Primary School Students’ Attitudes Towards Distance Music Learning

Music education underwent significant adjustments during the Cov-id-19 pandemic, reflecting broader changes in education as a whole. Distance learning was the only way to organise learning to avoid the consequences of the pandemic. As part of this project, research was carried out in the 2021–2022 school year to determine primary school students’ attitudes towards distance music learning. A total of 503 seventh-and eighth-grade students from general education primary schools completed an online survey to collect the data. The results show that the majority of the students feel that they found suitable conditions for distance music learning, that their parents and school were supportive, that they were satisfied with the digital tools, and that they saw themselves as successful learners. The overwhelming majority of the students believe that they acquire the same knowledge through distance learning as they do at school, and that distance music learning does not require a lot of effort or cause stress. However, the majority of the students feel that there were not enough workshops and courses organised by the school and the local community in order to make distance music learning easier for them. Of the sociodemographic factors studied, only the variable related to home conditions for distance music learning proved to be partially predictive.


Introduction
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of distance learning became prevalent globally in 2020, including within the Republic of Croatia.Distance learning is a form of learning in which the physical presence of students and teachers is not realised, with the learning and teaching process instead taking place in a virtual environment with the support of digital technologies.Distance learning uses systems, tools and content that can support learning and teaching in a virtual environment.The Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNET), the University Computing Centre, the Agency for Education, the Agency for Vocational and Adult Education, and the Agency for Mobility and EU Programs were all partners in the organisation of distance learning in Croatia (Šulentić Begić et al., 2022).The Action Plan for the Implementation of Distance Learning (Ministry of Science and Education, 2020a), which is a document containing a list of the most significant stages and procedures required for setting up distance learning in schools and universities, was released by the Ministry of Science and Education.These guidelines were supplemented by the Croatian Academic and Research Network in a report titled "Online Systems for the Organisation and Implementation of Distance Learning" (Croatian Academic and Research Network, 2020), which offered guidance on the choice and application of technological solutions for distance learning.During the Covid-19 pandemic in the Republic of Croatia, learning was organised via national television for students in the lower grades of primary school, while distance learning was organised through various online platforms for students in the upper grades of primary school and for students in secondary schools and colleges, with schools and colleges having the option of independently choosing platforms for conducting distance learning.As an aid to distance learning in primary and secondary schools, the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia published the online publication Framework Annual Performance Curriculum (Ministry of Science and Education, 2022) and accompanying video lessons and teaching materials (Ministry of Science and Education, 2020b) created by teachers from practice.According to Miražić-Nemet and Surdučka (2020), distance learning represented a significant challenge for all participants in the educational process, including teachers, students and their parents.It can be concluded that the Ministry of Science and Education, in collaboration with the aforementioned institutions, significantly contributed to the organisation and implementation of distance learning.

