1
Leong, S. (in press). Navigating the emerging futures in music education. Journal of Music, Technology and Education.
Navigating the Emerging Futures in Music Education
Samuel Leong Hong Kong, China
Emerging Futures
Our globalised world is struggling to confront the emerging futures post-9/11 and to
rediscover and reinvent itself in the face of threats ranging from the environment and
sovereign debt to terrorism and poverty. Humanity is coming to terms with the impact
of technology on nearly every aspect of life including communications, medicine and
education. Despite huge efforts by governments, education reforms in many countries
have not yielded the desired outcomes many had hoped for. To quote the renowned
anthropologist, Margaret Mead (1901-1978), “We are now at a point where we must
educate our children in what no one knew yesterday and prepare our schools for what
no one knows yet” (Margaret Mead Quotes, n.d.). Soon after the Great Depression,
John Dewey wisely advised that “[t]he first need is to become aware of the kind of
world in which we live; to survey its forces; to see the opposition in forces that are
contending for mastery; to make up one’s mind which of these forces come from a
past that the world in its potential powers has outlived and which are indicative of a
better and happier future” (Dewey, 1935).
Humanity has travelled across three eras – oral, print and broadcast – to enter the
digital era (Miller, 2005). The growth of the Internet has seen the world becoming
increasingly interconnected with the concomitant explosion of the digital information
universe. According to Bontis (2011), the Internet today contains in excess of 25
billion web pages on 110 million sites; the cumulative amount of global information
doubles every eleven hours and more than twenty hours of video material are
uploaded onto YouTube every minute. In 2010, the size of our digital universe set a
record by having a 62 percent growth to nearly 800,000 petabytes (a petabyte is a
million gigabytes), and this is expected to reach 1.2 million petabytes (or 1.2
zettabytes) in 2011. Such a rapid growth pace means that by 2020, our digital
universe will be 44 times as big as it was in 2009 (McKendrick, 2010). The legendary
2
Ray Kurzweil (2007) predicts that by 2029, there will be sufficient computation to simulate the entire human brain, which I estimate at about 1016 (10 million billion) calculations per second (cps), [which] will cost about a dollar. By that time, intelligent machines will combine the subtle and supple skills that humans now excel in (essentially our powers of pattern recognition) with ways in which machines are already superior, such as remembering trillions of facts accurately, searching quickly through vast databases, and downloading skills and knowledge. (p. 13)
The Horizon Report 2011 has identified six emerging technologies or practices that
are likely to enter mainstream use (i.e. with widespread adoption) within the next five
years:
• within a year: electronic books and mobiles;
• within 2 to 3 years: augmented reality and game-based learning;
• within 4 to 5 years: gesture-based computing and learning analytics.
Augmented reality, which refers to the layering of information over a view or
representation of the normal world, offers users the ability to access place-based
information in ways that are compellingly intuitive. Augmented reality brings a
significant potential to supplement information delivered via computers, mobile
devices, video, and even the printed book. Much simpler to create and use now than
in the past, augmented reality creates a fresh and new feel which at the same time
extends beyond existing expectations and practices. Research has demonstrated the
effectiveness of game-based learning that applies to students of all ages. These games
for education range from those for single player or small-group card and board games
to multi-player online games and alternate reality games. Some learning games can be
easily integrated with coursework but their greatest potential lies in their ability to
foster collaboration, problem-solving, and procedural thinking. However, the
realization of this potential is seen to be two to three years away (Horizon Report
2011, p. 5). Another emerging technology, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access), often described as “Wi-Fi on steroids”, is forecasted by the
World Future Society to have entire countries covered with vibrant, high-speed
wireless communications networks very soon. Internet access and other data and
video applications will then be available anywhere with many applications for
automobiles (World Future Society, 2011).
The advent of powerful computer technologies has ushered in the New Information
3
Age, which goes way beyond simply making available instant access to knowledge
that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously (Wadhwa, 2011).
