Nov 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Sarah Jones

ONLINE EDUCATION OFFERS NEW PATHS TO LEARNING

“Oddly enough, it seems to me that the online environment returns us to the expert lecturing in front of the room, oblivious to the subtle feedback students give,” says Gary Gottlieb, a longtime engineer/producer who runs the Audio Production program at Webster University in St. Louis. “Even though students are encouraged to post their thoughts and comments, I feel like I can get students involved in a conversation more easily in the classroom, while an online class lends itself more to the teacher teaching at the students rather than allowing the class to develop in an organic fashion.

“I am a big fan of online classes for some of the building blocks of an audio education, such as classes that are rich in theory and terminology,” he continues. “The model falls apart to me when listening is involved. Audio aesthetics and critical listening require an acoustically reliable environment. It's hard enough to set up classrooms to be critical-listening spaces. Can I get a student to listen critically to something I send in an online class? I believe this to be the deepest problem in online audio classes — as soon as we get into critical listening and ear training, we are on very sketchy territory.”

Terri Winston, executive director of Women's Audio Mission and professor of Recording Arts at San Francisco City College, says online education is a great way to reach people who wouldn't otherwise have access to training and to get more people interested in studying audio — but it has its limitations. “They can get introduced to the theory, history and the basic concepts of audio and then hopefully this motivates them to get into a studio classroom environment to learn the hands-on and workflow portion of the craft,” she says. “Now, taking the online concept too far by eliminating the group learning environment makes it too comfortable and prevents students from learning the difficult and critical people skills that are required in this industry.”

Winston believes online learning can augment training, but only a group, in-studio learning environment can teach studio etiquette, workflow, group dynamics and people skills. “One of the most important requirements to be successful in this industry is the ability to work well with people in high-stress situations,” she says. “It's important for students to get themselves in those environments as often as possible so they can see what this actually feels like and learn what is appropriate behavior. You need to have the adrenaline of getting chewed out on a session to really learn that.”

“There is no substitute for being in the room with great engineers and absorbing their techniques,” Gottleib adds.

That said, the notion of the “real world” is evolving, and smart students are exploring new models of working. “Global collaboration is taking place in all sorts of industries,” says Garcia. “In recording, people are collaborating and working together more without being in the same studio. I think distance education actually prepares you for that new world, where you are working with people who you don't see, people you are not in the same room with.”

Ultimately, online education is just like most things in life: What you get out of it is in direct proportion to what you put into it. “It is an utter myth that online or distance learning is simply a bunch of resources made available online — it is not,” says Hambly. “What is essential is carefully crafted pedagogical systems where a relationship forms between the student and his or her peers and learning advisor. If potential students find that the courses are without appropriate advisor moderation and guidance, my advice is to stay well clear of them as you will not be getting a valuable educational experience. It is in the interaction, or, ‘social learning,’ where the real learning takes place.”

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Sarah Jones is the associate director of Women's Audio Mission, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of women in the recording arts.

Free Resources for Students

Many schools offer free online lessons; while you won't access professors or earn degrees, you can learn valuable information and sharpen your skills. Check out this sampling.

Berkleemusic.com offers more than 100 free lessons on topics ranging from fattening guitar tracks in Pro Tools to breath control for singers. youtube.com/user/Berkleemusic; more lessons are at the free Berklee Shares site, www.berkleeshares.com.

MIT's Hip-Hop course examines the genre's political and cultural influences during the past 30 years. ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Music-and-Theater-Arts/21M-775Fall-2007/Cours eHome/index.htm.

Loyola University's Music Industry Studies series on iTunes U offers 16 hours of material, featuring lectures from guest artists such as Harry Shearer, Kirk Whalum and Terence Blanchard.

Got a crazy plan to build the next iPhone whammy bar? Check out Stanford's course on iPhone application programming: itunes.stanford.edu.

The Open Courseware movement, pioneered by MIT in 1999, was founded to provide free public access to high-quality course lectures and related materials (such as video, audio and slides) in the form of online classes. Today, the OpenCourseWare Consortium is a global collaboration of more than 200 higher-education institutions and associated organizations offering educational content using a shared learning model. Thousands of classes are available through the OCW — MIT alone offers 1,900 courses, nearly its entire catalog, online. www.ocwconsortium.org.