Many of you know about Discovery Education or United Streaming. They have some great resources for bringing rich multi media to your lessons. The best part is that all of the resources are free. You can find content that is applicable to the lessons you are teaching and seamlessly integrate them into your curriculum. For more information about Discovery Education go to:
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com
What I want to talk about today is taking the next step by joining the Discovery Educators Network (DEN). This is a social network for educators. While some of us may conjure up inappropriate images and thoughts when we hear the words “social network” I assure you they can be excellent ways to communicate and collaborate with people who have the same interests as you do. At this time there are just as many good and appropriate uses of social networking as there are abuses of the system. It is an area where our youth really paved the way and showed adults how an online community can be beneficial.
The DEN is a place where educators go to talk about education. Specifically the discussion boards are littered with tons of resources and best practices from teachers who are creating multi-media rich lessons for their students. A great way to start with this social network is to join and start reading the discussion boards. You do not even have to be an active participant at first, but I think you will find that once you find some resources that are useful you will find yourself wanting to share ideas as well. For those that want to go even further there are STAR educators. These are the educators who are leading the way in 21st century education in the classroom. There are links on the site to find out what it means to be a STAR educator and the responsibilities and benefits that come with it.
