Streaming A to Z

Wow I’m really digging my new digs here on this site! Way to go Mr. Dembo!

Yesterday I had a chance to speak with a lot of DEN Stars, members and teachers from all over the country during the DEN Stream-a-thon. I promised you all that I would post the presentations that I used during my session.

As promised - please find the attached PowerPoint Presentation. Each builder is covered in detail and the animations will walk you through the steps that you need to take to complete each builder. Please feel free to modify them or use them to help others learn about these tools!

I promise this presentation isn’t as wonky as what you saw on the Stream-a-thon!

Assignments and Quizzes, and Writing Prompts - Oh My Power Point - At Last

Matt

Exciting news! We have just improved and updated the Assignment, Quiz and Writing Prompt Builders.

Here is how each builder has been made better.

Assignment Builder Improvements

Now, when you build your content, you can Bold Text, change the color of your text, add numbering and bullets, sub and super scripts, special characters, tables and more!

You can also click on the View Grade Report link to see which of your students has completed your assignment or choose to have an assignment notification e-mailed to you.

Finally, when adding material to your Assignment, you can now search your saved content instead of the entire unitedstreaming library.

Quiz Builder Enhancements

Just like the Assignment Builder, the Quiz Builder, gives you the ability to add Bold Text, change the color of your text, add numbering and bullets, sub and super scripts, special characters, tables and more!

Writing Prompt Improvements

I think the following enhancement is too cool for school.  When your students log into the Student Center to access your writing prompts, they can now type in their work.  Students also have the ability to bold text and do all of that fun stuff in their response. 

PLUS, once your students click on on the submit button, you can access their written work either by e-mail or by logging into unitedstreaming.com and clicking on the view grade report links.

Finally, as with the other two builders,  the Writing Prompt Builder now gives you the ability to add Bold Text, change the color of your text, add numbering and bullets, sub and super scripts, special characters, tables and more!

These changes were brought about because of you, and your comments.  Thank you for helping us continue to make unitedstreaming better!

Talk to you soon,
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

Ok so here we are on Friday and, as promised, here is the third of three postings on The Builders (Assignment, Quiz and Writing Prompt).

Today we’re going to tackle the Writing Prompt Builder.

The Writing Prompt Builder is a tool that allows you to tie together any image that you find on unitedstreaming with a caption they you create. 

Just like the other two builders, you can copy from the unitedstreaming Writing Prompt Builder question bank.  Once you’ve copied them you can customize them to make them your own!

And, like the Assignment Builder and Quiz Builder, your content is stored on the web so your students can access your quiz from any computer that has Internet access - even at home!

The over 500 unitedstreaming writing prompts are based on the national English/Language Arts standards for writing by the NCTE—National Council of Teachers of English.

These prompts also feature:

• Difficulty levels that cover students from those beginning the writing process to those who are in AP courses
• Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, and Persuasive prompts for grades 3-12
• Analysis prompts for grades 9-12

Each prompt includes images that relate to content taught across the country—both literary and non-literary, i.e., social studies, science, philosophy, cultural, community, and more.

To access the Writing Prompt library, log into unitedstreaming and click on the Teacher Center.  Then click on the Writing Prompt Icon.

To search the entire Writing Prompt Library, look inside the Search Writing Prompt Library box and uncheck the top three boxes - leaving only the unitedstreaming Writing Prompts box checked.   And in no time you’ll see the 500+ writing prompts appear on your screen.

I have attached a small PowerPoint presentation to this e-mail.  It includes step-by-step instructions for creating a Writing Prompt.  Feel free to download and customize it to meet your needs! Download writing_prompt_builder.ppt

Talk to you soon,
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

True or False - within unitedstreaming you can find three great tools to help you integrate technology into the classroom?

True of course!  Way to go you passed the Pop Quiz!

And speaking of Pop Quizzes - let’s dive a little deeper into unitedstreaming’s Quiz Builder.

The Quiz Builder is a tool that allows you to tie together videos and video segments to questions that you design.  You can create Multiple Choice (Single Answer), Multiple Choice (Multiple Answer), True and False, and even Essay questions (unitedstreaming won’t grade essay answers). 

