This article examines sound-based pedagogy in Greek primary music education from a post-digital perspective and presents a school-based pedagogical framework developed and applied over three consecutive school years in Athens. Each annual cycle lasted fifteen weeks and involved Grade 5 and Grade 6 students. The framework combined listening-centred, ecological, maker-oriented and technologically mediated practices in primary music learning. Grounded in acoustic ecology, ubiquitous music ecologies, science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) and maker education, it encompassed field recording, tactile and compositional work, immersive media and artificial intelligence (AI)-mediated sound-making. The study employed design-based research and used focus-group interviews, field notes, informal discussions, formative assessments and student portfolios as data sources. Thematic analysis identified four interrelated themes centred on mediated ecological listening, sound as transformable musical material, do-it-yourself (DIY) making and creative agency, and ecological reflection in digital, immersive and AI-mediated practices. Findings from the annual iterations revealed recurring patterns of active listening, creative decision-making and ecological awareness alongside a consistent role for technological mediation. The study offers an adaptable framework for post-digital sound-based pedagogy in primary music education.

The contribution examines the design and implementation of primary-school music-learning scenarios framed by Music Education 4.0. Using a qualitative Design-Based Research approach, it explores the integration of immersive technologies, including VR, AR and MR, together with artificial intelligence and ST(R)E(A)M-oriented activities. The findings indicate strong learner interest and participation and the development of varied musical and technological competencies.

Η μελέτη διερευνά τις αντιλήψεις, στάσεις και εμπειρίες δεκαπέντε εν ενεργεία εκπαιδευτικών μουσικής σε μουσικά σχολεία της Στερεάς Ελλάδας σχετικά με τον σχολικό εκφοβισμό και τη θυματοποίηση. Μέσα από ημιδομημένες συνεντεύξεις αναδεικνύονται ο ρόλος των εκπαιδευτικών μουσικής και της ομαδικής μουσικής δράσης στην πρόληψη, η σημασία θετικού και υποστηρικτικού σχολικού κλίματος και η ανάγκη στοχευμένων παρεμβάσεων προσαρμοσμένων στις ιδιαίτερες συνθήκες των μουσικών σχολείων.

Η μελέτη διερευνά τις εμπειρίες και στάσεις μαθητών/τριών Δ΄–Στ΄ Δημοτικού που συμμετείχαν επί 15 εβδομάδες σε πρακτικές songwriting στο πλαίσιο ομίλου μουσικής πειραματικού σχολείου της Αττικής. Με δεδομένα από παρατήρηση, ημιδομημένες συνεντεύξεις, άτυπες συζητήσεις και portfolios μουσικών τεχνουργημάτων, τα ευρήματα αναδεικνύουν ενίσχυση της αυτοπεποίθησης, της αυτονομίας, των μουσικών δεξιοτήτων, της δημιουργικότητας και της συνεργασίας, παρά τις προκλήσεις που σχετίζονται με την ετερογένεια εμπειρίας, την αρχική συστολή και τους περιορισμένους υλικοτεχνικούς πόρους.

The study examines the practical integration of informal music teaching-learning processes within a Western classical ensemble at a Greek music school. Conducted from October 2024 to January 2025 with 25 students of different musical levels and instruments, the intervention incorporated improvisation, collaboration, peer learning, non-conventional notation, and learning by ear. Findings indicate positive effects on students’ autonomy, creativity, familiarity with their instruments, motivation, self-confidence, active participation, and musical skill development.

The study investigates the design and implementation of interdisciplinary ST(R)EAM scenarios in primary music education from a Music Education 4.0 perspective. A 25-week intervention in an Athens private-school music club involved 23 students in Grades 3–5 and combined music production, coding, maker practices, immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence. Findings show strong interest and participation, gains in musical and technological skills, and the development of 21st-century competencies including critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and problem solving.

This contribution proposes an approach to sound pedagogy for children aged 7–11, situated within the contemporary digital and sociocultural context of acoustic ecology. Digital audiovisual tools such as SoundBlocks, Sampler, and Scratch, together with Makey-Makey, are used to support creative activities, soundscape composition, and audiovisual storytelling. The proposed framework aims to strengthen auditory perception, creativity, and computational thinking by connecting listening, sound exploration, digital making, and environmental awareness. Children are positioned as active agents who can investigate, reinterpret, and reshape both their physical and digital environments through sound. The approach therefore links music education with ecological listening, creative technology, and participatory learning.

