Every public school in America is talking about how to create 21st Century classrooms bubbling with technology that will put them on the top and make their graduates prepared for the real world of digital screens. This poses an interesting question for the arts, which are skills honed best through experience and diligent practice. Just as playing NFL '12 can teach someone about football will not make someone a great (or even mediocre) wide receiver or middle linebacker, nor will learning how to read or create music on a computer make someone a great artist or musician. Particular kinestetic skills music be acquired to succeed and truly understand these mediums.
A story was on the news earlier this week about a computerless school in the area, and it highlighted how popular it is becoming with increasingly more families. The more our culture gravitates toward reliance on battery or electricity-powered devices, the more we are seeing that technology DOES have its limitations. Some of the backlash seems to be nostalgia-driven (ie. "Nothing is more satisfying than closing the final pages of a big book"), as well as intrapersonal learning (learning through problem-solving with others). With music, experiencing balance between instruments, understanding the mechanics of playing louder and softer dynamics, feeling vibrations from the bass voices, and learning to respond to the conductor's movements are not things that will ever be able to be learned through technology. We need to evaluate the most effective ways of learning and not simply push technology for technology's sake.
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