Matt’s Media Tips 12-1250 Ways to Use Discovery EducationAs the calendar year winds down it is a great time to reflect on what’s been really successful this year. One of the more popular items this year (as with most years) is the 50 Ways to Use Discovery Education presentation. If you click on the link it will download my latest and greatest PowerPoint presentation. This time I have embedded step-by-step videos that will walk you through creating classrooms, enlarging images, accessing the theme pages, marrying our content with web 2.0 sites like Blabberize and more.

And speaking of great things that have happened this year - we just had a brand new baby daughter! At the time of this writing she is six days old. And it got me thinking (between 2 hour cat naps) that soon Kaitlin Elia Monjan will be battling it out with her big bro Ben for time on the iPad and/or computer. This edition is dedicated to my two digital natives who will, in time, be accessing the material, tips and tricks that I am going to share with you all.

One thing that is interesting to the Monjan Munchkins right now are puppets, shadows, night and day. Admittedly it is the older munchkin who is much more engaged with this stuff at the moment.

VideosWhen it comes to explaining and playing with this subject matter we are big fans of Peep and The Big Wide World series. In particular we love two video segments. They are as follows: “Peep and the Big Wide World: Quack and the Very Big Rock/ Shadow Play” and the “Anywhere Science Activity: Shadow Puppets.” If you log-in to Discovery Education these links should take you directly to these two segments. Note: these links will bring up the .MOV file which is a QuickTime file. If you’re on a PC you’ll want to switch your Stream Type to Windows Media.

Virtual LabsI admit it - I love playing video games on my iPad and Wii - who doesn’t? In fact today’s kids are living in a media-rich and stimulating environment - much of it built on game play. So why not harness some of that enthusiasm to help them learn? I put that to the test with my son Ben the other day when I was explaining shadows. I was trying to explain why it was 1. his bedtime and 2. it gets darker earlier in the winter. As with most things with him it is a

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negotiation. So we agreed that if I could let him play a game that would explain shadows and/or why it was it gets dark earlier he would go to bed. I really think it came down to a stalling and more time on the iPad but hey the kid was learning right? I also think that this lab would be great to access on a Smart, Promethean, or some type of interactive white board as there are lots of things you can manipulate. As I mentioned, I also used an iPad to access this particular lab. If you’re scratching your head thinking “wait a minute, I thought iPads couldn’t work with Flash.” You’re right. I used an app called iSwifter which is a Flash enabled browser for iPads. More on that in my iPad section.

Hands-on ActivitiesBut it’s not all about watching videos and playing games. Sometimes its cool to actually make stuff too. I found these really cool hands on activities for making and explaining shadows.

Hands-On Activity: Growing and Shrinking Shadows

Hands-On Activity: Making Shadows

Hands-On Activity: Tracing Shadows

Hands-On Activity: Making Shadow Puppets (this one is pretty fun)

Hands-On Activity: Shedding light on Sundials (great supplement to the virtual lab described above)

More stuffWhen I did a search for “Shadows” within Discovery Education I also found an eBook about eclipses, reading passages, encyclopedia articles, images, math explanations and even some spooky Halloween songs. Needless to say I think I’ve found the motherlode of things to negotiate future bed-time terms at the moment.

And speaking of more science stuff - check out the 3M Discovery Education Science of Everyday micro-site. You can get to it by logging into Discovery Education and then clicking on the Updates and Events tab in the My DE section. Once you do you’ll find a dynamic site that offers free standards-aligned lesson plans, virtual labs, family activities, and “Innovation HQ” which highlights how major innovations in science impact our every day lives. Even cooler, your parents and community can access this content without logging in..for free. They simply need to go to www.ScienceofEverydayLife.com.

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Discovery Education Webinar ScheduleDiscovery Education Webinar ScheduleDiscovery Education Webinar Schedule

Dates Time (EST)

Link

12/12 7pm - 8pm

Discovery Education Science Elementary 101This webinar provides an overview of the Discovery Education Science for Elementary service. From the overall structure of the elementary science curriculum to how to access and use reading passages and their accompanying eBooks, our interactive glossary, fundamentals, video segments, and 5-minute preps, this webinar maps the effective use of this powerful tool. The webinar also shows you how to use assignment builders and assessments to guide and measure your students? understanding and mastery

12/19 7pm - 8pm

Discovery Education Science Middle School 101This webinar provides a map into Discovery Education’s inquiry-based curriculum tool for science education. Follow your webinar guide through the sub-categories to discover inquiry problems, conceptual explorations, and assessments. Learn how to navigate the sections to interact, watch, and read, using virtual labs, videos, and articles. The webinar also shows you how to use assignment builders and assessments to guide and measure your students’ understanding and mastery.

As I mentioned on page two, you can access Flash based sites with the iSwifter app for iPads, iPhones and iTouches. That’s why it makes this week’s idevice highlight. iSwifter is the world’s first cloud-based Flash Browser for Social games and MMOs. In addition you can instantly browse any of your favorite shows, music videos, sites and movies across the web using iSwifter.

While it is not free, the $4.99 is well worth the purchase.