Competences for the Music-Technology Context on the Distance

Learning

A Focus in the Use of Online Digital Technologies

Fatima Weber Rosas and Patricia Alejandra Behar

Núcleo de Tecnologia Digital Aplicada à Educação, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul,

Av. Paulo Gama, 110, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Keywords: Distance Learning, Music Composition, Digital Technologies.

Abstract: This article presents a case study about the competences for the music-technology context on the distance

learning from the use of online digital technologies. Although most of these tools haven’t been developed

for educational purposes, this paper reports their use over education. The article also aims to map the

necessary competences for students, teachers, musical tutors and outsiders in music to create their own

musical digital compositions for their digital educational materials (DEM). The results of the research are

presented in the end.

1 INTRODUCTION

Given the arrival of web based Technologies,

especially the free ones, musical composition

becomes available for either musicians or outsiders

in music. Thus, it may be implied that it is no longer

necessary to know how to play a conventional

musical instrument to virtually create music, since

computer performs this action. According to Iazetta

(2009), in accordance to Fritsch (2008), computer

encompasses the functions of the musical

instrument, amateur studio and performer, “[…]

merging the separation of singing, listening and

composition" (Iazzeta, 2009, p.158).

When treating about digital Technologies,

Palfrey and Gasser (2011) say that they have been

used in various fields of knowledge and with many

functions in the society. Professionals need

competences to perform on a more computerized

world. According to the authors, due to the

possibilities provided by the internet, there are

indications that there will be extraordinary digital

masterpieces

made by the Digital Native in the

future. However, at the same moment that these new

digital forms of art appear, there is a growing

concern with the cyber culture of “[…] ‘cut, mix and

burn’ (a CD or DVD) […]” (Palfrey and Gasser,

2011, p.146).

In accordance to Palfrey e Gasser (2011), Ribeiro

et al. (2011) points out that the use of Web 2.0 tools

may help in the creative process, once people create

and interact on the contents of the web, by sharing

intellectual productions, experience, information,

etc. in Weblogs, Wikis, social networks and others.

However, according to Behar et al. (2013), the

mere use of these tools does not assure a quality

final product or excellence on the teaching and

learning process. For the author, in order to have

quality Distance Learning those who wish to

compose through digital technologies need to build

knowledge, competences and attitude. This way,

they will be able to perform properly in the music-

technology context. By means of a study

, it was

tried to check what are the necessary competences

for students, teachers and tutors to perform in the

educational music-technology context. This

research, which will be detailed in section 4, had its

focus on online digital technologies with the use of

computer. Those herein described are consisted of

available resources at the internet, such as learning

objects (LO) and the digital music tools dedicated

that present the features of the Web 2.0. One of

these features is the creation and sharing of own

compositions. Online tools are software whose

storage and sharing occur at the internet, also known

as cloud computing. These resources have been used

in the educational context, especially in the Distance

Learning.

In the section 2 of this article, the factors that

influence the development of competences for music

621

Weber Rosas F. and Alejandra Behar P..

Competences for the Music-Technology Context on the Distance Learning - A Focus in the Use of Online Digital Technologies.

DOI: 10.5220/0004337106210626

In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2013), pages 621-626

ISBN: 978-989-8565-53-2

 2013 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

are presented, as well as the concept of musical

composition and its relation to creativity. On section

3 the online resources are presented as learning

objects, used as theorical and didactic support either

for distance learning or presential courses and

subjects. Section 4 is regarding a case study to

investigate the educational music-technology

competences, developed upon the use of the Web

2.0 tools. In the end, the final remarks are exposed

on section 5.

2 COMPETENCES FOR MUSIC:

A FOCUS OVER THE DIGITAL

MUSIC COMPOSITION

Tafuri (2008), in accordance to Hargreaves (2000)

and Stefani (2007), emphasize the importance of the

people’s interactions with the social, cultural and

educational environments, for the development of

competences for music.

Besides the influence of the social and cultural

environments, Hargreaves (2005) and Tafuri (2008),

state that self-confidence may be primordial for the

development of musical skills. For Dörge (2010),

besides self-confidence, creativity, flexibility and

autonomy are considered fundamental for the

development of competences. For Tafuri (2008), the

way individuals notice and construe the information

on the way to their brain depends on the knowledge,

interest, attitude, personality, self-confidence,

temper, and others.