Framed within the context of Music Education 4.0, this chapter explores how STREAM music scenarios can facilitate inclusive post-digital transformation in early childhood music education. The discussion integrates the STREAM perspective with constructionist learning, multimodal musical literacy, maker movement pedagogy, design thinking, and inclusive participation, emphasizing design principles that prioritize child agency, embodied making, role rotation, accessibility, narrative inquiry, scaffolding, documentation, sharing, and self-reflection. Emerging, immersive, and AI-mediated technologies are examined as pedagogical mediators capable of enhancing musical exploration, provided they remain developmentally appropriate, teacher-mediated, ethically sensitive, and grounded in clear musical objectives. In this context, early childhood music education evolves into a space where children can investigate sound, construct meaning, engage creatively with digital and physical materials, collaborate with others, and participate as co-authors of shared musical experiences.

The paper presents Pierce XRLab, a two-year standalone extended-reality curriculum for Grades 8–9. The curriculum treats XR both as a subject of study and as a medium for interpretation, critical media literacy, creative production, and responsible participation, using a spiral structure in which students revisit core concepts while progressing from immersive experience and interpretation toward critique, ethics, identity, and design-oriented production.

Extended Reality (XR) is increasingly discussed in educational research as a medium for experiential learning, multimodal meaning-making, and creative engagement. School-based applications, however, often remain focused on individual activities or technologies. This article presents Pierce XRLab, a two-year XR curriculum for Grades 8–9 developed as a standalone middle school course for implementation within short lesson periods and shared device conditions. Sixteen units, eight in each grade, are organized in a spiral sequence that revisits key concepts under progressively more demanding interpretive, critical, and design conditions. XR is understood as a learning environment and as a representational and cultural medium that can shape perception, credibility, identity, and participation. The model draws on constructivist and constructionist learning, embodied cognition, experiential and pragmatist traditions, and critical media literacy. Four recurring spiral axes, developed through iterative curriculum organization and revision, make the conceptual progression explicit and focus on embodied engagement, representation and illusion, culture and identity, and experience design, critique, and ethics. Assessment is organized around three recurring evidence types, Experience Logs, Critical Briefs, and Design Artifacts. Implementation emphasizes repeatable instructional routines, resource-conscious technology choices, flexible substitution of technologies, classroom rotation, and explicit safety practices. The article contributes a curriculum-level model connecting longitudinal conceptual progression, recurring evidence of learning, and classroom enactment within routine school time and resource constraints. Empirical findings from the ongoing design-based research study fall outside the scope of the present article.

Early childhood music education is increasingly shaped by post-digital conditions in which musical learning develops through the interaction of children, educators, bodies, materials, sounds, technologies, and social relationships. From a Music Education 4.0 perspective, digital transformation is approached as a pedagogical process that connects technological mediation with embodied exploration, creativity, participation, and musical meaning-making. Drawing on post-digital music education, constructionist and making-centered learning, multimodal musical literacy, STREAM-oriented approaches, and participatory pedagogies, the discussion examines how emerging, immersive, and AI-mediated technologies can support developmentally appropriate and meaningful musical experiences in the early years. Particular attention is given to music production, tactile interaction, creative coding, immersive media, and artificial intelligence as resources for listening, experimentation, representation, problem-solving, and collaborative creation. Their pedagogical value is considered in relation to accessibility, educator mediation, ethical awareness, and the opportunities they create for children’s agency and multimodal participation. The discussion also proposes design principles for flexible post-digital music learning environments and illustrates their application through early childhood music scenarios. Music Education 4.0 is positioned as a human-centered perspective for connecting technological change with creativity, participation, inclusion, and shared musical experience.

The article examines how rapid technological change is reshaping young children’s musical interaction and considers the pedagogical use of digital environments designed specifically for early music learning. It reports a practical intervention using Synth4kids with children aged 4–6, addressing the tension between children’s technology-rich everyday experiences and music teaching that often remains tied to conventional models. The findings indicate that a purpose-built digital music environment can support enthusiastic and active participation in authentic teaching-learning processes while contributing to the development of both musical and technological skills. The study also emphasizes the need to align software design, pedagogical aims and age-appropriate forms of exploration and creativity.

The study investigates the design and implementation of STREAM-oriented music-learning environments for pupils in Grades 3–5. Across a multi-year music-club intervention, the scenarios combine music production, ubiquitous and mobile music computing, creative coding, immersive technologies and artificial intelligence within a Design-Based Research framework. The findings highlight creative expression, learner autonomy and self-regulation, sensory engagement, collaborative problem-solving and computational thinking. The study frames these outcomes within a human-centered, post-digital approach in which physical and digital musical activity are integrated through participatory and creative pedagogies.

The article examines Design-Based Research as a cyclical and iterative process connecting design, implementation and reflection in authentic music-learning environments. It synthesizes theoretical foundations, methodological characteristics and practical challenges, and discusses DBR as a framework for inclusive, creative and context-sensitive educational innovation.

The study examines how emerging technologies can be incorporated into STREAM-oriented music education for pupils in Grades 3–5. It reports a music-club intervention developed over three academic years and organized through Design-Based Research. The learning scenarios integrate music production, ubiquitous and mobile music computing, creative coding, immersive technologies and artificial intelligence. Findings point to gains in creative expression, autonomy, self-regulation, sensory engagement, collaborative problem-solving and computational thinking, while also showing how learners move between physical and digital musical environments. The article argues for a human-centered post-digital framework in which technological tools serve musical participation, experimentation and meaning-making rather than functioning as ends in themselves.

The article investigates digital storytelling and animation as music-education strategies within multimodal and STEAM-oriented learning. It highlights their role in cultivating creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, soft skills and media literacy, while showing how audiovisual storytelling, digital tools and coding environments can support multimedia musical projects. The discussion also addresses pedagogical challenges associated with instructional design, assessment and teacher preparation, emphasizing the need for purposeful integration of technology with musical and creative learning objectives.

The study presents the design and implementation of the Digital Little Music Makers programme, a constructionist music-education intervention integrating music production, maker practices, coding, artificial intelligence, and immersive technologies such as VR and AR. Conducted over 30 weeks at Pierce – The American College of Greece, the qualitative Design-Based Research study used interviews, observations, informal discussions, and student-created artefacts. Findings show high levels of engagement, autonomy, creativity, collaboration, problem solving, and computational thinking, while positioning learning through making as a productive framework for technology-enhanced music education.

The article presents Design-Based Research (DBR) as a meta-methodological perspective for music education, emphasizing its theoretical foundations, collaborative character, implementation in authentic settings and iterative relationship among design, application and refinement. It differentiates DBR from action research, ethnography and case studies and reviews examples from international music-education research. The discussion shows how DBR can support the development and systematic revision of innovative teaching practices while generating theoretically informed knowledge about music teaching and learning.

This article examines the affordances, limitations, and pedagogical implications of artificial intelligence in primary music education within a multimodal, creative, collaborative, and STEAM-oriented framework. It presents applications involving language models, music theory and history, machine learning, digital musical instruments, and immersive sound environments. Particular attention is given to the ethical and educational challenges associated with AI, including authenticity, intellectual property, algorithmic transparency, and the development of pupils’ critical awareness. AI is approached as a pedagogical resource that can support creative exploration and interdisciplinary learning when its use remains purposeful, transparent, and human-centred. The article argues for a reflective integration of AI that strengthens musical learning while helping pupils understand both the possibilities and the limitations of emerging technologies.

This study examines the design and implementation of educational scenarios created with Synth4kids, an innovative music-educational software designed for preschool education. Synth4kids offers an intuitive environment that fosters musical creativity, inclusion, and differentiated instruction through emerging and assistive capabilities. As an original and innovative tool designed for preschool education, it bridges accessibility gaps while promoting joyful, multisensory music-making. The intervention consisted of twelve weekly sessions, each lasting approximately 45 min, for four male children aged four to six years, at Baby Maestro Cyprus. Sessions were structured to integrate the AT and ET features of Synth4kids. In line with Universal Design for Learning principles, educational activities were crafted to boost musical engagement in young children via personalized, play-based interactive experiences. The findings indicate that the early integration of assistive features, such as gaze control, motion tracking, tactile interfaces, and chromesthesia, significantly enhances accessibility, creativity, and social participation among learners with diverse profiles. Notably, incorporating Synth4kids into music teaching and learning activities demonstrates how AT tools promote agency, autonomy, and collaborative creativity, fostering new pedagogical approaches that enhance equity and engagement in music education. Overall, this study reveals that the thoughtful use of digital technologies can transform early childhood music education into an inclusive and dynamic learning environment.

This chapter seeks to define and clarify the framework of STEAM education in contemporary music pedagogy, examining the shift from STEM towards a more holistic and transdisciplinary perspective in which the arts function as an equal domain of knowledge and creative inquiry rather than as a supplementary component. It discusses different degrees of disciplinary integration, from multidisciplinary to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, and considers the contribution of the maker movement, constructionism, and design thinking to authentic learning experiences. Particular emphasis is placed on the music classroom as a laboratory for making and experimentation, where musical practice can interact with computational thinking, the physics of sound, engineering, technology, and mathematics. Through iterative cycles of design, prototyping, testing, feedback, and redesign, learners are encouraged to create personally meaningful musical artefacts and address authentic problems. Within this framework, STEAM-oriented music education can foster creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and multiple forms of musical, digital, and multimodal literacy.

Rapid technological developments are transforming the ways people engage with music, creating new forms of expression, creativity, and learning. This study examines the use of artificial intelligence tools within creative and compositional activities in primary school music education. Over a ten-week period, twenty-three pupils in Grades 3–5 at Pierce – The American College of Greece participated in STEAM-based learning scenarios combining emerging technologies, music production, and AI-supported practices. Data were collected through participant observation, informal discussions, focus-group interviews, and written formative assessment. Preliminary findings indicate that pupils responded enthusiastically to AI-enhanced activities, explored new modes of musical expression, and developed musical understanding, creativity, and computational thinking. At the same time, they demonstrated critical awareness of issues related to transparency, reliability, and ethics.

Emerging technologies are reshaping the ways people interact with music and expanding possibilities for musical creation, expression, learning, and education. This study reports a pilot intervention at the elementary school of Pierce – The American College of Greece, involving eighteen pupils in Grades 3–5. Over twenty weeks, music-education scenarios were designed and implemented around music production, ubiquitous music computing, the Internet of Musical Things, STEAM and maker practices, and collaborative DIY approaches. The study examined how these practices could support pupils’ musical creativity and what knowledge, skills, and experiences they developed through active participation. Data were collected through observation, semi-structured interviews, informal discussions, written formative assessment, and portfolios. Findings showed that pupils engaged enthusiastically with the activities and increasingly participated in music-making as active agents. The technology-enhanced learning environment strengthened their engagement, broadened their musical and technological experiences, and supported new forms of creative participation. The study suggests that such emerging digital-musical environments can open productive new pathways for contemporary music education.

The scenario transports children to the year 2125, where the musical spacecraft MUSIXSPACE has been forced to land on planet MUX808 and its alien captain, MusAlien, sends an SOS signal in Morse code. Using this narrative mission as a starting point, pupils work collaboratively with Makey-Makey and Synth4kids to explore conductive materials, construct musical artefacts, recognise and reproduce rhythmic and melodic patterns, and improvise. Learning unfolds through experiential, multisensory, and playful activities that emphasise musical creativity, imagination, collaboration, and authentic problem solving. The scenario draws on maker education, constructionism, and design thinking, encouraging children to act as active designers rather than passive users of technology: they generate ideas, build prototypes, test and refine their solutions, and reflect on the creative process. At the same time, music is connected with basic concepts from technology, engineering, coding, and electricity. The overall environment is collaborative and inclusive, allowing different forms of participation while linking musical exploration with hands-on making and imaginative storytelling.

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Little Music Makers & Producers project in primary education, with the aim of fostering musical creativity through contemporary technologies. The intervention brings together digital music production, creative coding, maker practices, and other technological media within a learner-centred environment. The study considers how these elements can contribute to a new technology-enhanced music-learning ecology in which pupils participate actively, collaborate with peers, experiment with sound, and develop their own musical ideas. Particular emphasis is placed on the potential of such environments to connect musical creativity with digital making and to broaden pupils’ opportunities for expression, participation, and collaborative problem solving.

This study compares the official music curricula of Greece, Sweden, and Japan through qualitative comparative analysis. It examines curricular philosophy and aims, methodological orientations, assessment, openness, centralised and decentralised implementation, and the development of twenty-first-century skills. The findings reveal shared spiral structures alongside substantial differences in interdisciplinarity, intercultural orientation, assessment practices, pedagogical autonomy, and the social role attributed to music. These differences are interpreted in relation to the distinctive cultural, social, and educational contexts of the three countries. The study highlights the value of international curriculum comparison as a means of reflecting on how different education systems conceptualise musical learning, teacher agency, and the purposes of school music.

The article reports an educational intervention using Synth4kids in early childhood music education, responding to the gap between children’s digitally mediated musical lives and teaching models that often remain conventional. It examines how a child-oriented digital environment can combine music pedagogy with technology to support active, playful and authentic participation. The findings indicate strong learner engagement and the development of both musical and technological skills, while underscoring the importance of software design that balances educational objectives with age-appropriate exploration and creativity.

