Children have the most at stake regarding new
media, since they will be around the longest. They are also most
attuned to the potential of new media, because they are growing
up with computers and other forms of information technologies.
John Sculley, Chief Executive of Apple
The Internet itself, like paper or a CD-ROM, is a
camera of information and what it carries in 1996 does not yet
provide resources fully tailored to the specific needs of UK teachers
and learners.
The following section contains sources of information, examples
of current activities using communications technologies and speculation
about potential later use related to Music in the National Curriculum
for ages five to 16. The chapter concludes with a section on information
skills.
Music
Communications technologies offer enrichment opportunities
for two main areas of the music curriculum: performing and composing;
listening and appraising. As they work, students will be learning
to control sounds, to compose, refine, record and communicate,
to develop knowledge of music from different times and places,
and to respond to and evaluate music.
The Internet's many music archives include jazz,
classical, world music, and American folk/blues material. A recent
development has been the creation of Web servers for rock bands
such as the Rolling Stones and Nirvana, with photographs, text
and sound clips from albums and live performances. There are many
discussion groups devoted to a range of music - from classical
European to Indian.
Data transfer times and current compression levels
make acquiring music files time-consuming and relatively expensive,
but within two years improvements in communications technologies
may make the Internet a more convenient way to buy music and to
publish and exchange MIDI files. The prospect of making compositions
and performances available at low cost to millions of people will
then be irresistible to thousands of performers who have failed
to achieve recognition through established record companies. The
prospect naturally alarms the music industry.
There will be a vast 'soup' of sounds owned by no
one, to be sampled, synthesised and experimented with. Such will
be the range of interests catered for on the Internet that students
will be able to join discussion groups and obtain information
about any type of music and any individual band. Students will
be exchanging sound files of compositions and taking part in on-line
concerts. Will we see an Internet Performing Arts School?
Information skills
I
Whether 'caught or taught', skills to navigate through,
select, assess, manipulate and evaluate information will develop
as learners use communications technologies. These skills will
form the basis of national economic survival in the information-
and knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. Access to an
information source such as the Internet can be a motivator for
students and encourage independence and autonomy. The national
curriculum encourages teachers to develop autonomous users of
IT. Open learning, flexible learning and individualised learning
are empty phrases if students are not given a coherent and comprehensive
grounding in information skills. To introduce something like the
Internet or CD-ROM without preparation of both staff and students
is the equivalent of giving them a car but not teaching them how
to drive.
Information skills have to be taught throughout the
institution year after year and developed within all subjects.
The delivery of the skills is not just the province of the librarian
but that of all teachers. The skills have to be introduced, explained
and practised, then continued in greater depth at a basic level
year by year and curriculum area by curriculum area. An effective
whole-school/college policy on information skills improves students'
ability to seek, process and use information, and enhances their
learning in other areas. Learning to learn is a powerful aid to
improving proficiency across the entire curriculum.
Students and staff need to know: