DEB KATZ

ave you ever wished that you could send an instant message to a colleague, parent or expert without having to dictate it to their secretary, squeeze it onto their answering machine or play phone tag? E-mail is today's convenient solution. 

Teachers throughout Michigan have affordable access to e-mail and many other services through Education Central, an electronic communication highway specifically designed to provide "a vehicle by which educators can exchange views and experience; questions and answers; broaden their collegial associations; and discuss educational issues and policy" while introducing teachers to the use of computers as on-line communication tools. All you need to have is a computer (Apple IIe or gs, Macintosh or any MS-DOS or Windows computer), a modem, a phone line and communication software. Unlike the commercial on-line services such as America On-line, CompuServe or Prodigy, there is no charge to register for an account with Education Central. Simply fill out the registration form choosing a username and password. There is no charge to use the Education Central System and it gives you access to e-mail, the Internet, discussion groups, governmental organizations, professional organizations and more. 

Once you are registered with Education Central, you can use the mail room to send e-mail to anyone (as long as you know their address) and to receive e-mail. You will be surprised at the number of teachers and parents who have e-mail addresses at home or at work. This is very convenient when you have limited time to spend on the telephone. You can leave an e-mail message for a parent when you are available. The parent reads it and responds when he or she is available, and you read that response when you are available. It may not provide that personal touch, but when efficiency is the critical issue, e-mail is often the answer. As a matter of fact, the 1995 MSBOA Music Technology Conference was planned primarily through e-mail communications. 

nother valuable use of Education Central is discussion and research. You can engage in electronic discussions on a variety of topics related to education. You may want to ask other teachers about the impact of local or state education reform on their school music programs, find other teachers who are MIDI users, ask about the best music software for a particular purpose, or look at how different schools are dealing with block scheduling. You can pose a question or you can review questions posed by others and read responses from educators across the state. Obviously, this is more effective if many teachers use it. When you open an Education Central account you expand the pool of teachers sharing information. You can also conduct keyword searches of various newsgroups and explore Gopherspace for information about anything you can imagine and many things you would never imagine!