Behar et al. (2013) is favorable to Tafuri’s (2008)

and Hargreaves’s (2000, 2005) ideas about the

importance of the social, cultural and educational

contexts for the development of musical

competences. The author also agrees with Peretz

(2006), who included the genetic influence.

However, competences are more than competences,

capacity or aptitude. It is understood, according to

Zabala and Arnau (2010), as the mobilization of

these elements, according to one’s experience,

psychological, cognitive and emotional formations

in the social context where they are inserted.

2.1 The Musical Composition

and its Relation to Creativity

According to Araújo (2006), on an attempt to find

and identity for the teaching profession, came the

need of specifying what are the knowings directed to

the musical domain in the teaching and learning

processes. The possibilities provided by the Web 2.0

allowed the exchange of information among

students, tutors and teachers on a virtual

environment and access to repertoires of many ages,

styles and genres. Besides the download option and

the listening of the musical repertoires at the web

pages, it is possible to create your own digital media,

integrating sounds, texts, images, songs in videos,

presentations, etc.

Ribeiro et al. (2011), in accordance to Araújo

(2006), claim that the social software of the Web 2.0

enable people to create, putting to practice learnings

that were not possible before these technologies

existed. For the author, the use of these tools may

help in the creative process, since individuals create

and perform over the web contents, taking advantage

of the public intelligence. In accordance to these

authors, these creative practices also occur in the

musical composition with this type of software and

are a result of a creative process of the individuals.

When referring to musical composition, Webster

and Hickey (2009), Maffioletti (2005) and Guterres

(2012) are favorable to the use of this practice as a

pedagogical activity for the teaching of music.

Guterres (2012) point out that the musical

composition is a “make to understand” the musical

contents. Webster and Hickey (2009) mention that

[...] in addition to the growing interest in

improvisation and its role in musical

development, compositional thinking as a

strategy for teaching music has become a major

force in countries such as Australia, the United

Kingdom, and the United States. (Webster and

Hickey, 2009, p.379).

According to Ribeiro (2011) the use of Web 2.0

tools may help in the creative process, since

individuals create and perform over the web

contents, taking advantage of the public intelligence.

Araújo (2006) and Palfrey and Gasser (2011) claim

the possibility of new forms of art coming from

Native Digital individuals. Linking to these authors,

it is possible to make creative music pieces through

digital online tools. These tools will be exposed in

the next section, and the online digital resources

produced for the Distance Learning as well.

3 ONLINE DIGITAL

TECHNOLOGIES RESOURCES

AND TOOLS FROM THE WEB

2.0 THE DISTANCE LEARNING

According to Fritsch (2008) the synthesizers were

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622

developing in a way an only one musician may

compose in studio, perform and be the only audience

of their own songs. These instruments are currently

found virtually on software.

Given the above mentioned, the computer is the

composition and execution instrument and the studio

as well. With this facility, Webster and Hickey

(2009) show that technological resources may help

music teachers on many contents. They have a quick

review over the studies that have been using this

technology for reinforcement and comprehension of

the music education related aspects.

We believe that this use of music technology can

be a powerful aid for music teachers to reinforce,

extend, and refine the expected development of

music perception, performance, preference, and

creating […] (WEBSTER; HICKEY, 2009, p.383).

Authors classify various software according to:

type, music content and age, from pre-school up to

the adult age level. Among these authors, they point

out the Vermont Midi Project for music creation.

This project was pioneer using internet to facilitate

musical collaboration.

On their conclusions, they point out studies that

consider the use of music technology helps

comprehending, which advances the development

process of music learning and understanding in those

that use it.

Behar at al. (2013) shows other software

examples for the collaborative distance music

composition programs, such as

Music-COMP

, used

in the United States. In the educational context, the

author also mentions

Musit Interactive and

jam2jam. According to Seddon (2007), the former

allows sharing the created music files, facilitating

the social exchange among the participants. The

latter,

jam2jam, is a web based system for

improvising, with functionalities that favor social

interactions. (Brown and Dillon, 2007).

