Also in association with Swinburne University,
the University of Wollongong, Australian National University,
Charles Darwin University, Edith Cowan University, ACID and AFTRS
Download paper: Making music together
Music curricula have become increasingly systematised in universities. This means that students may be segregated into class groupings that do not naturally support active participation in knowledge sharing, networking, moving between expert groups, socialisation and professional success. This may result in students graduating still unprepared for professional workplaces. This paper examines a project that attempts to address the issue of promoting a program-wide learning community by blending a web-based discussion board with a face-to-face curriculum for music technology students in an Australian conservatoire. It is shown that the inclusion of an online affinity space unfettered by artificial educational boundaries can provide a means by which students can communicate, reflect and collaborate to build and sustain an authentic participatory learning culture at a program level.