Open

Educational
Resources

Benefits and Challenges

as Applied to the Music Theory Classroom

Decorated Initial D is in the Public Domain

 Sarah Yates
syates@whatcom.edu
Whatcom Community College

“Open Educational Resources: Benefits and Challenges as Applied to the Music

Theory Classroom” by Sarah Yates is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Contents
Benefits
• Cost reduction for students
• Access to a wide range of ideas
and methods
• Flexible course content
• Allows customization
• Encourages collaboration
Challenges
• Increased labor for instructors
• Quality assessment
• Issues of continuity
• Publishing industry and LMS
• Accessibility
 Benefits

University of Pennsylvania LJS 63: Rāgamālā, fol. 2v

by Kislak Center is in the Public Domain
Cost reduction for students
Music Theory texts are often expensive and require several volumes:
• The main textbook
• The workbook (or online access code)
• Aural Skills text and/or workbook
• Sight Singing text
• Anthology of musical scores
While some publishers have “all access” codes (all the texts and workbook
materials are online), this is still expensive and can lead to screen fatigue.
In addition, many students benefit from working out of printed copies.
Access to a wide range of ideas and methods
With OERs, instructors are not limited to what the textbook author has
determined to be the most valuable content and methods. Instructors
can:
• Gain insight from colleagues in other institutions
• Find resources to aid in differentiated instruction
• Demonstrate to students that there are a variety of ways to
understand music
Flexible course content
Many institutions are looking to revamp or completely overhaul their
music theory curriculum in the near future. This is due to a call by
theorists and musicians to acknowledge and divest from the colonialist
and white supremacist roots of much of the current required
curriculum. By using OERs, instructors can:
• Gradually replace problematic examples and theories with equitable
content that addresses the same learning outcomes
• Provide materials that encourage conversation as to why certain
examples and theories are problematic
Flexible course content, continued
By using OERs as the primary “text” for music theory classes, instructors can
choose materials that reflect the progress, challenges, and interests of an
individual class. For instance:
• Examples that are politically timely (e.g. discuss a composer who lived in a time
with a similar political climate and how that might have impacted their work)
• Assignments that reflect academic and career aspirations (e.g. perhaps the class
is largely music education students)
• Optional supplemental work dealing with a particularly challenging skill (e.g. the
whole class needs more practice with finding the prime form of a pitch set)
• And more!
Allows customization
Just as OERs allow instructors the flexibility to select materials more
intentionally than a traditional textbook, many OERs allow instructors
to customize those chosen materials in and of themselves.
As long as the OER does not have a non-derivative license, instructors
may add to, take away from, or otherwise edit the material to suit their
needs.
Encourages collaboration
Using, creating, and editing OERs has the potential to connect music
instructors from distant institutions. By seeing what (and how) others
are teaching concepts, instructors avoid tunnel vision regarding course
content and possibilities.
Many theory instructors are dissatisfied with the state of music theory
pedagogy. But the thought of revamping a course on one’s own is
daunting.
The more instructors are aware of the potential of OER, the more
possibilities there will be to collaborate inter-institutionally to re-
envision music theory curriculum.
 Challenges

University of Pennsylvania LJS 47: De institutione musica, fol. 40v

by Kislak Center is in the Public Domain
Increased labor for instructors
Even with the approach mentioned in the “Encourages collaboration” slide,
converting a course to primarily use OERs is an enormous undertaking. For most
instructors, it simply isn’t a sustainable option. Instructors must:
• Find a substitute for a copyrighted textbook, either through an open text or a collection of
separate materials
• Determine appropriate musical examples that are public domain or licensed through Creative
Commons
• Locate open-licensed or public domain recordings of those examples
• Locate or create practice work and assignments
• Customize all of the above if permissible and necessary
• Ensure that all the resources/materials are attributed correctly
• Ensure that all the resources are accessible

[The remaining slides in the “Challenging” section are all related the problem of increased labor, though they are not solely issues of workload]
Quality assessment
Instructors must sift through resources to find ones that are the same
or higher quality level as a traditional textbook.
Issues of continuity
OERs may introduce students to a variety of ways to think about music, but
compiling disparate resources could potentially lead to courses that feel
disjointed.
Instructors choosing to use OERs instead of traditional textbooks must take
into consideration the flow within one course and between consecutive
courses:
• Many theory texts are structured to create a sense of flow between concepts, and later
chapters reference earlier ones or use parallel analysis techniques.
• Traditional theory textbooks and textbook suites (text, workbook, etc.) often cover the
entire 2-year undergraduate music theory track, meaning the material is presented in a
consistent way both visually and conceptually. (This is also beneficial in that students don’t need to purchase new
texts for every new course)

• Upper-level theory courses as well as graduate schools are aware of which traditional texts
are commonly used, and their curricula reflect where those materials leave off.
Publishing industry and LMS
Some textbook publishers offer Learning Management System-
Integrated packages for music theory textbook suites. This creates a
very simple way to connect pre-made exercises, assignments, and
assessments to a Canvas page. This reduces the time needed for finding
or formulate these materials as well as grading, freeing up time to
interact with students.
If an instructor uses primarily OERs, these benefits most likely will not
be available to them.
Accessibility
• Many OERs must be edited for accessibility
• OERs are often housed online, requiring a student to have access to a
computer with reliable internet
• Students may experience screen fatigue if much of their work is
online/on a computer
 Summary

Decorated Initial D is in the Public Domain

Do OERs have a place in the Music Theory classroom?

The landscape of music education is beginning to change, and in order

to prepare for what may prove to be a complete overhaul of the
curriculum, instructors may find it valuable to start incorporating OERs
into their course materials.
While a huge undertaking of time and labor, creating OER-based
curriculum is one way to ensure that students are learning the required
materials in a way that reflects their lived experience.
If music instructors across institutions were to work together to take
advantage of all the benefits to be found in OERs, the challenges will
not seem so daunting.