The Interchangeable Roles of Music and Technology in Computer-Supported Education

Scientific literature has frequently focused on the contribution offered by technology to support music education at various levels. A less investigated subject is the possibility of using multimedia and musical languages to encourage the acquisition of digital competences. In this vision, the roles of mediator and disciplinary goal– which in the context of computer-supported education are traditionally assigned to technology and music, respectively – are reversed. These concepts will be exemplified through applications which explore the relationship between music and technology from a new point of view, merging the two fields and making traditional roles more nuanced, thus encouraging the development of higher-order thinking skills. This paper summarizes the keynote lecture held by the author at the 4th International Conference on New Music Concepts – ICNMC 2017.