You can even copy entire quizzes and/or questions from the unitedstreaming Quiz Builder question bank.  Once you’ve copied them you can customize them to make them your own!

And, like the Assignment Builder,  your content is stored on the web so your students can access your quiz from any computer that has Internet access - even at home!

You can find the Quiz Builder by going to the Teacher Center. Once there, click on the blue Go To arrow and let your imagination loose! 

I have attached a small PowerPoint presentation to this e-mail.  It includes step-by-step instructions for building a Quiz and viewing a grade report.  Download the_quiz_builder.ppt

NOTE: I recommend that you use the online grade report to view your students grades.  If you choose to have them sent to you by e-mail you will receive individual reports for each of your students - which can add up to lots of e-mails!

Make sure to check back on Friday when we review the final builder in this series, the Writing Prompt Builder.

Talk to you soon,
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

As you all know by now unitedstreaming is much more than a video library.  It is also full of tools and applications that you can use in the classroom.

This week we’re going to tackle three of those tools, the Assignment Builder, the Quiz Builder, and the Writing Prompt Builder.

Let’s start by saying right off the bat that before creating an Assignment, Quiz or Writing Prompt you will need to turn OFF your Pop-Up Blockers.  When you go to save an Assignment, Quiz, or Writing Prompt, a second confirmation window appears. If you have your pop-up blockers turned on you won’t see this window and thus not be able to continue.

And here’s a helpful hint - even though you may have turned off your pop-ups in your Internet Explorer/Safari settings, you may also have to turn them off in tool bars like Yahoo and Google.

I’ve put together a quick how to turn on/off pop up blocker instruction-sheet for you.  Feel free to download it and share with your peers! Download turning_off_popup_blockers.doc

For this posting we’ll be concentrating on the Assignment Builder.

The Assignment Builder is a tool that allows you to tie together all of the assets (Videos, Images, Sounds, Quizzes, etc) that you find in unitedstreaming and create a unit.  Since the content is stored on the web your students can access the assignment from any computer that has Internet access - even at home!

You can find the Assignment Builder by going to the Teacher Center. Once there, click on the blue Go To arrow and let your imagination loose!

I have attached a small PowerPoint presentation to this e-mail.  It includes step-by-step instructions for building an Assignment.  I’ve also included notes on most slides.  That way you can print out the slides and refer to their instructions.  Feel free to download the presentation and make it yours!  Download assignment_builder_directions.ppt

Tune in on Wednesday when we explore the Quiz Builder!

Talk to you soon,

Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

The unitedstreaming writing prompt library now hosts over 500 writing prompts.

The new writing prompts are based on the national English/Language Arts standards for writing by the NCTE—National Council of Teachers of English.

These prompts also feature:

• Difficulty levels that cover students from those beginning the writing process to those who are in AP courses
• Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, and Persuasive prompts for grades 3-12
• Analysis prompts for grades 9-12

Each prompt includes images that relate to content taught across the country—both literary and non-literary, i.e., social studies, science, philosophy, cultural, community, and more.

To access the Writing Prompt library, log into unitedstreaming and click on the Teacher Center.  Then click on the Writing Prompt Icon.

To search the entire Writing Prompt Library, look inside the Search Writing Prompt Library box and uncheck the top three boxes - leaving only the unitedstreaming Writing Prompts box checked.   And in no time you’ll see the 500+ writing prompts appear on your screen.

Tying it all together:
Speaking of time, did you know that on March 19, 1918, Congress enacted Daylight Savings Time into law? I found that out today when I clicked on the unitedstreaming Calendar feature.

And now you can tie the Daylight Savings Time video segments and encyclopedia article to a Writing Prompt and create a unit on Time. To get you started, I found two prompts Too Little Time (grades 6-8) and Inevitable Change (grades 9-12), that address time in two very different ways. 

And now, at this moment in time, you and I have arrived at the end of yet another posting.

Until the next time
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

In January, we released over 250 BRAND NEW writing prompts based on the national English/Language Arts standards for writing by NCTEA - The National Council of Teachers of English.

These new Writing Prompts feature:

• Difficulty levels that cover all levels of students from those who are just beginning the writing process to those who are in AP courses!
• Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, and Persuasive prompts for grades 3-12 and Analysis prompts for grades 9-12.
• The images that correspond with these prompts relate to content taught across the country both literary and non-literary, i.e., social studies, science, philosophy, cultural, community, etc.

