Pennsylvania

I came across this TeacherTube video on Jim Gates’ Tipline blog.

What I really like about this video is the student point of view. That is what sets it apart from some of the other TeacherTube/YouTube videos of a similar ilk.

Thanks to the Discovery Educator Network, I was able to join Heather Sullivan, Beverly Plein, and Marti McGrath for the premiere of the Discovery Films documentary, DOUBLETIME.  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 story follows these two champion teams on their quest to take home Best in Show honors at the Holiday Double Dutch Tournament at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NYC.  Though both teams were champions many times over in their respective leagues, neither had ever competed in the fusion competition at the Apollo.  Thus, both would face similar challenges in preparing for the international competition.

I have to say that I wasn’t really sure what to expect - I was to screen a documentary about jump roping after all . . .  I knew absolutely nothing about the sport of jump roping before this film.  My knowledge of jump roping extended just as far as the playground memories of my childhood.

The film was fabulous!  I simply could not stop smiling for the entire film.  I laughed, I teared up, but most of all, I felt inspired by the stories of hard work and perseverance inherent in the challenges facing these two teams.

Following the film, we were delighted by the Q&A session during which the director, producer, coaches, and teams answered audience questions.  The students were articulate and inspiring.  I felt that I knew each one of them personally because Stephanie Johnes so eloquently captured and expressed their personalities throughout the film. Before acknowledging the teams, the producer made an exciting announcement; instead of being released directly to the Discovery Channel, DOUBLETIME will first hit the big screen! 

Following the film many from among the audience walked to the Tribeca Grill for an after party.  The teams captivated those in attendance with a half-hour demonstration of their creative athleticism.

So, keep an eye out for the theater release of DOUBLETIME.  It is a story well-worth your screening.  I can guarantee that you will leave the theater inspired by the heart-warming story and that you will feel connected to the engaging student stars of the film.

I want to pass along two exciting opportunities from DEN . . .

1. Are you planning to attend NECC, the granddaddy of all ed tech conferences, this June?  If so, you are definitely lucky and making me duly jealous.   So, if you are one of the lucky attendees, the DEN team would like to assess your level of interest in DEN-sponsored events so they can start planning.  Please visit the DEN National Blog to log your interest on the cool embedded PollDaddy survey widget.

2. I know that many of you have taken advantage of the outstanding professional development that the DEN offers through the EdTechConnect webinar series over the past two years.  If you are like so many other Discovery Educators, you have left those webinars empowered to try out widgets, unitedstreaming builders, digital storytelling, podcasts, and plethora of other fantastic technology applications.  Well . . . you may now be able to return the favor and contribute to the DEN community as a STAR of the May 23rd EdTechConnect webinar!  Visit the DEN National Blog to learn more.

I just have to share with the rest of the PA DEN how fantastic the Planet Earth webinar with Dr. Penny Allen was this afternoon. 

I enrolled my 7th period class of 9th graders.  In preparation for the webinar, we watched the "Pole to Pole" episode in class.  We did a little virtual touring with the Google Earth / Planet Earth XML.  I also posted the accompanying online Planet Earth resources on my class blog.  My students submitted questions to me through the blog and e-mail.  By the way, we watched the episode on my SmartBoard . . . the students’ jaws were literally dropping every few minutes.  The quality of the image and, of course, the content were breathtaking. 

Though I have attended numerous EdTechConnect webinars, I didn’t really know what to expect this afternoon.  My initial observations were tremendously positive.  The students were enchanted by the thought of being "in a class" with 60+ other schools.  The were cheering every time another PA class announced themselves in the chat window.  They loved that Dr. Allen was speaking with them from England and that they were sharing the experience with hundreds of other students.  When Lance introduced the students in Harrisburg who were able to ask a question live over the phone my class was aching to have the same opportunity.  They thought it was so cool.  When of my students, Steph, was able to ask a live question (thanks Scott) I had to immediately mute my phone to prevent the rest of the attendees from hearing the excited cheering erupting in my classroom.  They just got such a kick out of the whole experience and they walked away disappointed that they couldn’t stay for the entire time. 

So, thank you, Discovery.  You provided my students with an indelible experience. 

Much has been said in recent months about the power of real-time data sharing and collaboration.  I came across an amazing example of this today, AlertMap.  I often find myself endeavoring to empower my students to view the world from a more holistic global perspective.  As you might imagine, that is a challenge with the largely middle / upper middle class students that populate my classes.  I can’t wait to share AlertMap with my students. 

Havaria Information Service - AlertMap

The AlertMap is an initiative from a Budapest NGO (non-governmental organization).  This real-time interactive map charts over 50 types of disasters.  The plotted icons link to an information page for the disaster.  The information page provides a summary, event description, situation update, and a close-up Google map.

The data collecting and monitoring is conducted by the Hungarian National Association of Radio Distress-Signaling and Infocommunications.  Contributing agencies include: U.S. Geological Survey, International Volcano Research Centre, International Association of Emergency Managers, European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, World Health Organization, Naval Maritime Forecast Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Federal Aviation Administration, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

There are regional maps as well:

• USA
• Europe
• Hungary
• Tropical Storm Monitor

I think it is a powerful collaboration among international research and data-gathering organizations.  The Wall Street Journal featured AlertMap in an April 11, 2007, article, Real-Time Map Monitors Disasters Around the Globe.  As stated in the article the mission of the NGO that coordinates the map is:

crisis omniscience: "to monitor and document all the events on the Earth which may cause disaster or emergency"

Check out AlertMap when you have an opportunity.  It is fascinating and disturbing at the same time.   