This paper presents the design, development, and implementation of a web-based, location-aware digital music-learning object inspired by the life, artistic work, and performance practices of Maria Callas. The application was incorporated into a four-week teaching scenario on opera with Grade 4 pupils at Pierce – The American College of Greece. Its educational use was examined through participant observation, focus-group interviews, and informal discussions. The findings indicate active pupil engagement and high levels of interest, while also providing valuable feedback for the further development of the software and for refining the ways in which location-aware digital media can be integrated into music teaching and learning.

This article approaches school bullying as a systematic and persistent form of victimisation with verbal, physical, emotional, and social consequences. It examines the complexity of the behaviours and roles involved and discusses prevention and intervention through the perspectives of critical education and social justice. Particular attention is paid to the limitations of punitive and exclusionary responses, which may fail to address the wider social relationships and inequalities that sustain bullying. The article highlights the shared responsibility of schools, teachers, parents, and caregivers in creating supportive environments that cultivate self-awareness, respect, participation, and freedom. It advocates educational practices that address bullying not only as an individual behavioural problem but also as a relational and cultural issue requiring sustained, inclusive, and context-sensitive action.

The study presents the design, development, and implementation of an interdisciplinary STEAM proposal connecting music and maritime education through the perspective of ubiquitous acoustic ecologies. Implemented with fifth- and sixth-grade classes at Pierce – The American College of Greece, the intervention used hands-on, collaborative, inquiry-based, and project-based activities to construct authentic music-learning experiences. Findings show enthusiastic participation, new musical and technological skills and experiences, and strengthened creativity and ecological awareness.

This study presents the Maritime Music Project, a STEAM-oriented teaching proposal connecting music and maritime education through the perspective of ubiquitous acoustic ecologies. The intervention was implemented with Grade 5 and Grade 6 pupils at Pierce – The American College of Greece and incorporated hands-on activities, collaborative and inquiry-based learning, and project-based approaches designed to create authentic music-learning experiences. The findings indicate active and enthusiastic participation, the development of new musical and technological skills, increased creativity, and broader ecological and auditory awareness. The project illustrates how environmental sound, digital technologies, and interdisciplinary inquiry can be combined to connect musical learning with maritime themes and ecological thinking.

This paper examines the theoretical foundations of multisensory music teaching and learning and its potential role in school music education. Drawing on a review of the literature, it considers the combined activation of auditory, visual, bodily-kinaesthetic, and other sensory domains as a means of supporting the understanding of abstract musical concepts. The discussion connects multisensory learning with historical music-pedagogical approaches as well as contemporary perspectives on multimodality. It also outlines design principles and illustrative classroom applications, emphasising the importance of creating learning experiences in which pupils can approach musical ideas through multiple modes of perception, action, representation, and expression.

The article reports a pilot intervention in a Greek conservatoire theory-of-music course integrating maker culture within a STEAM framework. Four students aged six to seven used Synth4kids and Makey-Makey to design and construct musical artefacts. The study examines their experiences and perceptions of the learning process and the development of musical and technological knowledge and skills. Findings indicate active, enthusiastic participation and meaningful music-making experiences, alongside development and transformation of musical and technological skills.

The study explores the integration of ubiquitous music ecologies into STEAM-oriented music teaching and learning through pilot scenarios with children aged seven to nine in a Greek conservatoire setting. The activities combine project-based and cooperative learning, transdisciplinary work, game-based strategies, augmented reality and authentic problem solving. Analysis identifies four interconnected areas—auditory perception, creativity, computational thinking, and interaction between digital and physical musical worlds—suggesting that ubiquitous-music practices can broaden children’s musical and technological experiences.

The article presents the design and development of three original digital music-educational games created to support preparation for admission examinations to Greek Music Schools. Developed within the Greek Society for Music Education’s Music Schools working group, the games translate examination-related musical skills into interactive digital activities and are discussed in relation to their pedagogical use in conservatoire and primary-school settings. The paper situates the games within contemporary educational technology and considers their potential to support playful and accessible preparation for prospective Music School students.

The paper proposes a model of criteria for selecting educational software in music teaching-learning processes. Drawing on contemporary technology-integration frameworks, it organizes complementary dimensions concerning content, learning objectives, philosophical and theoretical principles, teaching strategies, assessment, and contextual learning conditions. It argues that digital tools do not automatically improve learning and acquire educational value only when embedded in an appropriate technological-pedagogical music environment.

The article examines assessment practices in conservatoire education, focusing on instrumental examinations. It analyses eleven years of piano examination records from a Greek conservatoire within a long-standing model emphasizing music reading, performance, teacher-centred instruction and numerical grading. The findings identify weaknesses and limitations in the assessment and learning process and point to the need for reform of assessment practices and the broader conservatoire education framework.

This paper explores ways of integrating video games into music teaching and learning. It proposes activities through which pupils can identify the functions of music and sound in game narratives, develop active listening, performance, and music-creation skills, and design their own games using visual programming environments. The discussion also addresses questions of age appropriateness, access, and possible negative effects, emphasising the need for pedagogical and ethical criteria when games are introduced into educational settings. Video games are approached as complex audiovisual and interactive environments that can support musical analysis, creativity, digital literacy, and learner engagement when incorporated into carefully designed music-learning activities.

Emerging technologies and digital media are continually transforming the ways people interact with music and expanding possibilities for musical expression, creation, learning, and education. Children today grow up in a digital environment that shapes their musical preferences and experiences, contributing to new kinds of musical literacies. As digital natives, they encounter musical stimuli that differ from those experienced by their parents and teachers and expect to engage with similar media in educational settings. In this context, digital technology can play a fundamental role in enhancing participation and creating inclusive music teaching and learning environments. Moreover, incorporating technology from an educational perspective creates opportunities to promote equity and eliminate barriers to musical learning. The aim of this chapter is to encourage a new approach to music education that integrates educational technology to promote inclusion in music teaching and learning.

The contribution reports a four-month maker-culture intervention in a Greek conservatoire music-theory class with four students aged six to seven. Using Synth4kids together with tangible interfaces such as Makey-Makey, the activities followed a STEAM, project-based, collaborative and authentic problem-solving orientation. Observation, interviews, informal discussions and formative assessment indicated that the students engaged enthusiastically as active music-makers and perceived the maker-oriented environment as meaningful for their musical understanding and experience.

The study presents preliminary findings from a maker-movement intervention with four children aged six to seven in the first year of a theory-of-music course at a Greek conservatoire. Using Synth4kids and the construction of musical artefacts within a STEAM framework, it examines the learning process, children’s perceptions of their experience, and the knowledge and skills they appeared to develop. Participants engaged actively and enthusiastically, reporting meaningful experiences, while the intervention supported musical and technological skill development as well as computational thinking.

This study presents an educational intervention centred on the integration of digital media into preschool and early-primary music education through the Synth4kids music-educational software. The intervention created a technology-enhanced learning environment in which young children participated actively and enthusiastically in authentic music teaching and learning situations. The findings suggest that the use of interactive digital tools can transform children’s musical experiences and support the development of new musical and technological skills. The study highlights the importance of embedding technology within purposeful, age-appropriate musical activities rather than treating digital tools as isolated additions to existing practice.

The article presents the design and development of Synth4kids, a web-based music-education application for children aged five to eight. It combines elements of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Orff Schulwerk and the Kodály Method with augmented reality, tangible interfaces and sensors, eye tracking, QR codes, and online collaborative music practices. The software is conceived as a STEAM-oriented pedagogical tool supporting project-, inquiry- and cooperative learning, transdisciplinary activities, game-based learning and authentic problem solving.

This paper examines the Méthode ou Recueil de connaissances élémentaires pour le forte-piano ou clavecin by J. C. Bach and F. P. Ricci as a source for understanding piano pedagogy in the late eighteenth century. It considers the historical and pedagogical significance of the manual, the principles it proposes for learning and keyboard technique, and its place among the relatively small number of keyboard methods published during the period. The study also addresses questions concerning the authenticity and authorship of particular sections of the method. Through critical analysis, the paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of early piano pedagogy and of the transmission of performance and teaching practices at the end of the eighteenth century.

This paper seeks to define the main dimensions for the design of professional-development programmes for practising teachers of the “Theory of Music” course in conservatoire education. Taking into account existing teaching and learning conditions, the long-standing stability of the institutional curriculum, and contemporary research in music education, it identifies professional-learning needs that can inform systematic programme design. The discussion situates teacher development within the broader need to renew conservatoire education, emphasising pedagogical knowledge, contemporary teaching approaches, reflective practice, and the meaningful integration of new musical and technological practices.

This paper presents three original digital music-educational games designed around the content of the entrance examinations for Greek Music Schools. Developed within the Music Schools working group of the Greek Society for Music Education, the applications aim to provide an accessible and playful tool for pupils preparing for admission. Beyond examination preparation, the games are discussed as resources with broader creative applications in conservatoire and primary-school music education. Their design illustrates how digital game-based environments can support the development of aural, musical, and interactive skills while increasing motivation and engagement.

