Investigating the use of digital media in the music classroom with experienced and pre-service teachers

A Western Sydney research project investigated the question, "What are the practices of pre-service teachers and experienced teachers of music in secondary schools that successfully engage their students with digital media?" The hypothesis underlying the project was that digital media offers school students opportunities, and has the potential to allow more self-paced, interactive and personalized learning. Consequently, the research sub-questions were: (1) How are music teachers preparing students with the techniques and skills needed to take advantages of the opportunities that ICT offers? (2) How can music teachers develop their students' capacity to use and contribute to this wealth of information? The participants in the study were five experienced teachers and four pre-service teachers, and the method was a multi-site case study approach. Data collected in the project provided positive findings about growing student engagement with digital media in a range of Sydney schools. Pre-service teachers engaged with digital media for performance, critical listening, composing and providing instant feedback. Experienced teachers tended to limit social networking to older students (16-18-year olds). Both experienced and pre-service teachers used technology for assessment and reflected deeply on the ways digital media changed their pedagogy.