Digital Innovation in Music Education Conference 2024

In June 2024, Music Mark ran the inaugural Digital Innovation in Music Education virtual conference with the DIME Alliance, bringing together experts from music education and beyond to explore how you can lead the way in digital innovation in music education.

Engaging with Innovations in Music Technology

Exploring Music Technology for One-to-One Lessons, Mixed Ensembles, and Tech-Centric Ensembles. In this session Kate Rounding, Executive Director of TiME, shares updates on the latest music technologies and how they can be used to support students of all abilities to develop their creative, compositional and ensemble skills. With practical tips and takeaways, this session offers ideas for group music making activities.

WIRED Toolkit – Strategies for Gender Inclusive Learning

A presentation of findings from independent research undertaken as part of Yorkshire Sound Women Network’s WIRED education project (funded by Youth Music). This session offers insights into engagement in music technology learning amongst girls, women and people of minority genders, and will introduce the WIRED Toolkit; a set of resources including strategies for educators to support gender-inclusive learning environments, recommendations for policy change and testimonies from research participants as to the blocks and barriers they have faced in their learning and careers in audio.

How to Build an Accessible Technology Library

The aim of an accessible technology library is to offer adapted and accessible hardware and software to pupils who experience physical and/or cognitive barriers to traditional instrumental tuition. Using Lancashire Music Hub’s new library as a case study, this session explores the ‘what, why and how’ of building and maintaining a library, discusses how new technologies can change teaching strategies, and shares resources to support the development of new libraries in other areas.

A Sustainable and Scalable WCIT & Progression model for Music Technology

Bradley Smith, previously Lead for Music Tech and Assistant Head at Leicestershire Music, explains the model which he developed 8 years ago, that has since grown to become an embedded an ongoing offer for Leicestershire Music as well as being taken on and delivered today by 10 other music services nationwide. Featured in the new NPME case studies publication as the only example of good practice in music technology from a music service nationally, this model has empowered general and music specialist teachers alike to facilitate full WCIT (CIL) units of music technology through carefully designed lesson planning and accompanying CPD.

In this session, Bradley explains the model, how it supports sustainability and how it can be easily scaled into progression opportunities. Although pitched for Music Service staff, this talk also takes several pit stops discussing classroom practice, advice and practical takeaway tools for teachers wishing to incorporate more tech into their music teaching.

Beyond Novelty: A More Social and Reflective Take on Musical Interfaces and Music Technology

The relentless drive for newness in music technology has started to be questioned in recent academic work: not least because we don’t always know what the social and environmental impacts will be of cutting-edge technologies. What would a more considered and reflective innovation process look like? This session explores how we might draw on slow culture, frugal innovation and accessible design movements to find new/old ways that are more sustainable and ethical. Existing solutions, older and already used technology and design for reuse and ethical disposability all offer potentially less harmful kinds of practice.

With over thirty years as an amateur one-handed musician (first trumpet, then guitar) and nearly twenty years as a music technology educator, instrument designer, and interactive audio specialist, Dr Mat Dalgleish brings a unique perspective that spans different disciplines and blends art and science. His work, often collaborative in nature, has included digital musical instruments, sound installations, tools for learning new musical skills, accessible theatre, and music-related video games.