technology with intention
Projects
Tech-related projects from integrated subjects, digital arts and independent study.
Independent Project Spotlight: Thomas
690 days
6th grade student Thomas recently finished an interactive animation using Scratch, a free application that introduces programming. Use the space bar to begin and the arrow keys to interact with this cool creation:
Aviary addition to Google Apps for Edu
697 days
Billings 7th and 8th graders use Google Apps for Edu regularly to communicate with peers and faculty. The Calendar service allows us to keep track of athletics, trips and community events. Docs provides free document and spreadsheet editing and publishing. Sites are used for student, faculty and class homepages.
Today we added a new service to the Google suite: Aviary. Aviary is an online editing suite for sound recording, graphics and vectors. 7th grade students spent Tech this week playing with the new tools – creating custom t-shirt designs, remixing beats and mocking up album covers for an iCLAST identity project.
Our mission: to figure out if these tools are intuitive enough and robust enough to use regularly. While these online offerings aren’t as powerful as their software counterparts (Photoshop, Garageband, Illustrator), they are free and accessible from home/school/library/anywhere with an internet connection.
So far so good, we’ll keep testing and report our findings in future posts.
Billings students: to access Aviary, log in to Google Apps. In the top left corner you’ll see “Documents Calendar Sites more.” Select “more” and then “Aviary” from the dropdown list. Enjoy.
Independent Project Spotlight: Gray
699 days
6th grader Gray recently finished an independent project using the Phun 2-D physics engine. His goal was to “make a magnetic accelerator cannon or a railgun sort of thing to fire very fast destructive projectiles,” and “it was achieved through balancing properties of mass and density.” Nice work, Gray!
Independent Project Spotlight: Rowan
704 days
My name is Rowan, and I am a 6th grade student doing an independent tech project about important issues around the world. My website has links to other websites that are helping to solve these issues.
Check out my website to see how you can help too. You can leave comments right here on the tech blog. Thanks.
OK GO followup
707 days
On Monday, the 7th grade talked about the band OK GO and their inability to post embeddable videos due to the record contract they have in place. State Farm Insurance stepped in and gave the band money to make a new video that falls beyond the EMI agreement. Enjoy this massive Rube Goldberg machine:
Apple iPad testing
711 days
by Jac de Haan
in Projects
Students got their hands on an Apple iPad today – weeks before the product has officially been launched! We did some testing and compared the size of this new device with an iPod and a laptop. Overall impression was that the screen seems small for web surfing, but it is a fun gizmo.
If you are interested in trying out the iPad for free, follow this link for access 
Billings Middle School iPhone app released
749 days
by Jac de Haan
in Projects
Billings Middle School has released an iPhone/iPod Touch app – available free from the iTunes store. This app contains news and information gathered from various parts of the School’s digital identity: the public news feed, the Head of School blog, the Tech Lab blog and our YouTube channel.
Special thanks to Annaliese (8th grade student), who assisted with icon selection, RSS-feed inclusion and color palette.
This app was created with the new AppMakr.com service. Hopefully we’ll follow up with an Android app in the near future!
Smoke is heavy
766 days
Reyna, Rachel & Lewis put together this film that explains how to use vinegar and alka-seltzer to make smoke stay inside an open-topped glass:
Water balloons and air pressure
771 days
Isaac, Dani and Aranza demonstrate how temperature affects air pressure using only a balloon, a bottle and some water:
8th grade project spotlight: Cillian
781 days
8th grade student Cillian is working on an independent project with Passports with Purpose, a fundraiser that is using online donations to build a school in Cambodia.
Cillian is using his skills as a programmer to help out with this project, which was recently featured online by the New York Times. Take a moment to enjoy an interview with Cillian:
