Tennessee DEN

This session from TETC is titled, “Social Networking: It’s More Than MySpace.” Online social networking differs from non-online in that the boundaries of time and space are removed. Common features of social network sites include:

• A profile feature
• A list of friends that are identified as part of your online social network
• Some type of “wall” for friends to post comments on your site
• Ability to post photos, movies, videos, and other media
• Some type of communication tools (blogs or IMs)
• Sub-group availability within the network itself

Who is using social networking, and how are they using it? USA Today was one example given. You have the ability to login and create a social network around the types of news in which you are interested.

In addition, political candidates are using social sites to connect to people and to coordinate activities related to campaigns. The Obama site is probably ahead of the curve because one of the Facebook founders took a leave of absence to design the site. If you join the network, you will be connected to others in your local area who are also supporters. Ron Paul used his site effectively to raise $5 million in one day online. On the other hand, Fred Thompson had a misstep when he planned his big day the day before Thanksgiving. The entire nation travels that day! Interesting.

Journalism and media are using social networking, and it is transforming the way they do business. Through social networking, journalism has left “telling a story” to being a dialog. People can share in the news story. They can even correct errors and refute facts. Looking again at USA Today, like nearly any other major news source online, those who are logged in have the ability to comment on news stories. Again, the dialog extends beyond the news story.

IBM has 400,000 employees on an internal MySpace-like social networking system.  They have 20,000 internal blogs and 20,000 wikis; including an internal social bookmarking site.  How many are at your school?

Remember, these are not MTV-type sites that attract the young, hip, up-to-date youngsters of today. These are standard, flagship sites that are changing the way all of us interact with the web.

There was more from the session, but here are the pertinent questions:

• Kids today are interacting with their world online. How are they interacting with their world of learning? How are you driving that interaction?
• Kids today are social in ways we never thought possible (I was born in the 50’s). Are you allowing them to be technologically social at school? Is your network designed to let them do that?
• Kids today are exposed to all types of information. Do they know how to critically analyze what they read or hear online? Are you taking steps to train them in being better online consumers of information?

Post any and all answers to this blog. Let’s keep the dialog going…

Teryl and I struggled most of the morning trying to get wifi connections working, videos linked correctly, and inviting friends to join us via Skype or Twitter for our TETC session on ways to use Discovery Streaming in the classroom.

We spent our lunch hour doing a mini training with a few friends.  We looked at Photo Story 3, Twitter, Audacity, Animoto, Slideshare, and more.  We decided next year we might just set up a training in the hallway and see how many people would stop by!

Teryl brought 40 brochures and 20 DVDs to give away to attendees. We both thought this would be way more than we needed.  Honestly, I thought it would be a success if we had 8 or 10 people come by to our session.  Not because we aren’t good, mind you.  There are just a lot of sessions going on.

Our room had 70 chairs.  We had 82 people crammed into the room.  This fact was punctuated by the “Session Full” sign posted on our billboard outside the door.  We were gobsmacked!  We were both so blown away that I totally forgot to take pictures!

Got to go for now.  Sitting in a Web 2.0 session hosted by Apple.

Okay, I’ve been at TETC for an entire morning, and there just isn’t much happening.  There were a lot of good-sounding sessions yesterday, and some more this afternoon (Teryl and me not included, of course).  I have never heard of this keynote speaker, so I decided to blow that off and look around the exhibit hall.  I got there just before they closed it for the keynote speaker!

I did have enough time to walk around and realize that there just were not that many exhibitors here.  I’m going to try to pick up some information later today from those that look interesting.  I did get some information from a company called TextHelp, a text reader for struggling readers available on a USB drive.  What did I like best about it? It has a phonetic dictionary.  Kids that write “fizix” will get all kinds of “fizz” words in Microsoft Word.  However, HelpText finds “physics” to show kids how to really spell the word. Cool! I registered to win a copy for my school, so we’ll let you know how that goes!

That’s all for now. Let’s get lunch!

Last week we posted that Teryl and I would like to put together a DEN gathering tonight (Thursday, Nov 29th) at Caffeine, a local wifi hotspot.  However, because no one has thus far responded to that post indicating that they would like to join us, we have decided to cancel the event.  We realize we got our information out late, and we apologize for that. 

If you are at TETC, come by and see us during our session at 2:30 today!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if NCLB was run like other types of school activities?  Well, wonder no more!  Here is a football version of what is going on in education right now. For all educators in and out of the education system:

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!

3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th game. This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.

NOTE: This post does necessarily express the opinions of the DEN, the TN DEN, the TN DEN LC, or any other educational acronym.  But then again, who knows?

We have finally nailed down our plans for a DEN Social Event at TETC in Nashville! Woohoo!

You are invited to meet us on Thursday evening, November 29th, at 7 PM at Caffeine, a local wifi hotspot near the Convention Center.  Bring your laptops! We want to spend some time sharing resources and drinks (not necessarily in that order!).

We would love to have a huge crowd meet us there.  If you’d like, we can arrange some car pooling.  Just drop us a comment to this blog with a way to get in touch with you and we will meet up at the hotel.

What if you are a DEN member NOT going to TETC?  I suppose it could happen, huh? Simple! Sometime after 7 PM on Thursday, Skype me at tim.den.  I’ll have my webcam up and you can join us from wherever you are (even if you aren’t in TN!).

We really hope you can join us live and in person for pictures and pitchers.  See you there!

Steve Dembo recently posted a great holiday resource site from Kathy Schrock.  Read his post here.

This is another brief shout out to all DEN members attending TETC the week after Thanksgiving in Nashville. I’ve mentioned already that Teryl Magee and I will be presenting. Then, as I was looking through the very long list of fantastic sessions, I realized one of the tech guys from my school district is also presenting.

So…..

Are you a DEN member that is presenting at TETC? If so, add your session title and time as a comment to this blog. We would love to come support you! BTW, Teryl and I are presenting Thursday at 2:30!

I ran across a blog from the President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, a publisher of Christian books and Bibles. In it, he talked about the need for people to learn how better to use PowerPoint. As I clicked on links he provided, I ran across a great example of PowerPoint in a TED Talk by Larry Lessing.

While watching the video, I realized Lessing was addressing a question raised by David Warlick in another blog post I read some weeks back. That question has to do with copyright and the way kids today are taking control of their culture through the creation of various types of mashups online.

I am including a link to the video here for two audiences. First, if you want to see the absolute best use of PowerPoint I’ve ever witnessed, you need to watch at least part of this video. If, on the other hand, you want to learn more about how our kids are changing culture and the need for laws and business to keep up with that change, then watch the whole thing (about 18 minutes).

I would love to know your thoughts about either when you are finished.

That’s right, the Tennessee DEN Leadership Council is organizing a social gathering for DEN members attending TETC in Nashville. We are still organizing the date, time, and place, so check back over the weekend.

Here are the details we do have:

• We are meeting at a wifi-enabled coffee shop, so bring your laptops! We would like to exchange some information while there.
• This is a social event, so if you want to bring a non-DEN member feel free! We will make a brief presentation about the benefits of the DEN in Tennessee.
• We will need you to sign up to come. Right now, we feel comfortable taking the first 20 to sign up. That pretty much fits our budget.

Watch this space for more information!