Digital Skills for music teachers

<< Background >>We applied for this project after identifying, through a preliminary survey and based on shared hypotheses among the DISK partners, a significant lack of digital competences among specialised music teachers, particularly in the hybrid and online educational context that followed the pandemic. Although European public administrations were actively promoting the improvement of teachers’ digital skills, these efforts rarely considered the specific needs, teaching formats, and working conditions of music educators. The exceptional nature of this type of teaching—frequently individual, performance-based, and highly sensitive to context—was left outside existing training programmes. DISK was therefore conceived to address this structural omission by conducting a real needs analysis of teachers in different countries, raising awareness of the particular challenges faced by the sector, and designing a digital training programme tailored to the artistic and pedagogical realities of music education.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the DISK project was to strengthen the digital capacities of music teachers through a transnational training programme, adapted and based on real needs previously identified. We aimed to: (1) detect the specific gaps in digital competences within the music education sector through a mixed research phase (survey, interviews, comparative analysis); (2) design and pilot training modules that addressed those gaps while respecting the pedagogical particularities inherent to music teaching; and (3) equip teachers to use digital tools meaningfully in areas such as communication, collaboration, content creation, and online safety. In doing so, the project also sought to foster transnational dialogue between institutions, develop a shared European understanding of digital transformation in the arts, and support institutional strategies for curricular innovation. Ultimately, we hoped to contribute to the professionalisation and adaptation of music education to new technological and educational contexts.<< Implementation >>The project was carried out in three main phases. First, in order to design the intended curriculum on an evidence-based foundation, a mixed-methods research process was conducted: a survey of more than 200 European teachers and over 60 students, 30 semi-structured interviews across three countries, and a comparative analysis of existing courses. This made it possible to identify the real digital needs of music teachers.Second, following the research and design phase, four training modules were produced, implemented, and tested with 60 international participants. These modules focused on key competences: digital communication and productivity, online safety and ethics, content creation, and specific digital tools for music teaching. The modules were piloted in both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, with teachers from diverse contexts.Finally, dissemination and transfer activities were developed, including international seminars, publications, production of multimedia materials, and a website providing open access to all resources. Throughout the process, exchanges between institutions were promoted, fostering a shared vision of digitalisation in music education.<< Results >>The DISK project generated concrete results at three levels. First, a rigorous diagnosis of the digital competences of music teachers in Europe was carried out, through a survey with 286 responses and 30 semi-structured interviews. A detailed analysis of the alignment of the project’s contents with the European DigCompEdu framework was also developed, which made it possible to adjust competence levels and guide pedagogical progression.Second, four training modules were developed and piloted, focusing on communication and collaboration in a technology-driven environment, online pedagogy, online safety, and specific tools for music teaching. Sixty teachers participated in the pilot phase and gave positive feedback on the content, highlighting the direct applicability in their classes, the clarity of the materials, and the possibility of autonomous learning. Some responses to the satisfaction survey completed by participants already show the incorporation of concepts such as gamification, the use of visual tools, and improvements in digital organisation.Third, all materials and results were published in open access, with the aim of reaching the widest possible audience across different fields.