Posts By Elaine Plybon

About Elaine Plybon

I’m an Instructional Technology Specialist at MacArthur High School and the Jack E. Singley Academy in Irving, Texas. I’ve been an active member of the DEN since 2005, having served on the Texas Leadership Council since its creation.

  1. Texas DEN STAR Joli Brock in the news

    The DEN is all about educators who expand the walls of their classroom to the global community, and Texas DEN STAR and Leadership Council member, Joli Brock, of McKinney ISD, has done just that. Along with her students, affectionately called “Brockstars”, Joli has used various technologies in her classroom to bring the world into her [...]

  2. Texas gears up for regional conference

    Texas educators are encouraged to attend the annual TCEA regional conference “The Power of U” being hosted by Regions 10 and 11 (Dallas-Ft. Worth) on October 22, at Timber Creek High School in Keller ISD. The small conference fee includes lunch!   This year is the first time academies will be included. The academies currently [...]

  3. New Texas STAR honored as Golden Apple finalist

    During each TCEA conference, the best and brightest educators in Texas are recognized at the Golden Apple Awards ceremony. This year, one of our own Texas STARs, Andrea Keller, was honored as one of three finalists for the Teacher of the Year award. Andrea is a special education teacher in Irving. She utilizes technology every [...]

  4. February Texas DEN Newsletter

    The February issue of LoneSTAR squared, the monthly publication of the Texas Discovery Educator Network, is out! Read about the upcoming TCEA conference and and article about retaining girls in STEM programs, along with regular updates. Click below to view it full-size. Open publication – Free publishing – More texas den

  5. Presenting at TCEA?

    We want to know! We are working on a conference calendar including presentations from DEN STARs to make it easier for fellow DENners to decide what they are attending.  If you will be presenting at TCEA, please fill out this form to let us know. Your session(s) will be advertised in the next issue of [...]

  6. Texas DEN Newsletter for January

    The January newsletter for the Texas DEN has been released. Among its regular features, it also highlights what is being done in McKinney ISD to encourage technology use in classrooms. The newsletter can be viewed on the Texas DEN website. There is a contest running through the end of the year to name the newsletter [...]

  7. Register now for the Texas Talking Points Conference

    There will be a unique conference on January 22, 2011, you won’t want to miss. The Talking Points Conference aims to facilitate discussion among educators on various topics important to a 21st century classroom. With breakout sessions that center around archived DEN Virtual Conference presentations, K12 Online Conference presentations, TED Talks, and other sources, educators [...]

  8. Mindmeister feature a hit with educators

    Mindmeister is an online, collaborative mind-mapping tool that give students (and teachers) an opportunity to organize their thoughts, brainstorm, and collaborate with just a few clicks. One feature that teachers are finding very useful is the history feature. By clicking the “Toggle History View” icon in the lower right corner, they can view the history [...]

  9. Needed: A few good people . . .

    It is the time of year once again to build the DEN Leadership Councils. If you have thought about volunteering your time to the DEN in Second Life, now is your chance.  From now until April 30, 2010 you can state your interest in being a part of the leadership council. All you have to do [...]

  10. IDiscover SLeuthing planning meeting

    The IDiscover SLeuthing game was a big success, and we want to do it again! There will be a planning meeting next Monday, August 10, in meeting room 202 at the DEN in SL headquarters at 5:00 SLT. Anyone who is interested in being a part of the committee to plan IDiscover SLeuthing II is [...]

  11. Diving with the sharks is back!

    It is time once again for the Discovery Channel Shark Week (August 2-8), and we are celebrating it in grand style! Yes, the very popular shark dive that took place last year is coming back even bigger and better on PADI’s new, larger sim called Dive World. Join us for the excitement as we dive [...]

  12. Blended virtual ecosystems

    Wednesday marked a banner day for the DEN in SL with the Wednesday Workshop topic: A Blended Virtual Ecosystem: North Carolina Virtual Public School’s Great Discovery in Second Life. The presentation was fantastic, with Dr. Brian Setser (Innovator Quan – SL), of the North Carolina Virtual Public School guiding the audience through the journey the [...]

  13. You won't want to miss this!

    Coming up on Wednesday, July 29, the DEN in SL will have special guest speakers, Dr. Bryan Setser, Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Virtual Public School, and Jennifer Nobles, who is the Modular Learning Specialist and Virtual Worlds Coordinator for the school. They will be presenting a workshop entitled: A Blended Virtual Ecosytem: [...]

  14. Big day for the DEN in SL

    Wednesday, July 1, is a big day for the DEN in SL! First, there will be a BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) session at NECC conducted by several team members from the DEN in SL Leadership Council. The session is completely full, but you can still participate in-world and show your support for educators in [...]

  15. It's a Wrap! Now we know whodunit!

    The DEN in SL hosted a party Wednesday, June 17, to reveal who the culprit was in the missing motorcycle engine mystery. Several people gathered in the DEN lobby near the scene of the crime as we listened to police radio communications which indicated the cuprit was being followed to 2DP. Everyone excitedly awaited the [...]

  16. Just two days left . . .

    That’s right – there are only two days left before the big reveal party at the DEN in SL headquarters (2DP), where we find out “whodunit” in the IDiscover Sleuthing game! A source close to the investigation has revealed that one SLeuth has already guessed the correct culprit! Could it be you? Have you not [...]

  17. Final Clue: IDiscover Sleuthing

    When you are at 2DP tonight for the workshop, be sure to check out the last clue, found amongst the papers we started with, and look at the suspect dossier. We have narrowed the search down to twelve individuals who are the most suspicious. Put together all the clues, including the ones from Twitter (one [...]

  18. IDiscover Sleuthing Week 3

    The search continues for the culprit at 2DP! Many people have submitted guesses, but are any of them right? We’ll find out on June 17 when the answer is revealed! In the meantime, Clue #3 is available and can be found in a room close to the stairs – I’m not going to tell you [...]

  19. The Adventure is About to Begin!

    Actually, for three teachers and 12 students, an adventure has already begun! The Discovery Student Adventure pilot program to Australia has started. You can follow the blog HERE. For us Texans, the excitement is building for our representative, Linda Rush, and four students from the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, who will leave on their adventure [...]

  20. DEN in SL Sweeps the DENnys!

    The Discovery Educator Network hosted its first-ever DENny awards on Tuesday, May 26. It was a night of recognition for DEN STARs from all over the country. Our very own DEN in SL Leadership Council members won several “real-life” awards, including Anne Truger and Lori Abrahams for being so helpful to everyone. In addition, Fred [...]

  21. Texas Wins at the DENnys!

    Tonight was the first-ever DENny awards – given to outstanding STAR educators and Leadership Councils for outstanding commitment to the DEN. There were lots of great awards given out to so many deserving people! One of those people is our very own Leadership Council chair, Linda Rush. She was awarded a Leadership DENny for her [...]