E = dmc²

The site below is from the Science Channel, and it has some great explorations and tools for educators. The Discovery Educator Network is part of the Discovery Communications family of networks that includes the Discovery Channel, Science Channel, Animal Planet, Planet Green, TLC, and Discovery Kids.

http://science.discovery.com/interactives/interactives.html

If you like these be sure to check out Discovery Education Science for a large library of virtual labs, digital explorations, and a powerful interactive glossary that brings words to life with digital media with one click.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/products/science/

Hi, Everyone.

I enjoyed meeting each of you on Friday evening. I hope you enjoyed the presentations, the “When We Left Earth” preview from the Discovery Channel (Sundays @ 9pm E/P Beginning June 8), the DEN Educator tote bag, and dinner together. We are putting together a new training event for July. Anyone on the waiting list along with our new STAR Discovery Educators will get the invite before anyone else to give you an opportunity to register first.

I’ve placed a link below to my Blog that includes links to the presentations that we went over below. Please feel free to forward the resources on to other educators. Have fun practicing the best practices and digital media integration exercises on your own!

Please register to become a STAR Discovery Educator. Visit the registration page and view benefits that we reviewed on Friday by clicking here to learn more. We are growing in New York, and I want you to start receiving full access to the DEN, and dozens of great free resources for your classroom and school!

Sincerely,

Dennis

___ Presentations & Resources_____________

1) Digital Natives: How To Reach The 21st Century Mind Using Multimedia

The Digital Natives are here, and we have to reach them in their language. This session will explore digital media technology in the classroom. We will examine research that supports inclusion of digital media, and review the services available from Discovery Education.

Discovery Digital Natives and Interactive Media

2) Discovery Education Navigation Techniques & Best Practices

The link below is connected directly to our to our newest training video segments found on our Professional Development Page. The brief videos are broken down by topic, and cover the majority of what we discussed in the first and second session.

http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/professionalDevelopment/explore/

3) Power Point: Digital Media Integration & “Really” Embedding

Starting from scratch we downloaded digital video and explored the extraordinary resources from Discovery Education streaming, like “When We Left Earth” airing on the Discovery Channel . I demonstrated standard hyperlinking, embedding, and really embedding to allow full functionality and control of digital video. In conclusion we had a volunteer come up and try really embedding on his own, and he made it look easy because after practicing a few times it really is.

Power Point: Digital Media Integration & “Really” Embedding

4) Additional Resources that we discussed.

• http://community.discoveryeducation.com/ - Direct link to the DEN community website available to educators around the world, with powerful education resources that include over 2000 blogs by STAR Discovery Educators for other educators to learn about great projects and techniques they use their own classrooms and school districts along with over 2000 educator educator resources available for download.
• www.donorschoose.org - Great resource to fund grants for educators, including digital media resources and equipment for projects with a strong success rate for $500 or less.
• www.gimp.org - Free image editing software that offers many of the same powerful features that commercial grade applications offer, and it works with with the over 20,000 images available in Discovery Education streaming.

Thanks again for a wonderful evening, and please contact me if you need additional information or have any questions.

Dennis Swain
Account Manager, Discovery Educator Network
Discovery Education

Dennis_Swain@discovery.com or at 301-275-7158

This Discovery Educator Network event was created specifically to support new NYC schools that purchase through FAMIS. For more information about Discovery Education on FAMIS download this brochure using the link below.

FAMIS Information for NYC Educators

For anyone that needs pricing or product information visit the blog post below to contact Betsy Drennan, Northeast Discovery Education Sales Director.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/de-product-information/

We only have a few months before September, but in order to reach as many DEN STARS as possible we’ve created a free 2 day regional conference for Northeast educators with access to Discovery Education streaming.

Northeast Regional Conference (click here to download event and registration details)
September 27-28
Troy, NY

To get the most out of this powerful but fun professional development event become a STAR Discovery Educator to receive your DEN Welcome Kit that includes a DEN laptop bag, followed by a DEN Training Kit packed full of digital media resources!

Utilize the link below to guide you through the STAR Discovery Educator application in less than 15 minutes. Then register to attend the Northeast DEN Regional Conference!

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/2008/05/19/become-a-star-discovery-educator-its-free-to-apply/

World Science Festival

This is an great festival happening in New York City next week. There are some fun educational events involved, and I’m working on getting some more details to share

News Flash…..

The Science Channel is a proud Media Partner covering the World Science Festival in New York City. The DEN family is connected to the Science Channel through the Discovery family of networks, and the Science Channel will cover this festival as a Media Partner.

The Science Channel has given the DEN 8 free tickets to a paid special event at the festival. The event times and dates are listed below.

Science of Disney Imagineering- 4 Tickets Available

Saturday, May 31, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM , NYU - Skirball Center

Science of Disney Imagineering- 4 Tickets Available

Saturday, May 31, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM , NYU - Skirball Center

STAR Discovery Educator Contest!