LinkedIn’s founder Reid Hoffman, said recently that, “if Web 1.0 involved go search,
get data and some limited interactivity, and if Web 2.0 involves real identities and real
relationships, then Web 3.0 will be real identities generating massive amounts of
data” (ibid.). While passive entertainment such as standard television embodied the
1.0 era, Web 2.0 saw a rise in audience-generated content like blogs and podcasts, and
the ongoing 3.0 era engages users at a deeper level of engagement, where they “jump
into” media such as virtual worlds (PC World, May 5, 2008). Nils Muëller, CEO of
TrendOne, a German microtrend analysis company, observes evidence of the Web 4.0
era being driven by the youngest generation. He sees the Web 4.0 era where
“technology and human become one” is already at our doorsteps, being characterized
by humans who “self-upgrade” through technology in a world that is “always-on” (PC
World, May 5, 2008). Tom Jenkins, executive chairman of Open Text, predicts that
Web 4.0 will be upon us by 2015. He explains how Web 4.0 would be avatar-based
virtualization: “Think of a virtual world – all I need is an avatar to represent me – I
have a hand globe and virtual 3D glasses, and I can just walk into the cloud” (Guess,
2011). Tabb (2011) of the Case Foundation calls Web 4.0 the “era of social
information” – a hybrid of Web 2.0 and 3.0 – but thinks that “we are not quite there
yet”, having to wait for the “perfect marriage of social media and information access.”
The digital world in which we live in and serviced by the information superhighway
is characterized by the seven qualities of interconnection, complexity, acceleration,
intangibility, convergence, immediacy and unpredictability (Miller, 2005). The
digitalization of the world has shifted the “basis of knowing and understanding… to
an interactive, global, anytime, anywhere, multimedia experience with countless
sources to explore and test” (ibid., p. 33). Indeed advanced and emerging technologies
are blurring and even merging boundaries that have traditionally separated disciplines,
organizations, structures, and peoples. Today’s digital media can combine text,
graphics, sound, and data in an integrated multi-sensory, multimedia and multi-
networked manner to enable people entering into new experiences of realities. It is
now possible to play Nintendo games with three dimensions without 3D glasses, and
the days of 3-D television, 3-D screens, 3-D projectors, and 3-D printing have arrived.
4
Outlook 2011 (Futurist, 2011) declares that search engines will soon include spoken
results, not just text. It notes that television broadcasts and other recordings could be
compiled and converted using programs developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for
Intelligent Analysis. It also notes that the traditional distinction between class time
and non-class time will disappear. Technologies are being used to socialize, work and
learn by the Net generation, who prefers to work in teams rather than in competition.
They engage in collaborative forms of learning beyond formal class settings,
facilitated by social networking technologies. The next generation of college students
will live wherever they want and take many (if not all) of their courses online. They
could even earn degrees that are accredited by international accrediting agencies
(Dew, 2010). The era of hyper-connectivity will see most professionals weave their
careers and personal lives into a blended mosaic of activity. Work and leisure will be
interlaced throughout the waking hours every day of the week, and student life will
reflect the same trend. Hence self-directed learning will become one of most
important taught skills of the future. The age of social networking has also brought on
a critical need for social skills such as self-discipline, responsibility, and media
literacy, in addition to the “three R’s.” Future curricula will need to be broadened to
include the development of these interpersonal skills.
Knowledge workers who belong to the 21st century global economic workforce are
expected to have acquired four broad categories of 21st-century skills (ATC21S):
• Ways of thinking: Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-
making and learning;
• Ways of working: Communication and collaboration;
• Tools for working: Information and communications technology (ICT) and
information literacy;
• Skills for living in the world: Citizenship, life and career, and personal and
social responsibility.
Additionally, they are expected to achieve “digital fluency” (European Commission/
ICT Cluster, 2010, p. 11). In the Digital Age, digital literacies have emerged as
essential clusters of skills just as reading literacy was deemed important years ago.
These include e-literacy, screen literacy, multimedia literacy, information literacy,
ICT literacies and new literacies, and the literates of today are required to possess the
5
ability to interpret and write various codes “such as icons, symbols, visuals, graphics,
animation, audio and video” (Nallaya, 2010, p. 48).
Education 3.0 in the Conceptual Age
A report which reviewed seven recent studies about young children and their
ownership and use of media concluded that the “media habits of young children have
changed over the years as new technology emerges and becomes ever more ingrained
into daily lives” (Gutnick et al., 2011, Introduction). Surging interests in MMO
(massively multiplayer online) games went back as early as 2007, when Mattel's
BarbieGirls.com attracted 3 million members in its first 60 days online and continued
to add 50,000 new members every day, with Scientific American claiming that it was
the "fastest-growing virtual world ever”. MMO games can be played today on
machines such as PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, as well as on mobile
devices and smartphones running Android, iOs and Windows. In fact, mobile learning
has become a norm for the technology savvy. The imperative for those who work with
young children, teach them, and parent them is to understand the realities of
children’s lives with media. They should also understand the make-ups of learners
from different age groups: unlike Millennials who learn better from social
interactions, blogging and the like, Generation Xers typically prefer online courses
that are self-paced while Baby Boomers feel comfortable with the traditional setup of
a classroom and teacher (Euro RSCG Worldwide, 2011). Education approaches
should be adaptive to the changing propensity of learners to technological possibilities
and adopt pedagogies that can effectively support technology-enhanced interactivity
in learning. This may entail shifting from:
• linear to hypermedia learning
• instruction to construction and discovery
• teacher-centered to learner-centered education
• absorbing material to learning how to navigate and how to learn
• schooling to lifelong learning
• one-size-fits-all to customized learning
• learning as torture to learning as fun, and
• the teacher as transmitter to the teacher as facilitator (Tapscott, 1998, p. 142).
6
Ingerman and Yang (2011) report that technologies such as lecture capture, smart
classrooms, response clickers, and tablet computers have become more popular, more
user-friendly, and increasingly seamless. E-portfolios are becoming mainstream and
integrated into course management systems and web applications. There has been an
increased demand for mobile access to institutional web-based services, instructional
content, and e-collaboration tools is driving the technology plans of some institutions.
However, instructional effectiveness and learning enhancement depend whether
available technology tools could be integrated and sustained without major adoption,
training, and support challenges (p. 32).
A “radical shift” to a new educational paradigm that takes into account the enormous
changes taking place outside the school gates as well as catering for the needs of 21st-
century learners is argued in the White Paper, Equipping Every Learner for the 21st
Century (CISCO, 2008). It is regretful that education in general has managed to
achieve incremental progress while the world has surged forward with monumental
changes. The new ‘Education 3.0’ paradigm (see Diagram 1 below) emphasizes
technology as a key enabler of young people’s ability to build their “personalized
learning space” in which they can “amass a wealth of education resources, in rich
multimedia format, gain access to world experts in multiple disciplines, enjoy
authentic learning using online data, receive instant feedback from team mates and
teachers on their ideas and their performance, and interact with students from all over
the world as they collaborate on group projects” (p. 13). But Education 3.0 should not
stop at the adoption of technological and educational innovations, instead pressing
ahead to achieve a “holistic transformation” in the way teachers and students learn
together through innovative pedagogy, increased creativity and collaboration, the
creation of learning communities, the provision of real-time feedback and assessment
(p. 13) and the learning content co-constructed by teachers and students (p. 40). This
calls for visionary leadership and outstanding teachers who embrace accountability,
current and emerging trends and technologies, and who can work out a relevant
curriculum that is supported by an adapted reform agenda.
