Never has Technology been More Important to Music Education

If you’ve been reading the newspapers, listening to the news, or following Facebook and Twitter updates over the past few months, then you know that music programs across the country are being cut at an alarming rate. Just yesterday I received an email from my former cooperating teacher in New Jersey letting me know that the elementary instrumental music program in the district is being cut next year due to drastic reductions in state funding. This district has one of the most respected music programs in the state, and this was certainly upsetting news to hear. This district is not the only one experiencing such challenges. Many of the music teachers and administrators in my PLN have posted status updates that they have lost their jobs and are looking for a new one. Music education is under attack. There are many music advocacy organizations making strident efforts to save school music programs, including SupportMusic.com and MENC. But is it enough?

Perhaps one of the reasons school districts feel that instrumental (and choral music) programs can be cut is that they often serve a small population of students - typically 20 - 30%. In no way am I suggesting that this is good fiscal or educational policy, or that instrumental and choral music programs are not essential to any solid school curriculum offering. I am just trying to rationalize why school districts feel that cutting a program is a “good idea”. When a school district with outstanding performing ensembles gets cut, any program is vulnerable. In my opinion, in order for school music programs to solidify their place as an essential part of the core school curriculum (including instrumental and vocal music), they must incorporate technology on a number of different levels. Let me be specific.

I believe that teachers can use technology as an advocacy tool for their programs. When I was in public education, I used technology constantly to disseminate information to students, parents, colleagues, and teachers. I always felt that the more visible my efforts were, the more difficult it would be to cut my program. The first thing I did was to create a monthly newsletter to keep as many stakeholders as possible informed about the many things that were going on in the music department. The newsletters included upcoming performances, highlights of student work, music advocacy articles, and more. These newsletters (while time consuming to create) were highly successful in increasing awareness about my program. Next came a music department website, filled with information about the various program offerings, details about concerts and trips, discussion forums, and lots of examples of student work - much of it compositions and podcasts. Toward the end of my tenure, I incorporated blogging and podcasting with my instrumental music students (and general music students). The parents were thrilled with the fact that I was incorporating Web 2.0 into my program, and often asked me why other subject area teachers were not doing the same. Finally, I recorded every concert and sold the recordings (after properly paying the royalties) as a fundraiser for the music program. These recordings were a big hit with the students and parents. These four simple steps were really focused on promoting my program, with very little integration directly into the rehearsal process.

The biggest role for music technology in my program however was in my general music program. I raised funds over several years to purchase a 12 station music technology lab. The projects that I did with my students included compositions, podcasts, wikis, PowerPoint presentations, website authoring, blogging, recording, and more. The crucial aspect of this effort was that I was reaching the 70 - 80% of the students in my school who were NOT in the instrumental and vocal music program. When these students went home and told their parents about the various things that they were doing in my music classroom, I would often get emails and phone calls telling me how the music class was what their child looked forward to every day. While I would like to think that my teaching style had something to do with this, I know that the projects the students were doing involved their creating content in the same medium that they were used to consuming it. This may not seem that important to other subject areas, but it is crucial in music education. When every child in the school is creatively using technology to compose film scores, create informational podcasts, and author web content, the administrators and parents look to these activities as truly 21st Century skills. In my opinion, no other subject area (aside from visual arts) has such an incredible opportunity to showcase these skills. I firmly believe that successful integration of music technology on a school-wide basis would make it extremely difficult to cut my position. While the instrumental or vocal music program might still get slashed, at least I would still have a job, and at least I would still be doing great things in music education.

I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that just having a music technology lab will save every music educators job. I do believe however that with energetic and creative music educators using technology to showcase student work and the benefits of a strong music program, we can make an impact on ensuring that music education is thought of as a perfect way to reinforce 21st Century skills (read Daniel Pink’s A Whole New mind for more information on that), and NOT as a frill that can be cut to save some money. The perfect music program is one that offers outstanding performance opportunities to interested students, and creative and engaging music making opportunities for every student in the school, including that 70 - 80%. By engaging every student in our music programs (with technology as an essential way of doing so), we can help music education grow into the 21st Century, and remain an absolutely essential aspect of a child’s education.