The first 4 to complete either #1 or #2 will receive a confirmation to receive the tickets.

1) Star Discovery Educators that invite another educator to complete the application process to become a new Star Discovery Educator can attend the event together.

2) The first 4 educators to apply and complete the Star Discovery Educator application process to become a new STAR Discovery Educator can attend the event. Find another educator to apply with you and attend together!

To take part in this contest please utilize my blog link below as a guide to complete the STAR Discovery Educator application, then email me directly to claim your tickets at Dennis_Swain@discovery.com.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/2008/05/19/become-a-star-discovery-educator-its-free-to-apply/

Stay tuned for more details on the event!

Events in New York City for educators with access to Discovery Education streaming.

On-site training at the Discovery’s NY, NY Office: Friday, June 6, 2008
4:30-8:45pm

Opening session: Digital Natives: How To Reach The 21st Century Mind Using Multimedia

Click here for event details and registration.

Special New York & New England Webinar Series: 5 week series starting May 28, 2008

The DEN Community, Web 2.0 Resources, & How to Become a Star Discovery Educator!

Click here for event details and registration.

I think most educators know the strength of using digital media through their own experience, and simply seeing the reaction of their students when they are engaged by multimedia content. I’ve found that many DEN educators were not aware of the study, so I posted the results for the study below taken from the Discovery Education site.

Discovery Education streaming is the only educational, digital video-based learning resource shown to increase student achievement.

“Two random-assignment, control group studies —- one conducted in rural Virginia, the other in urban Los Angeles -— have revealed significant improvement in social studies, science, and math performance for students exposed to video content from Discovery Education streaming.

As a result of these evaluations, Discovery Education executives have been invited to Washington, D.C., to convey the results to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce — and to present the findings at U.S. Department of Education Technology Summits and various state and national education technology conferences around the country.

We would be happy to tell you about them, too.

• Virginia Evaluation 2002
  This independent evaluation examined third and eighth grades students in two areas of study — science and social studies. Improvement among experimental group students who received instruction aided by unitedstreaming showed a 12.6% average increase in achievement over control group students.
• Los Angeles Evaluation 2004
  This evaluation, conducted in the Los Angeles Unified School District, examined mathematics performance among 6th and 8th grade students. Students who received instruction aided by unitedstreaming showed a 3% to 5% average increase in achievement in math scores over the control group”.

Please visit the Discovery Education site for full details and or to download the full study from each region.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/products/streaming/whyitworks.cfm

Link to Product Information Webinars:

https://discoveryed.webex.com/mw0305l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=discoveryed&service=6

Please contact Betsy for product pricing and information, and to schedule a DE Science or other tailored Discovery Education product Webinars specifically for your school or district.

Betsy Drennan
Sales Director–Northeast
Discovery Education
P: 240.662.2695
Toll Free: 800.323.9084 x810.2695
C: 240.274.4226

Betsy_Drennan@discovery.com

The DEN Community, Web 2.0 Resources, & How to Become a Star Discovery Educator!

• When: Wednesday, May 28, @ 3:30pm & 4:30pm
  • Please invite other educators to register.

Registration link- 3:30pm https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=554795010

Registration link- 4:30pm https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=553428681

• When: Thursday, May 29, @ 3:30pm & 4:30pm
  • Please invite other educators to register.

Registration link- 3:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=557352054

Registration link- 4:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=550221448

• When: Wednesday, June 4, @ 3:30pm & 4:30pm
  • Please invite other educators to register.

Registration link- 3:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=553366928

Registration link- 4:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=558078092

• When: Tuesday, June 10, @ 3:30pm & 4:30pm
  • Please invite other educators to register.

Registration link- 3:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=557832798

Registration link- 4:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=554531579

• When: Wednesday, June 11, @ 3:30pm & 4:30pm
  • Please invite other educators to register.

Registration link- 3:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=550818466

Registration link- 4:30pm
https://discoveryed.webex.com/discoveryed/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=552118933

The registration process only takes about 15 minutes.

Become a STAR Discovery Educator and receive…

• A STAR DEN Welcome Kit, that will include a DEN Laptop Bag!

• A Trainer’s Tool Kit packed full of professional development DEN resource items.

• Your own STAR Blog from the DEN Community website.

• Information on the latest in digital media for the classroom from Discovery Education, and from the Discovery family of networks, including; Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, TLC, Discovery Health, and Discovery Kids.
• Free access to Discovery Education Mediashare just for Star Discovery Educators to share resources with each other worldwide!

Please complete the three steps below. Contact me if you need help with logging in or with any of the steps. Please read each step before you begin.

1) You’ll need to log in to your Discovery Education streaming account first at www.discoveryeducation.com, and then visit the site below to apply to become a STAR Discovery Educator.

• After you log in you’ll need to click the top right hand link “Discovery Educator Network”, and then you can find the “Become a STAR Discovery Educator link near the bottom left hand corner of the DEN site.
• If you are already logged in this is the direct link to the registration page.

http://community.discoveryeducation.com/star_redirect.php

2) After you complete the registration you’ll be asked to watch a video and complete a brief quiz.

