Recent graduate Jake made a short film about one of his independent projects from DigiArts.  Students Noah and Lexi assisted with the filming.

Jake blended low-tech objects (M&M container, string, rings) and high-tech (i-Pod, scavenged speaker) to create the illusion.  His magic left viewers speechless:

In preparation for a summer of greatness, 7th grade tech students spent the last class of the year defining cyberbullying – types and solutions.  This unit ties in with a larger advisory curriculum strand on intentional communities and mutual respect.

We watched “Odd Girl Out“, a movie based on Rachel Simmon’s book of the same title.  We analyzed the different ways in which the main character, Vanessa, was victimized using technology (cell phones, cameras, chat, website):

• posing – someone pretends to be you and says things to your friends that are hurtful or untrue
• excluding – creating online communities based on leaving someone out
• outing – sharing someones secrets…especially easy if those secrets are already typed up on caught on camera
• flaming – saying horrible things about someone or their work, with a disproportionate amount of hate involved. Often cloaked in anonymity
• bashing – a group of people ganging up on an individual, anonymous or not, to break down self-esteem

Students were divided on which of these types of cyberbullying would be most harmful, but we all agreed that when you add a few types together, it can really ruin someone’s life.

We agreed that the main character in “Odd Girl Out” would have had a tough time reporting bullying because it would have been embarrassing and would have made school difficult to face.  We decided that the pain an awkwardness of getting help would have been a better solution than the path she chose (hiding her pain and protecting the bullies).

Students ended by reminding each other that Facebook gives you the ability to block people and also to report bullying to the company.  With cell phones, you can block a phone number or forward a message to a parent or trusted adult.

The last tech class of the year ended as we began – out of the lab in a group discussion.

We started by using emoticons to share our feelings about our tech journey coming to an end.  Some students felt and others or

Students shared their favorite technology experiences this year:

• writing and executing programs with post-it notes
• independent projects
• visiting technologists
• revolution vs. evolution

They also offered suggestions for improvements next year, ranging from school-provided laptops to more time in the lab.

Finally, our conversation turned to summer plans.  We talked about healthy screen time, concerns over cell phone over-usage and non-tech related summer activities.  The 6th grade is planning on an amazing summer outdoors – some activities they’ll be engaged in include:

• parkour summer camp
• dog walking
• swimming
• playing checkers and other board games
• tennis
• ultimate frisbee camp
• writing letters
• learning a new language
• basketball
• cooking

Thanks everyone for a great year, 7th grade will be even more amazing!

8th grade student Noah, one of the co-founders of the Billings Digital Arts program, just completed a circuit-bending project using a Speak & Math. He used Reed Ghazala’s book as a reference and did some of the work at local create:space Metrix. Check out the video he posted:

For the last month, 6th grade students have been chatting with professionals who use technology on a daily basis.  Hopefully you’ve heard some stories about Michael’s (Google engineer) dog-friendly workplace or Emily’s (Cheezburger Network) love of music and reading when in middle school.  If not, please ask your student, or visit the tech blog to get an overview (http://www.billingsmiddleschool.org/beta).

Our final guest speaker visited Friday and we had a presentation about how video games have shifted from text-based stories all the way to photo-realistic interactive movies. As always, students asked relevant questions and offered ideas for future products.

Towards the end of the class period our speaker showed off some amazing footage of their current video games.  Part of these clips were graphically violent and may be on students’ minds.  Some t-shirts and other give-aways were handed out, some of which depict these ads.  Here are a few questions you might consider engaging your student with:

What makes video games so much fun to play?

Do you think video games can affect your mood?

How do you know if you’ve been looking at a computer or tv screen too long?

Our speaker also talked about the need for families to have clear rules about how much game-play is appropriate.  His teen has a “1 hour per day” policy, but duration might be dependent on age, personality, exercise, school performance, chore completion, etc.

Does your family have guidelines about gaming systems?

Do you understand the video game rating system ( http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp)?

Are you familiar with signs of video game addiction ( http://www.video-game-addiction.org/symptoms-computer-addiction-teens.html)?

Do your gaming systems use the internet to connect players to others around the world?

Do you have a clear plan for this summer (camps, sleepovers, trips) that creates a balanced environment beyond gaming and/or computing?

7th grade is focused on technology in the news. The last few weeks we’ve been following the upcoming iPhone, Facebook privacy updates, and a lawsuit against Google for Street View information.

iPhone updates:
iPod touch with camera shows up in Vietnam
Apple loses a second 4th gen iPhone, new insights discovered
iPhone Finder Regrets His ‘Mistake’
Police Raid Gizmodo Editor’s House, Confiscate Computers

Facebook updates:
Facebook Users Plan to Quit the Service on May 31
Senators’ letter to Facebook
Facebook and Others Caught Sending User Data to Advertisers

Google Street View troubles:
Google faces U.S., German probes on data collection

Gabe Newell sat down with technology students today to speak about his rise from self-identified nerd to founder and CEO of Valve Software, a gaming and entertainment company with many successful titles including Left for Dead and Half Life.

Gabe showed us the first games he used to play with computers, punchcards and text-based strategy games.  He talked about working at a tiny company while in college many years ago (by the name of Microsoft) before starting his own.  We got to take a virtual tour of the Valve offices and watched some previews for some of the company games.

We learned about all that goes into making a video game – artwork, sound, a gaming engine, the actual code, and distribution channels.  Companies need people with these skills in order to make successful products.

Gabe also talked about the need for families to have rules around how much time is healthy for adolescents to spend gaming per day/week.  He likened Valve’s single-player game experiences to an interactive movie – you might watch a movie on the weekend but certainly wouldn’t think to watch movies non-stop from the time you wake up to when you go to bed.

Thank you Gabe for spending so much time with us and sharing your life!

Imagine combining  a series of simple machines (lever, wheel & axle, screw, plane) that would allow you to travel faster than a human can run with less effort involved. And what if this new technology had close to no impact on the environment once it is built?

Well, the future is here! 13  students (13%) and 5 faculty/staff (17%) participated in Bike to School day today – flexing their understanding of technology and their muscles to brave the weather and power themselves to school.

Thanks to everyone who participated this year, and to the Cascade Bicycle Club and Gregg’s Greenlake cycle for the organization efforts.

Summer is fast approaching and students have been asking about technology and computing opportunities around town.  Of course summer is a time to get away from a screen and explore a world of sunshine…that said, here are some offerings to compliment fresh air and exercise:

Lego Robotics @ Billings: Billings Middle School has our very own Seattle Lego Robotics camp, presented in conjunction with the amazing educators at EdLab.  2 sessions – August 2-6 and 9-13.

iD Gaming Academy: Held at the University of Washington, this 2-week overnight game development camp is a great opportunity to learn about video game creation.  6th grade student Gray says “you get to make your own unique game and play it as well as play other peoples games.”

911 Media Arts: Classes in making movies, digital storytelling, website design, and more.

Reel Grrls: Get hands on with animation and video production day camps – girls only!

TechReach: SeaBots – Dive into science. This girls only one-week camp is a great intro to programming and Lego robotics.

Youth in Focus: Intro to digital photography classes are offered 2x a week. Applications are due end of May.

6th grade students got to spend Thursday afternoon in a Q & A session with Emily Huh, co-owner of the Cheezburger Network.  Her company runs 50 blogs dedicated to making people all over the world laugh.  The most popular sites are FailBlog (2M+ pageviews per day) and ICanHazCheezburger (1M+ pageviews per day).

Emily shared stories of her days as a middle school students, her interests in reading and music, and her decision to study sociology in college.  She told us about day-to-day life at Cheezburger headquarters in Belltown and how the company focuses on trying to make people laugh.  Much of the content on the site comes from people who send in funny photos or videos.  The company makes money by selling merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, etc) and by advertising space.

Emily also outlined the types of jobs at her company.  The Cheezburger Network needs people to manage blogs, handle user photo submissions and more.  Employees may have a background as an artist, musician, mathematician, sales person, or any number of interests and work histories.  Thank you Emily!

John Boswell heads a group of digitally-literate musicians using their craft to teach science.  Their auto-tuned YouTube videos are incredible – take a moment to watch and then head over to the Symphony of Science website to learn more about our world.

The tech lab is the place to be on Monday and Wednesdays afternoons. 2 weeks into DigiArts, students are knee-deep in a variety of excellent projects:

• Jake successfully installed Linux on a donated computer and also harvested motors from a DVD/VCR combo unit.
• Alex is trying to change the infrared filter on an old video camera to capture a light spectrum invisible to the human eye.
• Ella and Cillian have got the Arduino boards communicating with a couple of lab computers, and are writing basic programs (so far just output but soon we’ll tackle input as well).
• Rachel, Torri, Remy, Charlie and Griffyn are working on 3 different screenplays and will begin filming next week.
• Noah completed his first hand-coded website. Click here to view his iPad review and then click here to learn more about it.
• Lexi is recording a reharmonization of a Miley Cyrus song.
• Mike dismantled a laptop and is ordering a couple of kits from the MakerShed.
• Elijah has been working with a mixing board for turntables and an old Yamaha keyboard.

The 6th grade has been learning about world-changing companies for a couple of weeks now.

We’ve got in depth with the history of Seattle native Bill Gates and learned about how he hacked his way from middle-school mischief maker to Harvard and then beyond.  We followed his empire as it moved from the early days in New Mexico back to Washington state, and how Microsoft has weathered competition to become a worldwide brand with significant market shares in gaming, search, software and hardware.

Today we talked about 2 Stanford guys who changed the way search engines rank websites to help us find what we are looking for.  Their project (called BackRub) became more than just a company…Google is a verb and a website that millions of people use everyday.  We spoke of how Google has tried to compete in various web endeavors that have failed (Google Video, Google Pages, Orkut), and how they’ve bought other companies that do things well (YouTube, KeyHole, JotSpot).

When asked who the people and companies that will make it huge in the next few years will be, students responded with an enthusiastic “we are!”

As part of these conversations, we’ve been using online maps and stock charts to illustrate concepts and we’ve been practicing our listening and participation skills in preparation for the guest speakers that will start sharing their technology experiences next week.

When Annie, the Billings visual arts teacher, wants to get students excited about a new journaling elective, she uses Google’s online Presentation tool to show instead of just tell. The idea worked – the class is full and students are excited!

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans to connect Facebook accounts with other companies all over the internet, from CNN to Levi’s and further.  The changes to how other companies can use YOUR Facebook information are a big deal – please take a few minutes to follow this step-by-step guide to protecting your digital identity.

• Who: Facebook and advertising partners
• What: changes to how Facebook shares their information about you (photos, videos and information)
• When: now & forever (unless courts or public advocacy shuts it down)
• Where: not just on Facebook but on the websites of anyone that wants to use Facebook’s info
• Why: benefit to Facebook and partners: money, supposed benefit to you: personalized experience.  It’s easier for Levi’s to sell you a pair of jeans if they have a list of 5 of your best friends that have already purchased them.  Levi’s can even tell you how much your friends spent and what size they bought!
• How: Facebook partners can store your information and share it with your network. There are currently no limits on how long they can keep the info or where they can use it.

To protect yourself from this new system, follow the screenshots below:

1. Login to your account. From the dropdown list under “Account” (top right corner), click on “Account Settings.” (screenshot below)

2. There are a number of tabs at the center top of the screen (settings, networks, notifications, etc).  Select Facebook ads. On the next screen, change “allow ads of platform pages…” to “No One” and hit “Save Changes”. (screenshot below)

4. Click on “Applications and Websites.” On the next screen (screenshot below) you’ll see “Instant Personalization” at the bottom of the list.

6. You’ll get a pop-up that tries to convince you not to uncheck this box.  Click “Confirm.” (screenshot below)

7. Head back to “Accounts>Privacy Settings” (step 3 above). Click on “Applications and Websites”.  From the screen, choose “What your friends can share about you” and uncheck everything. Click “Save Changes.”

Spirited 7th grade conversation today, as students tracked the latest developments in the case of the iPhone 4G.

We started by tracking Apple’s stock price this year, beginning with the iPad announcement and following through until yesterday’s report that Apple made over 3 billion dollars in the last quarter.

Using Bing’s finance charts and Google’s time-related search results, we mapped increasing share price and product announcements over the last 3 years.  We found a clear trend – stock prices rise between the announcement of a new product and it’s actual launch.

Also, we realized that much of the pre-launch marketing around Apple products is free – news outlets and bloggers share stories and compete to scoop each other with rumors and insider (mis)information.  This is great news for Apple, since they don’t have to spend all of their money to get the word out.

Now to the rumor of the week – an Apple employee supposedly left a prototype of the new iPhone (to be released this summer) in a California bar.  The device was sold to Gizmodo, which has dedicated an entire portion of their site to stories about this gadget.  This creates more buzz for Apple as other news outlets report on Gizmodo’s reporting.

Students used Google’s real-time “updates” to monitor how many stories are bouncing around the blogosphere and Twitter channels about this story.  While there is a bump in traffic, we don’t think that this story is enough to sustain interest through the summer.  What else will Apple tell us about the new product to keep news outlets interested?

Some students wondered if Apple had “lost” the iPhone on purpose to try and get free advertising from bloggers, newspapers, television and radio.  Some bloggers suggest that Gizmodo got punked by Apple.

One class had an unexpected find during class today, a webpage that simultaneously searches Google and Bing, displaying results side-by-side.  In Firefox, you can actaully set http://www.google-vs-bing.com/ as your default search engine if desired.

The 6th grade has shifted from our unit of independent projects to a new focus on technology companies that are shaping the world.  We started by naming all the companies we could think of that deal with technology and then started grouping them into like industries.  We found that these companies fall into some fairly tidy classes:

• communication – cell phone companies, email
• entertainment -content producers, cable & satellite services
• identity – social networking, photo storage sites
• energy – fuel cells, alternate sources
• transportation – airlines, car companies
• productivity – software companies, hardware companies

In the next few weeks we’ll have visitors from a variety of industries come to the tech lab and talk about how they use technology in their every day work.  We’ll post photos and thoughts as we get underway.

8th grade students have begun their final rotations this year, meaning 14 soon-to-be graduates have cycled up to the tech lab for Community Class. Students already had a strong understanding of the definitions and complexity of community, having recently spent a week studying the subject with a variety of teachers and team-based activities.

Past groups have explored community from different angles: 1st term focused on community service and documenting our neighborhood, 2nd term surveyed the student population and shared findings of digital identity with the parent community. This term, the group is planning on creating a website for future Billings students that documents all of the trips students take over the course of 3 years.

This website will be a team effort and will include trip overviews, maps, photos, do/don’t lists, gear lists, how-to videos and more. Stay tuned as our website takes shape!