Collarts has pushed the boundaries, transforming a once thought face-to-face only course into a pivotal online learning experience. Meet their virtual Music Performance course.
When Collarts was pushed into placing their courses online due to lockdowns across Australia, they had to quickly gain speed, adapting each of their typically hands-on courses into a compatible, and innovative virtual learning experience.
Even though COVID-19 doesn’t have quite the grip on Australia as it once did, Collarts have dedicated themselves to becoming a leading player in the world of online music education, using their teachers as the key tool in turning Music Performance into a course that caters to both in-person and online students.
Head of Music Performance Jesse Hooper noted that there was a bit of a conundrum in the first approach of transforming this in-person degree into an attainable online course, which begged the question, “how do we deliver all these classes online and remotely and make sure we hit all the learning outcomes we’re committed to?”
Well, Collarts hit the ball out of the park. By integrating online collaborations and ensembles, students have the opportunity to work with many more students in a whole slew of ways.
Just like in-person study, you get a one-on-one lesson with their expert teachers per week, too, all designed to fit your schedule.
“We all learned that the way we’ve always done this is not the only way. In fact, we think what we’ve come up with is an incredibly exciting program that gives our students a real head-start in the new, post-COVID age,” Hooper continues.
With one-on-one time with Collarts teachers, and ensemble collaborations with its fellow aspiring musicians, students are able to produce “not only great recordings, but also really cool, collaborative digital media pieces.”
Diving deeper into how Collarts has transformed the Music Performance degree into a comprehensive online course, Music Performance Coordinator Brett Langsford notes that they’ve strived to create a lot of online material: “Not only do you have a weekly one-on-one lesson, but there’s pages of video resources and learning materials that you can access at your own time.”
Implementing technology by Audiomovers, students are able to replicate the same quality that they’d get in face-to-face learning, while being able to stay home and submit their recordings to teachers. While using this innovative program, students are improving not only their performance skills, but they’re able to advance their technological skills at the same time, which is ever-important in the music industry.
This means that students not only learn how to do such technological actions, but can actually apply these each day in their course of study, helping them to be more ready for the advancing technological world.
Music Performance Coordinator Larissa Agosti states that “part of the online program has sparked a new way of thinking,” and that students are honing in on their creativity.
With students “trying to be resourceful at home,” teachers have seen students flourish by thinking “outside the box”, and being led to “go outside their comfort zone.” One student even took to drumming in a tree!
By being able to be in a different environment, and not simply sitting in a classroom, students are able to let their minds run wild, pulling from influences in and around them, and bring new ideas to the table –which is extremely important when wanting to one day take to the stage.
Music Performance Academic Program Coordinator Phil Bywater continues this pride in the creativity of students by saying the online course kept “all the best bits of being in the classroom, the sense of community, and the sense of interactivity with the flexibility of online.”
With the need for online learning being ever-present in this past year, students are finding the lack of commute, flexibility, and the incredible existence of technology to be on their side, and Collarts is ready to support that, serving their Music Performance majors with a heap of support.
So, no matter where you’re at, what you’re keen to do in the music world, or how you plan to achieve it, Collarts is here to help you turn your dreams into realities all from the comfort of your own home with their online Music Performance course – and what’s more is that they’re excited to work with you.
