoting the development of basic discrimination skills and factual information, i.e. where the focus is at the lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Early Keyboard Skills is a typical example in this category.[37] Music Ace is a more sophisticated example, which might be more appropriately defined as programmed learning rather than mere tutorial. Designed to provide an introduction to music reading for beginning music students, Music Ace has superb visual and audio impact and is one of the most effective pieces of software in its category. Its employment of a creative ‘doodle pad’, however, takes it beyond the classification of a tutorial. Although intended for children from about age 10-14, its attractive presentation, lively animations and graphics could sustain the interest of older learners as well.[38] The software Electronic Keyboards, Teach Me Guitar and Teach Me Piano are more suited to teenage and adult learners although, in approach, these products exemplify a somewhat simplistic educational understanding of what is involved in learning to play an instrument.[39]

Drill and practice software
Software in this category are the computer equivalent of workbooks. They allow the learner to practice various skills, or they reinforce previously learnt information through repetitive tasks. In music education, this type of software is used extensively in aural training, i.e. training the ear to recognize specific musical elements, e.g. chords, musical intervals, notes on a keyboard or on a stave. However, there are also programs (e.g. Electronic Courseware Systems’s Music History – a Study Guide and Perspectives in Music History) that provide information drills on different aspects of music history.

Drill and practice packages have a number of common features. They are incrementally designed to allow for progression from lower to higher degrees of difficulty. They also cater for different ability levels by allowing teachers or students to choose and set a particular level of difficulty and, in more sophisticated programs, they monitor progress by allowing the learner to record achievement by keeping scores.

The program Musique is a typical example of drill and practice software. This software is used to aid the development of aural skills in some undergraduate music programs in the US and in Canada. For elementary use, check out the note reading programs developed by Electronic Courseware Systems e.g. Keyboard Note Drill, Note Speller and Tap It. [40]

Games programs
Computer games are a feature of today’s technology world and many instructional programs contain game element(s). Whereas, drill and practice programs allow students acquire fluency, games programs allow users who have already a degree of fluency to use and acquire further practice in the level of skill that is already acquired. This is normally practiced within some kind of competitive environment. Games programs allow the user to compete against the random outcomes determined by set parameters. Usually the user is allowed choose between different levels of engagement and to keep track of success through scoring.

Although the sophisticated graphics and audio features in many games programs are impressive, these qualities are as likely to distract from an educational objective, as they are to stimulate and motivate the user. To counteract any negative influence, teachers should have very specific and short-term educational goals when using instructional games programs in the classroom.

Used judiciously, computer games can have a positive effect in reinforcing learning. For example, an infant teacher who has completed a lesson on sound recognition and description, might consider utilising the sound concentration game Adventures in Musicland as a follow-up activity. Other useful game programs for young children include K.I.D.S. and Ricochet. [41] For more sophisticated games suitable for post-primary use, check out the game featured at the end of the Microsoft Multimedia Schubert: The ‘Trout’ Quintet CD-ROM.[42]

Computer simulations
These programs are designed to provide experience of activities without the risk, expense or time required in performing the task in real-life. The use of flight simulators in training pilots is a good example. Computer simulations have an important advantage over other software categories, because they can provide students with the possibility of engaging in activities and thinking at the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. In this type of learning environment, all decisions have consequences and all problems have to be solved through experiment. In music education, simulators are generally useful for providing experience in learning various recording techniques via the use of sequencing technology and hard disk recording. Sequencing software allows for recording and editing music in layers; it combines the possibilities of a digital multi-track recording studio with a sophisticated electronic performing tool. When linked with a CD burner or tape recorder, sequencers can provide realistic experience of most aspects of studio recording and sound engineering. Cool Edit Pro and Goldwave are relatively accessible multi-track digital audio recording, sound editing and mixing systems.[43]

The experience of being able to perform melodies, add backing chords and bass parts separately, to hear these performed together, to assess the outcome and decide how best to improve the performance by judicious editing and to produce a final recorded result, is a unique learning opportunity for musical children. However, the operation of virtual recording software generally is not easy to master and requires the services of a teacher who is knowledgeable and skilled in music making with children as well as familiar with the operation of complex music technology and software.

Simulation software may also be used to provide backing tracks to support classroom performances. Such backing tracks can be produced in advance of a lesson, either pre-recorded by the teacher or downloaded from commercial sites via the Internet, e.g. Smart Music.[44]

Tool Programs
Because they are complex and sophisticated, tool programs are far less intuitive than conventional computer programs. Hence, their use in education will require more instructor time input. Also, if teachers do not have specific musical goals when using tool programs, their very sophistication will limit their educational usefulness with students. The educational value of tool programs lies in their potential for creating a more focused and meaningful learning environment, as well as providing teachers with the means of producing more appropriate and quality teaching materials and learning resources. Because working musicians use them, tool programs offer a greater prospect for more significant links to be made between school experiences and the world of work.

