Baseball Beth and her keyboard/composition student, Jake
My friends call me Baseball Beth. In addition to being a fervent fan of America’s greatest pastime, I’m a MakeMusic employee, a piano composition instructor, and a show director at a local music school. I’ve recently discovered a great music education resource that I’d like to share with others, and I’ve been invited to be a guest blogger on the SmartMusic blog to do so.
The resource I’m referring to is the Weekly Twitter Discussions on Music Education, or #musedchat. It is a great music education resource with a frequent emphasis on technology.
The discussion relates to curriculum ideas in the music classroom. Recent topics have discussed repertoire selection and how music technology programs can benefit high schools. It’s a great place for music educators to get together and share ideas about what works, what doesn’t, or what they’re too afraid to try without someone else’s advice.
One of the greatest benefits of #musedchat is that it offers a place to learn from both experienced music educators AND music education students. The mix of experience is priceless. Participants frequently share links and blogs of stories, ideas, and games for the music classroom, as well as politics and other issues that affect their students’ experience.
I’ve come to depend on #musedchat to keep me current as an instructor, and I also find it beneficial in my role as a MakeMusic employee as I provide my feedback on the development of our products. I encourage all those interested in music education and technology to check it out.
Finding the chat is simple. It takes place every Monday evening at 7:00 PM CST. Once you’re logged in to Twitter, search #musedchat to find the conversation. Dr. Joseph Pisano has published an excellent “getting started” page here. If you’re not available to chat on Monday evening, you can download a transcript of the chat the next morning at http://musicedmajor.net/musedchat/.
Each week, the organizers of #musedchat post a link to a voting page where anyone can vote on what to discuss next. Jump online and vote, and maybe we’ll chat next Monday.