It’s no secret that K-12 music education lags far behind the rest of society in utilizing technology to improve productivity and outcomes.
There are myriad reasons for this outdated approach to music education, not least of which are:
✗ Shrinking budgets
✗ Fragmented and ill-structured technology solutions
✗ Bureaucratic barriers
✗ Professional and cultural biases
These long-standing challenges are driving music educators to look for better solutions — and many are turning to education technology (EdTech) to help them get there.
In this post, we’ll illustrate some of the real challenges music teachers face when trying to integrate EdTech into their programs, implement the flipped classroom methodology, or extend learning beyond the classroom. Then we’ll explain how Practicing Musician can help them succeed.
Meet Ms. Johns
Let’s look at a fictitious elementary school music teacher named Ms. Johns — a composite of real music educators navigating the transition to EdTech-driven teaching.
Ms. Johns is part of a group of teachers on Facebook sharing their experiences trying to implement “flipped classrooms” in their music programs.
The idea of the flipped classroom is to transform the group learning space into a dynamic, interactive environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts they’ve already learned at home via online tutorials. It’s an exciting model that has transformed core subject classrooms — but it hasn’t yet made a significant impact in music education, largely because the necessary EdTech to support at-home instrument learning hasn’t existed.
None of the teachers in Ms. Johns’ Facebook group are happy.
The problem is that there is no single EdTech solution to help them pull it off — and even if there was, Ms. Johns and her fellow teachers have no budget for it. After a lot of research and collaboration, the teachers have patched together a mishmash of technology and spent an inordinate amount of time creating their own teaching videos.
No one is satisfied with their results.
Along the way, Ms. Johns’ group encountered a number of challenges:
- Instructional videos: Ms. Johns makes her own videos using her smartphone. It’s a time-consuming process, and she’s concerned the low production quality won’t hold the attention of students raised on high-quality digital media.
- Student access to lessons: She uploads videos to a private YouTube account, then spends more time than expected learning to manage the platform. Eventually she gets it done — but how does she know students actually watched the assigned videos and practiced?
- Student at-home follow-through: Ms. Johns has students “Like” videos and leave a comment as proof of completion. But there’s no real way to know whether a student actually completed the assignment — or just clicked through.
Ms. Johns is on the verge of giving up when she discovers Practicing Musician — a Khan Academy-style learning platform built specifically for instrumental music education.
How Practicing Musician Helped Ms. Johns
Practicing Musician is an online music education platform delivering a virtual private lesson experience for K-12 music programs, homeschoolers, and at-home learners.
The result of years of development and real classroom use by educators, students, and at-home learners, Practicing Musician made Ms. Johns’ life easier by providing:
- High-production video lessons from world-class musicians — inspiring interviews and step-by-step instruction in one place
- Hassle-free access to sheet music — no more searching, printing, or managing separate resources
- Gamified assessment software — students get real-time feedback that makes practicing engaging, not a chore
- Progress tracking — Ms. Johns can see exactly what each student has completed, without chasing them down
With Practicing Musician, Ms. Johns and her group replaced several incompatible apps and hours of self-produced content with a single, free platform that gives them everything they need to run a flipped classroom — and extend learning beyond class time.
The Practicing Musician Method
To deliver an effective e-learning experience, the Practicing Musician team deconstructed the private lesson process and combined it with the latest research on human development, cognition, and learning technology.
Simplicity is at the heart of the method. Students start by meeting their world-class teacher, then work through step-by-step video tutorials and assignments — at their own pace, on any device.
Practicing Musician seamlessly integrates sheet music with gamified assessment, making practice engaging and measurable. Students either play along with sheet music demonstrated in video tutorials, or sight-read new material to apply recently learned concepts — with built-in feedback after every session.
Our teachers are top talent from prestigious organizations including the Seattle Symphony and The Juilliard School. Private teachers know students only learn when they’re inspired — so every lesson is designed to motivate, regardless of skill level.
Ready to transform your classroom?
Practicing Musician is completely free for K-12 educators and their students — forever.
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