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Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only changing the way music is created and produced; it is also changing the way we act. Through the use of AI, new music is being created every day, and it can already be found in many places—such as in the playlists of various streaming services—and thus also on the smartphones of many students. As AI increasingly becomes part of their everyday lives, various stakeholders in education policy are calling for students to learn a self-directed, critically reflective approach to AI in school (KMK 2024, UNESCO, 2025).
The goal of this professional development program is therefore to empower teachers to encourage their students—using the example of songwriting—to adopt such a critical and constructive approach to AI. Teachers should be equipped to help students experience the influence of AI on creative processes and to encourage them to reflect not only on the technology itself but also on how they interact with it. For this reason, the goal is to foster a post-digital, hybrid music practice (Buchborn & Treß, 2023). To address ethical aspects of AI use, the professional development program repeatedly refers to the technology-critical model of the Technology Education Iceberg (Krutka et al., 2023).
The professional development program gives teachers the opportunity to first familiarize themselves with songwriting using AI, to develop and test their own lesson plans as part of a professional learning community, and then to critically reflect on them.
Based on DigComp (Vuorikari et al., 2022) and DigCompEdu (Redecker, 2017)
- Teachers explore AI tools and apply them in artistic and practical songwriting processes (DigComp 5.3).
- Teachers reflect on post-digital creative processes in terms of legal, ethical, and moral implications, as well as questions of originality, ownership, and creativity (DigComp, 3.3, 4.2).
- Teachers develop teaching and learning scenarios for songwriting with AI and support and guide students’ independent, artistic-creative processes (DigCompEdu, 3.1).
- Teachers reflect on their teaching within the framework of a professional learning community (DigCompEdu, 1.3).
Course Structure
The professional development program is designed as a blended-learning event. It consists of a total of four phases:
- a self-study phase with materials on subject-specific and pedagogical knowledge related to songwriting and AI,
- a full day of in-person instruction (8 hours), divided into a phase of creative group work and a phase of lesson planning within a professional learning community,
- a trial phase lasting several weeks, during which teachers implement their lesson plans in their own classrooms,
- a half-day (2.5 hours) dedicated to reflection and discussion within the professional learning community.
The following figure provides an overview of the structure of the entire professional development program:
The structure of the professional development program is based on a guide to the development and design of teacher professional development programs by Sobbe et al. (2025). In accordance with the authors’ recommendations, the training program is divided into phases of input, experimentation, and reflection. Designed as a blended learning course with an online self-study module, it offers teachers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with various aspects of making music with motion capture tools—based on their own prior knowledge and interests—even before the in-person phase begins. The modular structure also enables teachers to put what they have learned into practice between learning units and to reflect on their experiences during the trial phase in the final module as part of a professional learning community.
Schedule for the Full Day
The full day essentially consists of a creative group work session on songwriting with AI in the morning, followed by reflection on that session and the development of participants’ own lesson plans in the afternoon.
To prepare for the training, participants may be asked to provide brief statements or keywords about their own experiences with songwriting and/or AI (e.g., via email, voice message, etc.). These can be compiled into a Wordle and presented after the introductory round.
Time, Content, and Duration of the Phase | Material |
|---|---|
8:50 a.m. Arrival (10') iPads are set up in the room with the Google Instrument Playground open on them. Participants are asked to explore it in pairs. | iPads, and, if necessary, a QR code for Google Instrument Playground |
9:00 a.m. Welcome & Overview of the Day (30') A welcome address in the plenary session will be followed by a brief round of introductions by the participants (e.g., name, school, experience with songwriting, experience with AI). If appropriate, a Wordle or similar tool will be used to provide an overview of the participants’ experience with songwriting and/or AI. | |
9:30 a.m. Introduction to Songwriting (45') Step 1: The class listens to an AI-generated song (such as Black Hole by Rosalie Heep) as a group. The teachers share their thoughts on the following statement:
Answers are written on Metaplan cards and displayed for everyone to see. An explanation follows. | Song, speaker, Metaplan cards, pens, projector, laptop |
Step 2:_ The Songcircle is introduced as the starting point for the training. The following points are emphasized:
| Projector, laptop |
Step 3: A key aspect of this professional development program is expanding teachers’ own artistic practice by incorporating AI into songwriting. You are asked to engage in a creative process. To help with preparation, here is an overview of the structure of the lesson modules, explaining which information can be found under each heading (e.g., Prompts & Protest). The task of writing a song is introduced. | Projector, laptop |
