#MusEdChat is the hashtag that is used to represent a weekly Twitter chat that occurs on Monday nights be- tween music educators across the globe. Every week, at 8pm EST on Monday, dozens (sometimes hun- dreds) of music teachers gather on Twitter for one hour, and discuss ideas and thoughts regarding a specific topic in music education. The topic is decided by a poll each week, and the poll options are based on community-submitted topic ideas.
The sharing of ideas through #MusEdChat can be a fantastic way to get a new perspective on an old idea (like advocacy, music literacy, assessment, and curriculum). Discussions also include newer concepts, in- cluding the use of technology in the music classroom. For more information on joining a PLN through #Mus- EdChat, view the chat homepage at
http://musicedmajor.net/musedchat.
MusicPLN.org - The Music Educator’s PLN
Facebook has many advantages and disadvantages, but is a fantastic social net- work when it comes to connecting with the people you want to stay in touch with. However, it becomes challenging to separate personal from professional on the same platform. The second vital resource to any music educator looking to de- velop an online PLN is
http://MusicPLN.org. This website, founded by Dr. Joseph Pisano of
http://mustech.net, is designed to be a fully functional social network built by and for music educators. And best of all... it’s completely FREE!
The MusicPLN has a wealth of resources, most stemming from the groups fea- ture (
http://musicpln.org/groups). There are dozens of groups on the MusicPLN, specific to different areas of music teaching (music technology, conducting/score study, brass, woodwind, strings, composition, etc.). Each group is filled with discussion forum topics (
http://musicpln.org/forums) specific to the subject area of the group. With over 1,300 users and hundreds of conversations going on, The MusicPLN is a one-stop shop for round-the-clock professional development.
There are also some fantastic lesser-known features of the MusicPLN. The links repository (
http://musicpln.org/links) is a community-compiled list of relevant blogs/websites in the field of music educa- tion. Again, this list is sorted by category, and vetted to include only the most relevant and meaningful links. Additionally, just like Facebook, each user has a profile that allows you to connect to what they have to say. The MusicPLN is integrated with Facebook and Twitter, and will automatically pull in any selected Facebook updates and any Tweets including the #mpln hashtag. This integration allows the social connections to con- tinue growing, and lets users build their PLN to become even larger.
Why Wait??
The time has never been better for development of a Professional Learning Network using the internet and Social Media. Both participation in the MusicPLN and the #MusEdChat on Twitter are completely free, and take just minutes to become set up in. With the advent of these Social Media technologies, there is now eas- ier access than ever to 24/7 professional development. So what are you waiting for?? Start your PLN today!
Andrew Zweibel is a senior music education student at the University of Miami (Fla.). He is an active participant in the Univer- sity of Miami Band of the Hour, as a section leader since 2008 as well as the band captain since 2009. He also holds the posi- tion of president of the Miami chapter of the Florida Collegiate Music Educators National Conference. Andy is founder and editor-in-chief of
http://musicedmajor.net , a Web site dedicated to music education majors. In addition, he is the founder of #MusEdChat (music educators' chat) on Twitter. You can find more about Andy on his Web site/blog (
http://andyzweibel.com).
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