Dorman’s Trouvailles

Differentiating instruction can be a challenge, but the judicious application of engaging media and creativity inspiring technology helps to make DI a breeze.

Here are the resources mentioned in the presentation.

Discovery Education streaming

Wordle

TagCrowd

Great Summary

Diigo

VoiceThread

GoAnimate

xtimeline

Glogster

Animoto

Google Maps

Google Earth

Google Lit Trips

SlideShare

Microsoft Photostory 

iMovie

Windows Movie Maker

Audacity

GarageBand

GCast

GabCast

Podbean

Yodio

For those of you who are administrators for Discovery Education in your school or district it really important to know that the old unitedstreaming Administrator Website is going to be discontinued effective Nov. 30, 2009.  DE admins will now be able to access an enhanced tool set and reporting features through the new My Admin - located within the Discovery Education services hub.

Click here to download a PDF My Admin users guide.

Take a look at the following tutorial to learn more.

You can also register to attend one of our My Admin webinars.  Click here to register.

Discovery partners with lots of other organizations to bring exciting resources to students.  Here are a few great STEM resources to motivate and inspire your students.

Fuel Our Future Now - STEM resources for elementary, middle, and high school students

• Teacher Toolbox with lesson plans and more
• Elementary resources
• Middle School resources
• High School resources
• Parent Corner
• Dash+ Contest

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge

3M Young Scientists Challenge

Scotch Science Fair Central

Siemens Science Day

Discovery WebMath

ThinkGreen Classroom

Inspiring Inventions

If you are a Discovery Education streaming subscriber you can also access some terrific STEM resources from within the Teacher Center.

It’s great to be back in my home state, Connecticut, today for a training at Waterbury Public Schools.

I graduated from Windsor Locks High School more years ago than I care to admit on this blog and I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Connecticut educators.

Today’s sessions at Henry S. Chase Elementary School will focus on Discovery Education streaming and Discovery Education Science.

In the green spirit, here are a few digital take-away resources for participants.

• Discovery Education streaming Overview
• Discovery Education streaming PLUS Overview
• Discovery Education Science Elementary Overview
• Discovery Education streaming Getting Started Guide
• Discovery Education Science Getting Started Guide
• Discovery Education streaming - Integration Strategies
• Discovery Education Science - Integration Strategies
• Build a Bigger Builder
• Widgets for Your Builders
• DI with DE
• Thinking Outside the Slide
• Embedding Video Into PPT 97/2003
• Embedding Video Into PPT 2007

Don’t forget to visit the Professional Development tab after signing into DE for more great support and integration resources for DE streaming and DE Science.  And, be sure to check out all the terrific resources available through the Discovery Educator Network. 

I was thrilled to join Mike Bryant and Steve Dembo at the Anoka-Hennepin Day of Discovery in Minnesota earlier this week.  There was so much positive energy I could practically hear bells ringing . . . okay, so maybe that was the fire alarm that forced us to evacuate the building towards the end of the day, yet this was a high-energy event and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the inspiring educators from Anoka-Hennepin.

Here are the take-away resources from my  “Thinking Outside the Slide: Non-Linear Multimedia Presentations” session.

Thinking Outside the Slide

Embedding Video Into PPT 97/2003

Embedding Video Into PPT 2007

I used Google Earth often when I was in the classroom. I used it to reinforce geographic literacy and engage my high school social studies students with a colorful and interactive data visualization. Today, I’ll be presenting “Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere with Discovery Education and Google Earth” as part of the DEN Summer School webinar series.

Click below to access the resources from this session. The webinar archive will be available on the DEN blog.

Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere with Discovery Education and Google Earth

Google Earth Users Guide

Google Tools for Schools: Google Earth

Google Earth KMZ - Samples 

Google Lit Trips

KMLFactBook (blog post about KMLFactBook)

VoiceThread is one of my favorite Web 2.0 applications for education and it’s a perfect partner for Discovery Education’s rich media content.  I will be featuring VoiceThread during the August 25, 2009, DEN Summer School Webinar.

You can access the resources from this webinar by clicking below.  The webinar archive will be available on the DEN blog.

The Thread that Ties It All Together: VoiceThread and Discovery Education

Getting Started with VoiceThread in the Classroom

VoiceThead Wiki Page - Training and Integration Resources

Get ready for a new school year with the DEN!  Tell a colleague, invite your principal and join us for Summer School with the DEN.  Enroll today at: http://community.discoveryeducation.com/webinar.

All sessions begin at 11 AM ET.

These sessions are recorded and the presentation resources and archives will be made available at: http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/summer-school

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

I love the ways that Google Earth allows you to explore and interact with highly engaging visual data.  So, when I came across kmlfactbook I nearly flipped!  kmlfactbook allows users to tap into the data contained in the CIA World Factbook and the World Resources Institues EarthTrends.  Registered users can also upload their own data sets to kmlfactbook.

Users can access the following data sets from every country contained in the CIA World Factbook through kmlfactbook:

• People
• Economy
• Transport
• Military
• Geography
• Government
• Communications

The data from WRI EarthTrends includes:

• Climate and atmosphere
• Forests, grasslands, and drylands
• Population, health, and human well-being
• Energy and resources
• Economics, business, and the environment
• Agriculture and food
• Biodiversity and protected areas
• Water resources and freshwater ecosystems
• Environmental governance and institutions

The data can be viewed through the web browser in preview mode or can be downloaded as a KML file for use in Google Earth.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

The applications for kmlfactbook are nearly limitless.  The colorful and interactive interface make it perfect content for your interactive whiteboards, tablets, and LCD projectors.  Importing the KML files into Google Earth adds additional functionality and allows students to use the data to build their own Google Earth tours and data sets and allows users to layer additional data to create hypotheses and generalizations.  The ability to readily access data from all geographic areas instantly allows students to compare and contrast with ease.  Downloading the KML files and opening them in Google Earth allows students to create their own thematic maps.  (Not sure what a thematic map entails?  Check out this great Google Earth resource on Thematic Maps.)

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

Here is a listing of some of the additional Google Earth layers that are terrific classroom content.

Don’t forget that if you are a Discovery Education subscriber you can enhance your Google Earth placemarks with DE media.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

To learn more about Google Earth, access training and tutorials, and explore educational applications, visit my Google Earth training site.   You can also download my presentation, Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere: Discovery Education and Google Earth.