Recently, in Australia both the National Review of School Music Education and The Australian Curriculum identify the importance of technology in school music education. However, the understanding of music technology, as demonstrated by state and territory curricular guidelines, is limited with technology mostly recognised as a tool. In comparison, contemporary Australian information and computer technology (ICT) curricula appear to have a very different understanding of how technology can enhance learning in the arts, specifically music. Through a comparison of the Australian States and Territories Years 7-10 curricular guidelines this article compares understandings in the two domains - ICT and the arts (particularly music). The different perspectives on the use of technology in music education can be seen as either using technology as a tool to support instruction in drill-like programs or as a platform for collaborative and creative learning that resonates with students in Australian music classrooms.
paul reid on 17 Aug 08I've been thinking about this single-point of failure issue for a little while now. The great thing about web2.0 for learning is that the tools fit together. But if a tool breaks the elements built into that narrative immediately lose cohesion. eg. when Edublogs change it's "embed the web" system OR when Twitter changes it SMS provision to be America centric. What happens if teachers/students go to depend on the single entities for connectivist learning - their failure has some serious kickbacks. The recent ability through Ping.fm and Diigo to cross polinate services is a step in the right direction but take this sticky - it could be lost in the sands of API change. In time users with demand cross-pollination and archive features.
