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0034 SP: Observation
Wiki Views: evaluating music students’ experience of using
social media to document community music education practice
Author
Mary Troup
Theme
Research and rigour
Tags
aCurriculumForExcellence, benefits,
changingLearnerExpectations,
collaboration,
communitiesOfPractice,
effectiveness, evaluation,
experience, marshallingEvidence,
mobileDevices, onLineLearning,
peerSupport, research,
selfDirectedLearning, sharing,
web2.0, workBasedLearning
This paper presents work in progress at the Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama to evaluate community music students’ experience using
web-based tools and music technologies to create educational materials
designed to make their practice visible and accessible, and to increase
learning capacity (Project Zero 2006) The findings presented are interim
results from a 3 year longitudinal study involving 34 students, 8 community
groups and 2 RSAMD lecturers. The study started in October 2009 and is
investigating potential benefits of developing a wiki featuring collaborative
documentation of community music projects. It uses a participatory action
research approach to give learners ownership of the research process
(Wadsworth 1998).
Musicians today need to develop the capability to work as teaching artists
in varied settings, building partnerships with classroom teachers and
community workers who often lack confidence in performance arts. In
this study, RSAMD Community Music students, staff, mentors and workbased
groups participate in a wiki-enabled Community of Practice providing
learning opportunities in creative music-making for stakeholders and
enabling interaction between groups, thus avoiding isolation which can
be commonplace during project placement. The wiki, Music Matters, has
been established to serve as a community resource. Students are given
support to develop skills using the wiki, using music notation software and
mobile recording devices to document processes involved in devising their
work, which they can post on the wiki, enabling them “to develop into
critical users and active citizens of the information age as well as capable
knowledge workers” (Beetham and Oliver 2010)
Analysis of evidence collated from focus groups, self-assessments,
interviews, cognitive maps and reflective journals will be presented to
summarise students’ views of learning involved, barriers faced and benefits
gained, leading to fresh insights regarding the value of digital technologies
to foster collaborative learning and generic skills. (Wenger et al, 2009)
Colleagues in primary, secondary, and tertiary education have recognised
Music Matters as a sector-leading initiative, with the potential to become
a resource for teacher education and continuing professional development
by embedding performance arts processes into cross-curricular learning
and teaching methods within a Curriculum for Excellence, utilising learnercreated
materials as exemplars.
References
Project Zero, 2006. Making Learning Visible: Understanding, Documenting and Supporting Individual
and Group Learning, available from http://pzweb.harvard.edu/mlv/documentation/index.cfm?id=3
(accessed 4th February 2011)
Beetham, H., and Oliver, M. 2010. The Changing Practices of Knowledge and Learning. In Sharpe, R.,
Beetham, H., and De Freitas, S. (eds) Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: How Learners Are Shaping
Their Own Experience: 155-169. New York: Routledge
Wadsworth, Y. 1998. What is Participatory Action Research? Action Research International, Paper 2,
available from www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/p-ywadsworth98.html (accessed 4th February 2011)
Wenger, E., White, N., and Smith, J.D. 2009. Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities.
Portland: CPsquare
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