Teaching Music Online in Higher Education: 2020 conference report

Abstract

Faced with the state of emergency restrictions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Teaching Music Online in Higher Education conference was adaptively modified to exist as a synchronous, online event. Embracing the opportunity to model online music pedagogy in its online format, organizers transformed the conference to utilize live-streaming, video recordings and other online active learning strategies. A total of 143 tertiary music instructors and graduate students from 66 institutions located around the world took part in the conference at a time of unprecedented restriction on face-to-face learning and travel restrictions. This report is both important and timely, as it provides insights into components that were found to be both necessary and fundamental to the success of the event for music researchers, teachers and other delegates in attendance. Key areas related to organization, communication, structure, protocols and activities were explored through learning analytics and a conference evaluation. Strategies and recommendations are included to assist others who wish to create and present an online conference that exemplifies online pedagogy principles.

Performance Practice in a Pandemic: Training Ensemble Skills Using E-Tivities in Music Teacher Education

“…The importance of teaching music online in higher education has increased over the decades. The issues of distributed music pedagogy using live-streaming and video recordings, the implementation of active learning strategies, and recommendations on how to teach music online at universities are frequent topics of discussion among researchers (Merrick and Johnson, 2020). At the same time, universities have started promoting online courses for learning music.…”