The Evolution of Technology: Landmarking Australian Secondary School Music

This paper will provide an overview of the history of the inclusion of technology in Australian education with a focus on music education. There will be a discussion of some of the arguments for its inclusion and how these may have changed over time. Technology has always been actively present in music and its practice. However, it was through more contemporary genres of music that composers and musicians began to experiment with sound and technology. Such diverse thinking about the way technology can be used in music produced notable examples of electronic music such as, Charles Dodges Changes (1970) and Paul Lansky's Six Fantasies on a Poem by Thomas Campion (1979). The professional music industry now considers technology a valuable commodity that continues to improve the practice of music. Similarly, society has defined what is valuable in education in different ways. Standards are set by the Australian federal and state government and various educational authorities, such as the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS), to reflect what is considered valued knowledge in education. It is clear from such standards that Information and Computer Technology (ICT) is of importance. Technology has significantly changed business corporations, the industrial workforce, economic growth and the music and entertainment industries all over the world, yet only until recently; has its true impact on education been realised.