What’s stopping you? Impediments to incorporating popular music technologies in schools

Abstract

This study explores why music technologies are not more often used in school music programmes despite their wide accessibility in the private sector. We examine how four popular products are perceived by music teachers in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools: Rocksmith 2014, Soundation, GarageBand and Skoog. Our study determines what participants see as impediments to using these specific products, as well as music technologies in general. Through analysis of interviews conducted within a clinical trial of technology products, four factors were identified as perceived impediments to product use in schools: expense, accessibility, attitude and usability. Although expense is an especially prominent concern, we found that each factor can potentially prevent acquisition and incorporation of music technologies. Further, the influence of other agents besides the music teachers themselves is perceived as playing a vital role in this process, such as the school’s administration and characteristics of the local community.