This morning, I gave a presentation for our Toledo Piano Teachers Association meeting. TPTA is a small, very friendly group of teachers who are interested in learning new things. We meet once a month and generally we take turns giving the programs — although occasionally we bring in outside guest speakers.
My topic was “iPad Apps for Piano Teachers.” I began with some important introductory comments about responsible incorporation of technology into education, and then I launched into some of my favorite apps and what roles they play in the education process. Most of the apps I talked about are ones that I have reviewed before here on my blog.
It was a fun morning! I always look forward to our monthly TPTA meetings.
Tech specs, for those interested: I used a $13 piece of software called Reflector to turn my MacBook into an AirPlay receiver. My MacBook was connected to my projector using HDMI. (There are simpler ways to connect an iPad to a projector, but this was the cheapest/easiest way for me at the moment.) Using AirPlay from my iPad means that I could walk around wirelessly with my iPad, which was nice. AirPlay/Reflector requires that both the Macbook and the iPad be connected to the same network and I didn’t have internet access at the church, so I brought along my AirPort Express to create a non-Wifi network. This kind of network is actually much more reliable than a Wifi network is, so that was a bonus. I had to haul along a lot of stuff with me to make this all happen, but fortunately it worked pretty smoothly!
I’ve added this iPad presentation to my list of workshops on my personal website. My next scheduled presentation will be during the Young Professionals Track on Pedagogy Saturday of the 2015 MTNA National Conference in Las Vegas next month. My topic: “Harnessing the Power of the Internet: Blogging and Social Media for the Musician.” Maybe I’ll see some of you there!