Hodges (2001) points that the Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) includes “all

forms of computer-based learning, and recognizes

the importance of the Internet and associated

communication technologies.” (Hodges, 2001,

p.170). As for the use of technologies in teaching, he

mentions about the importance to make a distinction

between training and education. It becomes

necessary because there is a difference between

skills acquisition and conceptual understanding.

Another example that uses ICT in music

education is mentioned by Smith (1999), in the

secondary PGCE music course at Kingston

University. A partnership between “training

providers and schools” has been made, because the

music technology needs to be contextualized with

the classroom and not just developing skills. She

sustains there is a better approach between

“educational theory and its application.” (Smith,

1999, p.197). In this music course “including

delivery of music technology, has acquired an

increasingly holistic emphasis.” (Smith, 1999,

p.197).

Savage (2007, p.65) sustains that technologies

“are transforming approaches to teaching and

learning in primary and secondary schools.” The

author mentions that especially within the field of

music education there were changes. In spite of

having a substantial range of new technologies, their

use was limited due to the fact that it is linked to the

traditional composition and performance.

Seddon and Bisutti (2008) researched about non-

music specialist teachers. According to the research,

non-music teachers usually present low-confidence

to teach music in primary education. It may be

explained because of the belief, especially in the

western culture, that success in music requires inner

talent.

In their conclusions, after the interaction with an

e-learning environment teachers noted that music is

not something special, only for gifted individuals.

Thus, there is a break on the “cycle of low

expectation” and the non-music specialist can

provide opportunities to children to engage in

creative musical activities in classroom. (Seddon

and Bisutti, 2008, p.418).

As indicated by Behar et al. (2013), there are

several online tools in open source for the musical

composition that, although not being developed for

educational purposes, have been used with this

purpose.

Tools as Jamstudio, CODES

, MusicLab

Tonematrix

and others have been used in

extension courses in semi-presence and distance

learning subjects at Universidade Federal do Rio

Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

According to Behar et al. (2013) besides these

available tools at the Web, online digital resources

have been in development for the Distance Learning.

Among them are the Learning Objects (LO)

developed by interdisciplinary teams at the Núcleo

de Tecnologia Digital Aplicada à Educação

(NUTED).

Among the LO presented on section 3.1, the

object Digital Music Composition – CompMUS

–

will be detailed, since it was used in the case study

on the present approach, aiming to map the

competences for the music-technology educational

CompetencesfortheMusic-TechnologyContextontheDistanceLearning-AFocusintheUseofOnlineDigital

Technologies

623

context.

3.1 CompMUS: A Learning Object

for the Digital Music Composition

The CompMUS LO is an example of an online

digital resource used in Distance Learning, whose

purpose was to serve as a theory/pedagogical

resource for the mapping of competences for the

music-technology educational context.

CompMUS was developed in accordance to

Amante & Morgado’s (2001) methodology, which

involves four steps: object conception, planning,

implementation and evaluation. This object was

developed by an interdisciplinary team, where the

authors also participate. This object show 4 modules.

Each module refers to an issue pursuant to the digital

musical composition.

In modules 2 and 3 of this object have activities

involving musical composition through

CODES,

MusicLab and Jamstudio tools. For the effect

application and edit, the software Audacity is

recommended. The digital interactive tools

Tonematrix is found in module 4. The activity in

this module consists of creating a podcast episode in

pairs. It must have educational content and a

soundtrack composed by the authors of the podcast

using one or more online digital tools.

4 THE MAPPING

OF COMPETENCES FOR THE

MUSIC-TECHNOLOGY

CONTEXT: A CASE STUDY

Aiming to investigate the competences for the

music-technology context from the musical



composition with the use of free digital tools, the

case study was performed by an extension program

course.

This course, named identically to the LO

CompMUS: Digital Musical Composition for

Education, was one of the tools used for the data

collection.

The classes occurred in semi-presence and

distance basis, with 80 hours’ workload, on a weekly

basis from April until June 2012. Two online

questionnaires were applied, the first one to get

information over the student’s profile, their

knowledge and experience in the music and

technological fields; the second one was to evaluate

the course and the LO. In order to register the

testimonials and students’ compositions the virtual

learning environment (VLE) Rede Cooperativa de

Aprendizagem (ROODA)

was used.

