Opening All Doors: Digital and Hybrid Music in Music Teaching and Learning

 Digital learning has so many different factors; one of those factors is music teaching. For so many reasons learning music or anything can be beneficial when one is learning digitally.  There are questions that people tend to ask themselves, such as:

• Why did these students not make music in school?
• What types of music are they interested in?
• Did they play an instrument outside school?
• What types of music did they listen to?

Have you asked yourself those questions before? I bet at least once you may have thought it and wanted to know the answer's to that.

Learning about hybrid music can be truly fun. Think of it like this, In The Learner-Centered Music Classroom: Models and Possibilities (Williams & Kladder, 2019), the contributors suggest benefits associated with embracing new models of music instruction, including increased engagement, excitement, energy, and learning outcomes when students learn through alternative and self-directed approaches. As the music in contemporary culture continues to shift and change, our understanding of music teaching and learning will need to embrace alternative music-making opportunities across the music curriculum. As I am sure you do, all students are inherently musical, and most make music outside school, even if they do not participate in a formal ensemble. These experiences can enrich and encourage new and innovative approaches for music-making.

Kratus, J. (2007). Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42-48.

Williams, D. A., & Kladder, J. R. (2019). The Learner-Centered Music Classroom: Models and Possibilities. Routledge.

Williams, D. B. (2007, April). Reaching the “other 80%:” Using technology to engage “non-traditional music students” in creative activities. In Presentation at the Tanglewood II Technology and Music Education Symposium, Minneapolis, MN: the University of Minnesota (Vol. 6).

Williams, D. B. (2012). The non-traditional music student in secondary schools of the United States: Engaging non-participant students in creative music activities through technology. Journal of Music, Technology & Education, 4(2-3), 131-147.