Distance (music) learning
In the next sections of this paper, we present studies on students' and teachers' perceptions of distance music learning and distance learning in general.The first studies presented examined students' attitudes (Centre for Educational Initiatives Step by Step, 2020;Crnković & Galić, 2020;National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, 2020;Šnidarić et al., 2020).Crnković and Galić (2020) conducted an online survey among 285 students from the fourth to the eighth grade of a primary school in order to examine students' attitudes towards distance learning.Almost three-quarters of the students claimed that they were completely or to some extent satisfied with distance learning.More than half of the students (65.6%) stated that it was not difficult to follow the online lessons, while the rest of the students stated that their difficulties were caused by a lack of direct communication with the teacher, problems with technology and the quality of the Internet connection.
A total of 1,779 students participated in another survey conducted in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Centre for Educational Initiatives Step by Step, 2020).The goal of the research was to examine the opinions of primary and secondary school students on distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.Some 53.5% of the students stated that they had made good progress in their knowledge and skills, and almost the same percentage of students felt that the teachers cared about how they felt and encouraged them.Three-quarters of the students thought that they worked harder during distance learning than in traditional classes, and slightly more than half said they occasionally needed adult assistance.Of the students surveyed, 55.9% believed that grades are a measure of their knowledge and 4/5 believed that grades are important to them.The National Centre for External Evaluation of Education conducted two research studies with secondary school graduates (National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, 2020).A total of 13,099 recent secondary school graduates answered the online survey's first round in April 2020.The results of the research show that 35% of the graduates did not have their own computer and almost two-thirds of them had difficulties with the Internet connection to a greater or lesser extent during distance learning.Approximately 80% of the secondary school students encountered difficulties in time planning throughout the period of distance learning, while nearly 90% experienced challenges in sustaining concentration.The second survey was completed by 5,186 secondary school students.The results of this survey showed that the most common ways used to teach and communicate with the teachers were email, What-sApp, Zoom and MS Teams, while Loomen was fifth, with less than half of the students reporting using it.Three-quarters of the secondary school students surveyed stated that distance learning required more effort than regular classes.Only 8% of the students stated that they were satisfied with the implementation of distance learning, although three-fifths of them nonetheless stated that they were satisfied with the grades.Šnidarić et al. (2020) conducted a study to investigate the implementation strategy, satisfaction and challenges, and time spent during distance learning.The results show that more than three-quarters of the secondary school students surveyed judged that it was moderately to extremely difficult to follow and participate in distance learning, and more than 60% of the students reported that they were overworked and spent too much time on schoolwork compared to live classes.The students highlighted the following difficulties in the implementation of distance learning as the most acute: too extensive teaching content, lack of direct communication with teachers, and short deadlines for completing tasks.The remaining components (e.g., poor Internet connection) only represented difficulties for a small number of students.
Distance learning was also organised in the subject of music during the Covid-19 pandemic.Due to its specificity, it represented a great challenge for students in both primary and secondary schools, as well as for students in music schools and higher education.The main issue was the inability of students and teachers to interact physically (Ambruš-Kiš, 2020), as body language, facial expressions and the teacher's voice are crucial teaching tools in music education (Riley, 2009).The fact that students acquire the majority of their musical knowledge and skills through the teacher's mediation because their development requires continuous feedback is another indication of the uniqueness of music teaching (Rojko, 2012).This mostly refers to developing musical literacy, but it also includes learning to sing songs, play instruments, compose music, and a variety of other musical knowledge and skills (Šulentić Begić et al., 2022).In their study, Moscardini and Rae (2020) found that a significant proportion of music teachers (62%) saw themselves as lacking the necessary competence to effectively conduct distance music learning.Biasutti (2017) also highlights the problem of organising distance music learning in the context of performance skills.In distance piano learning, for instance, the teacher is unable to adjust the student's posture or finger positioning.The lack of dynamism, expressiveness and involvement that results from converting group music learning, such as choirs and orchestras, to an online environment is another significant barrier to strengthening students' performance abilities.According to Kibici and Sarıkaya (2021), it has been suggested that music teachers in higher grades of primary and secondary schools possess the necessary competence to effectively conduct distance music learning.Specifically, the authors note that male teachers and younger teachers are more likely to possess the requisite skills for this mode of instruction.In addition, the Internet setting restricts human interactions, which causes a sense of loss of social bonds, as there are fewer opportunities for people to interact and collaborate musically (Levstek et al., 2021).Furthermore, the lack of interpersonal communication causes desocialisation and a lack of university student feedback (Rucsanda et al., 2021).Listening to music is the fundamental activity of music learning in primary schools in Croatia (Ministry of Science and Education, 2019), which was somewhat of a mitigating circumstance for organising distance music learning, as teachers mainly focused classes on listening to music.The online environment also imposes limitations on human interactions, leading to a perceived decline in social connections due to reduced opportunities for musical interaction and collaboration (Grushka et al., 2021;Hash, 2021).According to Pešikan et al. (2021), the ongoing pandemic gave rise to numerous inquiries pertaining to distance learning.
The following section provides an exposition of the outcomes of research pertaining to distance music learning as perceived by primary school students.The discussion encompasses the factors that contribute to the efficacy of distance music learning, including the provision of support and conducive conditions.In additional, it investigates personal experiences of achievement, and the evaluation and acquisition of knowledge and skills, as well as the satisfaction derived from the tools employed in distance music learning.

Research goal, hypotheses and research question
The goal of the study was to determine primary school students' opinions on distance music learning.The research was based on the following research question and hypotheses: RQ1: What are the students' opinions on the acquisition and evaluation of knowledge and skills during distance music learning?H1: Students believe that they have adequate support from their parents, school and community for successful distance music learning.H2: Students have appropriate home conditions for successful distance music learning.H3: Students consider themselves successful in distance music learning.H4: The selection of tools for distance learning, as well as the implementation of activities and content in distance music learning, match the wishes of the students.H5: There is no statistically significant difference in students' opinions on distance music learning based on sociodemographic factors (gender, grade, location of school, home conditions for distance learning).