If you already completed the application, and want to take the quiz now just visit the link below.

3) One last thing to complete, and it is really easy. Please use the link below to report a past or future knowledge sharing event with 3 or more educators helping them to utilize Discovery Education streaming digital media in the classroom.

• This can be a discussion during lunch, after school, part of a training or professional development workshop, or other type of school or district meeting.
• Record a knowledge sharing event, and select “yes” for Application Event by visiting the link below.

http://community.discoveryeducation.com/navigation/record_event

Please give me a call or an email If I can help explain anything, or if you have problems logging in.

Sincerely,

Dennis Swain
Account Manager, Discovery Educator Network
Discovery Education
Cell: 301-275-7158
P: 240-662-2084
Toll Free: 1-800-323-9084 x810-2084

Dennis_Swain@discovery.com
Northeast DEN News Flash……

After you register to become a STAR Discovery Educator, make sure you take advantage of our free 2 day professional development event for the Northeast DEN!

Yes,  it will be 2 days of educational technology and digital media training, but it is also a blast! DEN events are fun filled and created to encourage personal and professional growth while connecting you to like minded educators from across the Northeast!

Visit my blog post below for more details, and to register for the DEN Northeast Conference!

 http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/free-den-northeast-regional-conference-only-100-seats/

Thank you for attending Friday’s DE User Workshop at the PNW BOCES! Betsy Drennan and I also want to extend a special message of thanks to John Monahan for setting up the workshop. It was a fun day of professional development, and we enjoyed working with each of you. We also appreciated your input and insightful questions that helped to make it a great day.

The Interactive Tutorial that we discussed during the workshop is linked along with highlights of the workshop. Please log in to Discovery Education streaming before clicking on the link below so that it will be connected to your user name. If you do not have access to streaming please email me so I can help setup your PNW BOCES trial account.

Highlights from the Workshop:

1) The navigation boxes on the left hand side of the page provide a quick view of all of the different types of media available from any search, including subject areas and grade levels.

2) Utilize My Content to save and organize digital media for future use.

3) Use the Advanced Search feature to fine tune your search to include; closed captioned titles, Spanish titles, and editable titles.

4) For a review of what we covered I’ve placed a link below to the DE Interactive Tutorial that covers navigation techniques, Assignment Builder, Quiz Builder, and Writing Prompt Builder.

Lesson 1: Features & Navigation (Visit the link below and select the first lesson.)

http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/professionalDevelopment/InteractiveTraining.cfm

____________________________

After the success of Friday’s training I know that each of you qualify to become an active member of the Discovery Educator Network.

Visit my blog link below to learn how to complete the free STAR application process that we discussed at the workshop.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/2008/05/19/become-a-star-discovery-educator-its-free-to-apply/

Please call or email me with any questions about the workshop, or about how to become a STAR Discovery Educator.

____________________________

Special New York & New England Webinar Series:

The DEN Community, Web 2.0 Resources, & How to Become a Star Discovery Educator!

Visit my blog link below for details and to register for upcoming Webinars.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/2008/05/19/special-new-york-new-england-webinar-series/

____________________________DE Science & Other DE Product Information Webinars:

Visit my blog link for details on scheduled Webinars, and for Betsy Drennan’s contact information.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/2008/05/19/discovery-education-science-other-de-product-information-webinars-betsy-drennen/Please contact Betsy for product pricing and information, and to schedule a DE Science or other tailored product Webinars for your school or district.

____________________________

Please forward this information to other educators to help us reach more students with digital media. You can also bookmark my blog, or set up an RSS feed, to keep tabs on what’s happening in the New York and New England DEN region.

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/dennisswain/

Sincerely,

Dennis Swain
Account Manager, Discovery Educator Network
Discovery Education
Cell: 301-275-7158
P: 240-662-2084
Toll Free: 1-800-323-9084 x810-2084

Dennis_Swain@discovery.com

This is a great story from Michael Hill at the AP that reports on Edd Hifeng. Ed is an avatar that has been taught to think on his own in Second Life by computers using Artificial intelligence technology. This story caught my eye for two reasons one because we have a very active DEN Second Life community, and two because Ed was created by researchers in Troy NY at Rensselaer Polytechnic University. This is the beginning of a technology that could be very useful in education eventually after it is proven safe and effective. A version of Ed could be given full understanding of algebra to become a tutor on the Teen grid or a virtual navigation assistant on Edu Island II.

Visit the link below for the full story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080518/ap_on_hi_te/smart_avatars

The other importance of Troy NY is that it is also the location of our DEN Northeast Regional Conference in September. Visit the link below for full details and to register for the conference, because seating is limited. I’m looking forward to the conference, and to meeting everyone in person.

Northeast Regional Conference
September 27-28
Troy, NY