DEN Blog Network

Enjoy the weekly update for June 26, 2009.

NECC is just under a week away, and we hope you’re as jazzed for it as we are!  Our home on the conference floor will be Booth #3228 and we’ve got a packed schedule there.  You’ll be able to see presentations such as:

• Discovery the Possibilities with Discovery Educaiton Digital Services
• Multimedia Einsteins: Discovery Education Science
• Using Multimedia in the Classroom with Mimio
• 50 Ways To Use Discovery Education streaming 
• Bring 21st Century Teaching to Your Classrooms: Professional Development that Works
• Connecting Formative Assessment to the Power of Digital Media

And who will be presenting these sessions?  None other than your favorite DE and DEN presenters, including Hall Davidson, Lance Rougeux, Steve Dembo, Matt Monjan, Jen Dorman, Eren Koont, Alex Morrison, and more!

Download the complete Discovery Education Booth Schedule
Don’t forget though, that’s just a fraction of what we’re doing at NECC.  Be sure to attend the special Using Multimedia in the Classroom session we’re hosting with Mimio and the four DEN spotlight sessions.

Look forward to seeing you at the conference!

Don’t forget!!  In order to maintain your STAR status, you must report at least two of your events for the 2008-2009 school year by August 31, 2009.  We don’t want anybody to lose their STAR status, so be sure you take the time to let us know about all the times you’ve shared the power of Discovery Education with your colleagues!

What is an event ?  An event is any time you share the power of Discovery with 3 or more colleagues.  Share an integration idea over lunch with your grade-level team.  Demonstrate to your peers how you use a Virtual Lab in DE Science.  The list is endless. Log in to the DEN website and you’ll see “Report Event.”  If you are not sure of how many events you’ve reported send an inquiry to den_events@discovery.com.

We look forward to celebrating the DEN’s fourth birthday with many of our STARs at our pre-NECC Birthday Party Extravaganza on Saturday, June 27, 2009 at Discovery Headquarters.

If you are staying for NECC, I strongly encourage you to check out the following sessions from the DEN team.

Using Multimedia in the Classroom
Join mimio and Discovery Education to learn how you can quickly and easily create interactive lessons using mimio Interactive systems and Discovery Education content. Get tips and hands-on experience making your own presentations with our small group demo stations.  All attendees will receive a gift bag and Discovery Education streaming 30-day trial subscription, plus be entered into a drawing for a complete mimio Interactive system!

Bring a friend!

STAR Discovery Educators who bring a colleague with them to the Using Multimedia in the Classroom session will receive a Discovery Education t-shirt.

When?
Monday, June 29th; 3:00 to 4:30 PM
Tuesday, June 30th, 9:00 to 10:30 AM

Where?
Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H Street NW (3 blocks from the Convention Center), Farragut Square and Lafayette Park Ballrooms. 

Seating is limited so arrive early to guarantee your space.

Monday, June 29

The 10 Best Free Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers  
Steve Dembo
8:30-9:30 AM
Location: WWCC 146B 

Eight Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Video  
Hall Davidson
3:30-4:30 PM
Location: WWCC Ballroom B

Wednesday, July 1 

Moving Beyond the Information Age   
Scott Kinney
8:30-9:30 AM
Location: WWCC Ballroom A

From Banned to Planned: Cell Phones in Schools  
Hall Davidson
12:00-1:00 PM
Location: WWCC Ballroom C

Today, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine how technology, innovative education tools, and digital content are transforming and improving education in America.  The DEN’s very own Scott Kinney, Vice President of Outreach and Professional Development for Discovery Education, served as one of seven panelists who testified as to how technology and digital content can improve American education in the future.

Citing recent research, Scott illustrated that students use technology profusely at home, while most are unable to use that same technology in the classroom.  Today’s tech-savvy students function by consuming, processing, and learning from media, in many forms simultaneously.  Scott asked the committee to envision an educational system that supported the use of technology in the classroom, therefore, supporting how students learn naturally.

What do you think?  If you were asked to testify in front of the House Education and Labor Committee on the Future of Learning, what would you share with them?

Enjoy the DEN Weekly Update for June 12, 2009.

Today, Discovery Student Adventures: South Africa took us to the very bottom of the continent, the Cape of Good Hope.  Pictured here are Linda Rush, Karen Wells and Jason Cochrane, who have now earned an honorary DENny for being at the southernmost DEN event yet!

To read about our cage dive with great white sharks, trip to the Cape of Good Hope, or adventures with African penguins, visit the DSA: South Africa blog!!

Enjoy the DEN Weekly Update for June 5, 2009.  And keep checking for the updates throughout the summer.

Thank you to everyone who spent last Saturday with us for our first-ever DEN Geocaching Day.  We had 30 DEN Guides leading groups and many other STARs who ventured out on their own.  It was an incredibly successful, fun and enriching day.  And the best part is that it doesn’t stop now.  We have a bunch of DEN travel bugs that will be making their way across the country so be sure to monitor their progress.  We also some Discovery-themed caches out there now including the now famous Deadliest Cache!

We’ll have more pics up in the Event Gallery soon, but here is my personal favorite from the day.  Chris Cuppett’s group submitted this great shot from the perspective of a hidden cache.

We had a fabulous day of geocaching in Ocean City today.  As a whole, my folks found all 30 geocaches that we looked for… that is unbelievable… We had great weather and loads of fun…Thank you so much for letting us do this… I sure do hope we do something like this again next year…:)
- Chris Cuppett (Technology Integration Coach, North Salisbury Elementary, MD)

Count on it!

While Jannita’s journey with Discovery Student Adventures to Australia is wrapping up, DSA South Africa is just beginning!  Two days of travel split up by a brief exploration of Frankfurt, Germany have led us to our first day in Cape Town.

This morning, we’re getting an overview of the country, before we hop on the bus and begin exploring.  Thankfully, we have 12 student bloggers and 3 teacher bloggers to share the journey with you.  To keep up with the adventures, follow along at the DSA South Africa blog to see our tweets, photos, videos and blog posts.