Meet the speaker: Jim Frankel

Workshop Theatre 13:55-14:30

Jim Frankel is the head of digital education for the Music Sales Group, and director of MusicFirst. Previously, he was the managing director of SoundTree, the Educational Division of Korg USA, and before that he was the instrumental and general music teacher at the Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey for 11 of his nearly 15 years in the state's public schools.

He completed his master's degree and Doctor of Education degrees in Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia in 2002. He has been teaching courses on music technology at Teachers College since 1999.

He is a widely published author in various state, national and international journals of music education. In addition to his writing, Frankel is a highly sought-after clinician in the local, national and international music education communities. He is on the board of directors for TI:ME (Technology in Music Education) and is the past president of ATMI (Association for Technology in Music Instruction).

Jim Frankel will introduce the award-winning MusicFirst Classroom – a cloud-based, affordable resource for creativity, music learning, and assessment — all in an easy-to-use platform, accessible anywhere, anytime on any device.

As technology has become an integral part of our lives, there is no surprise it has also become an integral part of education. Often unaffordable and tricky to understand, finding technology that works is a challenge many music teachers face. In this session, you will be introduced to ground-breaking cloud-based solutions to address technological changes in schools. The award-winning MusicFirst Classroom is an incredible new way to integrate technology into any music curriculum. This cloud-based, affordable resource offers tools and software programs that provide opportunities for creativity, music learning, and assessment—all in an easy-to-use platform, accessible anywhere, anytime on any device.

Learning objectives:

• Discover interactive, powerful online applications for teaching students about music, instruments, ensembles, genres, and composers
• Learn about simple ways to get started with music creation and beat-making, regardless of a student's musical background
• Find out how you can provide for every student enabling them to explore and be creative outside of the classroom
• Learn about MusicFirst's tools for generating customised lessons and assessments
• Find out what essential resources are on offer for GCSE and A Level
• Learn how teachers can afford more time during the school day by providing students with accessible tools.

Teachers will be given login credentials following the session to explore the platform and software. The range of material being shown throughout the showcase makes this a must-see session for any music educators working with students in Key Stages 3-5.

MusicFirst's impressive software catalogue includes Focus on Sound Pro, which was reviewed in the March 2019 issue of Music Teacher (page 73). Focus on Sound Pro is a comprehensive learning package that seeks to complement your classroom teaching through online lessons and tests. We were ‘very impressed by the range of content on offer and the amount of detail that each lesson goes into’ and thought that it did a great job of complementing and supporting the work of music educators. This is just one aspect of what MusicFirst offers and this session will show you a multitude of ways that you can integrate technology into the music classroom.

Don't miss out on your chance to see this session on 10 October at Old Trafford. Register for FREE now to guarantee entry and receive regular updates about the Expo, as well as news and deals from our partners. Just visit musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/manchester to find further details about the sessions and speakers.