Monday, May 13, 2013

The MME Network: Introduction & Membership - Musical Media For Education

The MME Network: Introduction & Membership - Musical Media For Education:


The MME Network: Introduction & Membership

posted 3 weeks ago

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Welcome to the proto-MME Network. I am Lance Fialkoff, the community facilitator.
I am a veteran Social Studies educator who has worked for public schools, diversity/college access non-profits, private curriculum content providers, distance learning companies and regional educational cooperatives.
Since I began teaching more than 25 years ago, music has always been at the heart of my work, especially where music and other forms of artistic expression meet the Social Studies curriculum as project work and/or community collaboration. I founded Musical Media for Education (MME) in 2003 and it has evolved rapidly, giving rise to the MME Network in formation.
The MME Network is an experiment in social media and citizenship in a democratic forum based on an appreciation of diversity, dialogue, conscious communication, advanced social organization, compassion, and the potential for new social forms to solve local to global problems quickly. The proto-network is already brimming with life and will become deeply textured in a short period of time as people meet and begin to collaborate to learn and solve problems.
As Community Facilitator I will seed and nurture conversations, share information through private and community streams, and designate special areas where people can expect to work on particular topics. I also hope to play DJ and share 5 second vacations whenever possible. My role, like this whole experiment, contains an element of improvisation, so I can’t map out precise community guidelines at this point. For the most part, I think the community will define itself organically. 
MME Network Membership Benefits
Membership Benefit #1: Bring Change—K12 Redesign
Together we will bring change at the micro (individual, community) and macro (society) levels. Our first large scale project will be a holistic redesign of K12 education, with other initiatives germinating simultaneously. Working free of the usual institutional constraints, in accordance with evolving practices of democratic e-collaboration, we will offer a new vision for K12 education to a society polarized between two archaic extremes, privatization and the status quo ante (the factory model).
Network Benefit #2: Interaction with the People in the Network
The people in the MME Network are astonishingly diverse, accomplished and interesting. Please scroll through the Facebook friends of Lance Fialkoff and see for yourself. The MME Network will be drawn from this group of approximately 2100 friends. Among the faces & names you will find people from every continent, age bracket and walk of life. There will be many familiar faces and lots of people that you find intriguing. Over time, you will have the opportunity to develop relationships with fellow members of the Network. Together we are pioneering social media networking. Please become acquainted with your prospective fellow travelers. 
 
Membership Benefit #3: Revitalize Democratic Citizenship
The MME network is an experiment in 21st Century citizenship in a republic. Social media can contribute to the revitalization of democratic institutions. The MME Network can be of service, contributing to the development of an inclusive, vibrant public sphere.
Membership Benefit #4: Diversity
Exposure to a diversity of experiences can release us from rigid patterns of thought & perception, stimulating creativity and well being. Boiled down: Diversity=evolution  Standardization=extinction.
 
 
Membership Benefit #5: Support & Enjoy Independent Art
By joining the MME Network you will support gadfly citizen journalism, original music, art and photography. Hopefully, members of the community will share their own creative projects regularly. The MME Network will also encourage collaborative on-line creative projects, beginning with Lyrical Collaboration for the new MME song in progress, “Thomas Jefferson.” 
REGISTRATION
Registration is by annual subscription, payment up front in full according to the following sliding scale:
Earn 0-75k (US$): free
Earn 75-150k: $450
Earn 150-225k: $1000
Earn 225-and up: $1800
To register:
1) Request to join the “MME Network” on Facebook. 
This will be the network hub.
2) Send payment* (US) $ to: Musical Media for Education (MME)
Box 141, New Paltz, NY 12561 by May 31.
*If your subscription is a free ride on the sliding scale please inform MME by email: Jessica@mm-ed.com
I hope you will consider joining the MME Network.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please post or message them on the MME Network page or email me directly at Lance@mm-ed.com. 
Lance Fialkoff
MME