Sunday, November 13, 2011

NCMEA Annual Conference Links and Notes


This weekend, I attended the North Carolina Music Educators Association annual conference in Winston-Salem. In addition to attending some inspirational workshops, exploring the exhibits (and making quite a few purchases for my program), and hearing various all-state ensembles and choirs, I presented three music technology clinics as a part of NC TI:ME. Below are some notes and links from the presentations.

iPads in General Music

Here is a link to the Prezi I created for this workshop. In it, you'll find the names and prices of all the apps we discussed, and some ideas for integrating iPads into your curriculum.

Please also visit my iPad App Mega-Lists to read more about apps and see some screenshots.


Using iPads to teach a composition-based curriculum

Many of the ideas in my Prezi are for composition-based projects. I frequently write about my students' composition projects on my blog.


Using What You Have: Technology for the Imperfect Classroom

The best resources for the online music educator: the Music Educators' Personal Learning Network, and the National Association for Music Education

Two of my favorite tools for the classroom, planning, and personal use: Curio (Mac only), and Evernote (works on any platform including mobile)

For flexible, paperless lesson planning on the Mac, PC, or iPad, I use Jeff Hellman's Planbook

To keep a database of my students and their work, I use Bento

The eBeam Edge, a less expensive interactive whiteboard option


Portable, affordable, and durable MIDI entry keyboard: the Akai LPK 25

My favorite USB microphone for podcasting or performance: the Blue Snowball

RC Trackpad--turn your iOS device into a magic trackpad for your computer


Noteflight--free, web-based music notation software.

Indaba Music--free, web-based DAW, for audio recording and/or MIDI, with social networking features

Soundcloud--share audio tracks in the cloud

The Petrucci Music Library--a huge collection of public domain scores and recordings

ArtsEdge--activities and lesson plans



Explore the orchestra at Play Music

I'll be putting my recorder and ukulele Keynotes online soon. In the meantime, you can check out my beginner's ukulele tutorials on YouTube.

And, finally, I must put a link to my incredible school, a magical place that encourages teachers and students to explore their passions!

1 comment:

muzicman63 said...

I have been enjoying your blog and look forward to learning more of what you taught at the NCMEA conference, since I wasn't able to attend. I wondered if you have tried using an Apple TV with an iPad? You can have wireless video and audio from your iPad projected to your whiteboard and audio through your sound system via AirPlay Mirroring. I tried it briefly in my classroom and it worked very well. One caveat, there is an audio delay with the Touch Instruments in GarageBand. I returned the Apple TV because I heard a new version is coming out "very soon" and hope it will address this. Even so, I found it very useful for projecting music, etc. and great potential for kids to share their work with the class, etc. Just thought I'd pass this along and wondered if you have tried it. I plan to purchase one "for keeps" in the new year. BTW, for my projector I needed a HDMI to DVI converter and an optical to analog audio converter. But on Amazon I got both for around $25. Thanks again for the great blog. -Joe