Detailed Notes on Technological Remedies for Music Practical Lessons During COVID-19

éTechnological Remedy for Music Practical Lessons Amidst COVID-19 Restrictions

  • The Department of Music Education at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), provides training in:

    • Western instruments (keyboard, guitar, winds, orchestral strings).

    • Ghanaian traditional instruments (atenteben, traditional drums).

    • Singing, dancing, and ensemble performance.

  • COVID-19 restrictions disrupted practical training.

  • Theory courses were moved online using platforms like Moodle, Google Classroom, VClass, and Zoom.

  • An exploratory case study was conducted to find technological solutions for practical lessons.

  • The study reviewed literature on technologies for teaching and COVID-19, based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK) model.

  • Interviews were conducted with lecturers, instructors, technicians, and students to gather opinions on conducting practical lessons amidst restrictions.

  • The study identified innovative technological means, including software programs and applications like Zoom, Google Classroom, Moodle, Microsoft Meet, Team Viewer, WhatsApp, and Facebook.

Introduction

  • The COVID-19 pandemic impacted global economies, including Ghana, and significantly affected education, especially performing arts courses.

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, following initial cases in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

  • Ghana recorded its first cases on March 12, 2020, leading to a ban on social gatherings (funerals, church services, political gatherings, etc.) to control the spread.

  • Schools and colleges were closed, and the Ministry of Health (MoH) implemented protocols to prevent the disease's spread.

  • The Ministry of Education (MoE) directed universities to find ways to complete interrupted semesters.

  • The University of Education, Winneba, used Moodle and introduced VClass to continue the semester.

  • Online teaching favored theory courses, while music practical instructions were negatively affected.

  • Tutorials in orchestral strings, winds, keyboard/piano, guitar, traditional drum instructions, and ensemble making were significantly disrupted.

  • This study aimed to find creative and innovative means to sustain instrumental and ensemble instructions within the VClass teaching mode.

Theoretical Framework

  • The study is based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK) model by Mishra and Koehler (2006).

  • T-PACK builds on Shulman’s (1987) descriptions of PCK, describing how teachers' understanding of educational technologies and PCK interact to produce effective teaching with technology.

  • Lee Shulman introduced Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) as subject matter knowledge for teaching.

  • Mishra and Koehler (2006) created the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK) model for effective technology use.

  • T-PACK consists of three components: content, pedagogy, and technology, along with their interrelationships.

  • Mishra and Koehler (2006) stated that interactions between the three components determine the effectiveness of educational technologies.

  • Schmidt et al. (2009) renamed T-PCK to T-PACK for better integration of technology, pedagogy, and content.

  • The T-PACK framework governs the principles formulated based on the main components and their relationships.

  • The intersection of knowledge types provides an understanding of teaching content with pedagogical methods and technologies (Schmidt et al. 2009).

  • The study coordinated technologies like Zoom, Google Classroom, Google Meet, TeamViewer, Microsoft Team, Youtube, Facebook, Whatsapp, videos, and audios with pedagogical methods to create content for practical music lessons at a distance.

The Seven Components of T-PACK

  • T-PACK describes seven operative ideologies reinforcing the use of technological systems in teaching:

    • Technology Knowledge (TK)

    • Content Knowledge (CK)

    • Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)

    • Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

    • Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

    • Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

    • Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Technology Knowledge (TK)

  • Technology knowledge involves understanding various technologies, from low-tech (pencil and paper) to digital (Internet, digital video, interactive whiteboards, software programs) (Schmidst et al. 2009).

  • Teachers need to adapt to simple and complex technological means for teaching and learning.

  • According to Mishra and Koehler (2006), TK is always evolving.

  • TK in the T-PACK framework is similar to Fluency of Information Technology (FITness) (NRC, 1999).

  • Technological Knowledge requires understanding and productive use of information technology, enabling teachers to perform tasks and develop different approaches.

  • Knowledge in software programs (e.g., TeamViewer) can be used for online connections between computers in different locations for educational purposes.

  • For instance, a piano instructor can use TeamViewer to connect to students’ pianos and conduct video/audio conferences.

Content Knowledge (CK)

  • Content knowledge is the understanding of the subject matter to be taught (Mishra and Koehler, 2006).

  • Teachers should know the differences between content areas; piano lessons differ from African ensemble lessons (drumming and dancing).

  • Shulman (1986) stated Content Knowledge includes knowledge of concepts, theories, ideas, organizational frameworks, evidence, proof, and established practices.

  • Teachers must have a deep understanding of knowledge in specific disciplines; in music, this includes rhythm, melody, fingering, tonguing, bowing, plucking, dance movements, and dynamics.

Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)

  • Pedagogical Knowledge includes methods and processes of teaching, classroom management, assessment, lesson plan development, and student learning (Schmidst et al. 2009).

  • Mishra and Koehler (2006) state that it includes overall educational purposes, values, and aims.

  • It applies to understanding how students learn, general classroom management skills, lesson planning, and student assessment.

  • Pedagogical Knowledge involves teachers' understanding of techniques used in teaching, the caliber of students, and how to evaluate their understanding.

  • The ability to recognize how students assimilate knowledge and acquire skills is crucial.

  • Instructors' recognition of how students assimilate African drumming and dance will shape the pedagogical method, especially using technological means.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

  • Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is content knowledge dealing with the teaching process (Shulman, 1986).

  • Pedagogy and content knowledge must be consistent to develop better teaching practices.

  • Shulman (1986) stated this transformation occurs as teachers interpret the subject matter, find ways to represent it, and tailor instructional materials to students’ prior knowledge.

  • Teaching traditional dance requires teaching principles enabling the objectives of the class to be achieved.

  • Teaching the songs of the same traditional dance will require different pedagogical principles.

  • The teacher should deploy specific teaching methods based on the content to be delivered.

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

  • Technological Content Knowledge refers to the knowledge of how technology can create new representations for specific content (Schmidst et al., 2009).

  • The teacher’s understanding of technologies will enable them to modify the way students practice and understand concepts.

  • Schmidst et al. (2009) revealed that understanding the impact of technology is critical to developing tools for educational purposes.

  • Music teachers' technological understanding will enable them to use the right methods for practical lessons.

  • Practical lessons in brass, woodwind, guitar, bass guitar, and strings can be technologically represented for distance-based learning.

  • The inability of students to have face-to-face interactions can be supplemented with Zoom, Google Meet, and TeamViewer.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

  • Technological Pedagogical Knowledge refers to the knowledge of how technologies can be used in teaching and how technology may change the way teachers teach (Schmidst et al. 2009).

  • Knowing the pedagogical affordances and constraints of technological tools (Koehler & Mishra, 2006).

  • Teachers need to be abreast of the potentials and limitations of a technology and parallel it with pedagogical methods and plans.

  • Teachers need to reject functional fixedness, reconfiguring technologies for customized pedagogical purposes (Koehler and Mishra, 2006).

  • Software packages like Zoom, Microsoft Meet, and TeamViewer can be organized to conduct practical lessons in guitar, keyboard, and traditional dance.

  • The teacher’s technological and pedagogical knowledge will enable practical lessons to be conducted via technological platforms not specifically created for such purposes.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

  • Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge refers to the knowledge required for integrating technology into teaching in any content area (Schmidst et al., 2009).

  • The teacher is expected to understand how Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, and Technological Knowledge interact.

  • TPACK involves effective teaching with technological systems and understanding how concepts are represented with technological systems and how pedagogical methods can influence these systems.

  • Knowing how technologies can build on existing knowledge to reinforce understanding is the focus of T-PACK.

  • Solutions to teaching challenges lie in the teacher’s ability to navigate content, pedagogy, and technology (Schmidst et al. 2009).

  • Teachers need to remodel face-to-face practical lessons with accurate content and appropriate pedagogy, ensuring the vision of T-PACK.

  • A piano instructor with pedagogical skills can use technological systems to deliver practical lessons on distance mode without compromising content.

Review of Related Literature

Technologies for Teaching

  • Computer and internet technology has influenced professional and educational activities.

  • Technological resources (computers, software, the internet, mobile applications, communication devices) have expanded academic activities.

