In our globalised world today, one commonality which many share, is an interest in music and the stimulation and enjoyment which it provides. Over the past few years, many schools have begun investing more into arts programs as the benefits of creativity to students has begun to be seen. King (2012) discusses the importance of integrating creativity with technology as educators teach competent individuals who are equipped for the future (p.2). Through technology, he argues that students can be digital storytellers who merge interdisciplinary subjects to express and create meaning in music.
Sibelius is a music composition software, similar to the renown app “Garageband”, although has many distinct features. While Garageband can be used by the amateur musician to compose instrumental sections and layer sounds on top of each other, Sibelius requires basic music knowledge to notate and create music. However, while the disadvantage to Sibelius may be that students are required to have a basic knowledge of music, the compositions which can be created are complex and meet the demands of the real-world. Sibelius leaves more room for student creativity through the wide selection of instruments and through accessing a program which is used professionally. One problem as mentioned by Thomas (2012) is that teaching music is different to teaching music technology and many educators would feel fearful of using new technologies if they haven’t received the appropriate training for using it.
However, Rosen states that “we predict that under the right guidance and implementation, music technology courses can develop students’ self-efficacy for creative tasks and self-awareness of the creative process through experiential learning and authentic assessments” and through this, in facilitating creative thoughts, educators should build on students prior experiences and tie projects to students own interests. In this way, we see that using technology to increase and allow students to express their own creativity can form the foundation for expressing and sharing stories and meaning through audio.
Guilford (1957) states that general creativity seems to be multidimensional in nature, creativity comprises of four divergent thinking abilities: originality, fluency, flexibility and elaboration. Through this, we can see that programs such as Sibelius can assist students in using their divergent thinking abilities through notating music which allows them to share themselves, facilitates improvisation, foster opportunities for feedback meanwhile also providing parameters and limitations which remove distractions for students on technology.
- Bower, M. (2017). Technology Affordances and Multimedia Learning Effects, Design of technology-enhanced learning: integrating research and practice, Emerald Publishing, UK, 65-89.
- Guilford, J.P. (1957). Creative ability in the Arts, Psychological Review, 64(2), 110-118.
- Kiehn, M. (2003). Development of Music Creativity Among Elementary School Students, 51(4), 278-288.
King, M.D. (2012). Digital Storytelling, Principal Leadership, 13(2), 36-40. - Rosen, D et al. (2013). Utilizing Music Technology as a Model for Creativity
Development in K-12 Education, 341-344. - Thompson, D.E. (2012). Music Technology and Music Creativity: Making Connections, 25(3), 54-57.
Grace's Blog 
What an interesting technology! I had never heard of this, so I’m really glad you decided to write about it. It’s so interesting that it allows students to create music compositions, not just play the instruments as seen in GarageBand. This could certainly be useful, especially in high school music where students are required to create their own composition. My only suggestion would be using a lighter colour background on the text, as I found it a little difficult to read, especially in low light. Other than that, great work!
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