Participants
During the 2021/2022 academic year, 503 seventh and eighth graders (13 and 14 years old) from 16 Croatian counties participated in the study.The data were collected through an online survey.The research was funded by the authors.The respondent sample is shown in Table 1.As shown in Table 1, 503 students participated in the study, slightly more than half of whom were female (56.9%).There were slightly more seventh graders (52.3%) than eighth graders, and slightly less than half of the participants (48.7%) were attending a city school.A sample of 503 students meets the sample size criterion according to a reliability level of 95% and the permissible error of 5%, because, according to the data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2022), there were 39,107 students in the seventh grade of primary school and 37,871 students in the eighth grade at the end of the 2020/2021 school year.Thus, the total population is 76,978 students, with an equal ratio of male and female students.

Instruments
The research methodology adopted in this study was quantitative in nature.Likert-type rating scales specifically constructed for the purpose of this investigation were utilised as the primary data collection tool.The data were gathered from the students participating in the study.The anonymous online questionnaire administered to the students comprised a series of inquiries and statements strategically formulated to ascertain their sociodemographic attributes, including gender, grade level, school location and conditions pertaining to distance learning.
A three-item instrument in the form of a Likert scale was used to determine the students' opinions on the acquisition and evaluation of knowledge and skills during distance music learning.
The students' opinions on the support they received from their parents, school and local community were measured using a five-item instrument, one of which was dichotomous and four of which were in the form of a Likert scale.
A five-item instrument in the form of dichotomous questions was used to determine the students' perceptions of their home conditions for distance learning.
A three-item instrument in the form of a Likert scale was used to investigate the students' self-evaluation of success in distance music learning.
A set of five items was employed to examine the alignment between the students' preferences and the tools, activities and content utilised in distance music learning.This instrument consisted of one dichotomous question, one multiple-choice question and three single-choice questions.
To test hypothesis H5, a t-test was used to look for statistically significant differences in the students' attitudes towards distance music learning in relation to sociodemographic variables.The computer programme SPSS 25 was used to analyse the quantitative data.

Research design
The study was carried out in March 2022 with an anonymous survey questionnaire.An Internet link to the questionnaire was distributed to music teachers by the presidents of county councils responsible for music culture education.The teachers then sent the link to their students.Approximately 12 minutes were required to complete the questionnaire.The obtained results were then analysed.Parental agreement was sought in compliance with the ethical standards of research (Ajduković & Kolesarić, 2003).

