Gender Differences in Music Content Learning Using a Virtual Platform in Secondary Education

Current education outlooks concur on the need to design effective learning settings adapted to the digital environment which students live in. The rapid development of software and computer tools has generated new teaching and learning spaces (Gamage, Tretiakov, & Crump, 2011). Leaving aside the issues derived from their implementation in the classroom (Girvan & Savage, 2010), this study looks at the use of a virtual education platform for the subject of Music in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO). The specific focus is to analyse how the music contents contemplated in Decree 38/ 2015 from May 22, which establishes the curriculum in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) and the baccalaureate in Cantabria, can be covered in this space, as well as to examine gender differences in the attainment of these contents. To this end, we began with the current curriculum, following a mixed research design that on the one hand included a semi-structured interview with the teacher, and on the other, a questionnaire administered to 93 students of Year 1 of ESO in a public school of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria. The results obtained help justify the genesis and teaching purpose of the education platform, and at the same time present the perception and actual appropriateness of this setting for participants. The conclusions evidence that the gender differences found are the consequence of the attractive design of the activities, a circumstance that fosters greater motivation in the subject of Music in ESO. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.