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National Core Arts Standards Public Review: Music and Media Arts for your consideration

The Core Arts Standards are now available for public review. A video orientation helps in providing some background information but you will probably want to take a look at the conceptual framework of the core arts standards as well. It is critical that music educators participate in the public review process, analyze the proposed standards, provide specific feedback and critique, and propose potential alternatives if they are not satisfied with those proposed. It may be helpful to consider concrete examples… Read More »National Core Arts Standards Public Review: Music and Media Arts for your consideration

A warning on moving from complex goals to discrete and disconnected tasks

Grant Wiggins (of Wiggins & McTighe’s Understanding by Design) recently highlighted the issue of breaking things into little bits in education. new post on the error of breaking complex goals into itty bitty pieces & marching thru them, & the warning on c core: http://t.co/hwLHJAYgmk — Grant Wiggins (@grantwiggins) April 20, 2013 He focuses on the following excerpt from the High School Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Fragmenting the Standards into individual standards, or individual… Read More »A warning on moving from complex goals to discrete and disconnected tasks

Considering the “next great copyright act”

Wired recently published an article titled “Copyright Chief Urges Congress to Produce ‘Next Great Copyright Act’ regarding upcoming testimony on copyright to congress.  As Mitch Stoltz and Parker Higgins from the Electronic Frontier Foundation state “if it’s open season on the Copyright Act, let’s be involved from the start.” Music educators ought to be a part of any conversation concerning new copyright laws. Whether addressing issues related to engagement with digital music or what students and teachers can or cannot do… Read More »Considering the “next great copyright act”

Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds

Tobias, E. S. (2012). Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds. In G. McPherson & G. Welch (Eds.), Oxford handbook of music education (Vol. 2, pp. 531-548). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199928019.013.0035 This chapter examines the ways video games promote musical learning and engagement. It begins by outlining the background and current scope of music-focused video games. It then situates video games in terms of new literacies. Next, it provides a theoretical framework that supports… Read More »Let’s play! Learning music through video games and virtual worlds

Awareness of State School Board Association Perspectives on Music Education?

In December of 2011 the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) released a report entitled “The New 3 Rs: Reducing, Restructuring and Redesigning.” The NYSSBA New 3 Rs website includes the following text in refererence to the report: “The New 3 Rs analyzes the impact of the state’s new property tax cap on school districts, provides recommendations for state lawmakers to allow schools to operate more efficiently, and suggest ideas for local school boards to consider in order to… Read More »Awareness of State School Board Association Perspectives on Music Education?