Besides the use of the CompMUS LO as

theory/pedagogical support resource during the

classes.

The participants of the course were teachers from

the public teaching network from various levels,

music teachers, tutors, pedagogy and music students,

post-majoring course students and Masters in a total

of 17 students, where 9 were music teachers and 8

non-musicians.

As previously mentioned, the aim of the course

was to develop a mapping of the necessary

competences for the intended context. According to

Brandão and Guimarães (2001), it is a technique

linked to the knowledge management based on the

staff and their functions. As for the function of this

methodology, it is noticed a search for the

identification of the already existing competences

and the development of the necessary ones for an

intended profile on a determined context.

Besides the main target, the study also aimed to

investigate the profile of the participants of the

research; the knowledge and prior experience of

students about the technology and musical areas;

analyze how they organize the sound material when

compounding virtually and how CompMUS LO

contributed to the development of competences for

the intended context.

Based on the data collected, a concept map of the

competences individuals shall develop for the

music-technology context has been developed based

on the results found, and is indicated on table 1.

However, it is proper to mention that many of

these competences form were developed by the

individuals during the extension course.

The importance of the development of

instrumental performance and the Study of Theory

and Musical Perception for the construction of

specialized competences, inherent to professional

musicians, is understood. Nevertheless, we

emphasize that the competences listed are general

ones, meaning they may be constituted by outsiders

in music.

5 CONCLUSIONS

From the experiment performed, we understand that

the use of digital online tools, as the ones used in

this study, used on an integrated basis on virtual

learning environments as well as learning objects,

have potential to support in the development of

competences for the music-technology context on

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Table 1: Competences for the music-technology context from the use of digital technologies. Source: (Rosas and Behar,

2012, p.8)

KNOWLEDGE

(K)1

SKILLS

(S)

ATTITUDE

(A)

- Know various audio formats

-Make and compound digital music in a

public/ collaborative way;

- Opening to new

sonorities provided by the

digital technologies;

- Know effects for audio treatment;

- Convert audio format, liable of internet

transmission;

- Self-confidence;

- Know the historical pressupositions

of eletroacustic music;

- Setup the computer soundboard according to

the operational system, the software and digital

musical tools to be used as well;

- Capacity to motivate

yourself and motivate

others;

- Notions of simple music form and

structure;

Use online, specially free software and tools

for musical composition and production;

- Proactive (capable of

controlling the structure

and content on the CMD);

- Read and interpret virtual and

multimedia messages;

- Use free software for audio recording,

editing and mixing;

- Flexibility for changes;

- Notions harmony and chords

ordination on the western tonal system

to organize the sounds at musical

digital composition;

- Use Information and Communication

Technology (ICT);

- Be responsible for the

ICT use;

- Install and uninstall musical software; - Autonomy;

- Opening to several

musical languages, from

classical, pop to

contemporaneous.

Distance Learning. The knowledge, skills and

attitude herein presented may be built by teachers,

students and music tutors who own little or no

experience within these technologies or by teachers

and students outsiders in music, who wish to

perform on this context, with or without prior

technological experience.

When making the competences mapping, besides

observing those existing and pointing out the

necessary ones, it was found that part of the

knowledge and competences presented on table 1

were developed at the moment their compositions

were being created, when interacting with

CompMUS, with the teacher and the classmates over

the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) during the

classes.

We believe continued education courses are

necessary, in order to prepare these individuals to

perform on this context, developing knowledge,

competences and the necessary attitude for the

music-technology context.

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1 Case Study at the Post-Majoring Program in Education at

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

2 Music Composition Online Mentoring Program. Retrieved

from: http://www.music-comp.org/.

3 Cooperative Music Prototype Design. Prototyping refers to

musical creation. According to Milletto et al. (2005) this

expression is not known in the music area and was used to

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music.

4 http://clubcreate.com/#!/studio/musiclab

5 http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

6 http://www.nuted.ufrgs.br/objetos_de_aprendizagem/2011/

CompMUS/

7 https://ead.ufrgs.br/rooda/

8 Table translated by authors.

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