Results and discussion
At the beginning of the questionnaire, we wanted to determine students' opinions on the acquisition and evaluation of their knowledge and skills (Table 2).As can be seen in Table 2, slightly more than half of the students believe that during distance music learning they acquire the same knowledge and skills as during learning at school, and more than two-thirds think that the grades they receive in distance music learning are a reflection of their actual knowledge.These findings are consistent with the results of another study (Centre for Educational Initiatives Step by Step, 2020).While every fourth student has the opposite opinion, nearly half of the students think that the teacher is more lenient than usual while teaching via distance learning.
With the aim of answering research question RQ1 (What are the students' opinions on the acquisition and evaluation of knowledge and skills during distance music learning?), it may be concluded that, while the teachers grade more leniently than normal, more than half of the students believe that they are learning the same material and skills, and that their grades accurately reflect their knowledge.
In the next section of the questionnaire, the students were asked to estimate the support of the school and the local community for distance music learning (Tables 3 and 4).As can be seen in Table 3, less than a fifth of the students believe that the school does not provide them sufficient support for distance music learning, and only one in ten students is not satisfied with the resources.Slightly more than two-thirds of the students say that their parents support them in distance music learning, and more than two-thirds say that they learned the knowledge and skills they need for distance learning at school.However, only slightly more than a third of the students agreed with the statement that their school offers courses and workshops to help them with distance learning (Table 4).The students are divided equally regarding the question of whether or not there is a sufficient number of such workshops and courses in the environment in which they live.
Considering the obtained results, hypothesis H1 (Students believe that they have adequate support from their parents, school and community for successful distance music learning) is partially accepted.
In the next part of the questionnaire, we wanted to find out from the research participants whether they had the necessary home conditions for distance learning (Table 5).From Table 5, it can be seen that almost all of the students use the Internet at home, have tools available for distance music learning and have a good Internet connection.Less than a fifth of the students do not have their own room, and only one in every sixteen students does not have a computer.The results obtained (having a room, Internet, necessary tools, etc.) are better than the results of previous research that included secondary school students (National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, 2020).
Considering the obtained results, hypothesis H2 (Students have appropriate home conditions for successful distance music learning) is accepted.
We also wanted to determine whether the research participants considered themselves sufficiently successful in distance music learning (Table 6).Only one in twenty students thinks they are not successful in distance music learning, while one in ten thinks that individual work and study are not helpful (Table 6).At the same time, only every fourth student thinks that distance music learning requires effort and is a source of stress.The results are consistent with the aforementioned study by Crnković and Galić (2020), in which the respondents were also primary school students.However, two other studies (National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, 2020; Šnidarić et al., 2020), in which the participants were secondary school students, found that students believe that distance learning requires a lot of effort.We hypothesise that this is because secondary school classes cover a substantially wider range of subject matter and because secondary school students are under significantly more stress due to having to take the state matriculation exam.
Considering the obtained results, hypothesis H3 (Students considered themselves successful in distance music learning) is accepted.
We also wanted to determine which tools and activities the research participants use in distance music learning, as well as which tools and activities are their favourites.In answer to the question Which tool for distance learning do you prefer?most of the students, 265 (52.7%), answered that they prefer MS Teams, 77 (15.3%) prefer videoconferencing tools such as Zoom and Google Meet, 60 (11.9%) prefer Google Classroom, 54 (10.7%) prefer Yammer, and 35 (7%) prefer digital textbooks, while none of the students mentioned Loomen.The next question was: What resources do you use for distance learning?One or more answers were available to the students.The majority of the respondents, 315 (62.6%), chose Microsoft Teams, followed by 144 (28.6%) who selected digital textbooks, while 143 (28.4%) of the students selected both Zoom and Google Meet.The next question was: Are you satisfied with the resources you use for distance learning?".The vast majority of the students, 454 (90.3%), expressed satisfaction with the tools they use.
When asked about the most common activity in distance music learning, the students indicated the acquisition of musicology content, 300 (59.6%), followed by listening to music, 165 (32.8%), while 11 (2.2%) of the students answered singing and 9 (1.8%) playing.Most of the students reported preferring the activity of listening, 306 (60.8%), while musicological content was preferred by 82 (16.3%) of the students and singing and playing by 47 (9.3%).
As we can see, the overwhelming majority of the students said that they prefer MS Teams, which is the tool most often used in distance music learning.When it comes to digital textbooks, however, more than a quarter of the students indicated that such textbooks are used, but only one in fourteen students prefers them.A significant gap between preferences and implementation was observed with regard to activities and content.Specifically, the students mostly prefer listening to music, while the acquisition of musicological content is in fact the most prevalent activity in distance learning.It is unusual that listening to music, which is the central activity in music teaching according to the current curriculum (Ministry of Science and Education, 2019) and is the students' favourite activity, is less represented than musicological content.In addition, as stated in the Curriculum (Ministry of Science and Education, 2019, 34), in a general education school, "musicological content is learned based on listening to music".
Considering the obtained results, hypothesis H4 (The selection of tools for distance learning as well as the implementation of activities and content in distance music learning match the wishes of the students) is partially accepted.
With the aim of testing hypothesis H5 (There is no statistically significant difference in students' opinions on distance music learning based on sociodemographic factors (gender, grade, location of school, home conditions for distance learning)), the obtained results were compared (Tables 7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13).
With regard to gender, no statistically significant difference was found for any variable.A statistically significant difference was observed between the three parameters and the grade, as indicated in Table 7. Eighth-grade students believe to a lesser extent that distance learning workshops are organised sufficiently at school and in the local community.However, they perceive parental support to be significantly stronger.Considering that their children will imminently transition to secondary education, it is plausible that the heightened concern among parents of eighth-grade students pertains to scholastic advancement.The t-test for independent samples (Table 8) revealed a significant difference between the research participants regarding where the school was located in relation to the two variables that were examined.Greater numbers of students who attend school outside cities believe that they get the same knowledge and skills from distance music learning as they do from traditional classes, and that the grades they obtain are an accurate indication of their knowledge.
Below are the results of the t-test in relation to the students' home conditions for distance music learning (Tables 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13).Table 9 shows that, as would be expected, those students who do not have Internet access at home significantly less often agreed with the statements that they learn the skills necessary for distance music learning, that they do so successfully, and that they benefit from independent learning to follow classes.It is obvious that having a home Internet connection is a crucial factor for successful distance learning.Likewise, statistically significant differences were found in relation to four variables with regard to owning a computer (Table 10).As expected, students who own a computer agreed to a significantly greater extent with the statements that at school they acquire the knowledge needed for distance music learning, that they have the support of their parents, that they successfully follow the lessons, and that the grades they receive are a reflection of their actual knowledge.Having one's own room was found to be a significant predictor for two variables, as indicated in Table 11.As anticipated, the students lacking access to private accommodations had lower levels of agreement regarding their ability to effectively engage in classes and acquire the requisite abilities within the educational setting.Statistically significant differences were found in three variables regarding the availability of the necessary digital tools for distance music learning (Table 12).In particular, students who think they have the necessary tools report that they have gained the knowledge required to observe such classes in school, that they are successful in doing so, and that teachers are more lenient in grading than they are in school.There were statistically significant differences in all of the variables examined regarding the Internet connection for distance music learning.As can be seen in Table 13, students who judge that they have a sufficiently high-quality Internet connection agreed to a greater extent with all the statements except for the statement that distance learning is demanding and stressful.Considering the obtained results, hypothesis H5 (There is no statistically significant difference in students' opinions on distance music learning based on sociodemographic factors (gender, grade, location of school, home conditions for distance learning)) is accepted.

