Benefits of Informal Learning Pedagogy and Popular Music with Normal Technical Students : Self-Directed Learning through the Use of Technology
For the class as a whole , it was not smooth sailing throughout the process . Some students tended to lose focus and wander around the classroom . However , this did not last long . Once these students heard what their friends could do on the keyboards , they were very motivated to play even better than their peers , spurring them to return to practice . For the two girls in particular , Serene usually wanted to make sure that their song piece was acceptable for presentation . Serene was keen enough to also travel to Joy ’ s home to practise at least twice before the day of performance .
It can be said that informal learning pedagogy does give students more autonomy to learn from their friends and take more responsibility for their learning . It was in the students ’ capacity to help their friends and this was evident in the performance . The spirit of self-directed learning was very strong as the students took steps to organise the concert and even wanted to do a practice before the performance .
Formation of Friendship Groups Many of the friendship groups were formed not because they were the best of friends . They were merely formed based on class attendance . High absentee rates and irregular attendance was prevalent . Some of the students decided to be in a group for practical reasons . It should be noted that as these were first-year students in their secondary school , most of the students were not very familiar with one another . From the interviews , Serene and Joy revealed that they were in the same group because they were seated near each other when they had to form groups .
The mild-tempered girls did not suffer from a major fallout even though they could not agree most of the time over the choice of songs . Perhaps , if they had enjoyed a longer period of friendship prior to this music learning activity , they might not have had these problems .
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