It’s the end of the school year and I can’t believe how much I have changed just from being in TECHS. This class has taught me how to build a computer, I know how to tell when something is wrong, and I found out the skills I have. I’m kind of sad that it’s over, but really happy that I was part of the group who got to experiment with all the technology. My favorite parts were probably going to Kearney for Build A Computer Day and working with the second and sixth graders with the iPods. It was a great experience to be able to teach students how to use the newest inventions. And it was a fun way to learn in the classroom. I will admit that getting the iPad was awesome! In my opinion, I believe that TECHS is a great program and we would like to thank ESU 10 and John Stritt for everything they have done for us. I highly recommend students to take this class not just for the stuff we get to use, but also because you improve your skills and communication throughout the year. It was a great year working with Dalton, Ashley, Kristen, Brodie, and Mrs. McKenney!
Brady TECHS Team made Jing tutorials to help people use some of the common websites. This was one of our projects we did for our team site. We were honored the best Jing tutorials out of twenty-six schools. Due to our awesome skills we are rewarded with a prize. Brady School is going to have an iPad at the end of April! An iPad is like a bigger iPod Touch. It is capable of having the same applications, Internet access, and it has a bigger screen. We are very lucky to receive this iPad and keep expanding our technology here. Thank you ESU 10 and John Stritt.
For our iPods that we received for the ESU 10. The iPods had some ok wallpapers but then Mrs McKenney and I had an idea of making your own iPod wallpaper. So I designed it by using the programs Paint and Picnik. Then I put it on one to see what I looked like and it turned out amazing.
The iPod project was not only an entertaining experience to the TECHS team; but for the students learning as well. Some of the kids would ask some of the TECHS students during the day and ask “when will we work with the iPods again”; or they would say “guess what! We get to work with you guys and the iPods again”. So overall we all think that they had fun and we had fun too.
By: KBoden
There are many cool things about the iPod Touch. Here is a list of tips and tricks for the iPod Touch that may help you out a bit.
Don’t believe the battery meter at the upper right. It only gives an approximation of the battery. It’s wise to get a battery App from the App Store.
Just because it is free doesn’t mean it’s the full version. Look for key words such as ‘Lite,’ ‘LE’ (Light Edition), and ‘Sampler,’ which mean it only has a fraction of what the paid version does.
When looking for an Application, make sure you read some of the user reviews. They can be very revealing at times.
Two ways to search on your iPod Touch are: When you’re at your menu, either slide page-by-page to the left until you get a keyboard up, then type in the specific App. Similarly, when at the menu, push the bottom button twice, and it will bring you up to the same screen.
When in Safari, if you are typing and need bigger keys, or a wider screen, just tilt your iPod Touch till it’s on its side.
For more tips and tricks, here is a list of sites:
The Brady TECHS Team has been busy since late January! We’ve been hard at work on the iPod Touch project. Already we have finished interviewing the 6th graders, whom we had been working with the past half a month, and Mrs. Callahan, the 6th grade teacher. Now we are working on the 2nd graders, though already we are beginning to put together a report on our project from the interviews from the 6th grade. However, we are only halfway through it, and we still have to collect a lot of data and still interview the 2nd grade teacher and a few of the 2nd graders themselves.
We have used mainly Apps for this project. Some of them include: The Oregon Trail, which teaches the kids about life during that era, WorldWiki, an App that is used for facts about the nations of the world, Animales, an App that teaches the kids the names of the animals in Spanish, and gFlash+, an App that makes use of the iGoogle Google Docs, in order to make flash cards.
The services of the TECHS class were called on with an emergency Animoto demand. The TECHS class created and presented an Animoto as part of the Community Pep Rally for the Girls Basketball team going to State. It seemed like the entire town was there to cheer on our girls, Tuesday March 2nd 7:00 p.m. We are putting this link to the Animoto so that everyone can view the Animoto again or for the first time. GO LADY EAGLES!
Ever since the arrival of the new “SMARTtech Airliners”, several of the TECHS team members and some teachers who received them have been experimenting with several features. Essentially, it is a downsized version of the SMART board, but with a couple major differences. First and foremost, it is about 9-10 inches big, as opposed to the “SMART board”, which is easily a meter or two. “The Airliner” comes with one small pen/stylus attached to it, while the “SMART board” has at least 5 components (4 colored pens and 1 eraser). Unlike the “SMART board”, you cannot use your fingers to click things. Instead, you must use the stylus pen to navigate around the place. You need not touch it to the screen, as it being just ¼ an inch away from it, and simply moving the stylus pen around at that distance will move the cursor on the “PC”. To click, there are two options for the “Airliner”-1) You could press a button on the side of the pen, and 2) You could simply touch the screen. Be careful, though, as the spot on the “Airliner” corresponds to the direct spot on the “PC”- “A corner corresponds to the corner, the center will make your cursor disappear and reappear at the center.”
We are still experimenting with it, trying to figure out how to trouble-shoot it. But it has been (and still is) a learning experience for both the TECHS students and the teachers. It has been tricky handling it, but like all good things, practice makes perfect.
The iPod project has given us a chance to work with not only the iPods but with the teachers and students as well. It takes some time to show the teachers and students but if they do it and we help them, they will learn a lot more and get to use the iPods and we learn too. We got to use and show new applications on and for the iPods; they were really fun and interesting at the same time. The applications also vary from fun alphabet games to learning the different countries. These applications can cost some money but if you look carefully you can find or get free applications. So we have learned that iPods are a learning experience and its fun students get to feel like; they are actually doing something more than just listening and writing to the teacher and looking into the books.
