Accessible digital musical instruments for inclusive and social practices
Engagement in music-making can be an enjoyable and rewarding learning experience that contributes to the intellectual, social, and personal development of children and young people. However, conventional musical instruments often require precise fine motor control and dexterity, which creates barriers for people with functional diversity.
This project will produce and evaluate accessible digital musical instruments to support the musical engagement of children with special educational needs and disabilities. This will enable them to make music using hand gestures, eye and head movements. By empowering children with special educational needs and disabilities to create music independently and collaboratively, the project seeks to promote a more equitable and inclusive learning environment.
The digital tools will be evaluated through both qualitative and quantitative methods, drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from design, education, and therapy. The outcomes of this project have the potential to inform policy and practice in areas such as school curricula, creative industries, and allied health professions.
Team
Lee Cheng – Associate Professor, Anglia Ruskin University
Chi Ying Lam – Deputy Director of the Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice & Lecturer in Community Music and Social Justice, University of Southampton
Jennifer Todd – Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Anglia Ruskin University
Ellie Ruddock – Lecturer Practitioner in Music Therapy, Anglia Ruskin University
Enrico Bertelli – Executive Director, Conductive Music
Wing Yan Jasman Pang – Assistant Professor, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
Annie Heiderscheit – Director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research & Professor of Music Therapy, Anglia Ruskin University