Discovery Education worked in conjunction with The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to create a series of technology infused lesson plans.  The ISTE Seal of Alignment assures that the use of unitedstreaming digital media, as documented in these lessons, has been rigorously reviewed and determined to meet specific National Educational Technology Standards.  Educators can use these lessons as guidelines on how to effectively infuse unitedstreaming digital media into their lesson design.  To find the ISTE lesson plans, log into unitedstreaming, click on the Teacher Center, and then Lesson Plan Library.

What does all of this mean for you?!?  It works.  Plain and simple.  You already knew that unitedstreaming is a great resource.  Here is one more thing that proves it!  So rest easy knowing that what you are already using or what you plan on using in the near future is effective AND trustworthy!  And isn’t always nice to have another seal of approval?

Until Next Time-

Christy Rogers
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

Isn’t it interesting how culture, climate, and geography shape the way that we interpret the things that surround us?

Recently, I was in Pennsylvania for the PETE and C conference and was able to observe this phenomena first-hand.   During one snowy night an exhibitor was passing out red ice scrapers to passers by.  Upon seeing the red ice scrapers my colleague - who was born and raised in sunny California and not used to snow or ice- excitedly proclaimed, "Oh cool, look! Back Scratchers!" (bonus points if you can find her posting on the DEN blog).

This got me thinking…well first it got me laughing…but after a few good laughs I got back to thinking about how perceptions are shaped in this digital age.

As educators, you stand in front of a generation that communicates with one another in multiple ways (both on-line and off).  Your students are blogging, interacting globally through social networking sites, text messaging, instant messaging, e-mailing, and-anything-else-ing.  The information they access is constantly changing - constantly being updated, modified, and revised.  Now imagine how that shapes the perception of their world!

So how do you reach these students - students who without blinking, can text messages, watch a video, and surf the Internet at the same time?  By providing your instruction in as many diverse ways. 

And you can do that within a safe environment by using the tools located within unitedstreaming.

The Assignment Builder, Quiz Builder, and Writing Prompt Builder give you the ability to construct interactive lessons and/or inquiry-oriented activities.  For example you can:

• incorporate video and video segments, images, calendar events, articles, quizzes, writing prompts, and even websites, into an assignment using the Assignment Builder.
• create an interactive quiz with the Quiz Builder.
• start your students off with a customized writing prompt created with the Writing Prompt Builder.

Best of all, your students can access your assignment, quiz, or writing prompt from any computer that has Internet access - even from home!

I’ve put together a PowerPoint presentation that includes step-by-step instructions for each of the Builders. Feel free to download this tool and/or share it with your colleagues and, you know, scratch each others backs.  Download the_builders.ppt 

Talk to you soon,
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, unitedstreaming

So now that your teachers are comfortable searching for videos and downloading them onto their computers or streaming them live for their students what is next?

Why incorporating them into the The Builders course!

The Assignment Builder, Quiz Builder and Writing Prompt Builder (The Builders) give teachers the ability to tie images, audio files, videos, clips, and all of the other good stuff within the site together in one place and assign them to students. 

And here’s the really neat part - students can access the assignments in school and/or at home!  Homework made cool.

Click on the links below to download easy to understand instructions for each of The Builders.

Assignment Builder , Quiz Builder , Writing Prompt Buider

If you like that, here’s something that will really knock your socks off. 

unitedstreaming has added a new member to the family albeit a virtual one.  Check out the Interactive Training modules and meet our virtual instructor.  That’s right the interactive training is, well, even more interactive!

Check out module two and learn how to embed and hyperlink videos, images, clip art, and more into Word and PowerPoint documents.

Click on the Professional Development link within your navigation bar and then click on the Interactive Training icon to access the Interactive modules.

And what would an Implementation blog be without a little take-home tip or trick? 

In staying with our PowerPoint/Builder theme, I’ve put together a few slides for you to share with your colleagues and or incorporate into your training. I hope that they help! Download embedding_and_hyperlinking.ppt  Tune in next week for the latest and greatest!

Talk to you soon,

Matt Monjan
Discovery Education, Implementation