The Discovery of Interactive Spaces: Learning by Design in High School Music Technology Classes

This paper describes an educational experience realized in the form of extracurricular workshops involving music technology students of the “V. Gambara” music high school in Brescia (Italy). By means of a participatory prototyping experience, the project aimed at fostering the students awareness and understanding of technological means and their utility . The Discovery of Interactive Spaces project focuses on motion tracking technologies in connection with sound and visual production, as means to provoke reflections on their cultural and societal impact on social utility and inclusion, and artistic expression. To this end, students proposed design concepts, and prototyped sonic interactive experiences. The Discovery of Interactive Spaces is framed within the broader themes of computational thinking and creativity, learning by design, and technology awareness. These themes represent the pillars of technological citizenship, which is considered crucial for the twenty-first century student.