Barton
Polot
is Assistant Professor of Music Education and Music Technology at the University
of Michigan
Michigan
Music Technology Conference 2001
Saturday 6 January
8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Forest Park H.S.
Crystal Falls
Thursday 18 January
8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Washtenaw Intermediate
School District
Ann Arbor
|
|
 BARTON
POLOT
  s
music teachers, we all know that technology continues to have an impact
on our lives. It impacts the way we teach music, the way we listen to
music, the way we create music, sometimes even the way we perform. Music
technology cuts across all disciplines in music education; its impact
can be felt by teachers of instrumental, vocal and general music, and
can be felt at all levels of instruction. Music technology includes
us all.
The theme of the annual music technology conference in January 2001 is
inclusion. Indeed, the plans for the conference include
many exciting changes.
This year's conference will include sessions for all music
educators, including teachers of choral and general music.
MSBOA, which has presented the conference since 1992, has agreed to share
the event with the Michigan Music Educators Association (MMEA), the Michigan
School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA)
and the Michigan chapter of the American String Teachers Association (MASTA).
To signify this historic coalition and collaborative commitment, the conference
has been renamed; it is now the Michigan Music Technology Conference.
Additionally, the 2001 conference will be presented twice. As per usual
it will be presented on Thursday 18 January in Ann Arbor, the day prior
to the Midwestern Conference.
The conference will also be presented on Saturday 6 January in Crystal
Falls. Yes, Michigan's Upper Peninsula! This is a special one-time
opportunity to include music educators for whom distance
has precluded coming to Ann Arbor. The 2001 conference will have no keynote
speaker. Rather, it will devote more time for hands on sessions covering
an unprecedented diversity of topics.
This conference also marks a first collaboration with Lentine's
Music of Akron, OH. Lentine's maintains a powerful commitment to music
education technology, conveyed this year by a major sponsorship that includes
hands-on synthesizers, software and presentations.
 Crystal
Falls Conference, Saturday 6 January
Forest Park High School will
serve as host for the U.P. conference. The school will provide a large room
for the opening general session, several rooms for breakout sessions. The
conference will also have access to the school's modern computer lab. Parking
is ample and free. Crystal Falls is central to the Upper Peninsula, approximately
a four hour drive from the Maniac Bridge.
Ann Arbor Conference, Thursday 18 January
The Washtenaw
Intermediate School District will again serve as host and co-sponsor
in Ann Arbor. Previous attendees know these facilities to be an ideal setting
for this high-tech event. Its conference rooms are versatile and are wired
for audio, video, distance learning and connectivity. Its computer
laboratory maintains 12 Pentium PCs and 12 Power Macintoshes
for instruction and hands-on exploration. Parking is ample, on-site, and
free.
In previous years attendance in Ann Arbor has surpassed two hundred.
In order to maintain a smooth operation for what promises to be one the
most popular conferences yet, we are limiting attendance at each conference
to two hundred participants, and will provide lunch only for pre-registrants.
You will want to pre-register.
Expect to see a conference
brochure in your mailbox shortly. In it you'll find a complete list
of events
and presenters,
directions
to both sites, and a pre-registration
form. Additional information and registration forms are available
from MSBOA and the Michigan
MusicTech Web site. Please register early and tell your colleagues
and friends. Registration, including lunch, costs just $35.
The Michigan Music Technology Conference is Saturday, January 6, 2001,
in Crystal Falls, and Thursday, January 18, 2001, in Ann Arbor. Both conferences
are 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Do include the conference in your plans for January.
|
