Wisconsin

Sept. 23rd is the big day - the Discovery Education Streamathon.  If you’re looking for more info check out the DEN National Blog.

I saw this come across Twitter today. It looks like Discovery’s new service will embed digital media into the curriculum.  Check out the article - looks to be pretty good information.  The link below will take you to an article from THE Journal.  This journal, in itself, is a great resource.

Discovery Launches Service To Embed Digital Media into Curriculum

Our school is using Discovery Streaming for the first time this year.  I’ve had a little experience with it in the past, but for the most part, most of my teachers have not.  The fourth graders are currently studying animals and their final project, after researching their information, will be creating a PowerPoint.  One of our students is a go-getter.  After the project was introduced, she came back the next day with a little video project she put together at home.  I thought it might be a good idea to take the skills this student has, and push forward a little more.  I asked her if she was willing to try something new, take on the challenge, and then if successful, teach others.  I knew the question to the answer before I even asked it.

The next day, I downloaded zebra videos from Discovery Streaming for her, with the idea that she could write a script and then record a voiceover.  I tossed out the idea and she was all for it.  I told her to write the script that night from her research and she came back the next day ready to go.  She was pretty familiar with MovieMaker so I didn’t need to spend much time showing her the software.  Quickly, she picked up on how to record her voice, mute the existing sound, and match up the new audio with the movie.  The final project isn’t quite ready yet, but this student is on her way to a pretty decent project.  I certainly hope she can transfer some of this new learning to others and become the teacher.

How do Wisconsin educators use DE Streaming when teaching the Civil War?  Jennifer Dorman (Pennsylvania DEN) has set up  a Google Form (below) to get your input. 

When completed, Jennifer will compile and post the results. 

Even if you don’t teach the Civil War, but have ideas for how it could be done, make sure to include your input.

 [Also posted at the Pennsylvania DEN]

Through January 2008, you can access the NBC news archive FREE through HotChalk.

HotChalk is a learning management system that provides a community for teachers, students and parents that “…includes curriculum management, lesson plan development, automated assignment distribution, collection, and grading in a web-based environment.”  [See About HotChalk].  This is a free system that relies on advertising that can be controlled by the school, but is not shown not during the school day (and never to students under the age of 13).

Beyond the regular features in HotChalk, you can sign up now and get access to over 70 years of NBC news (through January 2008).  NBC News Archives on Demand provides video clips, text resources, primary documents, photographs, drawings, charts and graphs.

After signing up (for free), I went directly to the archives.  I found that the search engine was a little limited (i.e. I found no coverage for the completion of the “human genome project” - a major scientific accomplishment, which was completed in 2004).  I think this is in part due to the search engine using a limited set of keywords, and the fact that the archives seem mostly geared towards history, communication arts (English), and government/politics.

Still, I was able to find original news footage of the moon landing, Sputnik, and the Manhattan Project, making it well worth the hassle of signing-up.

[Also posted on www.explodingsink.com]