Day 16 - MTECP: Details (con't)

After re-reading my last post, I felt that there was some information missing that may be useful for those of you considering joining the MTECP crew.

A. Advantages and Risks

Advantages

I will say it first (and get it out of the way) - everyone participating in this project is a volunteer. This means NO financial compensation. That said, everyone who participates will be given credit in a list of contributors and collaborators.

In the process of creating the final project, you may be exposed to new ideas, you may develop an interest and insight into in a particular specialty within music therapy and finally, you may indeed be contributing to the future of music therapy education! (I am hoping that this project will serve as a model for future learning about, and teaching of, music therapy. I am also hoping that it will serve as a model for the development of/transfer of additional course materials into a digital/online format).

Risks

1. Inequity of participants/participation.

This is a collaborative effort. Not everyone will be able or willing to put in the same amount of time and commitment that you may put in. This might mean that individuals are recognized for very little contribution.

2. Personal/Professional attacks and/or insult.

I am hoping that by first ensuring that persons involved in MTECP are members of a professional music therapy association we will avoid the pitfalls of non-ethical treatment of fellow participants. If ethical concerns arise during the course of the project, you can be assured that you will "have an avenue for recourse". I will personally retain confirmation of membership (in good standing) for each member, in a encrypted and password protected file folder on my computer, which is itself password protected.

B. Openness

As mentionned previously, the final MTECP content will be made available via a Creative Commons license. I truly believe that this is the future of education, where knowledge is shared and is open to public scrutiny/criticism. The flip side - more people will know about, and may participate in, music therapy!

The use of Moodle is another attempt to open up this information to a wider public audience. We are not restricting access to those who may be financially disadvantaged, or geographically isolated. "Open source" software is capable of running on a variety of operating systems (not just Windows or Macintosh) and is, in most cases, available free of charge. It can operate on systems based on dial-up speeds through high-speed/T1 connections (although it does operate more efficiently on the later). Finally, it is not dependant on you being located in a major city, educational institution, or specific country. You will be able to access this information anywhere, at any time, in any place, as long as you have a reliable internet connection.

C. Reliability/Consistency of information?

Does the fact that information is coming from digital and online sources pose a challenge and potential for misinformation to occur? As we all know, the internet is a source of much information based on correct facts and theory, and a source of much incorrect or false information. By having groups of individuals involved in/being educated in music therapy review materials before they are shared globally (a back channel review process), we will hopefully prevent the spread of misinformation and promote the sharing of "good, quality" material.

As well, I hope that information will be updated regularly (at least annually). As a consequence, viewers will receive the latest, and most up-to-date information. This is not possible through the use of text-based materials, especially in the field of music therapy, where new editions may be many years in the making (i.e. There was a lag-time of nine years between the 2nd and 3rd editions of the textbook that we will be using as a basis for this project!).

D. Research

As stated earlier, I hope that this project will generate new way of thinking and dicussion around music therapy and music therapy practice. I also hope that it will generate some research, qualitative and quantitative. I don't want this to be a static resource but rather a dynamic and evolving resource.

Once again, I ask you to consider joining me in this exciting project!

To do so, please contact me using the information provided below.

Contact:
John Lawrence MMT, MTA
Edmonton, AB CANADA
E-mail: jlmt@telus.net (Put "MTECP" in the subject line)
Twitter: @JLisaMT
Ph: (780) 477-3948

Day 15 - MTECP: The details

First, thank-you to everyone who has been following this blog and waiting patiently for details about the MTECP or Music Therapy Educational Collaborative Project. Secondly, I hope that you will begin to spread the word. As this is a collaborative project, we need lots of participants and ideas!

How did the project come about?

I teach an "Introduction to Music Therapy" course at a local college-university (an institution that began as a college and now offers both three-year certificates and four year degrees). The course is a full semester in length (approximately 13 weeks), 3 hours a week and it is offered through the continuing education/special sessions department, in conjunction with the department of music. At this point, there is no "music therapy degree track" so the course is most often used as an elective by the music and/or education students. The last two offerings of this course have used a traditional classroom format, enhanced by the use of a course management system (CMS) called Moodle. Although the use of Moodle is encouraged by the administration, support for faculty and actual use is minimal. Hence, my incorporation of Moodle has been somewhat unique and a source of constant revision and development.

During the last offering of the introductory course I received a variety of positive and negative comments from the students regarding the incorporation and usefulness of Moodle in their learning process. My own perception was that, while useful, there was much more that I could do as an educator/collaborator. This perception was further confirmed when I attended the 2009 MoodleMoot conference in Edmonton, AB, hosted by Athabasca University. It was very enlightening to see how others were using Moodle in new and unique ways, some of which I had not before considered. Following this conference, I began to consider and conceptualize MTECP.

Basic concepts behind the MTECP

Initially, the MTECP will be structured as an independent, non-credit introduction to music therapy available to anyone who is interested, anywhere in the world. It is NOT designed to certify individuals as music therapists and there is no supervision or recognition of completion of the project for any individual participant. In the future, it is possible that the course might be run as a supervised, institutionally approved and recognized course that could lead to admission into/progress towards a degree in music therapy. This, however, is not the initial aim of the project.

In order to provide a common starting point for participants, the textbook entitled, Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.) by William Davis, Kate Gfeller and Michael Thaut will be used. This textbook is available from the American Music Therapy Association. As well, participants in this project will use English as a means of correspondence and online discussion/presentations.

Participants/Collaborators for this project will be drawn from interested music therapy professionals, educators, students and hopefully, the authors of the textbook themselves. (I am personally hoping that participants will come from a variety of countries, in order to provide the maximum diversity and range of experiences.) Everyone will be a volunteer, with no monetary compensation offered. Indeed, the public face of the project will be visible to the general public through a non-commercial, non-derivative Creative Commons license. Everyone will be expected to follow the ethical and professional codes of conduct of their respective music therapy association. Membership, in good standing, of an association for music therapy will be confirmed via e-mail prior to full acceptance into the project. Participants are free to leave the project at any point without penalty or consequence.

At this point, the aim of the MTECP will be to examine and explore the role that online learning can play in the enhancement of individual/student learning. Through the use of small working groups of participants, identification of digital resources, development of new activities and resources, and distribution of a final product is expected within a period of no longer than one year. Timetables for completion of expectations will vary depending on the complexity and variety of materials identified/created as well as the number of registered participants.

Finally, there will be a public face and a private face to the project. As stated earlier, the completed project will be available for any member of the public to see. However, there will also be a restricted discussion/collaborative environment where registered individuals can contribute and discuss ideas/concepts. The discussion of ideas and creativity of registered participants is essential to the progress and growth of this project. I cannot emphasize this enough!

Please join me in this exciting and dynamic project!

John Lawrence MMT, MTA
Edmonton, AB CANADA
E-mail: jlmt@telus.net
Twitter: @JLisaMT
Phone: (780) 477-3948