#educonmoto

I love MOOCs.  They are truly an amazing resource, certainly the ones that I have participated in.  A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course, an internet based course with unlimited participation, and they are FREE!  They are the next step in distance learning and are being run by lots of establishments, including many of the top universities around the world.  There are courses in most fields and, while some are profession specific, lots of them require little or no prior knowledge in the area.  I quite fancy the one on forensics for beginners!  

I have completed ones in Music Technology, Music History, Music Production and am about to embark on 2 new ones. The first is the ‘Critical Listening for Studio Production’, run by Queen's University, Belfast, and the second is  ‘Conversations that Inspire: Coaching Learning, Leadership and Change’, run by Cape Western Reserve University.  They will help with important but vastly different areas of my Continuous Professional Development whilst giving me the flexibility to complete the work in my own time, something that I am grateful for as a full-time working parent.  The time commitment of each MOOC varies, mine from 3 weeks to 8 weeks, with a commitment of between 2 and 8 hours a week.  They often run several times a year, so if one particular start date is not convenient, do not fear, chances are it will be starting again shortly.   

The Young People’s Concert conducted by Robin Browning was an incredible success.  I have had so much positive feedback, from both performers and audience members. It has been quite overwhelming!  People are now asking when the next one is going to be so I am busy, beavering away, securing the arts funding to make sure that we CAN repeat it next year.

We have numerous other, crazy yet exciting plans that are currently being formed, all of which are equally exciting.  I have set up a Facebook page for our department so that we can easily publicise each of our events - nothing innovative, but new and exciting for us!

www.facebook.com/stpetersmusicdept

The next 2 projects currently being worked on are a concert involving key stage 3 students, performing the South African Protest Music of Hugh Masekela (with arrangements by saxophonist (Jason Yarde) and a project with the British Council and e-Twinning, linking us with schools in Ukraine and Armenia. More on both of these shortly.