The article reports a pilot distance music-technology project with conservatoire students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines students’ musical-technological experiences, the knowledge and skills they developed, and the cultivation of creativity through collaborative DIY music-production practices using digital audio workstations. The findings indicate positive effects and suggest that collaborative digital production can operate productively alongside conventional conservatoire teaching, opening possibilities for hybrid approaches to music learning.

The study reports a pilot distance-learning project with conservatoire students during the COVID-19 period, centred on collaborative DIY music production using a digital audio workstation. It examines students’ musical-technological experiences, acquired knowledge and skills, and the development of musical creativity. The findings indicate that combining traditional conservatoire teaching with online collaborative production can create meaningful learning experiences and suggest a productive hybrid relationship between conventional and digital modes of music education.

This article investigates the perceptions and attitudes of music teachers who participated in an online professional-development intervention focused on integrating contemporary technologies and the interdisciplinary STEAM model into music teaching and learning. Particular attention is given to participants’ views on coding practices in music education and to the extent to which these views changed following the workshop. The study considers how structured professional development can help teachers reconsider the pedagogical role of technology, move beyond tool-oriented uses of digital media, and connect technological practices with musical creativity, interdisciplinary learning, and authentic classroom activity. The findings contribute to the discussion on the knowledge, confidence, and pedagogical orientations required for meaningful technology integration in contemporary music education.

The paper proposes the integration of digital and virtual instruments into music teaching-learning for children aged four to six. Synth4kids is used as the central tool in a set of activities emphasizing improvisation, sonic experimentation, kinesthetic and experiential learning, and cooperative teaching. The proposal responds to children’s contemporary digital and multimodal musical environments and seeks to extend traditional early-childhood music-pedagogical approaches through technology-mediated forms of music-making.

The article presents a comparative study of the official school music curricula of Greece, Sweden, and Japan. Using benchmarks derived from the literature, it examines similarities and differences in curricular philosophy, aims, content, and structure and reflects on how international comparison can inform curriculum assessment and reform while remaining sensitive to each country’s educational context.

Rapid changes in contemporary digital culture are reshaping how learners encounter music and form their musical experiences and preferences. Instrumental teachers therefore need to consider students’ growing expectations for meaningful engagement with digital technologies. This chapter discusses a broad range of practices, from digital notation and performance recording to music production, creative coding, interactive applications, tangible interfaces, and microcontrollers. It argues that the process and degree of learner engagement are as significant as the final outcome and should be adapted to each student’s pace and needs. Research suggests that digital media in instrumental learning can broaden musical understanding, foster new literacies and twenty-first-century skills, and encourage active, exploratory learning. Practical examples illustrate ways of integrating these approaches into individual and group instrumental lessons.

Popular Music Pedagogy is a relatively recent field within instrumental music education, drawing on the environments, values, and practices through which popular musicians learn, create, and perform. Common principles include learning by ear, participatory performance and creation, the use of technology, improvisation, and informal or non-formal learning practices associated with the work of Lucy Green. These approaches place learners at the centre, enabling them to choose repertoire, explore different musical roles, and connect formal learning with everyday musical experience. The chapter discusses the challenge of enriching conventional instrumental teaching—often centred on notation, technical exercises, and Western art-music traditions—with practices that reflect contemporary musical cultures. It outlines pedagogical principles and methodologies that can support broader forms of musicianship, creativity, autonomy, and engagement.

The article reviews the development of MOOCs within open and distance education and examines their relationship with digital libraries. It outlines common design and pedagogical features, notes that libraries have not yet been fully integrated into MOOC development, and discusses concerns about pedagogical orientation, interaction, assessment, and the future role of libraries in supporting these large-scale online learning environments.

The article argues for multimodal and multisensory approaches in conservatoire theory-of-music courses, moving beyond a primary reliance on standard notation and symbolic literacy. It reports preliminary findings from a pilot intervention in Greek conservatoire classrooms using aural, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic activities designed to strengthen understanding of abstract musical concepts and broaden forms of musical literacy.

This article examines creative coding as a form of programming oriented towards the production of expressive musical outcomes. It discusses its pedagogical potential for fostering creativity, collaboration, experimentation, and a deeper understanding of both musical and technological concepts. Particular emphasis is placed on the integration of Sonic Pi into music teaching and learning activities, where coding can function simultaneously as a compositional medium, an exploratory environment, and a means of connecting musical thinking with computational processes. Creative coding is presented as an approach that can broaden conventional models of music learning by enabling learners to generate, test, revise, and share musical ideas through code while developing new forms of digital and musical literacy.