  • Universities worldwide provide educational packages for students using online Moodles, mobile applications, software, websites, video, and audio communication networks.

  • Universities in Ghana and other West African countries also use these packages for students with accessibility challenges.

  • The World-Wide Web (WWW) in 1991 catalyzed distance education (Sun and Chen, 2016).

  • The University of Education, Winneba, uses technological mechanisms to facilitate online teaching, especially for students with accessibility challenges.

  • The University of Education, Winneba, established in 1992, parallels on-campus tuition with Moodle, educational software, and video/audio packages, running distance courses in all sixteen regions of Ghana.

  • Early adopters predicted e-learning would cause a paradigm shift in academia (Buzzetto-More, 2007).

  • Technological systems in the University of Education, Winneba, have had a tremendous impact; however, positioning technologies to complement practical music lessons has not been explored.

  • Cain (2004) noted that technological developments have brought changes in the music curriculum as teachers incorporate new hardware and software.

  • Following the COVID-19 pandemic, theory courses have been shielded with technological systems; however, practical lessons have not been entirely fruitful.

  • Music students are disengaged from instructors in keyboard skills, guitar, bass guitar, brass, woodwinds, strings, and traditional ensembles.

  • Based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK) model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), this study aims at a means of conducting practical lessons using technological systems to complement the University’s Moodle.

Ramifications of COVID-19

  • COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by coronaviruses, specifically SARS-CoV-2 (Bonful et al., 2020).

  • The outbreak has caused death and health challenges in over two hundred countries.

  • From the first report in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it has affected over three million people globally, with over two hundred thousand deaths in 212 countries (Bonful et al., 2020).

  • The outbreak has affected social, economic, and educational activities.

  • COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes (Ouassou, 2020).

Methodology

  • This study uses an exploratory design with a case study approach since little is known about using recent platforms to conduct practical music lessons.

  • Yin (2003) states an exploratory case study explores situations where the intervention has no clear set of outcomes.

  • Teegavarapu, Summers, and Mocko (2008) define case study as an empirical research method to investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context.

  • COVID-19 restrictions prevented face-to-face interactions, and the University’s online platforms had no provision for practical music lessons.

  • Lecturers, instructors, and service persons found it difficult to organize lessons online due to the inability to use appropriate technologies, fighting against the objectives of practical lessons.

  • The study adopted a case study design to consider how practical lessons could be conducted amid COVID-19 restrictions.

  • Case study research allows exploration and understanding of complex issues (Zainal, 2007).

  • Purposive sampling was used to select lecturers, instructors, national service persons, and technicians.

  • Convenient sampling engaged students within the university setting.

  • Interview was used as a research instrument for data collection.

  • Unstructured interviews were conducted based on practical areas: piano/keyboard skills, voice, African instruments/ensembles, winds, and strings units.

Piano/Keyboard Skills

  • Three lecturers and two instructors were interviewed.

  • They revealed their preparedness to modify their teaching methods.

  • One lecturer experimented with TeamViewer, others with WhatsApp and Google Meet.

  • Students expressed readiness to comply with any initiative.

  • Five students described the phenomenon as innovative, noting potential challenges.

Voice

  • The unit head employed WhatsApp groups.

  • An instructor complied with the unit head’s scheme.

  • Three Voice major students preferred an interactive system through video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet.

  • Plans were underway to purchase Zoom for the Department.

Winds

  • The unit head could not do much in terms of practical lessons due to internet connectivity issues.

  • Students expressed internet connectivity challenges at their off-campus locations and suggested Zoom and Google Meet.

Strings

  • The unit includes violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, and bass guitar.

  • Unit facilitators worried about students' rusty playing techniques.

  • String instruments demand consistent practice and supervision.

  • Students suggested moving through the technological way of teaching.

  • The unit head planned to use Zoom but was pessimistic about its effectiveness.

African Musical Instruments

  • The unit head found it impossible to conduct dance class within the COVID-19 restrictions.

  • She uploaded previously recorded videos on the University Moodle, viewing them as performance videos, not teaching videos.

  • A lecturer, instructor, and service person prepared dance videos on ensembles through Google Classroom, but student reception could not be quantified.

