Alvis Choi from Videotage and Barry Lee Music lecturer from Hong Kong Institute of Education curated a fabulous series of workshops for children at Videotage in Hong Kong. For more videos check out the Videotage Youtube channel.

What is most exciting in these videos is the use of media and music and sometimes silence to create very emotive video recordings. Many thanks to Professor Sam Leong and HKIE for supplying the Macbook computers for the workshop.

Purchase book from Amazon

Navigating Music and Sound Education has been specifically written for pre-service teachers who are studying music education curriculum or pedagogy subjects. It features the voices of leading international academics in the field to illuminate issues of importance in preparing pre-service teacher education students. The engaging examples provided in each chapter are drawn from real-life educational settings, and enable readers to critically explore the perspectives presented by the authors and consider the application of such perspectives in their future practice.

“We rarely have the opportunity and time to engage with the practicalities of music teaching through the lens of evidence based practice. This book provides us with a wonderful exception that is accessible to beginning and established teachers. It contains a wide range of stimulating and thought provoking material that draws on real-world experiences and events, which are contextualised, informed and structured by theory. This is a powerful combination that we can visit again and again for insight and inspiration. Congratulations to all involved, particularly the editors for shaping such a valuable contribution!” —Professor Graham F. Welch, University of London; President, International Society of Music Education

“Navigating Music and Sound Education draws together a range of issues increasingly acknowledged to be at the basis of reflective and effective music learning and teaching: social settings, cultural dimensions, gender, indigeneity, varying cognitive approaches, inter-disciplinary connections, technology, types of learning, and creativity. It opens up areas of pedagogy that go beyond classroom methodology to acknowledge student individuality and encourage music learning and teaching grounded in the reality of students’ musical and social lives. It will be invaluable for those training to become educators and for teachers already in the field.”
—Associate Professor Peter Dunbar-Hall, University of Sydney

“This book brings an important contribution to music teacher education as it challenges the readers to rethink their paradigms of music education. It highlights the importance of preparing a reflective teacher, autonomous, creative and conscious of the multifaceted and multicultural locus in which they will work. The book also draws on the importance for music teachers to consider the context in which they work, and establish a dialog between local musical traditions, informal music practices and global trends of music teaching and learning. Most importantly, all chapters are in one way or another derived from research carried out on specific areas, thus stressing the importance of the research informed practice in music education.” —Professor Liane Hentschke, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; International Society of Music Education Immediate Past President

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We will have interactive demos on Tuesday 29th June 2010. Those currently scheduled are:
Tuesday 29th June, 10:00 Wacom Tablets (Stuart Kaiser)
Tuesday, 29th June 11:00, Frames (Lindie Kolk, Tech4Learning)
Tuesday, 29th June 1:00, Pixie (Lindie Kolk, Tech4Learning)
Tuesday, 29th June 2:00 HyperStudio (Roger Wagner)
Tuesday, 29th June 3:00 Jam2Jam (Skyped from Australia, Bill Bauer)

Dr Andrew Brown Skype presentation live from Brisbane, Australia
Tuesday,29th June 3:30 ArtRage (Uwe Maurer)

Network Jamming researcher John Ong worked with Daniel Spirovski to provide hundreds of young people with a jam2jam experiences. Look here over the next week to see videos of their performances on our new Youtube channel.

Book now for School students for July 5 & 7, full day.   Families July 17, 24, 31 (11am-1pm).

jam2jam xo breaks the 10,000 download barrier in 2 months. http://tinyurl.com/3a4j9cf Congratulations to Thorin Kerr for putting smiles on the faces of children all over the world.

Reviews: Jam2Jam does many of things that make the XO such a powerful learning device - rather than being built around students doing their own thing, its centred on group sharing. I’ve found that quite apart from the music side of things, its great just for teaching students co-operation and listening skills. The included sounds/samples are a bit limited and electronic, but good enough to allow the virtual ‘bands’ to get going.Rated 4 out of 5 stars by jnxyz on May 24, 2010

The network jamming project creates new instruments for collaborative media performance. Network Jamming allows people to play music and do video remixing together in a local setting or over the internet. The project explores ways to enhance learning and community by designing interactive creative activities based on collaborative and generative digital technologies.

Five new generative media software products have been developed using user led design principles that can increase access to real-time creative interaction for novice users such as children and people with disabilities. The project has developed a theory of meaningful engagement with music making and published 22 refereed publications. Trial sites are currently operating in the USA, UK, Hong Kong New Zealand and Europe. For further information please see: http://www.jam2jam.com/

Dr Tim Kitchen about jam2jam

One of the many new Web 2.0 tools that I have enjoyed trialling in the classroom is Jam2Jam (http://timkitchen.net/jam2jam-strathcona-trial). At first it appears to be a simple music composition tool that requires little formal musical expertise. However on closer inspection, it is a very powerful tool for collaborative learning across an unlimited range of topics and subject areas.

Jam2Jam taps into the musical side of the brain as much as the visual and kinaesthetic. With the power to manipulate multiple sounds and well as multiple images in real-time through the use of simple sliders and buttons, it is an unequalled tool for communication. Add to that the ability to network jamming sessions over the Internet or local network to allow multiple users, it is also a powerful and fun collaborative tool.

The Network Jamming Team would like to thank ACID for its support over the past four years that has ensured the incredible success of this project. We thank the Apple University Consortium (AUC) for grant support and  generous support for public trials over the past ten years. Sincere thanks to Greg Dodge and Ellaways Music and Creactives for advice and support for public trials. A huge thank you to the enthusiastic young people and innovative teachers and researchers around the world who have helped us develop jam2jam.

Download Pro Audio Asia article here: Network Jamming