Tennessee DEN

Next week begins the summer webinar series from Discovery.  And they have picked a great line up for the first week!

Digital Storytelling Week promises to be a fantastic first venture into a month of weekly themes.  Here is the lineup for next week:

Monday, August 3 - Thinking Outside the Slide

Tuesday, August 4 - Digital Storytelling Made Easy with DE Streaming Content, Animoto, and Photo Story

Wednesday, August 5 - Director’s Cut: DE Media and MovieMaker

Thursday, August 6 - DE Media and iMovie

All times are 11 AM EST.  I hope to see you there!

The DEN Virtual Conference is getting ready to launch on Saturday, April 25th.  Hey! That’s NEXT Saturday!

The Knoxville Conference will be held at the Sarah Simpson Technology and Professional Development Center.   The Cleveland Conference will be at the Bradley County Schools Board Room.

You must register for the Virtual Conference.  This is so we may plan for breakfast and lunch.  We want you to have free food!  Here is our agenda for both locations:

8:30 to 9:00 - Registration and Breakfast

9:00 to 10:00 - The Benjamin Button Effect (Virtual Keynote with Lance Rougeux)

10:00 to 11:00 - 10 Websites Every Teacher Should Use Everyday (Live Session)

11:00 to 12:00 - Lunch

12:00 to 1:00 - Building School 2.0 (Virtual Keynote with Chad Lehmann)

1:00 to 2:00 - Taking Better Pictures (Live Session)

2:00 to 3:00 - Digital Storytelling (Live Session)

Don’t get left out!   Register Today!

We invited our attendees to create a digital story with pictures from their day at the TN DEN Aquarium event.  So far, two attendees have sent in videos.  I’ve posted them below.  Great job!

The video from Alice Sanders and Andra Griffey can be found here.

The video from Yvonne Rittenhouse is here.

Last Saturday the TN DEN Leadership Council had the pleasure of taking 32 DEN members on an amazing trip down the TN River.  It was a great day of photography training!

We began the day in the Think Tank room of the IMAX Theater.  After some brief introductions, Tim did a run down on ways to improve digital photos.  He highlighted the Rule of Thirds, but also spent time on 10 other ways to get better pictures out of any camera.  The participants took a little time to practice shooting pictures, and then returned to learn about some really cool websites to help them with their finished products.

Tim showed them Pixlr, a free online photo editor that is quick and easy.  We looked at Be Funky (which was a big hit) to see how pictures can be transformed for fun in the classroom.  We also took a gander at a Make Up site which automatically applies makeup to any picture and improves the overall quality with just one mouse click.

Just before lunch, Teryl talked about all the amazing things the DEN has to offer, and went through the process of becoming a STAR in the DEN.  After returning from lunch on their own, the teachers boarded the newest ride at the TN Aquarium, the River Gorge Explorer.  This is a 70 seat high-speed catamaran that can do 55 mph and stop within 200 feet on the water!  We know!  We chased cars down the Interstate for a bit until we reached the River Gorge in the Cumberland Mountains.  We got some great pictures on the trip, too!

To top off the day, we returned to the Think Tank and looked at how to put those pictures into Photo Story.  Sally took them through the process from importing pictures to adding music and rendering a final movie file. We had a great time!

Here is the video to prove it!  Oh, and some of the teachers are sending me their digital story so we can post some of their work online as well.  I’ve looked at a couple of them so far and they are fantastic!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 28th!  We are hosting one of the most exciting DEN Events of the year in Chattanooga!

Want to learn more about taking better pictures?  Want to learn PhotoStory or iMovie?  Need lessons in advanced techniques for these programs?

Want to ride a really, really fast boat and tour the TN River Gorge area for fantastic nature shots?

Then you don’t want to miss this event at the TN Aquarium IMAX Theater.  We are doing a morning training, taking the 2 hour river tour, and then returning for some follow-up training to get your pictures out there for the world to see.

Here is our itinerary for the day:

8:45 to 9:00 - Check In at the IMAX Theater location

9:00 to 11:00 - PhotoStory and iMovie

11:00 to 12:00 - Lunch (this is on your own at your expense.  Sorry!)

12:15 - Report to the boat ramp - DON’T BE LATE!!

12:30 to 2:30 - River Gorge Tour

2:45 to 4:00 - Follow Up Training (We will use your pictures to create a digital story!)

BUT WAIT!  THERE’S MORE!

Included in the day’s activities is a FREE PASS to the Aquarium!  That’s right.  More photo ops!

PLEASE NOTE: This training is limited to the FIRST TWENTY PEOPLE to sign up.  Don’t be left on the shoreline.  Get on board quickly!  Need Directions?  Check here.

We’re sorry, but we not have nearly 60 people on our sign-up list.  We are not accepting any more applications at this time.  Join us again at our next event to be announced soon!

Use this form to sign up.  We will send you more information in your confirmation email.  The DEN will pay for your ticket for the boat ride.  All travel, parking, and lunch expenses are the responsibilies of individual attendees.