  • For the atenteben and the gyile, no remedy had been considered.

  • Students would be glad if lessons were designed using Zoom, Google Meet, and WhatsApp platforms.

Technician

  • The technician recommended video conferencing platforms and computer connectivity software programs like TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

  • He described establishing a connection between the student’s piano and the teacher's piano.

  • Piano teachers could use Zoom with mute/unmute options.

  • With TeamViewer/AnyDesk, students could download virtual piano on their computers connected to hardware keyboards via MIDI cables.

  • The teacher could check students' fingering, articulations, precision, and use of sustain pedals.

  • He mentioned software programs like Flowkeys, Skoove, Pianoforall, and Piano Marvel.

  • He deemed practical lessons in traditional drumming and the gyile challenging due to instrument unavailability.

  • He recommended recording interactive conferences on Zoom and uploading them to Moodle.

  • He suggested using Youtube and Facebook for conducting live practical lessons and uploading videos.

General Students’ Concerns

  • Focus Group Discussion (FGD) revealed major challenges: accessibility and reliability of the internet and the high cost of connecting to video interactive lessons.

  • Students recommended free internet data packages.

  • Internet provided by mobile communication networks was unreliable.

  • Despite challenges, students were ready to participate via platforms like Zoom and Google Meet.

Discussion of Findings

  • This study sought ways of conducting practical lessons in music amidst COVID-19 restrictions.

  • Lecturers, instructors, national service persons, and students quantified their opinions.

  • Members of various practical units came up with innovative means.

  • The keyboard unit was eager to explore technological schemes.

  • One lecturer experimenting with TeamViewer saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to restructure educational priorities with technology.

  • He described using electronic keyboards linked to a computer with MIDI communication, where TeamViewer established a communication between computers, and the teacher witnessed fingering, position, and dynamics.

  • TeamViewer and Google Meet were seen as appropriate, supplemented with recorded videos.

  • WhatsApp was good for Voice tutorials, where instructors moderated by having students perform and record.

  • Students waited days for feedback with asynchronous organized submissions; synchronous WhatsApp video calls would have been more appropriate.

  • Regular phone calls served as instruction in Winds, but students wanted video interaction.

  • The asynchronous interaction on WhatsApp could have been helpful.

  • It was worrying to adapt to a distant mode for African instruments (drumming, atenteben, etc.).

  • Songs were taught asynchronously using Moodle, instruments, and dance movements synchronous. The video latency made the class difficult.

  • Another lecturer stated that teaching African drum online was not possible since students do not have African drum instruments.

  • Pre recorded dance movement and songs were uploaded on google classroom.

  • Students had videos on dance movement and songs but required instruction to break down dance movement and songs for easy assimilation.

  • Uploaded videos were mostly from African dance performance, making it difficult to learn.

  • Drum pattern teaching was marginalized because students did not have drums, marginalizing skills in their cultural education (Hess, 2018).

  • Keyboard skills and voice practical exams were already conducted via WhatsApp, where students recorded and sent their performance.

  • It was difficult to use submissions as the basis for assessment.

  • The instructor found it difficult to find an assessment design for online practical works (Ala-Mutka, 2005).

  • Units explored mechanisms for most practical lessons, but examination was challenging.

  • Except for Google Classroom, technological mechanisms discovered were not created for teaching, but lecturers, instructors, and teaching assistants employed Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK).

Conclusions

  • Effectual employment of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (T-PACK) (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) amid COVID-19 restrictions advances the appropriation of technological mechanisms to render uncompromised practical lessons in music.

  • Apart from internet connectivity challenges, available technological provisions can be appropriated for practical lessons.

  • Practical lessons in keyboard, strings, winds, and voice could be conducted with Zoom, Google Classroom, Moodle, Microsoft Meet, TeamViewer, WhatsApp, and Facebook.

  • The African unit will require technological infrastructure, but atenteben, traditional dance, and traditional singing lessons could be conducted given reliable internet and real-time video conferences.

  • Teachers can upload lessons on Youtube, Facebook, and other video platforms for students, with student responses/feedback via WhatsApp.

  • Monitoring and assessment could be initiated, and students could interact with their teachers.

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