The Role of Music Technology in Schools and Teacher Education

There were times when teachers and their educators categorized means of learning to different slots like face-to-face learning, distance learning, web based learning, open learning, blended learning and such. Nowadays this kind of litany of terms is irrelevant. To students it does not make any difference what are the ways and names to deliver learning materials and classes. Only functionality of the studies is something that matters. The students know technical tools; they use them on daily basis and actually require that information is distributed via these channels.

Students know the social network tools, that is, they can form naturally any size groups in the classroom or outside of it. Technology also makes it possible to share your music to the broader audience; it helps to get any kind of feedback from other students and/or teacher and makes it possible to combine different genres like music and video. One can easily make a video and add a music to that which is a very practical way of teaching dramaturgical solutions.

Music technology is in many cases easily deployed at pupils home, a teacher has to take into account that a pupil may work actively with the same music technology tools at school and home. Educators are forced to change their role from information distributors to information collaborators and advisors. From the point of educational institute’s view, this has to be taken in account when educating teachers. In the past there was at least a piano in the classroom. Now one has computer, which has a piano inside (as a synthesizer) but also lots of other instruments and traditional tools, which make teaching more productive (writing, web-design, composing, notation, camera, video, recording, presentation, database, etc.).

Inside of ISME there should be a technology special interest group to distribute best practices and research resources. The Technology SIG:
¥	Tries to find common strategies, terminology and flexible technological solutions.
¥	Activates research and documentation of tools and means that are not bound to current time
¥	Collects information and good practices of different kind of pedagogical situations.

The Technology SIG will convene during the main conference, thereby making its presentations and activities readily available to all attendees. It will also provide support for ISME members outside the biennial meeting and will develop and maintain relationships with music technology organizations in countries around the world.