Conclusion
As part of this work, research was conducted to determine the opinions of primary school students on distance music learning.The findings indicated that the majority of the students surveyed believe they have adequate conditions for distance music learning, that their parents and the school support them, that they are satisfied with the digital tools, and that they consider themselves successful in distance music learning.Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the research participants estimate that they acquire the same knowledge during distance music learning as they do during learning at school, and that distance music learning does not require a lot of effort and does not cause stress.However, the majority of the students believe that the school and local community do not organise enough workshops and courses that would make distance music learning easier for them.In specific situations, such as a pandemic, the school and community should respond more quickly.Of all of the sociodemographic variables examined, only the variable related to home conditions for distance music learning proved to be partially predictive.
We believe that future research should include an examination of students' and teachers' attitudes towards the achievement of educational outcomes related to the activities of listening to music, performing music and creating music.This would provide a more complete insight into this topic, which is current not only from the perspective of pandemics and other emergency situations, but also from the perspective of the increasingly strong implementation of digital and distance learning in the very near future as an integral part of the progress of technology and civilisation.

Biographical note
Jasna Šulentić Begić, PhD, is an associate professor in the field of music pedagogy and teaching methods of theoretical musical subjects at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, Croatia.Her main areas of research are music pedagogy, teaching methods of music, the competencies of teachers for teaching music, the lifelong learning of music teachers, intercultural music teaching, and music extracurricular and out-of-school activities of students.Amir Begić, PhD, is an assistant professor in the field of music pedagogy at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, Croatia.His research interests include pedagogy, music pedagogy, inclusive pedagogy, intercultural music teaching, the methodology of scientific research, the lifelong learning of music teachers, and extracurricular and out-of-school activities of students.
Daria Kurtić, prof., is a senior advisor of Musical culture and Musical art at the Education and Teacher Training Agency in Zagreb, Croatia.She is also an acting director in Education and Teacher Training Agency from July 2023.Her research interests include lifelong learning of music teachers, the competencies of teachers for teaching music, music teaching and learning, assessment in an online environment, and conducting a class in a virtual classroom.

Table 1
Description of the sample (N = 503)

Table 2
Students' opinions on the acquisition and evaluation of their knowledge and skills

Table 3
Students' opinions about school support

Table 4
Students' opinions about support from parents, school and the local community

Table 5
Home conditions for distance learning

Table 6
Students' self-assessment of success in distance music learning

Table 7 T
-test for independent samples with respect to grade

Table 8 T
-test for independent samples with respect to school location

Table 9 T
-test for independent samples in relation to home conditions

Table 10 T
-test for independent samples in relation to computer ownership

Table 11 T
-test for independent samples in relation to having one's own room

Table 12
Independent sample t-test in relation to tool availability

Table 13 T
-test for independent samples in relation to the quality of the Internet connection