notes from the tech lab
Reference
Summer technology opportunities
May 12th
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.
The Symphony of Science
May 8th
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.
Important Facebook privacy changes
Apr 23rd
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)
3. Back to “Account” in the top right corner of the page, click on “Privacy Settings.” You’ll end up on a page that looks like the 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.
5. Click on “Instant Personalization” on the next page, look for and UNCHECK the tiny check box at the bottom that says “Allow selected partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites.” (screenshot below)
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.”
The above steps will help you stay in control of your information. As always, the best way to keep data safe is to not post it online in the first place. For more information about how to configure your Facebook settings, please reference our previous post.
iPad a great Spring Break, thank you
Apr 9th
This blog post is spoken directly into Dragon Dictation. I am Using the iPad microphone to capture my voice and the app to convert my words into written text.
Dragon Dictation (available for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch) is a free application and it could be a useful tool for students and adults find it difficult to begin writing but are comfortable sharing ideas verbally. To use the app, you need to be connected via wifi or 3G.
Data control
Mar 24th
One day the way we surf the web will be different – Gary Flake gives us an example of how we’ll experience content. You can even download Pivot (not the stickfigure animator) right now, if you have Windows 7 installed.
Aviary addition to Google Apps for Edu
Mar 12th
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.
