ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how an online environment was used to connect students with the wider profession before practicum placement; connect people across geographic distances; expose students to 'real' problems; facilitate the formulation of workable solutions. It defines a form of collaborative learning as being that results from a dialogue between two or more people, in relation to a specific problem or issue. The chapter demonstrates the collaborative learning assists in the development of communication and interpersonal skills, and the benefits of collaboration can be exploited in a 'real world' or online learning environment. It highlights some of the ways that students can navigate an environment, building lifelong learning skills and strategies from early exposure to unfamiliar contexts and problems within a supportive, 'safe' environment. While early-career music teachers in Australia may be called upon to adapt to geographically remote and culturally unusual teaching environments, which typically occurs on campus in universities located around metropolitan centres.
