Thursday, January 22, 2009

Alex Ruthmann presents Keynote at Michigan Music Conference


Technology fluency and the ability to think creatively are two skills highly prized by employers in the 21st Century knowledge-based economy. As music educators, we are intimately familiar with the possibilities our music classes provide for developing these skills in ways that are personally meaningful and engaging for students. However, new developments in interactive online and portable computing are inspiring totally new cultures of engaging with and experiencing music. In a world where our children and students touch the screens of iPhones or move Nintendo Wii controllers in a whole-body approach to experiencing music, it is imperative that we take the time to understand these new modes of music making and to learn how to better connect to our students' increasingly complex techno-musical culture within our music classes. Today's technologies are enabling a more active engagement with music than ever before. This presentation will offer small glimpses into the musical worlds of today's students and offer insights into how we as music educators can support this culture within our school programs.



This extended, hands-on workshop will engage participants with area students in a variety of composing projects. This workshop will focus on how to develop an in-class peer-learning network where students along with the teacher support each other musically and pedagogically. In our dialogue with actual students, special attention will be paid to how the design of the composing experience can enable or hinder students' creative thinking and expression. 

All links and presentation slides are available on Alex Ruthmann's blog at http://www.alexruthmann.com/blog/mmc-2009/.

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