This is part one of a three-part blog series (with cliffhangers) about my recent trip to the Music Technology in Education Conference held in Sydney from 11th to the 13th April. Part one will consolidate my overall experience and evaluation, part two will concentrate on my own presentations and part three will deliberate on the aftermath of MTEC2011 (pause for dramatic effect).
The Experience of MTEC2011
MTEC2011 (Music Technology in Education, not the Maritime Port & Technology Conference Google finds), left a significant impression on me for my own learning as well as the future learning of my students. As one would expect with a conference hosting wonderful guest speakers, innovative presenters and music educators from around the world how could this not happen? The interaction with music educators from various walks of life and knowledge of technology made great conversation and provided me with the chance to meet others from Twitter, MPLN and other online learning networks. Overall, I was touched to hear my own personal philosophy of music education find a voice in the presentations of key speakers David Price OBE, John Foreman & James Frankel. Their experience as musicians, arrangers and educators was insightful and comfortingly refreshing to those present: a sort of rally to invigorate the imaginations and energy of all the music educators present. As a strive in the classroom or guitar studio I will remember James Frankel’s words on the final day of the conference, that our goal in music education should be to “…create life-long lovers of music.”
MTEC2011 was organised & contributed to by many companies, SoundHouse, Allans & Billy Hydes, Roland etc but much of the organisational work has to be credited to Katie Wardrobe of Midnight Music & James Humberstone of Composer Home. The conference was a great success in bringing music educators together, providing a voice for their needs in the classroom and the means to create innovative resources.
Sessions
I attended as many sessions as I could to enhance my own learning of music and music technology. That is what made it so exciting, the chance to learn on a professional level from those who know their craft. For any teacher this is essential in remaining ‘up-to-date’ for their students. I have attached here a Google Docs File of My Notes from Keynote and Hands-on Sessions throughout MTEC2011. Feel free to add your own comments, edit and improve on them.
My own sessions will be mentioned in part two along with my notes in PDF format, links and videos. But for now, enjoy a photo of “engagement” in one of my sessions!
Other attendees have blogged about their MTEC2011 experiences and I would highly recommend their blogs as well:
• Music Teacher’s Network, Ben Smith – “#MTEC2011”
• Music Teach.n.Tech, Gabrielle Deschamps – “Back from MTEC 2011”
I Won!
Best of all, I managed to win a complete home studio package thanks to AVID (a sponsor of the conference) complete with Pro Tools 9, Monitors, and MBox 2, Axiom Keyboard, Plug-ins and more. This was definitely an inspiring conference but an incredibly constructive one as well. I was able to present, learn and come away with even more to create with.
Thank you AVID and MTEC2011!
Lastly I will leave you with the final Keynote address by James Frankel and a link to his presentation notes here on the Soundtree USA website.
Subscribe to my website as I will be undertaking a review of the Book “YouTube in Music Education,” purchased while at MTEC2011 because of the many questions that came up regarding the pros & cons of its use in the classroom.
Next Post: My MTEC Presentations & Resources (Hint: click the Spaaze lawn button)
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!