Opportunities for Digital Innovation with the Capital Grant

Nick Howdle, Leader of Wiltshire Music Connect and member of the Digital Innovation in Music Education (DIME) Alliance, shares his thoughts on how the Capital Grant for Musical Instruments could be used as an opportunity for digital innovation and diversification in music education.

Nick Howdle is the Leader of Wiltshire Music Connect, the former Music Education Hub for Wiltshire. He worked with Ben Sellers, Sophie Amstell and Emily Penn in curating and producing Over the Digital Horizon a groundbreaking season of online sessions in 2022 that connected music educators with ideas and innovations from around the world, ones that were likely to shape our sector in the future.

What is the DIME Alliance?

DIME is an alliance of organisations and individual practitioners committed to raising awareness of innovative digital technologies for the benefit of children & young people’s music education and learning. It was launched by Connect Resound, Music Mark, Music for Youth, TiME (Technology in Music Education) and Wiltshire Music Connect in 2021. Together, the alliance works to highlight and engage with new products or services, new processes or practices, the evolution of what is already happening, opportunities from other sectors, and the possibility for new business models.

In June 2024, we ran the inaugural DIME Conference, bringing together experts from music education and beyond to explore how you can lead the way in digital innovation in music education.

What is the Capital Grant?

The Capital Grant for Musical Instruments is a £25 million investment from the Department for Education, announced in the English National Plan for Music Education. The grant is allocated to Hub Lead Organisations to be spent across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, and is for purchasing musical instruments, equipment, and technology where it is used specifically for music-making purposes and to benefit children and young people.

Why is digital innovation important in music education?

The pandemic and lockdowns woke many of us up to the real need and potential of digital and a need to carry on exploring on an ongoing basis. Prior to that it was an area of music education that had remained under-developed since the first iteration of our National Plan and has seemed to gain greater status in the new plan.

Digital & Tech has much to offer to some of the greatest challenges facing our work and the Children & Young people we support:

• Inclusion & diversity
• The climate emergency
• Links into Creative Industries and mixed digital media
• Young people will be the co-curators of the digital future. This will be reflected in our approach and providers/educators/strategists may need to rethink the hierarchy of the learning relationship.

It’s an excitingly fast-moving area which we know may be bewildering for some and DIME isn’t just for those who are “all over” their tech, its also for those who need to find ways to step into it and define their potential use.

How can the Capital Grant be used to expand digital innovation in schools and music hubs?

The Capital Grant has the potential to go far beyond the much-needed restocking and replacement of current stock and instead could be the source of innovation and investment into the future. This reminds me of Ben Sellers’ assertion that “We need to diversify practitioners, partnerships and pedagogies”, which was echoed throughout the DIME conference. The Capital Grant provides an opportunity for this diversification to take place.

Some examples of how the Capital Grant could be used to expand digital offerings might include sets of iPads for school clusters, creative composition sets (an iPad, keyboard, microphone, and cables kit) for pupils wanting to write, create and share their music, specially adapted instruments for pupils with particular additional needs to engage with musical activity or centres equipped with DAWs.

How can Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) consider digital innovation when deciding how to spend the Capital Grant?

HLOs could encourage schools and delivery organisations to think about instruments or equipment that could support their music development planning and in particular, things that would be real game changers in terms of diversity of offer and who they could better support or reach. This can then inform purchasing decisions to ensure they meet the needs of schools and delivery partners.

They could also consider how equipment bought with the Capital Grant can be made available to new and emerging partners extending reach and community engagement, potentially including partners who aren’t (yet) commissioned or cash-funded for delivery.

What advice do you have for schools or music hubs who want to incorporate more digital innovation in their music education? Is there anyone doing a great job at this we could learn from?

I would suggest reaching out to members of the DIME Alliance for advice or considering joining us, or you can explore resources on music technology available through Music Mark. This bank of resources includes recordings from the DIME Conference in June 2024, which are being released over the next few months and provide valuable learning and guidance. A recording of the first breakout session led by Kate Rounding from TiME, titled ‘Engaging with Innovations in Music Technology’, is available to watch here.