One such example includes the use of electronically produced sounds via samplers, sound modules and synthesizers for the purposes of performance. It is now standard practice to include parts for electronically generated sounds in theatre orchestras and in the performance of popular music, especially commercial dance music. Most computer soundcards now come with a set of built in sounds. Individual synthesizers may also include a bank of simulated sounds. Sound banks can also be purchased or downloaded from the Internet and imported into computerized music systems with sequencing capability. Here, the sequencer allows you input and record individual lines of music in sound, edit those sounds and transmit them subsequently in performance. They are invariably used to aid the processes of composing, arranging and orchestrating music as well as performing. Although there are sequencing packages suited for all levels of ability, Steinberg’s Cubase is the standard available in most recording studios, in broadcasting and in the music industry generally.[45]

Notation software does for a musician/composer what word processing packages do for writers. Music can be inputted either in real time (i.e. by playing the notes directly into the computer via a musical keyboard) or in step time (i.e. using the mouse to click and drag notes from a palette onto a musical stave). Although used extensively to produce printed music for publishing, notation tool programs can also engage senior cycle post primary pupils more purposefully in melody writing and elementary harmony, because they have good editing and basic playback facilities. The notation packages Coda Finale and Sibelius are professional notation packages, although Sibelius, because it is more icon driven, is more accessible and user-friendly.[46] Finale Notepad is a basic fun notation package suitable for elementary use.[47]

Software authoring tools enable educators to design and author multimedia interactive programs for computer-aided learning. Timesketch Editor is a multimedia authoring system for creating analytical charts for standard music compact disks. The charts have two important uses viz. they provide a visual representation of the musical structure as it unfolds over time and they permit playback of any segment of the music with a simple mouse click on the corresponding segment of the chart.[48] A number of commercially produced examples are also available on CD-ROM. Daniel Walsh’s paper describes the development of one such project using the more complex and professional software-authoring tool, Toolbook.[49] Recent developments in software authoring allow the user to link text, sound, graphics and video in what has come to be known as hypermedia presentations. Such tools offer significant advantages in presenting lessons in music listening and appraising.

Reference resources
Multimedia reference programs on composers and their works, musical instruments, the history of musical genres, digital dictionaries, etc. are useful in self-directed learning situations with post-primary and college students. Usually in CD-ROM format, these are invaluable resources in music education. Examples include The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Microsoft’s Musical Instruments, ECS’s Musical Terminology and Timesketch Composer’s Series, Microsoft’s Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss and Turtle Beach Systems’ Multimedia History of Music and Great Composers etc.[50]

Summary and conclusions
The quantity of software available to music educators is considerable, although the means of evaluating its suitability in teaching and learning is less evident in both the research literature and in the advertising of electronic products. Value statements from software developers and reviewers in commercial journals should be received with interest but caution. Individual needs may vary depending on many factors, the main advice being to order only on an approval basis where possible. Naturally, software manufacturers are concerned about copyright infringement. However, manufacturers who exercise considerable creativity and talent in developing software products, in the first place, should have the initiative and capability to provide freely available ‘demo’ versions with built-in protection codes to prevent all but the most ardent and gifted of pirates.

While there is no real substitute for trying out chosen software in one’s own teaching and learning environment, there are general considerations that should help the music educator make more informed choices. Programs should be crashproof, reliable and intuitive. They should adhere to good instructional principles and should enable attainment and enhance progress in the subject. Primarily, music software should be designed and act in a manner that is true to the nature of that subject.

Unfortunately, most music teachers continue to teach as they themselves have been taught. The theory of music and the perceived need for musical literacy tends to dominate over the essentially creative nature of the subject. Music educators have become self-perpetuating in this respect and over reliant on past values and teaching approaches. Few realise the power of music technology to enhance the learning environment and to promote confidence through self-directed learning. On the other hand, recent developments in music technology software challenge the need to have extensive theoretical and literacy skills as a prerequisite for exercising one’s musical creativity. Direct voice activated input via sequencers and notation software, accessible hard disk recording packages, advances in sound modules linked with touch screen technology, bring music technology to a new level of possibility. Freed from the chore of having to learn to read and write music, or from the expense of many years of learning and practicing to acquire technical mastery on an instrument, one can only speculate on the possible shape of future music curriculums. In such educational scenario, music technology will not be on the periphery but at the very core of music education.

References

Abeles, Harold; Hoffer, Charles and Robert Klotman (Second edition 1995), Foundations of Music Education, Schirmer Books

Adams, Anthony and Jones, Esmor (1983), Teaching Humanities in the Microelectronic Age, The Open University Press

Department of Education/National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (n.d.), Leaving Certificate Music Draft Guidelines for Teachers, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

Mills, Janet and Murray, Andy (2000), “Music Technology Inspected: Good Teaching in Key Stage 3”, British Journal of Music Education, Volume 17, No.2

Richmond, C. Floyd (1994), “Computer-assisted Instruction Strategies” at http://albie.wcupa.edu/schmus.mue/555/articles/articles.htm/cai_appr.htm

Rowntree, Derek (Revised Edition 1990), Teaching Through Self-Instruction; How to Develop Open Learning Materials, Kogan Page Ltd.

Wells, Colin (1990), “Allegro con Technologico e Pedagogico – Six Years of Rapid Developments in Teacher Support for Music Education with Computer Technology” in A. McDouglas and C. Dowling (editors), Computers in Education, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)