In mid-February 2025, an academic and education policy exchange delegation led by Professor Junhyeong Park of South Korea’s Kyungpook National University (KNU) concluded their visit to Hong Kong. unwire.hk was honored to serve as their interview and reporting partner. One of the educational exchange activities took place at the Korean International School (KIS) in Hong Kong, where Miae Jeong, a Master Teacher specified in music and educational engineering from the delegation, delivered an extraordinary music lesson to seven grade 10 students. Integrating programming and electronic technology, this class left everyone, including our editorial team truly enlightened.
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A Cross-Disciplinary Music Lesson from Korea
In this guest lesson, teacher Miae masterfully blended music education with digital technology. She introduced Makey Makey, a programming education application that could transform any conductive object into a variety of musical instruments. Centered on the Maker learning approach, the lesson offered students an introduction to drumming. The students began with a hands-on activity, assisted by South Korean teachers from the delegation. They wrapped aluminum foil around variously shaped cardboard pieces and connected these to Makey Makey and a computer using conductive wire, instantly creating an electronic drum set. Under Teacher Miae’s guidance, they collectively accompanied BTS’s hit single Butter, filling the classroom with a lively and extraordinary atmosphere.
The innovation didn’t stop there. Teacher Miae further wove literature into music, guiding students to adapt Butter’s English lyrics into Korean while preserving the original meaning and mood, tailoring the new Korean lyrics to match the song’s melody and rhythm. This 1.5-hour interdisciplinary lesson spanned music, technology, literature, English, and Korean translation, culminating in a joyful group performance of the Korean-lyric version of Butter.
▲Professor Park also participates in assisting students in creating electronic drum kits during the class
▲Programming Interface Of The Makey Makey Educational Application
Technology Unleashes Music Education
Teacher Miae expressed great satisfaction with the lesson’s outcome. Afterward, she shared her philosophy: “As a music educator, my goal isn’t to turn students into musicians but to teach them how to enjoy music. I want every student to understand that even if they feel they ‘don’t know music,’ they can still find joy in it. AI and digital technology are amplifying this intent and the results it can achieve.” She noted that traditional instruments might intimidate students, but tools like Makey Makey offer a fresh entry point, connecting them with the beauty of music and making it more approachable. Teacher Miae believes music education fosters confidence, creativity, and an appreciation for aesthetics. Early exposure to it, she added, brings lifelong benefits. Grateful for technology, she said: “Technology shows more people that learning music requires no minimum threshold. Students don’t need musical talent to have the right to experience the miraculous benefits of music education.”
▲Teacher Miae believes that technology provides an easier entry point for many students who miss out on music education because they think they “don’t understand music”
A Two-Way Reflection on Technology and Education
Addressing AI’s profound impact on education, Miae calmly offered her perspective: “In education, considering what AI cannot currently do is just as crucial as exploring what it can achieve that we currently cannot. The greatness of technology lies in its ability to make education more inclusive, enabling more students to participate. We should fully leverage this tool.” At the lesson’s end, a student remarked: “This class felt incredibly fresh, offering me a completely new way to view music. I really enjoyed it.” This, undoubtedly, is the very goal Miae set out to accomplish.
