I was asked the other day to share a bit of an update as to where the research in online music pedagogy (aka teaching music online) is today. The short statement is: we’re learning music online.
We now have data that shows us there’s been an exponential increase in higher education adding online music classes in their offerings since 2012 (Johnson, 2017). This adds up to about 40% of our class offerings taking place online. While it doesn’t always mean a financial savings to the universities, it does mean that students can learn music in ways that support individual student learning. These online learning spaces aren’t created overnight, but they are well worth the effort.
Current state of learning music online
July 11, 2018 by
Challenges to Online Teaching
October 25, 2012 by
More on the research front of online teaching and learning today…
Here are some challenges that I will need to look into as I continue to develop my literature review for online teaching and learning
- faculty time to develop new online content
- faculty and student need for technical support
- perception by many that online content is not rigorous
- identifying ways to assist faculty in organized online teaching workshops
- training faculty in pedagogical theory (Lorenzetti, 2009)
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Lorenzetti, J. P. (2009). The virtual faculty lounge: Providing online faculty development for adjunct instructors. Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty, Distance Education Report. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com
Looking in PD for Online Instructors
October 15, 2012 by
Sometimes our research takes us down rabbit trails that can be very helpful for our research, providing that time is not lost in the vacuum of discovery. As I continue my research focused on online music education, I came across an avenue that very much intersects with online teaching and learning – professional development for online instructors.
PD for teachers can be a very challenging topic due to the fact that teachers already know a wealth of information on how to teach, combined with the ever-changing landscape of technology. While it can seem overwhelming for an online teacher to embrace some of the new research taking place in how we can better help our online learners, the fact remains that PD is an important component for all of us in the education field.
Palloff & Pratt (2011) have highlighted a number of characteristics that remind us of what skills we as educators need in regards to online teaching readiness: visibility, compassion, communication, commitment and organization (p. 19). While these inherent skills are critical for connecting with our online students, there will always be ways to improve our online teaching through training: personal establishment of online presence; online teaching pedagogy; how best to disseminate subject-specific content and how and what technology (i.e. LMS, apps, etc.) to use in online teaching (p. 21).
While Zhu (2008) cites that many faculty attending technology training for teaching are not known for trying new things or change, we can all be part of the solution by building communities in our faculties that support collaborative learning. My goal for this week is to make one concerted gain in being more collaborative… how about you? 🙂
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Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2011). The Excellent Online Instructor: Strategies for Professional Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Zhu, E. (2008). Breaking dow barriers to the use of technology for teaching in higher education. In D. R. Robertson & L. B. Nilson (Eds.), To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instruction, and Organizational Development, 26, 305-318. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Improving online courses
October 14, 2012 by
With my research going in the direction of searching for a framework for developing online music education courses, I have come across a number of educational models in use and how, as teachers, we can improve our current teaching. That said, Palloff & Pratt (2003, 2007) have developed a number of online teaching strategies and methods for improving online courses. In particular, the use of inclusion of self-assessment and application of skills/studies is a need for encouraging students in online courses.
Another helpful resource is the Quality Matters rubric. This rubric is helpful for online teachers to evaluate their courses in adherence to design of the actual course. The Illinois Online Network (QOCI) also has some helpful evaluation tools for course evaluation, plus its also attends to elements of collaboration and interaction.
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Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The Virtual Student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. Jossey-Bass.
Starting to gather themes for literature review
October 3, 2012 by
It’s amazing what we find when we start looking into research. Yesterday I was looking at some research studies in more than “scanning” detail and I came across some interesting ideas to pursue. To that extent, here is a sample of how my literature review research could unfold:
Literature Review
Using a keyword database search on the terms, “online music education,” “music education philosophy,” “online teaching practices,” database sources (i.e. RILM, IIMP, JSTOR, and ERIC) will provide initial resources for primary and secondary resources. Searching these resources for common terms will aid in additional database searches for deeper depth and breadth of information to be contained within the Literature Review.
The Literature Review would be written in a thematic approach that assists in providing documentation that warrants the study of online music education while providing insight into past methodologies and significance for continued study. Possible themes that may arise include: music as social significance; qualitative methodologies; learning impact of online education; motivation and self-efficacy.
Sources included in this section would display both primary sources (i.e. journal/blogs, interviews, video footage, autobiographies, past and current research studies etc.) and secondary sources (i.e. newspaper articles, journals, biographies, research reviews etc.) that were likely obtained from initial database and bibliographic research.