The paper proposes an approach to popular-music-video analysis for developing multimodal literacy in education. Drawing on semiotic tools including codes, conventions, multimodality, and intertextuality, it uses Robbie Williams’s Party like a Russian as an analytical example. The approach is intended to help students interpret and create audiovisual texts, deconstruct popular-culture artefacts, and engage critically with wider sociopolitical meanings. By treating the music video as a complex interaction of sound, image, performance, narrative, and cultural reference, the proposed model broadens the scope of music education and supports critical engagement with the multimodal texts that form part of students’ everyday media environments.

The study comparatively examines the aims and general goals of school music education in four official curricula from Greece, Sweden, Japan, and Singapore, focusing on social values. Rather than treating curricula as isolated documents, it interprets them within their social, cultural, and educational contexts in order to explore what music education means in different societies and how societal priorities shape curricular aims.

This study investigates the ways in which the concept of culture emerges within the Greek Music Curriculum for the “New School”. Treating the school as a space in which values and cultural meanings are produced and negotiated, it examines how the curriculum connects music education with broader social and cultural dimensions. The analysis seeks to clarify what “culture” signifies within the context of school music education in Greece and how this concept relates to the educational and social values embedded in the curriculum. The study therefore approaches curriculum not only as a framework for musical knowledge and skills but also as a cultural text that reflects assumptions about identity, participation, society, and the purposes of music education.

This paper examines the borrowing of elements from Western art music within popular music culture, focusing particularly on the emergence of musical hybrids. Within a postmodern context in which distinctions between “high” and “low”, autonomous and commercial culture have become increasingly unstable, the discussion addresses questions of authenticity, creative appropriation, and musical autonomy. It considers whether borrowing can function as a genuinely creative process or become exploitative, whether the identity of borrowed materials is preserved or transformed, and whether hybrid musical works can develop an autonomous artistic identity. The study situates these questions within broader debates about genre boundaries, cultural hierarchy, and the circulation and reinterpretation of musical materials.

The article examines teaching and learning in the Greek conservatoire Theory of Music course. Through critical deconstruction of the long-standing curriculum and semi-structured interviews with music educators, it identifies the need for curriculum redesign and highlights the importance of research-informed reform and systematic music-pedagogical professional development for teachers.

This paper approaches creative coding as a means of cultivating musical creativity. Starting from the premise that creativity can be developed pedagogically and that digital media are transforming music teaching and learning, it examines a form of computer programming oriented towards the production of expressive musical outcomes. Creative coding is presented as a space in which musical invention, experimentation, and technological thinking can interact through iterative processes of composing, listening, revising, and problem solving. The discussion highlights its potential to connect musical creation with code and contemporary music technology, while opening new possibilities for learner agency and creative exploration.

Nowadays, children grow up in a digital-cultural environment that forms their music experiences. However, the traditional music educational methods, as they were designed many decades ago, they do not involve new technologies or the use of electronic sounds and instruments in their content. To that point, a vital part of children's music preferences is not expressed. In recent years, as an attempt to integrate digital media into early musical lessons, some virtual instruments have been developed. However, most of them consist of a reproduction of acoustic instruments (pianos, glockenspiels, percussion) without taking advantage of new technologies widen abilities. This paper aims to present Synth4kids, an original music-making web-application created to be used by children from 5 to 8 years old. Synth4kids is a monophonic virtual instrument synthesizer based on analog synthesis, incorporating elements from the traditional music-educational methods, oriented to music lessons. It is also compatible with all tablets and computers and can be used alone or in conjunction with acoustic and Orff instruments. Furthermore, it benefits from the tablets' tilt sensor and touch screen, enabling extended kinaesthetic experiences. All in all, it offers opportunities for extended sound experimentation and improvisation, allowing children to get in touch with electronic music.

This paper presents Synth4kids, an original web-based musical application designed for children aged five to eight. The virtual synthesiser incorporates elements from Dalcroze Eurhythmics, the Kodály approach, and Orff Schulwerk, while also making use of features available on contemporary digital devices, including tablet sensors, to support kinaesthetic and multimodal musical experiences. The application is proposed for use alongside acoustic instruments in activities involving sound exploration, improvisation, and early engagement with principles of electronic music. Synth4kids is conceived as a flexible educational environment that can connect established music-pedagogical practices with emerging forms of digital music-making.

The article investigates the philosophy and structure of MOOCs in music education. It examines a sample of 110 music MOOCs from widely used platforms with respect to educational context, pedagogical model, curriculum, teaching approaches, and assessment, and discusses both the opportunities and concerns associated with this rapidly expanding form of online music learning.