Liz Chan
The Open University, England
INTRODUCTION
There is a great deal of current interest in using ICT to support music-making activities, for instance in the classroom. This paper reports a series of studies concerned with how ICT can support the learning of practical skills in music, and how its use fits current music teaching practice and may help with the problems that teachers report in a UK school context.
Study One
Aim of study
This was a small-scale study. The aim was to provide a brief insight into some opinions that classroom music teachers might have in the various schools, with the understanding that the collective responses may or may not be representative of all other schools across the UK.
Method
Six music practitioners were interviewed for their views about the purpose of the secondary school music curriculum and the potential role of ICT in this curriculum.
Main research findings
This study revealed that teachers had insufficient time to teach general performance skills and a lack of access to appropriate ICT, although they were interested in its use. The general view gathered from this study is that ICT plays a significant role in schools. For music in particular, the use of technology not only caters to pupils of different levels of musical ability, but also provides them with a wide range of musical experiences that otherwise could not be accessed by them. Possible problems for the implementation of ICT have been identified, and one in particular is: the sourcing of finance. Only when sufficient funds are available can the training of the technical know-how and/or for the purchase of equipment then be possible. In addition, it appears that the role of practical skills is important in supporting composing activities, and in the basic level of performance on the keyboard, in schools.
Conclusion
From this study, music has come across clearly as an important subject: for the development of pupils� creativity and the cultivation of aesthetic values.