7
Diagram 1: Getting to Education 3.0 (Cisco, p. 7)
An example of a system-wide initiative that aims to attain Education 3.0 goals is the
FutureSchools@Singapore scheme. With a representation of Singapore schools from
primary to senior secondary, the scheme empowers schools not only by enhancing the
diversity of educational offerings that cater to learners' needs but providing possible
models for the seamless and pervasive integration of infocomm technology that
includes interactive digital media. By harnessing infocomm technology in the
education sector through innovative pedagogies and flexible learning environments,
schools will be able to achieve higher levels of engagement of their students who
already have an infocomm-integrated lifestyle. In this way, students will be equipped
with the essential skills to be effective workers and citizens in the globalised, digital
workplace of the future (see Diagram 2).
8
Diagram 2: FutureSchools@Singapore Scheme
With the use of technology being now so widespread and forming an integral part of
people's lives and learning, concerns have been raised that the human user is often
given less consideration than the technology which is supposed to serve him/her.
Technology should be “brain friendly”, designed to fit and complement the human
user’s cognitive processes (Dror, 2011). This means that learning should be driving
the technology, which should make life easier for learners to focus on the actual
learning, enabling them to acquire the information, remember it, and use it. In the
context of technology-enhanced learning, practices that could improve the clarity for
the brain include consistency and the use of sound, emphasis, exaggeration, and
focus. If not properly designed, the interactive and entertainment/”fun” elements that
are supposed to facilitate learning could actually result in the distraction and reduction
of learning. Educators should remember that interaction is not the goal but a tool, a
means, to help maximize the goal of enhanced learning performance. The “cognitive
fidelity” is more important than the technological or visual fidelity in terms of how it
everything fits and works to support the human cognitive system of learners.
Today’s sophisticated technology, globalization and the knowledge economy have
forced humanity into the Conceptual Age of ‘high concept, high touch’. While
traditionally work places have valued workers who are analytical, details-focused,
left-brain thinkers, the 21st-century workplaces are demanding workers who are
9
creative and critical thinkers. Pink (2005) asserts that “the future belongs to a very
different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers,
pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people-artists, inventors, designers,
storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers – will now reap society’s
richest rewards and share its greatest joys” (p. 1). People who want to be successful in
this new age should develop the six essential “senses” of design, story, symphony,
empathy, play, and meaning.
In Tune with Emergence: Nuové Music Education
If Daniel Pink is right, music education should re-position itself tuning in to the
emerging trends and developments. As more emphasis is given to creativity and the
arts, music education practices need to devote more attention in developing learners’
digital literacies, analytical and critical thinking and the other 21st-century skills with
reference to the realities of the cultural and creative industries. Curriculum priorities
should focus on nurturing the creative, reflective and intuitive abilities of learners,
utilizing web-based and game-based pedagogies, developing communities of learners
as well as teaching them how to make use of the vast information and knowledge
bases that are available and growing exponentially. Technology-enabled learning
should go beyond accessing rich online resources and providing a publishing and
distribution environment to value deep and collaborative learning as well as
knowledge building. Learners should be helped to cultivate a keener cultural
sensitivity and appreciation that would enable them to draw on diverse cultural ideas
during the processes of creation and innovation. Indeed music education should
extend its localized horizons to make stronger links with the global knowledge
economy in the Digital and Conceptual Age.
In May 2010, the UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization) 2nd World Conference on Arts Education formulated three goals for
arts education in a historic document called the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the
Development of Arts Education (UNESCO, 2010). Music education need to join
forces with this proactive international effort, which has its conviction in arts
education playing a vital role in the constructive transformation of educational
systems that are struggling to meet learners’ needs in a rapidly changing world
10
characterized by remarkable advances in technology on the one hand and intractable
social and cultural injustices on the other. The issues of concern are not limited to
peace, cultural diversity and intercultural understanding but also the need for a
creative and adaptive workforce in the context of post-industrial economies. Music
education can play a significant role with other arts education disciplines in making a
direct contribution to resolve the social and cultural challenges facing today’s world.
