Teaching performance in performative arts. Video conference in higher music education

Teaching performance in performative arts – video conference on the highest level of music education

Mie Buhl, Rikke Ørngreen, Karin Levinsen
Aalborg University, KILD – Communication, it and learning design & ILD – It and Learning Design

Video Conferencing (VC) is becoming an increasing teaching practice in Danish higher education. As the use of VC becomes more common, challenges emerge that affects both the participants’ experience of space and time - also called telepresence (Draper 1998). The notion of telepresence exposes how the spatial and temporary processes of which the teaching-learning relations take place are performed in new ways.

When the performing art of music is taught on a distance, the phenomenon of performativity also materializes in new ways: in the dialogue between teachers and learners; due to the technical possibilities; as well as in the separation of being together in a virtual room put apart in physical room (what we identify as the third room). The music teacher must find new ways of facilitating the performative aspects of practising music. A teaching practice of narration, metaphors and dramatization appears to be an effective mode of helping the student to play, interpret and perform. This finding was revealed from a project, we conducted together with the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM) and their international partners in the US from 2010-13 (Oerngreen et al 2012).

Our study Telepresence as educational practice is based on teaching and learning in the domain of world excellence advanced music education. We draw on action design (Argyris & Schön 1996, Reason & Bradbury 2007, Nielsen & Nielsen 2010) involving specially designed teaching scenarios with experienced teachers who (at first) were novices to VC-based learning. The instruments involved are piano, cello and vocalists. In this presentation the study is discussed from a performative perspective addressing materiality and time of videoconferences as constructing a notion of processing videoconferences in the third room.

References
Argyris, C., Schön, D.A. 1996 Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method and Practice. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley
Bradbury (2007) Handbook of Action Research, 2nd Edition, London: Sage

Nielsen, B. S., & Nielsen, K. A. (2010) ”Aktionsforskning”, Brinkmann, S. & Tanggaard, L. (Eds.), Kvalitative metoder, København: Hans Reitzel, pp 97-120.

Draper, J. V, Kaper, D. B, & Usher, J. M. (1998) “Telepresence”, Human Factors 40, pp 354-375.Reason & Nielsen, B. S., & Nielsen, K. A. (2010) ”Aktionsforskning”, Brinkmann, S. & Tanggaard, L. (Eds.), Kvalitative metoder, København: Hans Reitzel, pp 97-120.

Ørngreen, R., Levinsen, K., Buhl, M., Solak, T., Jakobsen, M. & Andersen, J. (2012) ”Videoconferencing in Music Education at the Conservatory Level”, Designs for learning 2012, 3rd International Conference Exploring Learning Environments, 25-27 April 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark: Conference Proceedings. red. / Rikke Ørngreen. p. 133-135.