Musical exploration using ICT in the middle and secondary school classroom

Abstract

In this article, I explore musical creativity through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This article aims to show that secondary school pupils can compose freely using ICT in the classroom, easing and `democratizing' the creative process, enabling a high standard for all, regardless of formal musical training. The fieldwork project was conducted across one secondary school (Years 9—13, ages 14—18) and one middle school (Years 5—8, ages 9—13) in Windsor, UK from November 2002 to December 2003. There were opportunities in the music classrooms of both schools to develop creative ideas based around tonalities of the last 40 years in spite of the fact that creativity in a non-tonal medium was well established in the professional field. I intended to show that pupils were more inventive and motivated in the music classroom when given opportunities to: (1) use ICT as an integral part of the creative process; (2) explore new sounds in a non-fixed-tonal environment; and (3) promote motivation through learning by relevant and interesting lesson content, enthusiastic delivery and an informal class atmosphere. Pupil response, and multi-levelled and open-ended lesson content were the key to impetus, with creative catalysts and subject matter reflecting the interests of mixed-ability pupils. The students became self-motivating, and were captivated by their `play-art'. Semi-supervision became possible as pupils worked on the assignment in their groups, with the teacher helping to facilitate ideas in turn. Action research was used to continuously improve the learning environment. ICT enabled pupils to follow Bruner's constructivist philosophy and go beyond the information given. Pupils became less inclined to adopt media-generated tonal attitudes merely because they were the `norm' after the research, and showed more independence of mind in discussion and evaluation.