Theoretical Foundations

Abstract

A theory of technology-based music instruction begins with a theory of music education. The critical role of theory in this new method of teaching is to help technology-based music instructors develop dispositions that make this type of teaching less forced, more natural than it might otherwise be. This chapter addresses educational theories that form the roots of technology-based music instruction (TBMI). Included are discussions of constructivism, Deweyan active learning, Piagetian stage theory, Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, and Mayer’s Multimedia Learning. This chapter includes an introduction to Kohler and Mishra’s theory of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), which is an important foundation of TBMI.