The Seoul Agenda articulates that the success of arts education in meeting these
challenges lies in achieving high standards in the conception and delivery of arts
programmes. Therefore three broad goals, each accompanied by several practical
strategies and specific action items, calls upon UNESCO member states, civil society,
professional organizations and communities to recognize its governing goals, to
employ the proposed strategies, and to implement the action items in a concerted
effort to: (1) realize the full potential of high quality arts education, (2) positively
renew educational systems, (3) achieve crucial social and cultural objectives, and (4)
ultimately benefit children, youth and life-long learners of all ages. The Seoul Agenda goals are crucial for establishing a new and energised future for the arts and arts education that goes beyond economic considerations to positively transform existing social and cultural environments in our interconnected world. In
this regard, music education curricula should be carefully reviewed to connect
traditional course contents more directly with today’s societal concerns and lifestyles.
The different branches of music studies – music performance, history, literature,
analysis, theory, philosophy, psychology, sociology etc. – should learn from the
experiences of exemplary practitioners and work together to explore intra- and inter-
disciplinary futures agenda that are coherent with real-world issues and problems. The
new music education agenda should give more attention to learners who were under-
served in the past and attempt to engage whole communities in stimulating lifelong
musical expeditions. Music education approaches should be evaluated to see whether
they support learning strategies and activities that:
• value both individualized and group learning;
• integrate music and the arts into the daily life of learners, i.e., extending beyond the
school setting and promoting lifelong learning;
• utilize gaming and 3-D technologies in an inclusive and immersive environment;
• require creative, constructive and connectivist actions;
11
• contain a balance of physical, cognitive, metacognitive and social elements;
• provide real-time continuous feedback;
• are based on open platform, content and channels.
Studies in discipline content areas should harness the powers of ICT to create learning
hubs and serve as agents, levers, and drivers of worthy educational and societal
transformation. The learning of music technology should go beyond the “core” study
areas – such as sound and its properties, basic audio processing, introduction to MIDI,
digital audio basics, basic recording techniques, and introduction to music sequencing
– to explore ways of applying these skills and knowledge in empowering artistic
expressions, and strategies that locate music effectively as an essential, integral and
vibrant aspect of human lives and civilization.
I want to close with a very thoughtful quote from ‘The future is now – how do we as
educators plan for the future?’ by Jerry Jennings (2011) of Discovery Education:
We need to leverage the best learning ideas, concepts, structures, techniques, opportunities, and/or technologies to accomplish more with less. We can’t take everything from the current practice with us to the future. And that is not a ‘bad’ thing. Some, but certainly not all, of the status quo does address the needs of our learners. So, we can and should bring to the future the best of our current offerings. I suggest that the guide for figuring out how to get to the future needs to be focused on answering the question: “Are our decision good for all kids and their learning?” We need to be less focused on the adults and their needs as we sincerely focus on all students: from those that are struggling to those that are shining in the current system and every student in-between. All of them can benefit more from schooling. The future of schools will be determined largely by the action leadership of leveraging the best learning ideas, concepts, structures, techniques, opportunities, and/or technologies to accomplish more with less. This is a time for leaders who can help others come together to serve the learning needs of all learners. This is a time for school people who are comfortable and capable with leading and or being part of transformational change. The time for improvement is now. The needs are clear. This is not the time for trying to tweak the current system. It is time to boldly move into the future.”
12
References Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills (ATC21S). What are 21st-century
skills? Retrieved 16 March 2011, from http://atc21s.org/index.php/about/what-are-21st-century-skills/
Bontis, N. (2011). Information bombardment: Rising above the digital onslaught. Hamilton, Ontario: Institute for Intellectual Capital Research.
CISCO (2008). Equipping every learner for the 21st century. San Jose, USA: CISCO Systems, Inc.
Dewey, J. (1935). John Dewey’s page. Social Frontier, 1 (January 1935), 7. Cited in Boydston, J. A. (Ed.) (1998). John Dewey: The later works, 1925-1953 (Vol II: 1935-1937) (p. 341). IL: Southern Illinois University.