Get ready to immerse yourself in the Shallow Seas and explore the Great Plains in tonight’s installments of Planet Earth, airing on the Discovery Channel.

SHALLOW SEAS
Airs Sunday, April 8, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
Follow a humpback whale mother and her calf on their epic journey to
the most prolific feeding grounds that fringe the coasts. The shallow
seas that lie above the continental shelf are the richest in the ocean.
It is here that you find the coral reefs and, in colder waters, the
fishing grounds. Massive shoals of fish act like magnets for predators.
Spectacular storm footage, above and below the water, reveals
extraordinary events in this tropical paradise.

GREAT PLAINS
Airs Sunday, April 8, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
A quarter of the earth’s surface is covered with grass, and the world’s
plains are home to massive herds of animals. This episode traverses the
grasslands of Mongolia and the flooding plains of Papua New Guinea, and
finds great gatherings of creatures, such as East Africa’s wildebeest
and clusters of rare grazers like Mongolian gazelles.

Have you already voted on your favorite scene?  If not, check out the options and vote.

Don’t forget to check out the Matt Monjan’s Implementation Blog for ideas about how to incorporate the awesome resources from Discovery’s unitedstreaming and Planet Earth.

You and your students can connect with the makers of this groundbreaking series with the live webinar on April 24th at 1:00 PM EST.  Visit the Implementation Blog to learn more about the webinar and to submit questions for Dr. Perry Allen.  Click here to register for this webinar. 

Thanks to Teaching Sagittarian for looking into SplashCast.  I blogged about this on my cliotech blog as well.
 

I decided to try out SplashCast for myself.  I am always a fan of Web 2.0 applications that merge disparate feeds and resources into one easy-to-navigate console.  That is exactly what SplashCast does.

SplashCast allows users to "create a show" that incorporates audio (uploaded from local drive or house online),  images (uploaded from local drive or housed online), video (uploaded from local drive, capture from video device, or housed online), documents (PowerPoint, PDF, text), and RSS feeds from Flickr or YouTube.   The show is published to a channel whose feed can be embedded as well as syndicated via RSS or streamed online.

The image component works seamlessly with Flickr, searching by user and/or tags.  The video component pull online video from YouTube, searchable by tag, user, URL, Most Viewed, Most Discussed, Recently Added, Recently Featured.

I would echo Teaching Sagittarian’s comment that SplashCast would be more user friendly if it expanded some of its video service to TeacherTube and other video hosting sites.

I decided to create a show on my cliotech channel that covers a very difficult topic for my students to grasp, how the Federal Reserve System operates and the control over the U.S. money system.  It was very easy to create the show and publish it.  It embeds easily (as you can see below).

The channels can also be disseminated via RSS feed.  Click here for my RSS feed.  I subscribed to my own RSS feed through my Bloglines account.  The SplashCast player is viewable and playable from within Bloglines.

From the streaming website, viewers can subscribe to a SplashCast channel with a wide array of one-click options (MyYahoo, Newsgator, Netvibes, WindowsLive, Google, Bloglines, MyAOL, Pageflakes.)  Fans can also subscribe via e-mail.  The streaming site also lists blogs in which the channel or show is embedded.

So, visit SplashCast to learn more about the service.  If you create an educational channel or show, please comment.

Thanks to Jennifer Wagner, a.k.a. Technospud, for suggesting Friday, April 6, 2007, as Cyber Compliment Day.

If last Friday, March 30th, was Stop Cyberbullying Day, then I would like to make THIS FRIDAY — April 6th –

CYBER COMPLIMENT DAY!!

Take the time to think of those who have helped you in the world of bloggers and let them know by posting a comment to their blog. (If you want to get a jump start and start today — that is fine too!)

Let’s take the time to know that we appreciate each other and lets show the world that blogging can be BENEFICIAL & POSITIVE too!

Please use the tag:  CyberCompliment in your posts!

As the blogger for the Discovery Educator Network Pennsylvania Blog, I would like to send out a compliment to all the states who have organized leadership councils and jumped back into the cyber stream with state blogs.

• California
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maine
• New York
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Wisconsin

I can’t fail to mention the Discovery Educator Network employees who do so much to motivate and inspire through their Discovery blogs:

• Lance Rougeux, Jannita Demian, Scott Kinney, and Betsy Whalen - DEN National Blog
• Steve Dembo - Digital Passports Blog
• Hall Davidson - Media Matters Blog
• Matt Monjan - Implementation Blog
• Joe Brennan - Digital Storytelling Blog
• Donna Neblett - Assessment Blog

Since the PA Blog went live again in late February, we’ve posted a number of exciting announcements.  I want to take a quick minute to recap two of those items that were originally posted on the DEN National Blog. 

DEN National Institutes

The cut-off for applications is April 13th!  So get your applications in ASAP.

Spring Training Promotion

It’s that time of year when the DEN coaches start looking at potential
prospects for next year’s All-STAR team.  Do you have what it takes?

Every year STAR Discovery Educators are asked to report at least two
events they have conducted in the past school year in order to have
their contracts renewed for the following season (i.e., maintain STAR
status for next school year). 

So, grab a bag of sunflower seeds and your laptop and show us what you’ve got. 

Report your events from this school year (starting September 1, 2006) by visiting the DEN Events Reporting Site.

What is an event?

Download what_is_an_event.pdf

Need some new equipment?  Order a training kit by visiting the DEN Training Kits Site.

STARs who have a good Spring Training and report at least three events by June 1 will get an officially licensed DEN baseball cap.  See our lovely model to the left.

If you need some ideas, don’t worry, the DEN coaching staff is here
to help.