Student and instructor behaviors in online music lessons: An exploratory study

The purpose of this study was to document behaviors of applied music teachers and students, as they occurred in online lessons with instructional delivery facilitated through desktop videoconferencing. The author examined the use of desktop videoconferencing in the delivery of applied music instruction to six middle school-aged band students instructed by three upper-division music education majors enrolled at a major American research university. The 25 separate lessons were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emerging behavioral patterns of both students and teachers. Data were analyzed adapting a tool developed by Siebenaler (1997) for study of student and instructor behaviors in traditional music lessons. Notable results indicated instructors in this study chose to use questioning more and modeling less, while students demonstrated less and used verbal responses more than in prior studies when compared to traditional face-to-face lessons. Positive elements included a high degree of focus and minimal time off-task by both instructors and students. Concurring with prior research, instructors guided the course of lesson activity and their teaching was dominated by verbal activity. Concerns and opportunities for continued use of providing music lessons online are discussed.