10:15 a.m.: Break (15') | |
10:30 a.m. Songwriting (120') The participants form groups. Each group writes a song together. The teachers refer to information from the lesson modules as needed. | Instruments, iPads or laptops |
12:30 p.m.: Break (60') | |
1:30 p.m. Workshop Concert (30') Each group will present its findings to the entire group and briefly describe its approach. | Speaker |
2:00 p.m. Reflection on the Artistic Process (45') In groups, the teachers discuss the following prompts:
After a brief report from the groups, individual aspects will be explored in more depth in a plenary session. If necessary, in-depth questions from the Technology Education Iceberg can be used. | Plenary session |
2:45 p.m.: Break (15') | |
3:00 p.m. Lesson Planning (75') In a plenary session, the [Song Stripe](https://openmusic. academy/docs/qcfxEcFAGMavMa3ngFv1Ew/songwriting-mit-ki) and the Four-Space Model are briefly introduced. This is followed by another reference to the lesson modules. Teachers form groups based on similar teaching interests. Together, they develop ideas, outline lesson plans, and, if necessary, create initial drafts of teaching materials. They record their thoughts on a poster. If necessary, they schedule meetings for further collaboration within the group or with individual members. | Posters, pens |
4:15 p.m. Wrap-Up (25') Using their posters, the groups report to the plenary session on the status of their planning. | Posters |
4:40 p.m. Outlook (5') If necessary, the plenary session may refer to specific subpages of the public seminar “Songwriting with AI.” This is followed by an outlook on the remainder of the training session. | |
4:45 p.m. Feedback on the Day In the plenary session, the teachers respond to the following prompts:
| |
Schedule for the Half-Day Session
The half-day session is designed for collective reflection on the pilot project and for in-depth discussion within the framework of a professional learning community. It therefore includes two group sessions during which teachers share insights into “their classrooms” with one another.
Content & Social Form | Material |
|---|---|
2:30 p.m. Welcome & Arrival (15') After a brief welcome in the plenary session, teachers are asked to write one keyword related to classroom testing on each of two Metaplan cards. All cards are placed on the floor and sorted together to form a large display. | Metaplan cards, pens |
2:45 p.m. Start of the experience-sharing session (15') This plenary session serves to facilitate the subsequent formation of groups. To this end, each teacher—or, in the case of collaborative teaching, each team of teachers—will describe in two to three sentences what took place in class. | |
3:00 p.m. Practical Exchange of Teaching Experiences (30') In groups with similar teaching approaches, teachers discuss the following topics:
| If applicable, a QR code for a platform where teaching materials can be shared |
3:30 p.m. AI-Related Exchange of Experiences (30') If they wish, participants can form new groups. There, they will discuss the following topics:
If time permits, the following topics can be addressed:
| If applicable, a QR code for a platform where teaching materials can be shared |
4:00 p.m.: Break (15') | |
4:15 p.m. Group Reports (15') In the plenary session, the groups briefly report on key findings from their most recent discussion. | |
4:30 p.m. Listening Session / Outlook (15') If desired, songs created by students can be played, or teaching materials can be presented and discussed in a plenary session. Alternatively, there will be time for a final look at opportunities, conditions for success, obstacles, risks, and future prospects related to songwriting with AI. | Speaker, projector, laptop |
4:45 p.m. Feedback on the Training Session In the plenary session, the teachers respond to the following prompts:
| |
Alternative Suggestions for the Training Concept
In general, the materials can be used flexibly and are also suitable for delivering an online training course. If there is less time available than specified or if a greater focus is desired, the following suggested changes could be considered, for example.
Full Day:
- Ask participants to create specific parts of the final product in advance, e.g., song lyrics, chord progression
- Limit creative group work to one or more lesson modules, to one digital tool per lesson module, or to writing a single song section (e.g., chorus)
- Divide tasks in creative group work: each group works on a different lesson module, and the results are then shared in a plenary session
- Joint, extended exploration of a single tool in a whole-class setting, followed by a shorter creative group work phase using another tool
Half-day:
- Materials are shared online in advance
- Only one phase of discussion
- Instructors are asked to submit keywords related to their experiences in advance; discussion focuses on specific topics arising from these keywords
License: The logos shown are excluded from the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.
These materials were developed by the Freiburg University of Music and the Freiburg University of Education in cooperation with continuing education instructors from the ZSL Freiburg. They are part of the KuMuS-ProNeD project.
The development and production of these materials are funded by the European Union—NextGenerationEU—and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth. For more information, visit lernen.digital. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the European Commission, or the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth. Neither the European Union, the European Commission, nor the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth can be held responsible for the content.
The logos shown are exempt from the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.
