DEN Blog Network

Thanks to our good friends over at Tech4Learning, there are STARs aplenty who received free copies of Frames to use in the classroom.  However, what good is a piece of software if you don’t know how to use it?  They have graciously offered to host a webinar to help show you tips and tricks for using Frames with your students!

Creating animated movies and digital stories is a fantastic way to engage students in the curriculum. Learn how students can use the integrated drawing tools in Frames to illustrate their own stories, tell digital stories, and create animated Flash® movies.

The webinar will be May 29th at 4:30EST.  To register, click here.

DEN Spring Training is here!  We’ve had a lot of new recruits in the past year and we expect big things from the community this spring.  Last year the stat we focused on the most was ESA (Earned STAR Average).  This year we are looking for STARs who put up solid numbers in the RS category.  Runs scored?  Nope.  Resources Shared.

We’re looking for STARs who will take the time to share their presentations, projects, videos, lesson plans, etc. by uploading them to the Educator Resources section of the DEN website.  Any STAR who uploads at least TWO resources between April 6 and May 22 will receive a limited edition DEN Spring Training 2009 t-shirt featuring the design above.

So, what are you waiting for?  Upload those resources because “If you share it, they will learn!”

Note: At the end of spring training (May 22) we will send an email to all STARs who uploaded at least two resources asking for your address and t-shirt size.  Shirts will ship in early June.

 How to upload a resource the DEN website:

Time is running out to register for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, the first and only national K-12 sustainability education initiative aligned to education standards and uniquely tailored to match students’ growing comprehension abilities throughout their school-aged years.

We’re encouraging all middle school students across the United States to kick off 2009 by “going green” and implementing environmental change in their local communities. The website for this entirely web-based challenge, www.wecanchange.com, is host to lots of kid-friendly activities such as virtual interactive labs, an eco-footprint game, an environmental IQ quiz, online journals, video clips—plus many more resources for both students and adult advisers.

Teams of two to three students in sixth through eighth grade, under the mentorship of a teacher or adult supervisor, will identify an environmental issue in their community, research the issue using scientific investigation, and create a replicable green solution using web-based curriculum tools powered by Discovery Education.

Registration for middle school school students will close on March 15th, 2009 so sign up now!

Teachers and adult supervisors are invited to participate in any of Discovery Education’s January online webinars, which will provide additional information about the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.  Webinars will be offered Tuesday, January 13, at 4:30 PM (ET); Wednesday, January 14, at 5:30 and 6:45 PM (ET); and Thursday, January 15, at 5:30 PM (ET). To register, go to http://community.discoveryeducation.com/webinar, and click on a “Register” link for your preferred webinar.

Of course you do!  Who wouldn’t?  Well over the past 6 years, Discovery Education and CDWG have given away no less than 18 wireless labs to schools, and this year is your chance to win one of your own!

CDWG and Discovery Education announced today the opening of the seventh annual “Win a Wireless Lab” sweepstakes. The program gives K-12 schools nationwide the opportunity to win a 21st-century classroom, complete with tablet or notebook computers, wireless cart, interactive whiteboard, student response system, projector, printer and document camera. CDW-G and Discovery Education also provide on-site training to all Win a Wireless Lab grand-prize winners. The 2009 program will award five grand-prize winners.

So how do you win one for your school?   Couldn’t be easier.  Just visit the sweepstakes page and click on Enter to Win.  Entries are open now, and will stay open until May 1st.  You may be thinking to yourself, why bother entering now when I can wait until May?  There’s a very good reason why: You can enter once per day.  So you could either wait until May 1st and nab yourself a single entry, or you can make it a part of your daily routine and wind up with over 100 entries into the drawing!!  I’d say it’s well worth the effort.  After all, the prizes are truly spectacular.

