I’m still very bummed about not getting to go to the DEN LC Institute this year or the Pre-Conference. (We’re training here all week.) I fully expect the DENsters to post lots of Tweets and Blog posts about these events so that we can all continue to benefit from such gatherings of educational technology leaders! But, I do have my suitcase out and am excited about meeting up with DENsters from across the country during NECC 2009.
The National Educational Computing Conference is in it’s 30th year and will be gathering in Washington DC starting this weekend. Many teachers, IT support staff, administrators and gurus will hit the conference ready to share and learn from each other. I thought it may be a good time to share some links that may make the preparations a little more easy. Or, if you won’t be going, some links to help keep you connected to the events and learning opportunities from the premier technology conference.
http://www.isteconnects.org/ The home of the 30th Annual National Educational Computing Conference with current info links, social network links, and the planning tool links. Click over to the NECC09 pages where you can see the program and the conference planner tool (http://tinyurl.com/lkb8wu).
http://www.neccning.org/ The Ning is already popping! There are tons of posts already from presenters and attendees alike. What a great way to get ideas for what to do while there or a nice connection to learn from others who are there.
http://twitter.com/isteconnects And for the Twitter crowd, 140 characters of updates from the NECC crowd. Use the hashtag, #NECC09 to get your tweets included in the flow.
http://wunderground.com And why not include a quick look at the weather via wunderground.com? It’s really one of my favorite sites for looking at weather in the classroom. When you have a good 20 or more minutes to kill, click through to their WunderMap. SO many options for looking at live weather data.
Have fun with these NECC tools whether you get to go or not. If you are there, look for other DENsters. They are almost always a good bunch to learn with. Have fun and safe travels!
I went to a workshop Tuesday on creating media libraries using DE, the assignment builder, and other online resources to support curriculum. We were encouraged to find video, audio, articles, etc in DE that fit a particular subject, then add websites, gather them all in an assignment builder item, and post link. The libraries built this way could then be posted as links say on a wiki for teachers and students to use.
What ideas might you have for libraries built this way? What subjects would you want to see?
You know I don’t remember a teacher ever really assigning that subject as a writing prompt. Oh well……
So, what am I doing this summer - tech-wise?
Well, one thing I am involved in is North Texas 23: a roundup of web 2.0 technology. It is sponsored by North Texas Library Partners, is free (always a good thing) and is all online. We will take a look at 2.o tech items from blogs and wikis to image generators to social networks and more. I am part of the admin team, with a group of participants to check on, as well as being a participant. If there are librarians out there reading this post, I encourage you to take a look at this. I believe it is a yearly thing so watch for it in the future.
I am also determined to learn Moodle this summer, our district now having a Moodle presence so to speak, so I can use it to help folks with library items such as research — a new component in the ELA teks– and to help district folks use Discovery Streaming more effectively. If you have ideas for using Moodle with Discovery or other items, please post a comment. I would love to see the ideas.
Actually, for three teachers and 12 students, an adventure has already begun! The Discovery Student Adventure pilot program to Australia has started. You can follow the blog HERE.
For us Texans, the excitement is building for our representative, Linda Rush, and four students from the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, who will leave on their adventure to South Africa on Tuesday. Linda and her students will be blogging, Twittering, and sharing photos throughout their two-week trip.
If you’d like to follow Linda and her students on their trip, following is the information you’ll need:
Blog: Discovery Student Adventure to South Africa
Linda on Twitter: LRushDSA (you can also click on the widget to the right to follow Linda)
Of course, you can watch the Texas blog, as well. Linda will be guest blogging once she returns so that we can all catch up on the great adventures she and her students experience.
Tonight was the first-ever DENny awards - given to outstanding STAR educators and Leadership Councils for outstanding commitment to the DEN. There were lots of great awards given out to so many deserving people!
One of those people is our very own Leadership Council chair, Linda Rush. She was awarded a Leadership DENny for her work with the Texas Leadership Council.
Another of our Leadership Council members, Beth Weeks, won an award for sharing so many resources on Media Share. Way to go, Beth!
In addition, the Texas blog won an award for being one of the best LC blogs. Look for new “bling” on the blog in the near future!
The DENnys were exciting, not just because they recognized the great work that has already been done, but because it inspires the rest of us to continue the work and make the DEN even bigger and better in the 2009-2010 school year!
As we all wrap up the end of the school year, isn’t it great that we don’t have to see the end of great DEN events? Some of you will be going to the DEN National Institute, others like myself, will be going to the DEN LC Symposium. Many lucky people will be going to the NECC pre-con and other fabulous regional events throughout the summer.
Give a shout out and tell us where you are going this summer, whether it be DEN related or not, and if you are interested in being a guest blogger this summer, send me an email at eplybon@gmail.com.
This is one that everyone will want, but not everyone has just yet - read on!
Discovery Education streaming videos are now available in Flash! The catch is that it is not available unless your district DE administrator has requested it. So what are you waiting for? Get your DE administrator to call 1-800-323-9084 to get this great feature enabled for FREE!
Yes, that is right - having this incredible functionality is absolutely free to any district with a current DE streaming subscription - all you have to do is ask for it!
This is a great opportunity if you manage to be one of the lucky few! According to the Wall Street Journal online, STA Travel is giving students and teachers the opportunity to buy round-trip tickets to London or Paris for only $30. The catch is that there are a limited number of fares and the tickets will only be sold after noon tomorrow (May 20). You can either line up at the office or call 1-800-360-9273, but they will not sell the tickets before noon (CST). This offer is also open to full-time registered students aged 13 and up and anyone under 26. For additional information, read the article HERE.
From guest blogger, Howard Martin:
Digital video has had a presence in Austin for a good number of years. The Austin Student Digital Film Festival (ASDFF) has been providing an outlet for teachers and student for the last 8 years to show off their digital films. This year, the ASDFF Showcase event will be held on May 30th at 5:30pm in the Reagan High School Theater in north Austin.
The film festival has accepted films from across the state and had teacher workshops in the Fall to help bring digital video into the classroom as an instructional tool. With sponsors like Austin Independent School District, the Texas Computer Educator Association, Apple Computer, Dell, the University of Texas and many others, the festival has been able to provide a night of fun, sharing, and usually, some good door prizes.
For more information about this year’s festival and some examples of films from past years, visit http://asdff.info .
Maybe you are burned out, chilling out after TAKS, or maybe you would just like to get away, but need an excuse . . . you are in luck! Region One is hosting its annual Technology Conference in beautiful South Padre. The conference will be May 12-15, but it is not too late to register!
May 12 and 13 will be full of educational technology, integration and content area workshops. May 14 and 15 will include all of the above plus business services and administrative workshops.
For more information, visit the Region One Technology Conference website. If you would like to see the sessions that will be offered, click HERE.
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