New Jersey

The 2nd NJ Day of Discovery is now under our belt- Hope you all had just as much fun as we did!!  Please take a few minutes to complete this survey (if you attended) so we can continue to plan the best events possible!  Thanks for your support- See you at the next event!

Have you seen Karl Fisch’s movie "Did You Know"? Well, recently, Jeff Brenman updated it a bit and converted it into a powerpoint presentation which just won the Best Presentation in the World award from Slideshare.net.  Well Done!!

Jeff gave me permission to tweek his work a little bit & turn it back into a movie again. I wanted to share it with you because I think it’s a great example (not my actual movie, but the story behind it) of how web 2.0 technology is allowing us all to share ideas and collaborate with people that we otherwise would never even have known existed!  Exactly what the DEN is all about, right?
 

Leave it to Steve Dembo to recommend another TOTALLY ADDICTIVE web 2.0 tool! A while ago he turned us on to Voki, a website that lets you create an animated avatar that you can customize and add your own voice to. Who said education can’t be fun?

Just wanted to share with you all that I have started giving some of my homework assignments this way. I insert a voki widget on our class web page & that message also emails itself out to all of my students… There are lots of possibilities to utilize this fun & easy tool

Get a Voki now!

Ever wonder what a widget is?  You know, those cool-looking, picture-boxy thingies you see all over peoples websites?   Here’s my everyday definition: "A widget is, like, you know…"

Here’s my techie definition: Essentially, a widget is a small program that can
be placed on your website/MySpace, etc. profile/desktop that can range in
function from a simple profile to a full-blown application. Like
many things in Web 2.0, widgets are hard to define but way cool!

What’s really cool about widgets is that they are mostly HTML, CSS, and Javascript,
which means that anyone with a browser and a text editor can create them! SpringWidgets.com is a great site where you can browse pre-existing, generic widgets & customize them for your own use, or even create new ones VERY EASLIY from scratch!  Below is a widget I just created on SpringWidgets- took me about 5 minutes…

  Countdown to DEN National Institute: California

AP picture

Let’s help the DEN become the next member of the 3000 club!  We are so close guys, just a few more reported events from each of us & we will pass 3000 in no time!  The process is so simple, even Pete Rose wouldn’t bet against you getting at least one more event posted!!

P.S. For all you Pete Rose fans- I didn’t just use his picture to make a joke about him, it’s also to pay homage to his position as the leader of the 3000 club (his stats are pretty amazing!)

Batter Up!  Report your events here

Slide has a fun tool called Guestbook that is just that- 

Create a guestbook for your blog/website users to share picture/video of themselves.  What a great way to expand on the user-tracking concept!

Do your part to protect you friends & family from the nasty little critters that just won’t leave us alone this time of year!

Now that Spring has Sprung, you are probably either outside, frolicking in the hills like Maria, or hiding inside your house, trying to avoid all the obnoxious little critters that drive you crazy this time of year!

So…here’s a friendly reminder to put down your tissue box or run inside really quick & respond to the NJ Day of Discovery.  May 18th will be here before you know it, so make sure you RSVP to Beverly sooner than later :)   (bplein@bellatlantic.net)

P.S.: Don’t forget to bring a guest- someone you think would make a great DEN member.  The best way to keep our network going strong is to expand it with Strong, Motivated new members!

Here are the specifics- Hope to see you there!

NJ Day of Discovery
Friday, May 18th, 2007
Monmouth University
8 am- 3 pm

Join your presenters, Lance Rougeux, Beverly Plein, & Heather
Sullivan, along with representatives from the NJ Department of
Education as we share & learn about more exciting ways to
incorporate different types of media into our classrooms.  Together, we
can make media technology the norm instead of the exception.

Please RSVP by emailing Beverly Plein at bplein@bellatlantic.net.

We just found out that along with Allan Butler, Producer for The Science Channel, astronaut Ken Reightler will be joining the EdTechConnect Webinar tomorrow!

Ken was commissioned as a naval officer in 1973.  Upon receiving his
"Wings of Gold" in 1974, he began a series of diverse aviation
assignments including duty aboard aircraft carriers and flight
testing.  In 1987, he was selected by NASA for the astronaut program
and began an eight-year assignment at the Johnson Space Center.  He
held a wide variety of technical assignments and participated as pilot
on two space shuttle flights.

Join
us tomorrow, May 4th at 1 PM (EST) for this really special webinar and make sure to invite your colleagues as well.  Click here to register.

Please submit your questions to lance_rougeux@discovery.com in advance.

Last Saturday, I was given a great opportunity by the Discovery Educator Network to attend a Discovery Film premier at the Tribeca Film Festival.  I joined my fellow DEN members, Jennifer Dorman, Marti McGrath & Beverly Plein for the premier of Doubletime, an amazingly inspirational documentary about competitive jump roping (yes that sport actually exists- if you’ve never seen it before, keep an eye out on ESPN to catch a competition- you’ll be hooked)!

DOUBLETIME was directed by Stephanie Johnes and tells the story of two internationally competitive jump rope organizations, the Bouncing Bulldogs of Chapel Hill, NC, and the Double Dutch Forces of Columbia, SC.

