University of Canterbury

What did they do?

Mark Walton, Musical Director of the CSM, delivered master classes form the University of Canterbury to Kristin and Christs College clarinet and saxophone students. These schools were the first to be connected to the New Zealand Schools High Definition Video Conference trial for the establishment of the National Education Network (NEN). The project titled "musicGrid", was initiated by Merryn Dunmill of the Music Education Research Centre at Canterbury University.

The first school to be taught music through KAREN was Christs College where two students based at Christs learned from Mark Walton, based at the University of Canterbury. Two students at Kristin observed this lesson until their own lesson was taught to them, using the same music yet differing parts. Christs College students observed the Kristin students during their lesson. The ultimate goal was to create a four part ensemble requiring multi point, synchronous conferencing so finally, all three locations attempted to perform together to play the catchy arrangement created by Mark Walton.

The individual schools’ video conference sessions using the KAREN network were high in quality. However, when the schools tried to play the music together the slight latency of around half a second, created havoc. Even the slightest latency is problematic for time-based, synchronous musical performance which requires imperceptible latency for musicians to successfully, and musically play together.

Learning for students and teachers

Students participating in the online music lesson saw many benefits from the experience. The two students from each school; Antoni Tisot and Jonathan Sampson from Kristin and Justin Standring and Danny Lee from Christ's College were understandably impressed with the experience.

The video conference was far greater than I anticipated. It was amazing how effective it was. Despite using technology, a personal connection with the tutor was easy and the quality was not taken out of the lesson at all. The tutor was able to not only accurately scrutinize articulation, but even the tone of my playing. It's really exciting to see the development of such technology which will allow for students to have direct access to tutors from anywhere in the world, said Antoni

Today's live communication was eye opening in that it showed the possibility of communication with people who we would never meet otherwise. The sharing and comparison of assignments or work, for any subject, is now possible. This could prove useful in improving the quality of our work, said Jonathan.

The scope for music and performing arts students to share their creative and performance works through this technology is very exciting. Peer mentoring, teacher moderation, and collaborative arts projects are now possible between schools across New Zealand.

KARENS contribution

Through KAREN, the capability to exchange artistic practices with other communities is likely to enrich lifelong learning and cultural understandings between people of all ages, no matter the time, place, or circumstance. More equitable access to high quality music tuition is now possible for any institution connected to KAREN.

Future Focus

It is conceivable in the near future that music students in our schools and tertiary institutions can connect and mentor each other not only within and across New Zealand, but throughout the Asia Pacific region. The development of creative cultural projects using KAREN could see New Zealand grow new research and creative industries.

The Music Grid