Engl. transl.: Children learning a new music technology: The teacher's role

This text presents the Swedish share of the international research project on children's technology-related music learning called MIROR (EU FP7-ICT). A technology designed to support children's musical improvisation and composition is studied through its use. Children aged 4 to 8 test the technology on their own and together, as well as both with and without an adult participant. Three themes present themselves: (i) how children use and understand technology in a different way compared to what it was designed for; (ii) how teachers contribute by participating in the children's play with the technology, and (iii) how how teachers support the children's musical problem-solving. Although the technology was designed to be self-instructing and give rise to a musical dialogue with the child, it turns out that the presence of other co-creaters (other children and/or. an adult) is critical if the child is to integrate with the technology in the intended way. Finally, some shorter general questions concerning technology and learning are broached.

"What we found was that, despite the fact that the programme can be seen as self-instrucing, it was situations where also a teacher partcipated significantly more productive for learning about and in music. One problem we found was that, on their own, children could not be counted to have an interest in, or a relationship to, activities such as keyboard playing, improvisation, and composing. The teachers was needed to help the children to conceptualize and see the possibilities in these activities." (Authors, 56)