Dew, J. (2010). Global, mobile, virtual, and social: The college campus of tomorrow. The Futurist, Mar-Apr 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2133/is_201003/ai_n52370702/
Dror, E. (Ed.). (2011). Technology enhanced learning and cognition. London: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Euro RSCG Worldwide (2011). Prosumer Report. Retrieved 16 May 2011, from http://www.prosumer-report.com/blog/2011/04/understanding-the-millennial-mindset/
European Commission/ICT Cluster (2010). Learning, innovation and ICT lessons learned by the ICT cluster Education & Training 2010 programme. Retrieved 25 April 2011, from http://www.kslll.net
The Futurist. (2011). Forecast from the Futurist magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2011, from http://www.wfs.org/Forecasts_From_The_Futurist_Magazine
Guess, A. (2011). Imagining Web 4.0. Semantic Web, March 4, 2011. Retrieved 10 March 10, 2011, from http://semanticweb.com/imagining-web-4-0_b18176
Gutnick, A. L., Robb, M., Takeuchi, L., & Kotler, J. (2011). Always connected: The new digital media habits of young children. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.
Ingerman, B. L. & Yang, C. (2011). Top-ten IT issues 2011. Educause Review, May/June 2011, 1-44.
Jennings, J. (2011). The future is now – how do we as educators plan for the future? Discovery Education, Jan 2, 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011, from
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2011/01/02/11394/ Kurzweil, R. (2007). Foreword. In J. N. Gardner (Ed.), The intelligent universe: AI,
ET, and the emerging mind of the cosmos (pp. 11-16). NJ: New Page Books. Margaret Mead Quotes (n.d.). Retrieved 20 May 2011, from
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/margaret_mead/2.html McKendrick, J. (2010). Size of the data universe: 1.2 zettabytes and growing fast.
Zdnet. Retrieved 12 May, 2010, from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/service-oriented/size-of-the-data-universe-12-zettabytes-and-growing-fast/4750
Miller, M. R. (2005). The digital dynamic: How communications media shape our world. The Futurist, May-June 2005, 31-36. Retrieved 15 February, 2011, from http://www.slideshare.net/mrexmiller/digital-dynamic
Nallaya, S. (2010). The impact of multi-modal texts on the development of English language proficiency. Unpublished doctoral thesis, The University of Adelaide, Australia.
13
Outlook 2011 (2011). 2011 Top Ten: 5. The notion of class time as separate from non-class time will vanish. The Futurist. Retrieved 3 April 2011, from http://www.wfs.org/content/2011-top-ten-5-notion-class-time-separate-non-class-time-will-vanish
PC World (May 5, 2008). Web 4.0 era is upon us. Retrieved 7 April 2011, from http://www.pcworld.com/article/143110/web_40_era_is_upon_us.html
Pink, D. (2005). A whole new mind. New York: Riverhead Books. Scientific American (2007). Guess who just launched the fastest-growing virtual
world ever? Retrieved 18 July 2011, from http://shared.studiocom.com/public/site/news/archives/scientific_american.pdf
Tabb, J. (2011). Web 4.0: Enter the era of social information. The Case Foundation, Jan 4, 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011, from http://www.casefoundation.org/blog/web-40-enter-era-social-information
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the Net Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Wadhwa, V. (2011). The new information age. TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 April 2011, from http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/10/the-new-information-age/
World Future Society. (2011). 20 forecasts for 2011-2025. Retrieved 30 March 2011, from http://www.wfs.org/forecasts/
Brief bio: Professor Samuel Leong (PhD) is the Associate Dean (Quality Assurance & Enhancement) of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Head of the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts. He is also the Director of the UNESCO Arts in Education Observatory for Research in Local Cultures and Creativity in Education and serves as the Director of Research of the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association (IDEA) and on the boards of eight refereed journals.
Top Related