DEN Blog Network

Welcome back to the new school year! To help you get started, register for a Discovery Education streaming Back-to-School Enhancements webinar to learn about all the new benefits of Discovery Education streaming .

• Filter search results more effectively
  
• Discover related resources to the videos you choose
  
• Students may access assignments from anywhere, anytime using their own unique student login.

Download an overview of what’s new.

If you have forgotten your password, retrieve it and login today .

One of the most anticipated features of the Summer 2009 release of Discovery Education is the My Classrooms feature.  With My Classrooms . . .

Each Student will then have the ability to:

• Access all of their assignments, quizzes etc. in one convenient location.
• Search for and save content into their own My Content area
• Download materials

Teachers will be able to:

• Assign content to an individual student, multiple students or an entire class.
• Track progress and student results
• Create a folder of materials and assign materials for student project or remediation without the need to create an assignment

Creating a class is quick and easy.  There are 3 simple steps.

Step 1: Create a class name and set active dates.

Step 2: Add students from the school/district roster or create accounts for them manually.

Step 3: Review the class.

I love being able to bookmark content on the Internet to make it easier for me to access anywhere, anytime (especially, when I really need to find that great video segment I used last year for tomorrow’s lesson  . . .)

Discovery Education streaming and Science used to have a product-specific My Content that allowed users to create folders and subfolders and populate them with all the media assets and assessments required to build engaging multimedia learn experiences for their students.  The drawback was that users who subscribe to multiple services could only see the assets bookmarked to one service at a time.  The new launch of Discovery Education boasts an enhanced My Content folder that is universal, allowing users to access media content and instructional activities from all DE services to which they subscribe.  So, I can build a folder that contains video segments and articles from DE streaming, virtual labs and eBooks from DE Science, student activities from DE Health, and lesson plans from DE MediaShare all in one global interface.  Users will be able to access the new My Content from the icon in the global DE banner as well as from the My Content module on their My DE home page.

For users exploring the new interface, DE’s developers have put in a helpful “What’s Changed” button that will summarize the enhancements to My Content.

Your My Content section has been enhanced and is now global across products. This means that you can add and access content from any of your Discovery Education services through a single My Content interface. Please note that in order to make this transition easier we have created a folder for each product you subscribe to, and your My Content from each product is now located within that folder. If desired, you can now move your existing folders from the product folder into the root My Content view.

In addition, we have added a Trash Bin which holds your deleted content. In the case that you accidentally delete content, you will be able to click on the Trash Bin button and restore that content to the appropriate folder.

In a future post I will be addressing the new My Classrooms feature.  Once students are set up with a Student Center account they will also have a My Content folder to which they can save media and research. Teachers will even be able to access their students’ accounts to see what students are bookmarking to My Content.

If there is one natural resource consistently in VERY short supply for teachers it is time.  When I was in the classroom I never seemed to have enough time to gather all the resources to build the type of learning experiences I envisioned for my students.  That’s why I was so taken with the new grid view search results page in Discovery Education.

Take a look below.  (or, click here to see the image in a new window)

The new grid view yields 4x more search results in one page than the old list view in the previous version of DE.

In addition, users can mouse over the media asset to open up a preview window with a description, 10-second video preview (if the asset is a video or video segment), and other related information.  Users can add the media asset to their My Content folder with one click on the the preview window’s Add to My Content button.  All of this without ever even opening the media asset page!

It’s a time saver for educators who are searching for media content to build learning experiences and instructional activities.

But, if you really miss the old list view, you can always click on the List View button to revert back to the more traditional search results view.

Here is another REALLY cool feature of the 2009 launch of Discovery Education — sharing media assets out to your professional learning network with a simple one-click post.

Check it out . . . (click here to see the image in a new window)

By clicking on the new Share tab on the media asset page you can share your media gems via popular networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, and Diigo.  Of course, you need to have accounts established with these third-party services before you can share to them.

You are also able to access a unique URL address that is linked to the media asset (which could be a video segment as opposed to the full video).  You can use this URL to post DE media to your class webpage, Blackboard site, wiki, blog, Google Earth placemark, etc.  It is not a violation of copyright as anyone who clicks on that will be forced to authenticate (i.e. sign in) before viewing the media. Thus, only DE subscribers will be able to access the media.

I am really excited about the possibilities for sharing and collaborating made possible by the new Share features.

Have you logged into Discovery Education in the past week?  If not, you REALLY need to log in to check out the new content and features upgrades.

I am going to be blogging about these upgrades over the next couple weeks.  The new feature upgrade for today is the unified search on the new universal DE header.  This new search function will allow users to search across all products to which they subscribe or to limit their search to just one product.  Users can also filter search results by selecting one or multiple grade level ranges and can also filter by just one media asset type.  This unified search will save users a lot of time and will make searching much more efficient.  The universal DE banner will appear atop the entire Discovery Education suite.  Users will only be able to search the media libraries of products to which they currently subscribe.  If you are interested in taking a test drive of one of the DE products, visit http://www.discoveryeducation.com/products/ to request a site preview.

Get ready for a new school year with the DEN! The entire month of August is jam-packed with free webinars. Tell a colleague, invite your principal and join us for Summer School with the DEN. Enroll today!

de_den_summerwebinars.pdf

All sessions begin at 11 AM ET.

Digital Storytelling Week
8/3/09
Thinking Outside the Slide: Creating non-linear PowerPoint presentations and learning centers with Discovery Education Media
8/4/09
Digital Storytelling Made Easy: Using Discovery Education Content with Animoto and PhotoStory
8/5/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker (PC)
8/6/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and iMovie (Mac)

Leadership Week
8/10/09
The Information Society is HERE: Are our schools up to the task? with Dr. Scott McLeod
8/11/09
Policies, Safety and Social Networking
8/12/09
Web 2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century
8/13/09
Data Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment

Science Week
8/17/09
Myth Busted: Easy Ways to Integrate Digital Media into Your Science Classroom
8/18/09
Getting Your Hands Dirty with Discovery Education Science
8/19/09
Differentiating Instruction with the Discovery Education Science Assessment Manager
8/20/09
More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green

Web 2.0 Week
8/24/09
Get Your Glog On! The DE streaming Builders and Glogster
8/25/09
The Thread that Ties it All Together: Discovery Education Content and Voicethread
8/26/09
Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere in the World: Designing Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education Media and Google Earth
8/27/09
Learning Through the Funnies: Mixing Discovery Education Content with Free Comic Tools

Enroll today!

Visit the DEN blog to access the archives of the DEN Summer School webinars as they become available.

Discover the undiscovered and explore the new content and functionality for the 2009-2010 school year. All STAR DEs now have the option to access the beta version of Discovery Education’s new content and functionality.You can access the new site by clicking on the “Try the new Site” link at the top of your MY DE page.

If you come across specific issues while using the site please email education_info@discovery.com.

Once you have had a chance to explore the new site we would appreciate your feedback.  Please click here to begin the survey.

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

Don’t forget to visit the Discovery Education booth in the Exhibitors Hall for engaging in-booth presentations from the DEN team.  

Thank you to all the wonderful college and university students who are spending their summer working with middle school students in the Lehigh Valley Summerbidge program.  I applaud your commitment to learning and to your community.

Click here to log into Discovery Education.

Here are some resources that will be helpful in your use of DE streaming and DE Science this summer.

• 50 Ways to Integrate DE streaming
• DE streaming Quick Start Guide
• DE Science Middle School Quick Start Guide
• DE Science Integration Strategies
• Embedding Video into PowerPoint 97/2003
• Embedding Video into PowerPoint 2007
• Widgets for Your DE streaming Builder
• Get Your ‘Og On - Glogs, Blogs, and Vlogs
• Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere - DE streaming and Google Earth
• Thinking Outside the Slide - Non-Linear Multimedia Presentations

Here are some great Web 2.0 applications.

• Voicethread
• Go Animate
• MyPlick
• xtranormal
• MakeBeliefsComix
• Glogster
• Animoto
• Kerpoof
• Pixton
• Diigo - social bookmarking and annotation
• Wikispaces - ad-free educational wikis
• Edublogs - moderated educational blogs
• Edmodo - microblogging, shared calendars, private document sharing, annotation

Here are some additional educational technology training resources.

• Blogging
• Podcasting
• Wikis
• Voicethread
• Glogster
• Animoto
• Learning Networks
• Digital Storytelling
• Digital Storytelling with Web 2.0
• Diigo
  
• WebQuests
• Google Tools for Schools - Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Sites, Google Knol, Google Reader, Blogger, Google News, Google Customized Search, etc.

These are just really useful applications.

• URL shrinkers and chunkers
• Media conversion tools