Lockdown Learnings

Lorenzo Micheli - The COVID-19 pandemic has become a catastrophe in the global education arena, leading to an immediate and radical revolution. Nella sua enorme drammaticità, però, la chiusura forzata di scuole e università ha incentivato un processo che era in atto da tempo, dandogli una spinta senza precedenti. Due to limited experimentation, l'e-Learning si è imposto come frontiera ultima e unica dell'insegnamento anche in ambito musicale, persino per quelle aree della didattica (ad esempio la performance) in cui era tradizionalmente considerato inattuabile.

Teaching during the pandemic has been a notable challenge of flexibility for the entire Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, both for the students and the teachers and administrative staff. The biggest challenge has been to keep at the center of the research the formative, or rather private, objectives of their formal and ritualistic "contenders". This has led to a quasi total revision of the courses in terms of content. Le variegate declinazioni della didattica musicale (lezioni collettive/lezioni individuali, materie pratiche/materie teoriche) hanno reso impossibile l'adozione di unico formato, e favorito piuttosto una ricerca creativa in cui docenti e studenti hanno giocato un ruolo paritario nella scelta delle modalità di apprendimento e della piattaforma da utilizzare. For lezioni individuali e di gruppo sono stati sperimentati servizi di video conferenza remota come Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex Meetings, software per chiamate VoIP, come Skype o What's App, e sistemi più "tradizionali" come l'uso di registrazioni audio e video. I corsi teorici, forti di un'esperienza già consolidata negli anni passati, hanno sfruttato per la condivisione dei materiali didattici le potenzialità di iCorsi, la piattaforma e-Learning adottata dall'USI e dalla SUPSI.

Nell'esperienza di questi mesi non mancano le ombre, che abbiamo cercato di intercettare e raccogliere dalla viva voce degli studenti (anche attraverso un questionario ad hoc). In molti casi il passaggio all'e-Learning ha portato a un aggravio considerevole del lavoro individuale. The perception of each individual student is then determined (and sometimes falsified) by his or her personal, logistical and economic situation, and the same course of study is likely to have a different effectiveness when it is based on psychological (such as those caused by isolation) or technological (such as the digital divide preclude di fatto la frequenza dei corsi a diversi studenti). Le attività di insieme sono sospese fino a nuovo ordine, e passata l'emergenza dovremo fare uno sforzo per ricordarci che la pratica (e la fruizione) della musica sono essenzialmente momenti collettivi e sociali. Last but not least, la verifica dell'apprendimento rimane un capitolo ancora da scrivere, e dal finale tutt'altro che scontato.

Un vero e proprio bilancio sarà possibile solo a posteriori. Tuttavia, a fronte di questi problemi, appare chiaro che le pratiche di e-Learning stimolano forme personali di elaborazione dei contenuti, sollecitano l'autonomia individuale e consentono una maggiore integrazione tra strumenti bibliografici e strumenti tecnologici, oltre a presentare qualità interessanti di sostenibilità ambientale e accessibilità. L'emergenza ha richiesto un'ottimizzazione delle risorse interne del Conservatorio e una gestione fluida e pragmatica dei processi decisionali (compresi quelli mirati a fornire un sostegno economico agli studenti in difficoltà) che potranno rivelarsi preziosi in futuro. Alcune delle forme di e-Learning introdotte in questi mesi potrebbero essere mantenute, laddove esse possono garantire continuità e facilitazione nell'apprendimento, o dove permettono l'interazione con un network educativo più ampio di quello abituale. Le piattaforme come iCorsi, infine, hanno le carte in regola per diventare veri e propri "hub" di conoscenze condivise.

Lorenzo Micheli

... è docente di chitarra al Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, co-responsabile della formazione e co-responsabile dell'area performance alla Scuola Universitaria di Musica.

Michael Eidenbenz - As we all know, we should learn from the crisis. And so, of course, the ZHdK has also set up working groups to evaluate the digital lockdown experiences in a methodically correct manner and will one day translate them into productive recommendations. For the time being, this is just a subjective and fragmentary impression from an observer working from home.

So we have learned. For example: entrance exams are possible online, despite all previous skepticism. The rate of wrong decisions is hardly any higher than when meeting in person, and a lot of pointless air travel can be saved. - We have learned how online teaching requires greater didactic reflection. It requires greater precision, is becoming more democratic and students' expectations are growing. A lot of old classroom dust has been wiped away. - We realized how close and natural the digital world had been before. The digital safe space was occupied incredibly quickly when the real world began to become dangerous. Hundreds of Zoom licenses had been procured in advance, the e-learning teams put tutorials online and offered platforms for sharing experiences. Lecturers and students installed their streaming accounts and, as in the rest of the world, the universe of Zoom, Skype and Facetime jerks took hold after a few days. There was little opposition, but astonishment: how easy this technology suddenly became, how easily even supposed digital dummies got to grips with the apps, how latency and sound compression problems could be solved - and: how many people you suddenly met who were rarely seen before. Everyone was at home and reachable anyway, and the digital space knows no distances. - We generally learned that supposedly sedate institutions such as art academies can be surprisingly alert. In any case, the emergency teams were set up at the ZHdK within days, communication and decision-making channels were defined, central processes were clarified and organized, such as the implementation of online examinations including the adaptation of binding regulations. And generous funds from the university's own foundation were made available for the students' foreseeable financial crises. There was a real euphoria about solving problems.

We have observed the refinements, the increasingly skillful use of workplaces, the successful attempts to stream class lessons, podiums and entire concerts. We have learned how interdisciplinary online music-making is and how important staging is becoming. And we have had to take note of the fact that the number of Insta clicks was many times higher than the number of analog concert attendances thanks to original contributions, e.g. on #zhdkathome.

But we also learned what doesn't work: orchestra, choir, chamber music, rehearsals, spontaneous jamming, dance and movement - real interaction is not possible. And questions arose: If one main aspect of making music doesn't work, doesn't the whole thing remain a big "as if"? And: didn't we once demand excellence, listen meticulously to shades of sound, strive for perfect acoustics, feel the performative vibes and minimal interpretative finesse? Now we are satisfied when the Bluetooth micro doesn't lose the connection and enjoy polyphonic a cappella apps. Didn't we know the quality of following a work in its entirety and with concentration instead of just listening to live streams? Will it stay that way? Was the digitalization push of the lockdown just a shot across the bow, or has the concertante 19th century just been buried for good? Will musical life in the digital world ever achieve the same level of excellence that pop culture has been demonstrating for some time now? And the eternal question of educational institutions: Who will we train for what in the future?

It remains unanswered. But be warned against the illusion of digital convenience: art is a risk. It lives in a dangerous world. It withers away in a germ-free safe space.

Michael Eidenbenz

... is Director of the Department of Music at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

MvO - Béatrice Zawodnik is coordinatrice de l'enseignement à la Haute École de Musique de Genève. She answers our questions.

Béatrice Zawodnik, when did you realize that the coronavirus crisis would be a major challenge?

From the moment we realized that face-to-face classes were no longer possible due to the confinement and that all public courses - which are an essential part of the practical training of music students - were cancelled.

Are you, in terms of e-learning, prepared for such a situation?

Even though we have been equipped for the past two years with specialized software for music practice at a distance, we were not prepared for such a situation. But the teachers of all the disciplines reacted extremely quickly to find and propose alternative distance learning solutions, creativity was at work, regardless of the generation concerned (young teachers, but also teachers a few months into retirement...).

What has been your high school's experience with e-learning over the past few months?

Various forms of teaching have been proposed: collective ex-cathedra courses, semi-collective courses, individual instrumental and vocal courses on Teams or Zoom, individualized follow-up, envoi de prestations/travaux d'étudiants par mail ou vidéo et retour des enseignants, conférences/séminaires spécifiques préregistrés, puis séances bilan à distance, enregistrements " minus one " préparés par les accompagnateurs, etc.. Sharing of good practices between HEM professors, virtual meetings to share problems and propose common solutions.

The other major challenge during this period in which everyone was isolated from each other - be it administrative and technical staff, teaching and research staff or students - was for the management to maintain a link with each HEM stakeholder: Internal communication has been strengthened, regular contacts with the students' association have been established and the heads of department, supported by their assistants, have taken care to contact all professors and students depending on their background in order to ensure the health of each student's academic progress, and thus to be able to address fragile situations and provide specific, financial or other support. The evaluation and validation methods have been adapted to the context of distance learning, without lowering the requirements for the acquisition of skills in order to guarantee students the value of the certificates they are awarded.

What are, according to you, the main inconveniences and advantages?

The main inconvenience is, of course, the degradation of all teaching related to music practice, as well as the impossibility of realizing all ensemble music projects. Furthermore, according to the unanimous opinion of all the professors of the main discipline, nothing can replace the instrument/voice courses in presence: many parameters cannot be verified on the computer, quality of sound, finesse of nuances, projection of sound or voice, posture and breathing, etc.. On the other hand, many students find themselves in a difficult situation to practice their instrument/voice intensively at home: problems of sight-reading or of the instrument.

A certain advantage - which could lead to an interesting institutional reflection within the COVID context - would be the possibility of registering certain ex-cathedra theoretical courses, special seminars or conferences, afin de permettre aux étudiants d'avoir accès à ces contenus en de de l'horaire régulier du cours, entrant régulièrement en collision avec des activités ponctuelles qui jalonnent l'année académique. But this forced experience of living music at a distance can never replace the pleasure of playing together and for a public.

How did the students react to the changes and how did they participate? Y a-t-il eu des contributions directes des étudiants ?

A great deal of creativity on the part of the HEM professors, but also on the part of the students. The students responded well to the changes, with some legitimate concerns about the new evaluation and validation methods. Communication played a crucial role in enabling them to understand the decisions made and to take their difficulties into account. The students created high-quality, original and humorous collective videos involving a large number of them, thus fostering the feeling of being part of a united community, despite the distance imposed by confinement