Each of the five grand-prize winners will receive a 21st-century classroom valued at approximately $45,000, including:

 

Discovery Education digital media grant

20 notebook or tablet computers from HP, Lenovo or Toshiba

3 wireless access points from D-Link, Linksys or NETGEAR

1 Bretford mobile cart

1 interactive whiteboard from Promethean or PolyVision

20 Student Response Devices from Promethean or PolyVision

1 video projector from Epson or NEC Solutions

1 document camera from AVerMedia

1 laser printer from Epson or HP

1 video camcorder from Sony

In addition to the five grand-prize winners, CDW-G and Discovery Education will award:

Ten first prizes of a video p rojector from Epson or NEC Solutions

Ten second prizes of a notebook computer from Acer or Sony

Five third prizes of a digital camcorder from Canon

So what are you waiting for?  Enter now!

A special thank you from our friends at Tech4Learning in honor of National Teacher Day…

Thank you for all of your hard work as a teacher. As a small token of our thanks, Tech4Learning would like to give you, as a STAR Discovery Educator, a personal copy of Frames.  Frames is the perfect stop-motion animation tool for clay animation, time-lapse, and digital storytelling. Creating animation engages students in the curriculum, encourages problem solving, and provides a means to collaborate and communicate ideas.  Students can create stop-motion animated stories using pictures they have taken with a digital or DV camera, photographs they have taken of a clay animation, or original artwork they have drawn or painted in other programs. Students can save their work as movie or animation files to share online, in multimedia presentations or for inclusion in other video productions.  To learn more about Frames, please visit: www.tech4learning.com/frames
To receive your own copy of Frames, fill out the form at:

http://www.tech4learning.com/occasion/den_star_frames.html

Within 2 business days, you will receive an email with a URL where you can download a full-copy of the software as well as a Frames registration number.

To learn more about Frames, be sure to join us for our upcoming Discovery Educator Network Webinar!

Quite a shake up in the standings this week! Coach Randall’s West Region pulled into second place and Gummy Bear Bryant’s Midwest squad jumped into fourth. A total of 23 different states have reported new STARs so far and the momentum continues to build.

In other spring training news, managers Swain (neck), Karkow (shoulder) and Fountain (hand) are all on the DL after suffering minor injuries playing Rock Band at the DEN’s League meetings this past week in California. We expect them all to return to action next week.

Are you and your students excited by the DE 3M Young Scientist Challenge? You certainly should be! There’s plenty to be excited about. From the $50,000 in bonds for students and the all expenses paid trip to DC for the teachers, there’s some serious prizes at stake! And it’s easier than you might think to participate.

Don’t believe me? Then let Hall Davidson lay it all out there for you. Last night was the first of seven webinars he’s hosting to ensure that you and your students know everything you need to about the DE 3M YSC Challenge. He’ll go over the details with you, but also give you the inside track on how you and your students can get yourselves in the running.

April 21st, 2:00pm EST - Teachers and Students
April 22nd, 1:00pm EST - Teachers and Students
April 23rd, 3:00pm EST - Teachers and Students
April 23rd, 6:00pm EST - Teachers only
April 30th, 8:00pm EST - Teachers only
May 6th, 6:00pm EST - Teachers only

Teacher & Student Description: These webinars will cover the basics of creating and uploading videos for the challenge. Students will learn how to create videos from cellphones, cameras, or webcams. They will learn to edit with or without computers. They will learn their range of free editing software and learn how to create digital videos even without a camera. Most importantly, they will learn that enthusiasm, problem solving, and communication skills are key to winning the Challenge. This a challenge very much in the spirit of Mythbusters. Technology tools will not be a barrier for Young Scientist Challenge Participants.

Teachers only Description: Teacher webinars will cover the basics of creating and uploading videos for the challenge. Teacher will review how video content can be created from cellphones, cameras, and webcams. They will review free and low-cost editing software for polish and control of their video. They will be given the overall goal that enthusiasm, problem solving, and communication skills are key to winning the Challenge. The Challenge is in the spirit of Mythbusters. Teachers will also be given tools to encourage students to enter. Note: The Teacher category for the Young Scientists Category is open exclusively for members of the Discovery Educator Network.

Congrats to Stacy Kasse, Meg Griffin and Eric Strommer whose names were picked from the crab pot to attend the dinner with the captains of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch.