Alan Cameron's Edublog Learning in the 3rd Millennium 

On Monday 2nd August I was delighted to pay a visit to the Polycom Office in Beijing where Hattie Tong very kindly gave me a full tour of the facilities. Teachers and students in Dumfries & Galloway schools in Scotland have found our Polycom video conference systems easy to use and very effective for learning and teaching.

I had a great chat with Hattie over a cup of coffee. And thanks Hattie, for taking these pictures!

In 2008 the bassoon quartet ‘Acer Saccharum’ from Berkshire Maestros made up the entire bassoon section of the National Children’s Orchestra. In August 2010 they participated in presentations at the ISME Beijing conference. A truly excellent young group of musicians.

I’m looking forward to developing a distance learning link for double reed players with Helena Gaunt (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London). We’ve got some great young oboe and bassoon players in Dumfries & Galloway who would benefit from video conference sharing with young people in England.

My favourite concert presentation of the week at ISME, Beijing was, without a doubt, Louhikone. Formed by 2 twin sisters, Sini Lokivouri and Muti Ikonen with their husbands Jukka and Hannu, the ensemble consists of their families of 5 children and 2 grand children. Finland’s answer to ‘The Corrs’  –  absolutely brilliant!

The Winthrop Singers of UWA (Australia)

The 29th ISME World Conference was enhanced greatly by some wonderful concert presentations by young people from all over the world. It was impossible to attend all the concerts, but I’d like to highlight those I did see, and really enjoyed.

Louhikone (Finland)

The Aum-Auree Ensemble (Thailand)

Acer Saccharum (Berkshire, England)

Young Viennese Soloists (Austria)

One of the highlights of my recent trip to China was the stunning view from my plane flying at 35,000 feet over the Himalayan mountain range. A vast expanse of snow capped mountains, possibly the most amazing sight I’ve ever seen!

The enthusiastic helpful team of volunteers

Well, here I am at the ISME (International Society for Music Education) conference at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing, China. It’s been a really interesting week, meeting colleagues from across the world. Funny to come to China and make plans with fellow educators in the UK for collaborative work! Hoping to develop some distance learning opportunities for Dumfries & Galloway students with Helena Gaunt (and her students) at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Went out with fellow distance learning practitioners Fred Rees (USA), Matti Riuppo and other Finnish friends last night for a very interesting meal. The fish put in a brief live appearance before heading for the kitchen. His very last gig.

I think I'll be a xylophonist when I grow up

China National Convention Centre

Our work teaching kids instrumental music lessons via Video Conference in Dumfries & Galloway Council has met with great interest, particularly from Australian, Canadian, Scandinavian and USA colleagues.

Matti Ruippo and Fred Rees discussing Distance Learning