Music Education Blogs: More Than Just Diaries
By James Frankel
By now, you have probably heard of blogs – short for weblogs. Your students certainly have. Blogs are hosted on websites and usually contain journal-like entries from an author on a wide variety of topics. Some blogs are personal diaries, and some contain political views and opinions (made famous during the 2004 Presidential election). Some blogs are all about food, and some are focused on education. Blogs can contain text, hyperlinks to related websites, visual images, and short audio (often podcasts) and video clips. Anyone can create a blog – often for free – and anyone can read it. Additionally, most blogs allow readers to post comments -often creating an interesting dialogue between the author of the blog and the community that reads it. Readers can also subscribe to a blog by creating an RSS feed (similar to subscribing to podcasts) so that they get the latest postings. While there are many blogs out there about music, only a few are specifically focused on music education. The following is a listing of some of the best blogs about music education.
A Quick Word of Advice
Because blogs are hosted on web servers, almost all of them are accessible by anyone. Always bear in mind that what you write in your blog can be read by anyone – including fellow teachers, students, parents, and administrators. There are many stories of teachers who have posted things on their blogs about administrators and students who have been dismissed when the person mentioned discovered them. Most blogs are searchable on Google. DonÕt think your students donÕt Google youÉthey probably do. Be smart.
The Music Educators Network
http://collective.musiced.net/
This
website, created by Evan Tobias and Ted Love, is perhaps the best Music
Education blogging websites out there.
It is part of the Music EducatorÕs Network that Tobias and Love created
a number of years ago to give music educators a community to share teaching
ideas about music education, technology, and many other related topics. It is an extremely well run website
with fabulous blog entries from a number of talented music educators. While the main website (www.musiced.net) is currently undergoing some
updating, I strongly urge you to check out the blogging component of the site
and consider joining the Network.
By joining the network, members can create their own blogs and have
access to server space to host their own music department websites. I have found that all of the entries
(especially in TobiasÕ blog – http://etobiasblog.musiced.net)
have been extremely well written with many links to other relevant websites and
articles. Check out the site, post
your own comments, and join The Network.
Music
Education Blog at About.com
http://musiced.about.com/b/index.htm
This
blog is hosted on About.com – a website thatÕs been around for a decade
has over 500 ÒGuidesÓ who post daily blog entries and help visitors navigate
the Internet to find the meaningful content they are looking for. There are many different ÒchannelsÓ on
About.com, and one of them is on education. The Music Education Blog on About.com, guided by Espie
Estrella, contains daily posts on a wide variety of relevant topics –
everything from music for young children to sheet music and music theory
resources. One great feature is
ÒThis Day in Music HistoryÓ which lists important events in music history
– everything from birthdays to premieres. Another feature lists ÒMusic Education in the NewsÓ –
a great source for news stories about music programs across the country. While there are many advertisements on
the site (which help to support it), the content is excellent. There are many different topics to
choose from, everything from each containing great articles and links to
relevant websites. Best of all
– itÕs free!
The
Future of Music
http://gerdleonhard.typepad.com/
Gerd Leonhard is the coauthor of the Future of Music: A
Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution. His blog, titled The Future of Music, covers the convergence between music,
media, entertainment and technology.
There are many very interesting posts focusing on the latest news in the
world of music, media, and the Internet.
At the time of this writing, Digital Rights Management (DRM), blogging
resources, and the acquisition of YouTube by Google, are some of the recent posts – with links to articles and
related websites. This is a great
blog for anyone who is trying to stay ahead of the game in technology –
especially how it may affect music and the way we teach it.
The Midwest Clinic Blog
http://midwestclinic.org/blog/
The Midwest Clinic is one of the best conferences for band and
orchestra directors in America.
Held each December in Chicago, the Midwest Clinic features fantastic
performances by some of the countryÕs best bands and orchestras, and clinics by
some of the nationÕs top educators, conductors, and composers. This year, the Midwest Clinic has added
a blogging component to their website, hosting blogs by all of the directors of
the ensembles featured at the conference.
These blogs will detail their experiences at the conference. Eventually, the Midwest Clinic will
expand these blogs to include the experiences of the teachers and students who
attend the conference as well.
Music
For All
http://www.music-for
all.org/blog/
The Music For All Foundation hosts a blog about its latest news on
the music advocacy front. The
mission of the organization, which has recently merged with Bands of America,
is to expand the role of music and the arts in education, to heighten the
publicÕs appreciation of the value of music and arts education, and to create a
positive environment for the arts through societal change. The blog entries on the website detail
these efforts.
The
Digital Music Educator
http://digitalmusiceducator.wordpress.com/
This website, run by a Florida band director named Owen Bradley,
is focused more on the technology side of music education. The site has many entries about
specific technologies and how they can be utilized in the classroom. For example, in a post dated November
1, 2006, Bradley discusses how a student in his marching band came up with a
novel way of teaching rhythms using the popular video game Dance Dance
Revolution. In another post he lists links to
interesting articles about various types of technology. It is a great example of what music
teachers are doing with blogs.
Get Blogging!
There are many different ways to start your own blog – and
now is the perfect time to get blogging.
You can visit a number of different websites that offer free space on
their servers to blog. These
websites include:
You can also blog on social networking sites like www.myspace.com, www.friendster.com, and www.facebook.com - but I would be cautious
with these websites as your students are probably already members. Finally, www.musiced.net offers free blog space on their server to any music
educator who would like to start blogging. I would strongly recommend checking out this option. Each of the websites mentioned has
detailed instructions how to set up and maintain a blog.
As music educators, I believe that we all need to share our
expertise with each other.
Teaching music is a very noble profession, but it is also a very complex
one. Blogging is one way to share
your ideas with others, and a great way to get teaching and project ideas for
your classroom.
I have been blogging since this past September and I am thoroughly
enjoying it. Writing your ideas
down makes you think about the craft of teaching and the issues surrounding
it. Reading comments from other
music educators about your ideas is a very powerful interaction. I have titled my blog All Things
Technology, the focus of
which is the integration of technology into music education. There are tech tips, product reviews,
and other musings on a variety of related topics. Please visit my blog at: http://jamesfrankel.musiced.net. I welcome your comments and
suggestions. Happy Blogging!