A Device for Children's Instrumental Creativity and Learning: An Overview of the MIROR Platform.

Anna Rita Addessi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.516478

Abstract

This article presents the pedagogical paradigm of reflexive interaction and its application in the field of technology-enhanced learning and children’s musical creativity. The main feature of reflexive interaction is the repetition-variation mechanism: something is repeated and varied during the interaction, through a continual process of imitation and variation. In the context of the MIROR project (EU-ICT Project), we exploited the educational potential of the reflexive interaction paradigm and implemented the MIROR platform, an educational device consisting of a set of softwares that implement the reflexive paradigm not only in music improvisation (as was the case for the first interactive reflexive system), but also in the field of music composition and dance. The platform was conceived as a tool to stimulate and develop musical and motor creativity in children, although it can also be used to teach a specific musical instrument. The hypothesis of the MIROR project was that reflexive interaction sustains and promotes the learning and creative expression processes of music and movement. This initial hypothesis, which stemmed mainly from the pilot study in which we observed children who were interacting with the first prototype of the interactive reflexive musical system, was subjected to a series of empirical studies conducted within the MIROR project, and was theoretically defined in order to lay down the foundations of the reflexive interaction paradigm and its pedagogical implications. This article summarizes the state-of-the-art of the project and brings together, in a comprehensive overview, the theoretical framework, the pedagogical concepts, the empirical studies, and the description of the MIROR platform, with the aim to reflect on the results achieved so far and point out the contribution of the reflexive perspective to the field of children’s instrumental learning and creativity.

Highlights

Children’s musical creativity has been approached by several scholars from different perspectives and methodologies (e.g., Miell and Littleton, 2004; Custodero, 2005; Deliège and Wiggins, 2006; Barrett, 2012; Hargreaves et al, 2012; Odena, 2012; McPherson and Welch, 2018; Cardoso de Araújo, 2019)
We present the theoretical framework of reflexive interaction, the pedagogical concepts, the description of the MIROR platform, and an overview of the empirical studies realized with children and the MIROR applications
To understand in detail how reflexive interaction works, we describe a short session of an 8-year-old girl playing a keyboard connected to MIROR-Impro, one of the applications of the MIROR platform, which is an augmented version of the Continuator, the first prototype of incremental learning ensures that the (IRMS): “The little girl plays two consecutive notes, C2 and A2, and stops to wait for the response of the system

Summary

A Device for Children’s Instrumental Creativity and Learning

Reviewed by: Vicky Charisi, European Commission, Belgium Dennis Reidsma, University of Twente, Netherlands. The hypothesis of the MIROR project was that reflexive interaction sustains and promotes the learning and creative expression processes of music and movement This initial hypothesis, which stemmed mainly from the pilot study in which we observed children who were interacting with the first prototype of the interactive reflexive musical system, was subjected to a series of empirical studies conducted within the MIROR project, and was theoretically defined in order to lay down the foundations of the reflexive interaction paradigm and its pedagogical implications. This article summarizes the state-of-theart of the project and brings together, in a comprehensive overview, the theoretical framework, the pedagogical concepts, the empirical studies, and the description of the MIROR platform, with the aim to reflect on the results achieved so far and point out the contribution of the reflexive perspective to the field of children’s instrumental learning and creativity

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

Findings

ETHICS STATEMENT