The following is taken from the movie’s trailer site, as they do a much better job of explaining it than I ever could:

"If seeing is believing, watching these kids Double Dutch elicits
double-takes and disbelief. Chronicling the world of competitive jump roping,
this energetic documentary follows two teenage teams that combine dance and
gymnastics to breathtaking effect, as they prepare and contend for the world
championship at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Take one part dance, a bit of gymnastics, a\ntry at the high jump and a dash of breakdance, throw it all on an obstacle\ncourse and you get Double Dutch. The athletes dedicated to this challenging\nform of jump roping come in all ages and from disparate places. In fact, as\ndirector Stephanie Johnes shows in her invigorating, fun documentary, jump\nroping has become quite a competitive sport. She introduces two rival Double\nDutch teams, The Bouncing Bulldogs of North Carolina and The Double Dutch\nForces from South Carolina.\nMade up of grade school and teenage jumpers, these teams compete in different\nleagues, but now for the first time, they will face off on the stage of Harlem's Apollo Theater for the Holiday Classic\ncompetition and see if any of them can win the grand championship of Double\nDutch. The Bulldogs represent the best of gymnastic freestlye jumping found\nmostly in white suburbia, while the Forces belong to the inner city African\nAmerican tradition of Double Dutch. \u003cem\>\u003ci\>\u003cfont face\u003d\”Tahoma\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-family:Tahoma\”\>Doubletime \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/i\>\u003c/em\>traces the origins\nof these two styles of jumping with vintage video and interviews with the\ngodfathers and founders of the league. Their background informs both teams'\nstyles, and as Johnes gets to know most of the participants intimately, she\nlets the audience learn just how much this sport means to the individuals who\nare passionate about it. But most of all, Johnes finds some young people doing\nrelatively miraculous things-in Double Dutch and in life. \u003cem\>\u003ci\>\u003cfont face\u003d\”Tahoma\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-family:Tahoma\”\>Doubletime \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/i\>\u003c/em\>will\nleave you smiling-that is, if you can get your jaw to stop dropping at the\nstrength, style and perseverance of these incredible kids.\u003cbr\>\n\u003cbr\>\n—Aaron Dobbs \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont color\u003d\”#333333\” face\u003d\”Trebuchet MS\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”color:#333333\”\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003c/div\>\n\n\u003c/div\>\n\n\n”,0]
);

//–>Take one part dance, a bit of gymnastics, a
try at the high jump and a dash of breakdance, throw it all on an obstacle
course and you get Double Dutch. The athletes dedicated to this challenging
form of jump roping come in all ages and from disparate places. In fact, as
director Stephanie Johnes shows in her invigorating, fun documentary, jump
roping has become quite a competitive sport. She introduces two rival Double
Dutch teams, The Bouncing Bulldogs of North Carolina and The Double Dutch
Forces from South Carolina.
Made up of grade school and teenage jumpers, these teams compete in different
leagues, but now for the first time, they will face off on the stage of Harlem’s Apollo Theater for the Holiday Classic
competition and see if any of them can win the grand championship of Double
Dutch. The Bulldogs represent the best of gymnastic freestlye jumping found
mostly in white suburbia, while the Forces belong to the inner city African
American tradition of Double Dutch. Doubletime traces the origins
of these two styles of jumping with vintage video and interviews with the
godfathers and founders of the league. Their background informs both teams’
styles, and as Johnes gets to know most of the participants intimately, she
lets the audience learn just how much this sport means to the individuals who
are passionate about it. But most of all, Johnes finds some young people doing
relatively miraculous things-in Double Dutch and in life. Doubletime will
leave you smiling-that is, if you can get your jaw to stop dropping at the
strength, style and perseverance of these incredible kids."

—Aaron Dobbs

None of us was exactly quite sure what we were in for, as we’d never been to a film festival before, nor did we really know much about the movie.  Well, let me just tell you that the entire experience COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER!  The movie was amazing- we laughed, we cried, we even stood up & cheered (during the movie).  After the screening, the director was joined onstage by the entire cast, which included the coaches of both teams and the team members themselves.  They indulged us in a Q&A session, which left us all inspired by the fact that there are dedicated  mentors & young adults such as these working to bring people together- even in competition- instead of trying to seperate based on skill, social status or Race.

After the screening we moved on to Robert DeNiro’s landmark downtown restaurant, Tribeca Grill, for a spectacular after party with other Discovery Communications guests, as well as the two teams & their guests. The restaurant is located on the first two floors of the Tribeca Film
Center, which is the headquarters for De Niro’s Tribeca Productions
film company, the Tribeca Film Festival and Miramax. The building is a
historic 1905 warehouse that was once the Martinson Coffee factory. While we enjoyed a great meal and great conversation, the teams treated us to a half-hour demonstration of their talents outside on the sidewalk! Only in New York…  Their "tricks: were so amazing, most of us held our breath half the time! Check out some of the highlights below-

Thanks Discovery, for another unforgettable opportunity to Explore My World!
 

P.S. I don’t have any dates yet, but keep an eye out for Doubletime at your local theater, otherwise don’t miss it when it eventually ends up on the Discovery Channel- you won’t be sorry!