Chong, Eddy Kwong Mei

Whilst a number of approaches to representing chords in a Classical tonal context have been proposed for various computational or data retrieval purposes, the present project differs in its being motivated and shaped by musicpedagogical intentions, which include offering automated error feedback. For the same reason, for the evaluation of chord progressions, a rule-based method using declarative rules was adopted instead of a data-driven, pattern-discovery one. Both the encoding system and the formulated rules are based on Classical theory of functional harmonic voice leading. The ultimate aim is to develop a musically intelligent interactive system that automatically evaluates tonal progressions and provides assessment feedback for the purpose of teaching Western Classical tonal theory. In a nutshell, the computational system’s input are chords drawn from the major-minor tonal system. Roman numerals with figured-bass indications (e.g., I6, viio4/2) are the chord symbols to be encoded. The encoding reflects a number of pertinent theoretical elements: 1) the key context; 2) the scale degree of the chord; 3) the chord type; and 4) the chord inversion. A rule engine, based on JBoss Drools and the Rete algorithm, is then designed to evaluate chord progressions based on considerations of root motion, bass movement and other tonal voice-leading factors. The musical intelligence of this system therefore simulates human musical thinking as encapsulated in a typical undergraduate theory of harmony.

Edublogging—the use of blogging as an educational tool and instructional strategy— has been employed by this presenter in the teaching of music analysis at the undergraduate level for some time now, with encouraging evidence of blogging being effective in fostering reflective thinking, higher-order thinking, peer-learning and collaborative knowledge construction. It is no surprise that blogging in general is fast becoming “a significant learning and social networking tool that can help individuals, groups, and organizations learn in new, interesting ways” (Karrer, 2007). This paper will focus not only on how blogging offered an alternative (and additional) space for students to learn music analysis, individually and collaboratively, but also on how it actually transformed the way they went about analyzing music and presenting their findings, going beyond what was typically the case with traditional modes of teaching and assessment. It emerges that situating this learning in blogosphere—in addition to the face-to-face class sessions—impacted in beneficial ways the students’ learning experiences. The findings here are based on the instructor’s observations as the teacher-researcher as well as on the students’ survey feedback, with qualitative analyses of the students’ blog discourses being used for triangulation. The lessons learnt will be relevant to educators who wish to design hybrid learning spaces that take advantage of some of the educational affordances of blogging.

The pedagogical potential of edublogging—blogging used as an educational tool and strategy—in music teaching has been previously explored. In this paper, the author reflects on these edublogging experiences as a teacher from a distributed cognition perspective, as opposed to a traditional cognitive perspective, which does not give due recognition to the social and contextual dimensions of knowledge and of the learning process. First, the edublogging scenario in each case will be seen through the lens of distributed cognition in respect of the nature of its learning community, learning environment and learning culture. Then, these instructional endeavours are evaluated against the distributed-cognition ideals. Finally, the relevance and implications for music teachers will be discussed. In particular, the author will propose an approach to teaching music that leverages the potential of edublogging to draw on distributed expertise. Apart from aligning with the current trend in learning theories towards emphasizing distributed cognition, the proposed approach in part also offers a viable solution to the challenge of addressing an increasingly expanding music curriculum that embraces world musics on the one hand, and students with diverse musical backgrounds and interests on the other.

This paper focuses on the dimension of interactivity in blended learning as the driver for guiding and indeed transforming music-teaching practices. In what has been called the post-PC era, I advance an i³ model of interactivity involving three parties—the learner, other humans and technology—and taking place in three possible learning environments—real-world, virtual, and augmented reality. Then, drawing on Mishra and Koehler's conceptual framework of "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge," I briefly illustrate the pedagogical and transformative potentials of some of these new technologies for music educators

The potential for blogging to engage and hence motivate students in their learning is increasingly being recognized by educators worldwide. At the school level, as a form of online publishing, blogging naturally lends itself well to the teaching of subjects such as languages. In this paper, I shall propose to appropriate it for music teaching. It is true that in music, performing and composing activities are inherently engaging for the students; the same may be argued for music listening. However, if we wish to move beyond the basic level of listening for pleasure to the more enriched level of informed attentive listening, it is often a challenge to sustain students’ interests in the knowledge needed to inform their listening and to engage them in close listening. Capitalizing on the reflective and interactive nature of blogging and based on two previous pilot projects on blogging in music teaching, I shall suggest some ways of using blogging to create an online learning community embarked on various individual and group tasks—at times interdisciplinary in nature—to enhance their music listening experience. Two pedagogical maxims are identified and discussed.

After briefly sketching the developments in technology and relating them to the music education landscape, the author raises three concerns pertaining to the nature of students’ musical experiences, the skills and knowledge they are acquiring, and the values inculcated. These in turn prompt the question of whether our traditional notion of “musicianship” needs to be reconsidered in the light of the technology-rich environment within which present-day musicians operate. The musical and more general profile of what has now been referred to as the iGeneration is also forcing music educators to re-look at what music education should be like. This article hopes to raise awareness as well as offer some guiding considerations as music educators wrestle with this fundamental challenge. Far from being definitive in its advocation, the idea of i-music-education is meant to provoke further thoughts and discussion amongst music educators.

The havoc wrecked by the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up both practical and fundamental questions across societies around the world. In the musical world, as musicians struggle with their daily living and career amidst the still precarious and uncertain situation, music educators need to think ahead of what it means to educate the next generation of musicians that needs to be ready not only for the more immediate post-pandemic new normals, but also to be future-proofed against similar, perhaps unimaginable, disruptions in the more distant future. This chapter attempts a modest step towards identifying some salient lessons by first examining Coltrane’s creative career with a focus on his legendary work “Giant Steps”. For a broader purview, a Second Life musician and a virtual choir conductor are zoomed in to then springboard us into the wider world of the digital musician. Insights are presented against Sardar and Sweeney’s futurist framework in the backdrop.

This article explores pre-service music teachers’ professional identities during pre-service training. Its focus is a student cohort whose studies are funded by the Singaporean Ministry of Education in return for a commitment—a teaching bond or contract—to work as teachers in schools. An overview of pre-service teacher education and the challenges of attraction and retention in Singapore is followed by discussion of the literature relating to identity formation, with a focus on music teacher and musician identities. Next, analysis and discussion of the findings highlight that participants’ teacher identities did not align with their level of performance proficiency. Teacher identity did, however, align with participants’ intentions to remain in teaching; participants who defined themselves first and foremost as music teachers were more likely than their peers to plan long-term teaching careers. The article considers the influence of teaching bonds, or contracts, signed by students in advance of their post-secondary studies. It concludes by considering the implications for recruitment and for developing professional identity among pre-service music teachers.

The pedagogical potential of edublogging-blogging used as an educational tool and strategy-in music teaching has been explored in two previous studies; a third exploration has now been conducted. Recognising the social and contextual dimensions of knowledge and of the learning process, I reflect on all three experiences from a distributed cognition perspective, as opposed to a traditional cognitivist one. First, the edublogging scenario in each case will be seen through the lens of distributed cognition in respect of the nature of its learning community and culture. Then, these instructional endeavours are evaluated against the distributed cognition ideals. The pedagogy discussed here leverages the potential of edublogging to draw on distributed musical expertise. Apart from being in line with the current trend in learning theories towards emphasising distributed cognition and community based learning, such a pedagogical strategy in part also offers a viable solution to the challenge of addressing an increasingly expanding curriculum, whether in music or other subjects, due to knowledge explosion and the pressures of globalisation.