Abstract:

Long a constituent part of general education requirements at the university level, courses in music appreciation, music fundamentals and historical survey courses have in recent years been adapted to the online environment. This paper discusses practical experience in teaching such courses in a purely online mode with a highly compressed time frame, reinforcing or in some cases supplanting traditional pedagogy by integrating various online technologies in synchronous and asynchronous instruction, including music keyboards, mixers, microphones, compact disc access and website access within the context of a pre-packaged digital learning interface. Issues relating to the comparison of learning outcomes and effectiveness in online experiences as compared with onsite learning, course content modificatons, pedagogical imperatives, elements of gaming and video applications, and validating assessments are discussed from the perspective of eight years of online course development and implementation.

Keywords:

Music, online, keyboard, general education.