Texas DEN

Region XI (Fort Worth) is hosting a Virtual Technology Conference November 10-14, 2008. The really cool thing about it being a virtual conference is that you don’t have to be from the Fort Worth area to attend OR to present!

They are still accepting proposals for presentations. If you’d like to join Hall Davidson (keynote), David Warlick, Ewan McIntosh, and Dr. Tim Magner, by presenting at the conference, then click on over to the official website for the conference and put in your own presentation proposal! But hurry! You only have until October 1 to submit!

 At any rate, plan on attending at least part of the conference. The cost is only $20 (which is refunded to you if you present), which I’m sure is a bargain for a conference with the likes of Hall Davidson!

For several of us, September 23 was a special day that we spent, at least in part, listening to and watching the 2nd annual DEN Streamathon. For those of you who were not able to attend, the wonderful DEN has made all the sessions available for download. That’s right - you can watch and listen to the great presentations at your own leisure!

To see the list of available presentations and download them, click HERE.

Whether you’ve ever been there or not, you have hopefully heard of the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) sponsored by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) every year. This annual conference is a definite must-attend, as there will be over 17,000 educators, administrators, and others interested in technology in education there to share their experiences, collaborate with, and learn from!

NECC 2009 marks the 30th year ISTE has hosted this conference, and it will be in Washington, D.C. June 28 through July 1, 2009. The call for participation is now open until October 8, so dust off your keyboard, type up a proposal and see what happens! Presenting at NECC is another great experience in itself, including the one-on-one poster sessions. Be sure to let us know if you get accepted! Click HERE for more details.

YouTube, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center has launched a new video contest that sounds interesting. This contest gives participants an opportunity to show their journalism skills and report on issues and individuals who are under-covered in today’s media. The first round of the contest requires entrants to produce a video about an individual in their community who they think the world should know about. Contest entries are due October 5. The individuals selected from those entries will have a second assignment - reporting about an issue of global importance.

 The contest is entitled Project Report. It is only open to those 18 and over, though, so only those students in high school who have reached the age of majority would be able to enter. However, I know there is a lot of great talent in the educators who are members of the DEN! Wouldn’t it be great for one of you to be the winner? For more information, click HERE.

The Texas DEN continues to grow, which is not surprising because both the DEN and the great state of Texas are awesome! The Texas LC would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest STARs:

Susan Reeves
Carlos Soto
Jane Wegmann
Brenda White

Please join us in welcoming these new STAR educators by posting a comment.

Well, there seems to be lots of stuff going on right now and all of it is stuff that YOU should be taking advantage of! Aside from the fact that our very own account manager, Justin Karkow, is featured not once, not twice, but THREE times on the main DE page, there are several things you should be aware of. Read on . . .

First, the annual DEN Stream-a-thon is coming up very soon. For those of you who participated last year, you know that the Stream-a-thon is well worth the effort of attending, even if you only watch one session. For those of you who have not participated previously, take my word for it and plan on attending at least for a part of the day. You will be glad you did! For a list of the Stream-a-thon sessions and registration information, click HERE.

Next, Discovery Education hosted its first ever National Training Academy this summer and it was a huge success. They will be hosting another on October 26-28, so you will get another chance to attend and enhance your knowledge about technology integration. For more information and registration, click HERE.

Last, but certainly not least, is the upcoming EdTechConnect webinar on September 17 with Tim Magner, who is the Director of the US Department of Educational Technology. Yes, you read it right — the DIRECTOR. Don’t miss this opportunity to ask Tim questions about the future of technology in schools. Read more about it and find registration information HERE.

Also, be watching for details about the upcoming Fort Worth Museum tour later in September. It’ll be a change to network and have fun with area educators!

Check this out! The Discovery Educator Network is featured in this week’s Education Week. Several STAR Discovery Educators are featured and quoted, and the information in the article is sure to excite others to join this great networking group we all call the DEN! Read the article by clicking HERE.

Great job, DEN!

Did you know that all STAR DEN members have a blog hosted by Discovery? After presenting an entirely too brief tutorial at the Regional Conference about our blogs, I’ve realized that many STARS don’t realize they have one. I decided to put together a little video tutorial about how to start using your blog. (If you are not yet a STAR, click on the ribbon in the top right corner of this blog!)

As I prepared this, I realized I can’t possibly go into every aspect of maintaining your blog. The tutorial is meant to be a brief introduction so that you’ll know where to go to get started. I encourage you to explore and try out all the features until you get your blog the way you’d like it.

To see examples of other DEN STAR blogs, visit the Directory of STARS which can be accessed from the National DEN Blog (or by clicking the link above). This directory is constantly updated and shows the most recent activity on DEN STAR blogs as well as on Leadership Council blogs.

You may have noticed already that there is a new page on the Texas DEN blog. If you click on the tab that says Texas DEN Events, you will find a listing of upcoming events sponsored by the Texas Leadership Council.

Right now, there are two dates to mark on your calendar, so check it out and watch for more details about the events as they become available!

A great new initiative has been started as a result of a partnership between Discovery Communications, NSTA, and the Siemens Foundation. It is called the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.

The initial launch of the challenge begins with middle school students competing in an environmental challenge - students identify a problem, research solutions, and offer their own idea of how to “change the world.” With this program, founders hope to promote sustainability and help students to realize they can make a difference in their world by coming up with and using ideas to live greener. Plans are to expand the program in 2009 to include all levels of K-12 students.

For more information, read the press release and/or visit the official Siemens We Can Change the World website.