The media arts studio at the museum became a huge electronic playground for this child as he became free to manipulate sound in an environment of unlimited choices and opportunities. He was just as comfortable adjusting the volume levels of his individual music tracks as he was holding a microphone up to a speaker to create a feedback loop. I was not about to get in his way. Teaching will always be a challenging profession so long as the world continues to change. Electronic media and technological evolution are ensuring that the world will always be in a state of flux and that everything is up for constant reevaluation.
Teaching is no exception.
Giving children the skills to effectively produce in their world is not only a challenging endeavor, but also perhaps the most virtuous. Pointing out opportunities is one step that can be taken to ensure that these possibilities can be realized. Alfred Bawcombe teaches MIDI and electronic music production at the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, D.C. and also does commercial and nonprofit Web development. He is an affiliate of the Community Technology Centers Network, which works to expand access to technology tools and the Internet.