Amy M. Burns

Elementary Music Technology and Integration

Amy M. Burns has taught PreK-grade 4 general music for over 25 years at Far Hills Country Day School (FH) (https://www.fhcds.org/). She also teaches grade 5 instrument class, directs the FH Philharmonic, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory after being the director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on how to integrate tech into the elementary music classroom. She has presented many sessions on the topic, including four keynote addresses in TX, IN, St. Maarten, and AU. She is the recipient of the 2005 Technology in Music Education (TI:ME) Teacher of the Year, the 2016 New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA) Master Music Teacher, the 2016 Governor’s Leader in Arts Education, and the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), published by Oxford University Press (OUP) is available from OUP and Amazon. Burns is also the Community Coordinator for Midnight Music (MMC) at https://midnightmusic.com/, the General Music Chair for NJMEA Board of Directors, and the Elementary Music Consultant for MusicFirst (https://www.musicfirst.com/), a company built by music educators for music educators, dedicated to helping music teachers and their students make the most of technology in the classroom.

#techtiptuesday Check out the Bite-Sized PD from Midnight Music!

July 16, 2024  /  Amy M. Burns

Katie Argyle's Midnight Music has introduced the Digital Badge project. This initiative allows educators, especially music educators, to acquire digital badges (micro-credentials) for various essential tech skills in a convenient PD format. Each badge is verified, contains supporting evidence, and is designed for effortless sharing with administrators, colleagues, or prospective employers.

These digital badges give you a choice of what you want to learn and when you want to learn it. Each badge is verified, embedded with linked evidence and they are meant to be shared. These badges are meant to be earned in a short amount of time while utilizing important tech skills. They are like short snippets from a larger course. The beauty of Midnight Music is that if you want to learn more about a certain skill or badge, then you can take the longer, more in-depth course found in the community.

The first batch of the collection launched yesterday in the States. The growing collection of Midnight Music badges will cover music-specific skills such as how to digitize your sheet music, how to split tracks of an audio file, understand music file types, create rhythmic patterns, and so much more. It will also include skills for creating manipulatives, posters, video editing, and working with some AI tools, to name a few. Finally, you will also learn how to utilize everyday tech skills like what to do when a website is not working, how to record your screen with great sound quality, how to make QR codes that play audio or video files, how to create GIFs, and more!

Tech Skills the Digital Badge Project Offers:

  • Specialized music-related tech abilities like digitizing sheet music, audio editing, and knowledge of music file formats.

  • Broad tech skills including website problem-solving, screen recording with top-notch sound, GIF creation, and producing QR codes for audio and video files.

  • Membership offers entry to webinars, tech classes, teaching materials, tools, and additional resources.

To learn more about the Digital Badge Project, Katie’s Midnight Music PD Community, and more, please click here (https://secure.midnightmusic.com/digital-badge-project)!

Coming Soon!

New rhythm play-along with manipulatives launching this Sunday!

Music: Smokey’s Blues by TrackTribe is found in the Audio Library of YouTube.

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