ARTICLE REVIEW

INTERACTIVE MUSIC VIDEO GAMES AND

CHILDREN

EDU 702 Research Methodology

PREPARED BY :SHAMSUL AZRIL BIN SAMSUDIN

ID NO :2013362235

PREPARED FOR :DR. JOHAN @ EDDY LUARAN

This article by Lily Gower and Janet McDowall from B.J Music, Ed. 2012 page 91-105 talking

about Interactive Music Video Games and Children’s Musical Development. Interactive music video

games are readily available, mainstream technology but they are not generally sees as educative

tools. This study investigated children’s use of these games from a musix education prespective.The

music teachers acknowledged the potential of interactive music video games to be incorporated into

traditional music curriculum but they each expressed a belief that ideally the technology needs

further development, including a greater capacity to compose and create using the programs. Based

on the article, there may be a place for these games in music education.

From the article, nowadays people are living in increasingly digital age where video games

have become a key element of child and youth culture. Playing video games is an engaging practice

that allows children to be active participants rather than being passive viewers, such as with

television. Some authorities in the field argue that video games are not a waste of time, and in fact

good video games incorporate many effective principles of learning. The finidngs goes so far as to

suggest that humans have an innate desire to learn and, when video games are pleasurable, the

learning that occurs while playing is often of a much greater depth than the learning that occurs in

schools today.

The playing of video games is now so commonplace that it could be considere a fundamental

literacy in its own right. In an increasingly digital age, ‘digital literacy is now being considered the

‘fourth cultural technique’ alongside reading, writing and mathematics and this has Implications

for school education. Literacy learning in schools needs to shift from a focus on reading print text to

teaching children to interpret a range of multimodal texts. That is, children need to learn to interpret

more than one way of meaning-making including linguistic, audio, visual, gestural and spatial modes

as well as a combination of all of the above.

The role of music education can be defined as ‘teaching children to lovemusic’ (Hargreaves

& North, 1997). However, as mentioned above, there is some evidence suggesting that

music education is not engaging children and young people as educators may wish (Dillon,

2004; Goble, 2009). Goble (2009) examines this decline of music education in depth and

suggests ways by which this situation may be rectified. Among his recommendations is

the incorporation of modern technology in the teaching of music, including the use of

video games such as Guitar Hero and RockBand. Green (2006) also recognises a decline

in interest in music education.

In summary, it can be suggested that the use of interactive music video games in music

education may in fact be a beneficial inclusion. While there is a dearth of literature on the

topic, what little there is suggests that these games may be a meaningful way for students

to learn about the elements of music, and may be a way for music educators to breathe

life back into a dwindling curriculum. What can be said for certain is that, thus far, the

potential uses of interactive music video games have not been realised.

The literature pertaining to video games and children suggests ways in which video

games are highly enticing to young players. It also points out the importance of video

games and digital media as a multimodal literacy. Further, there are indications that music

education needs to be responsive to such changes. In view of this background, research

was undertaken that examined interactive music video games, a gaming technology that is

sweeping the world.

In 2003, a movement was started for usingvideo games in teaching and training.

This initiative, known as serious games, has changed theway that educators viewed instruction to

meetthe needs of the Net generation. Serious games have impacted the military and firefighters

(Har-mon, 2003; Macedonia, 2002), medical (Cos-man, Cregan, Martin, & Cartmill, 2002; Hmeloet al.,

2001), and higher business education (Bos,Shami, & Naab, 2006)