The Forum

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The forum will become a base of discussion on the accuracy and appropriateness of the organization of the areas of knowledge and fields of music as they relate to evaluation mechanisms and tasks involving music technology

Six forum groups have been created. In addition to a group for discussion on the site and general discussion, there is one each for discussions on the taxonomy, music fields, evaluation questions, and tasks.

Organization

These two pages combine to provide heirarchical context for knowlege, skills, and competency in music technology. The taxonomy provides an organization of areas of knowledge while the music field provides context for the application of that knowledge. The music field could be an area of study, profession, or activity and the taxonomy provides a set of skills or knowledge required for that field.

The project is currently in a brainstorming state. Please feel free to add topics as you interpret each area. As each page grows, it is hoped that discussion (via the forum) will inform a better organization of each hierarchy.

Content

These two pages provide the detail for the knowledge, skills, and competency organized in the pages above. Each question or task is to be assigned to an area of knowledge (from the taxonomy) and a field of music. In addition to the two hierarchical links, each entry provides for a free-form context and skill/knowledge level (1=lowest level to 5 = highest level). While the current interface only provides for a single knowledge area and music field, the structure provides for multiple links between the taxonomy, music field, and level. Please contact the administrator through the forum for additional manual additions to the same question or task

About this project:

This project is being built for Course N518 as part of my Master of Science in Music Technology from IUPUI (Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis)

The project for my degree has been completed but I am now seeking to find a more permanant home and continue to hope for participation. I can be reached at boyd.arts@gmail.com

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a website for the evaluation of music technology knowledge and an organization of that knowledge. The website design focused consensus building through the development of a dynamic taxonomy of music technology and a database of questions and tasks used to evaluate that knowledge.

A review of literature discusses foundational efforts by members of the Association of Technology of Music Instruction (ATMI) and the Technology in Music Education (TI:ME) organization in identifying areas of competencies in music technology. The field of music technology is identified as a multi-disciplinary field only recently becoming a recognizable area of academic study. Additional research cites the need for an increase in both knowledge and confidence about technology as necessary in order to incorporate more technology into music teaching. Finally, the review suggests incorporating the resources of related fields in the establishment of competencies in music technology.

The project concentrated more on structure than content in order to create a solid foundation for collaborative work in the future. The final report explains the choice of using a closure table as the structure within a relational database for the hierarchical nature of the taxonomy as well as an outline for other contributed content. All development utilized HTML5, JavaScript, and PHP supported by a MySQL database in order maximize transportability for implementation.

A project timeline outlined the implementation of the project consisting of four basic components: User interface, database design, server-side scripting, and content development. The final evaluation of the project includes a report compiled from evaluation questionnaires developed over the course of the project.

The final report is included here: BOYDCE-FinalReport-Final(10-02-15).pdf

An 8 minute presentation on the original project proposal: