Importance of Online Music Education Research
Established music researchers have called for pedagogical changes (Allsup & Benedict, 2008; Jones, 2005; Mark & Gary, 2007), and the development of online music pedagogy (Bowman, 2014). Consequently, my doctoral research focused on innovative music teaching and learning, which identified effective components of teaching online undergraduate music courses. The exponential increase of online music course offerings at the undergraduate level (Johnson & Hawley, 2017), confirmed the needed paradigmatic shift for music instructors, students, and policy makers in the development of online music teaching methods, and affirmed the need for a teaching framework for online music courses from three institutional case studies (Johnson, 2016). As an recognition of outstanding research engagement, I was the recipient of UCalgary’s inaugural Werklund Doctoral Fellowship (2014), various travel grants, scholarships and am co-investigator of various research grants and studies (national and international).
Extensions of research
The culmination of my online music teaching framework (i.e., communication, design and assessment) has implications for strategic faculty educational development. The framework has strong ties to academic disciplines and subsequently furthered ancillary fields of research. These fields include the study of Universal Design for Learning in undergraduate courses (Lock et al., 2016) and further evidence faculty approaches in online music courses (Johnson, 2017). The support of a shared stakeholder model with an iterative development of teaching presence in online courses (Johnson & Altowairiki, 2017) further upholds a model for triangulating assessment of online learning (Lock & Johnson, 2015). Various activities in research projects suggest the benefits of learning through videos, audio and graphics (Johnson, et al., submitted; Johnson & Lamothe, submitted; Ostrowski et al., 2017). Further, a current UCalgary grant seeks to explore the design of undergraduate makerspaces. STEM research and its application for undergraduate music and physics (Johnson & Hawley, 2017) along with the study of undergraduate summer intensive research programs (Johnson & Taylor, 2017; Taylor & Johnson, 2016) demonstrate the breadth of my scholarship toward the research of innovative teaching and learning strategies.
Teaching and Learning Research as Priorities
My research contributes to student and teacher engagement priorities as it addresses the importance of student engagement through promoting and identifying online course design and technologies to support student learning. The teaching framework developed in my PhD research presents pedagogical guidelines and strategies to develop and re-design online courses (Johnson, 2016). Additional student engagement aspects from my PhD study and ancillary study address student motivation through active, participatory learning specific to online assessment motivation (Lock & Johnson, 2015; Johnson, 2016) and online collaborative activities (Lock & Johnson, in 2017).
Teacher engagement through strategic development and facilitation of successful learning environments are also contributions made from my research. These studies involve: challenges and opportunities faced by online faculty through pedagogical mindsets (Johnson, 2015); educational development (Johnson, 2014; 2016); interdisciplinary approaches including trans-disciplinary learning (Johnson, 2014) and STEAM (Johnson & Hawley, 2017); the development of an online teaching presence model (Johnson & Altowairiki, 2015); and time required for students to acquire skills in problem-solving and research skills (Taylor & Johnson, 2016).
Career and Technology Experience
My CV further highlights 8 years of career experience of teaching and scholarship in higher education in both music and educational technology. The use of effective collaboration, organization, problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills have supported my management and leadership roles in my current position as Teaching and Learning Facilitator for the Werklund School of Education (WSE) at the University of Calgary. Additional career experiences have involved: facilitating and producing workshops for The Sloan Consortium (2008-2015), supporting faculty during LMS technology adoption shifts, re-design of online course areas for the WSE Field Experience program through a Teaching and Learning Grant (2014-2016), and administration and policy research studies completed as the Research Assistant for the Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning). Through these experiences I have attained practical use of many technology tools, including Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, video conferencing software, assessment software and various multimedia tools.
References
Altowairiki, N., & Johnson, C. (2015, November). Developing teaching presence in online learning through shared stakeholder responsibility. Poster presentation at Werklund Student Poster Fair, Calgary, AB.
Bowman, J. (2014). Online learning in music: Foundations, frameworks, and practices. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Johnson, C. (2014, October). Borrowing from online music education: Practical, trans-disciplinary connections for designing online courses. Presentation. 20th Annual OLC/ Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning, October 28-31, 2014, Orlando, FL.
Johnson, C. (2014, October). Strategies for online Professional Development: Learning networks in connection, collaboration, and community. Poster presentation. 20th Annual OLC/ Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning, October 28-31, 2014, Orlando, FL.
Johnson, C. (2014, October). Strategies for online Professional Development: Learning networks in connection, collaboration, and community. Poster presentation. 20th Annual OLC/ Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning, October 28-31, 2014, Orlando, FL.
Johnson, C. (2016, April). Influencing instructor mindsets in teaching undergraduate online music courses. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, April 8-12, 2016, Washington, DC.
Johnson, C. (2017). Teaching music online: Shifting your pedagogical approach when transitioning to the online environment. London Review of Education. Special Edition: Music Education.
Johnson, C. & Altowairiki, N. (2017). Developing teaching presence in online learning through shared stakeholder responsibility. In P. Vu, S. Fredrickson & C. Moore (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Innovative Pedagogies and Technologies for Online Learning in Higher Education. IGI Global.
Johnson, C. & Hawley, S. (2017). Online music learning: informal, formal and STEAM contexts. International Journal for Innovations in Online Education.
Johnson. C. & Lamothe, V. (Submitted). Shared experiences in effective faculty support for learning to teach music in the online environment. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Johnson, C., Lock, J., & Altowairiki, N. (Submitted). Redesigning online course shell for practicum using Universal Design for Learning: A Design Case. Manuscript chapter submitted for publication.
Johnson, C. & Taylor, L. (2017). Using SoTL to enhance institutional programs: The case of an undergraduate research program. ISSOTL Conference.
Lock, J. & Johnson, C. (2017). From assumptions to practice: Creating and supporting robust online collaborative learning. International Journal on E-Learning.
Lock, J., & Johnson, C. (2015). Triangulating assessment of online collaborative Learning. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 16(4), 61 – 70.
Lock, J., da Rosa dos Santos, L., Johnson, C., Altowairiki, N., Lui, F., Ostrowski, C. (2016, May). A creative approach to Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Partnerships for change. 2016 Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching, May 10, 2016, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
Lock, J., Hill, L., da Rosa dos Santos, L., Johnson, C., Altowairiki, N., Ostrowski, C. (2017). Universal Design for Learning in online environments: A journey from learners to practitioners. In P. Vu, S. Fredrickson & C. Moore (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Innovative Pedagogies and Technologies for Online Learning in Higher Education. IGI Global.
Taylor, L. & Johnson, C. (2016). What do undergraduate students learn during an immersive summer research experience? Proposal submitted to the 7th Annual Symposium on SoTL: Learning In and Across Discipline Conference, November 10-12, 2016, Banff, Alberta, Canada
