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Music Portal Insight

Introducing David Ashworth

Our Music portal manager is David Ashworth, a freelance education consultant, specialising in music technology. David has successfully led Lancashire Music Services' flagship ICT initiative ICreaTe for the last five years. and has been involved at a national level in most of the major music initiatives in recent years. David is project leader for www.teachingmusic.org.uk, and a consultant for Musical Bridges. His current research work is focusing on the use of mobile technologies in music education.

“The Music Portal comprises a collection of news, resources and links to some of the best music technology resources available. This portal is for all music teachers and practitioners working in formal and informal settings who are looking for ideas on how to use ICT to improve teaching and learning of music.
 
The recently published Ofsted triennial report “Music in schools: wider still, and wider” urges schools to use technology to promote creativity, widen inclusion, and make assessment more musical.  I hope that this portal will help teachers to address some of these challenges.
”
David Ashworth

Video guides

Have you thought of using a midi karaoke player to support and encourage classroom singing? Would you like to know how to add a soundtrack to a slideshow to explore how music can be used to enhance the mood of a visual display? How about using Audacity to create a sound collage using environmental, or 'found' sounds?

Our ever-expanding collection of video guides show how a whole variety of resources can be used to support learning & teaching.
 

View our free sample videos 'Dynamic Graphic Scores in PowerPoint' and 'Sound Collages using Audacity' for just a small taste of what the portal has to offer.

Top tips

Looking for a quick fix? Something different to spice up a lesson? Find out how to use QR codes to create an audio trail; use Morse code signals to generate rythym patterns for musical composition, or use Noteflight to compose and share music through a web browser. 

Follow our top tips and find some of the best music resources on the web in no time.
 

Content that matters

Searching the internet for quality materials and ideas is time consuming, so why not let us do the work for you? We’ll direct you to the best resources out there and offer advice about how to use them effectively to motivate students and enhance learning.

Watch this video to find out more.
  • Top tips
    Explore our library of links to useful resources for music education.
  • Video guides
    Follow our video guides explaining how and why different resources can be used to support teaching and learning music.
  • Blog watch
    Keep up to date with postings from influential and interesting bloggers.
  • News stories
    Find the latest news, reports and commentary relevant to music education.
  • Key events and CPD opportunities
    Events, activities and continued professional development opportunities for music teachers.
  • Collaborate with peers
    Share your thoughts and exchange ideas with teachers around the country.