2021 TI:ME Technology Preconference Information
The pre-conference session videos will remain up and active for two weeks, You may log into the pre-conference site and continue to watch them on your own schedule.
If you pre-registered and did not get log in info for the preconference, it is because it is either in your junk filter, or your district is blocking email from MailChimp, we sent the info 3 times.
For pre-registered attendees only: your user name and password are
UN – First initial, Last name, for example John Doe would be JDoe
PW – MikeKovins!
They are case sensitive.
The URL is https://timeconference.musicfirstclassroom.com/login
This is not the login info for your TI:ME membership, you will receive that info later, your membership will be active March 1, 2021-Feb 28, 2022
If you wish to view the sessions and get the CPE/PD certificate and have not previously registered, please buy a new Individual Membership to TI:ME for $50 and when we get notice that you have joined, we will email you the login information for the conference.
Keynote – James Frankel
Teaching Guitar in a Virtual Learning Environment
Richard McCready
In this session, Richard McCready (TIME Teacher of the Year 2013) will present strategies and best practices for teaching successful guitar classes in a Virtual Learning Environment, including when all students are remote, and some are in the classroom. Participants will learn how to best set up their home or classroom studios to suit instruction and how to incorporate technologies such as Soundtrap, Bandlab, Jamstik, and online learning platforms.
The Interactive General Music Classroom
Shawna Longo
Have you ever found yourself wondering – with so many resources out there, where do I begin? This workshop will present practical teaching examples and best practices in using interactive content and resources. Expand your curriculum and your student’s engagement with and excitement for music using these tried-and-true tips and tricks for integration and organization.
Live Streaming Your Music Class: Equipment, Software, and Strategies
Will Kuhn
Need to teach music remotely but have no idea where to start? This session will walk you through creating a live-streaming teach-from-home setup and deploying interactive lessons to your students. We will be discussing software such as OBS, Streamlabs and Twitch for alternatives to the usual videoconferencing solutions, and walking the balance between live and prerecorded material to have maximum student impact over a distance. No experience required, and we will cover specific applications from elementary through college level instruction.
How to Improve the Student Online Learning Experience
Shana Kirk
Music educators with K-12 and Private Lesson backgrounds share their successes and challenges using technology for online music instruction. This panel of experienced music teachers, alongside an educational technology specialist, will help you navigate best practices for remote learning, and to help you identify effective tools, techniques and products to enhance and improve virtual music instruction for students.
Panel: Dave Gerhart, Tyler Swick, and Shana Kirk.
What the TECH are you talking about?!
Struggling to keep up with how to use all the technology in your music program? Wondering about MIDI devices, Bluetooth, recording, apps, DAWs, etc?! Then this session is for you! Come learn the need-to-knows of using tech in music programs and see many examples of solutions at all levels.
Music Technology Tips You Can Use Today
The Prestissimo “Essential Music Technology” series, published by Oxford University Press, is a collection of handy books containing tips and advice on how to incorporate technology into your music teaching situation easily. In this session, authors who have written books in the series will share their best tips from the books with you. This round-table style discussion will be led by series editor Richard McCready (TIME Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year 2013). There will also be a prize drawing at the session for free copies of some of the Prestissimo series books.
Link to the Prestissimo series at Oxford’s web site
List of Panelists
Robby Burns is a band director and general music teacher at Ellicott Mills Middle School in Maryland, where he is also an active performing percussionist and private instructor. He is the author of “Digital Organization Tips for Music Teachers” and hosts the blog and podcast Music Ed Tech Talk.
Michelle Chen is Senior Editor of Music Education and Performance at Oxford University Press. She joined OUP in 2020 and previously held positions at Palgrave Macmillan and Bloomsbury Publishing.
Dr. Rick Dammers is the Dean of the College of Performing Arts and Professor of Music Education at Rowan University. He is the co-author of the book “Practical Music Education Technology”, is the author of the technology chapter in the “Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States” and is the recipient of the 2010 TI:ME Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year Award.
Catherine Dwinal is the educational technology specialist working for QuaverEd and TI:ME’s 2014 Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year. Catherine is the author of “Interactive Visual Ideas for Musical Classroom Activities” and has the pleasure of working with thousands of educators from all over the country helping them to integrate technology into the classroom.
Norm Hirschy is Executive Editor for Books on Music at Oxford University Press. Prior to joining OUP in 2004, he studied at The College of Wooster and at The Ohio State University.
Ronald E. Kearns is a retired instrumental music teacher. He is the author of “Recording Tips for Music Educators”, as well as Quick Reference for Band Directors” and “Quick Reference for Band Directors Who Teach Orchestra” (NAfME/RLE Publishing).
Marjorie LoPresti is the US Digital Content Manager for MusicFirst, Adjunct Professor of Music Education Technology at Rutgers University, and co-author of “Practical Music Education Technology”. She was the recipient of the 2016 TI:ME Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year Award.
Peter Perry is the author of “Technology Tips for Ensemble Teachers.” He received the Brent Cannon Music Education Alumni Achievement Award from Kappa Kappa Psi, recognizing outstanding contributions to secondary music education; the Presidential Scholar Teacher Award; and a Japan Fulbright fellowship. He is in his 25th year as Instrumental Music Director at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland and is on the music education faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.
Lights, Camera, Action! Using Video to Promote Student Engagement
Stefani Langol
With the onset of Covid-19 and remote learning, music educators have had to move at warp speed to bring their classrooms and rehearsal rooms into students’ homes. While streaming services like YouTube, Vimeo, and social media sites are commonplace and have had the attention of our students for quite some time, the need to be the creator and not just the consumer of video is more important than ever! This session will look at the educational value of video in music education, and a wide array of intuitive video creation tools that both music teachers and students can use that will add a fun factor to student engagement and learning!
How to Improve Your Sound: The Important Basics of Signal Flow
Mark Lochstampfor
This session looks at the important basics of signal flow for music educators; how to effectively improve the quality of your final audio output by balancing each stage of the audio from input to final output, and how the order of audio processors yields different results. Different situations will be considered from remote teaching to live sound and recording.
At Home & In the Classroom: Bridging the Gap with Soundtrap
Barbara Freedman
Whether you find yourself teaching at home full time or you are back in the classroom and want the learning and music making to continue at home, the online software Soundtrap can be used by classroom teachers, ensemble directors of all grade levels with all devices. Appropriate for grades 5 – 12, it is an easy-to-use program that students can use to record, compose their own music, work in collaboration with other students, make podcasts, and share seamlessly it all with the teacher. This software is also outstanding and easy for teachers to create music to send to student, record your own voice or instrument, or make your own podcast! Learn the ins and outs on this software.
Session will include an overview of the software, how to record, adjust sound levels, editing audio, recording with MIDI or loops, and composing. Lesson suggestions will be included.
Teaching Ensembles and Applied Lessons in the Virtual Classroom
Floyd Richmond
Music performance poses special problems for the virtual classroom. This session will include tips and solutions from ensemble directors and applied music teachers for a number of different ensembles and instruments including winds, brass, strings, percussion, piano, and voice. Solutions for problems with common distance learning and virtual ensembles will be presented.
