The Learning Technologies Unit website

The course provides opportunities to gain experience of observing and teaching at post 16, including A level music, AS and A level music technology and GNVQ and A level performing arts. The programme comprises ongoing seminars, workshops and tutorials in the theory and practice of music education.

The course starts with one month face-to-face 4 sessions per week at the IOE. This is followed by 3 months placement with a school and 1 day session per week at the IOE. Then learners attend face-to-face sessions for 4 months before they go back to a school on placement.

During face-to-face sessions lectures are given while learners take notes. They discuss issues raised in the lectures. Learners also make music, perform music and research issues in music education. They give presentations on their work in school.

• Learners are assessed through observation while they teach music.
• They also write various essays totalling 10,000 words.

• Informal support and feedback are provided regularly face-to-face, via email and discussion forums
• Guidance on how to write assignments is published on Blackboard
• Up to 3 formal tutorials are given to each learner

Learners have to be graduates of music who are performing music or teaching music. Their suitability for teaching in secondary schools is assessed. Generally learners are diverse in terms of gender, age etc and social backgrounds.

- 2 part-time lecturers who plan and deliver the course and assess learners' progress. Equivalent of 0.35 sessional lecturers take part in delivery, assessement and interviewing. There is also a 0.3 course administrator.

Various resources including handouts, audio materials, website links, video clips, musical software packages and facilties for communication and sharing ideas and resources are provided via Blackboard.

Main content formats

Main content producers

Main delivery formats

• extensive use of discussion forum
• email exchanges which are supported with face-to-face meetings
  

• flexibility of downloading which learners can transcribe at any stage
• resource sharing in a public place than private
• ability to use multimedia resources
• links to various websites
• possibility of intgrating resources to whiteboard
• no need for printing or photocopying materials
• contacting learners very quickly
• separation of sections in a logical fashion
• time saving due to reduced administration tasks

• moderate discussion forum as early as possible
• avoid duplication of face-to-face session and online provision
• update resources regularly, e.g. annoucements
• avoid too much texts; try to have multimedia resources