Do-it-yourself, do-it-together: Digital audio workstations in collaborative music teacher education

Music education faces the challenge of digitally transforming our pedagogical approaches to enhance teaching and learning. Digital audio workstations (DAWs) have emerged as powerful tools for connecting formal instruction with students’ everyday musical cultures. Positioned within frameworks such as popular music pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally sustaining pedagogy, urban music education and practices like do-it-yourself (DIY) and do-it-with-others (DIWO), DAWs allow learners to engage in culturally situated, participatory music-making. This study investigates the educational potential of Soundtrap, a cloud-based DAW, in teacher education. Using a quantitative, exploratory design, a questionnaire was administered to 289 undergraduate students in early childhood and primary education. Results show that students reported solid knowledge of the platform’s features and perceived meaningful learning gains, though they were less likely to engage in advanced creative functions (e.g. dynamic shaping or tonal changes). Collaboration emerged as a valued dimension, with participants recognizing the contribution of peers while expressing mixed attitudes towards online group formats. These findings highlight the role of DAWs in fostering digital literacy, expanding opportunities for collaborative and culturally relevant music practices and preparing future teachers to navigate technology-rich educational environments.