This morning’s session was Elizabeth’s first session in a month, so she had a bunch of stuff to do in catching up with the students. We talked about what we did between sessions, and what our plans were for the Thanksgiving holiday. Anny is participating in a Hmong New Year celebration, but she’s not sure if she should sing or not (of course, she should.)
Then, once that was finished, Elizabeth led the class through a review of what we studied last session. Also, she brought cookies! In honor of the last day of Excel. Since we’re working on the Excel Game, which can be really, really complicated, (but also really, really fun) there were A LOT of fires to put out. Add in the network problems we were having (dropped connections, no available connections, etc.) and everything was slow-going, but the students did a great job of rolling with the punches and getting everything done. There were some really interesting issues, such as naming the right columns the right thing, and remembering to SAVE OFTEN, and everyone did a great job of helping each other out. Since Elizabeth and Paul had their hands full, that kind of team effort is really important to make sure everybody gets to where they need to be!
Eventually, and with a lot of hard work, most of the class got to where they needed to be. The game was played, and many battles were fought and lost. Keke and Jose came out winners, as did Tenzin and Jaylah. More importantly, it was a blast seeing the culmination of everyone’s hard work. Way to go, team!

Spreadsheets B106, Session 3

It's Homecoming, but that didn't stop students from showing up to their ITA session, and everyone was excited to get to work. We started by sharing stories about our past two weeks, and Carrie shared a story about rehearsals for her performances, and Elizabeth talked about her orchestral performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

After that, we moved onto a review of what we've learned so far in Excel--conditional formatting, formulas, and the projects that we've done. Elizabeth then launched into some new stuff, showing them a great video of a Swedish professor explaining a world population chart he made, including the animations that went into it. Motion charts are a great way to add visual flair to data, and so Elizabeth showed Google Docs, in which you can make them. As a great way of explaining Google Docs, she showed them the "Google Love Letter" video. It went over very well, everyone getting a laugh, and at the same time they learned the advantages of using Google Docs.

Elizabeth then showed them how to link data from one spreadsheet to another, leading the students into the Football spreadsheets. It took a little explaining for the students to realize that they didn't have to know anything about football in order to do the exercise--they had to link data :). That led them into other projects, such as the Jungle Book sheet that Kevin made. Everyone did a great job! Anny and Carrie were sure they couldn't do it, but in the end, they figured it out on their own, getting functions like COUNTIF and OR to work exactly right! Great job!

Here's what Anny did in Google Spreadsheets:

Excel Day 2: Sabado Gigante

The day kicked off with a Learn@UW quiz as students trickled into the lab on this fine September morning. Kevin followed up the quiz with demoing different functions such as SUM and making a checklist. Students were on task, proving that they are well on their way to becoming true spreadsheet nerds. End of first period.

Upon returning from first break, Kevin demonstrated more ways to effectively use Excel to make life easier. With the NFL season in full swing, the most obvious reason to use Excel is to create fantasy football teams. These fantasy teams come fully loaded with players' stats for the football-savvy. Richie took Drew Brees, one of the leading quarterbacks in the league, and the Green Bay Packers receiving core, a fine pick with success guaranteed. All the while, Maddy and Jamarra made spreadsheets that rank quarterbacks' good looks. They followed this activity with entering their blogs for the day.

In the third period, Kevin introduced the "Excel Your Skillz" game. Many students recalled seeing the older students perform a skit with this game. Excitement grew as they continued to reminisce their past experience with EYS, which, in turn, fueled anticipation for battling one another next session. The end of the day came with finished blogs and more fantasy football team building, a victorious end for all.

Excel B106 2nd Day!!

Everything started off a little rocky today, what with the outer doors of the building being locked, probably due to the President coming into town this week. So, I had to stay by the doors and make sure students could get in. After that, the day started with a quick review of our previous session, and then we got to work! The students took their Learn@UW quiz, and then Elizabeth went over the questions. Everyone did very well, getting some of the harder questions without trouble. Then, Elizabeth discussed functions and how to use them as well as find new ones on the internet. Carrie did a great job with the Order of Operations exercise, figuring out the complicated math problem that was put on the board.

After the break, Elizabeth covered conditional formatting, rules, and sorting/filters. The students looked at the document showing city populations and had them figure out which were the largest and in which countries, giving them an idea of how Excel can be used to keep track of information. Then, she introduced the assignment of having them make a list of things in their refrigerator, and using conditional formatting in order to keep track of the items in their fridge, making sure that they know when they get low on something. AJ stopped by and reminded everyone to keep track of the moldy stuff in their fridge.

After that, Elizabeth had to leave because she wasn't feeling well. Get better, Elizabeth!

Here's Alli's fridge list:


And here's Tenzin's:



Lastly, the students finished up their fridge list, and then blogged. All in all, it was a great day for ITA!!!

B106 Excel, First Day!!!

After a long and eventful summer, the students returned for their first day at ITA! It was great to have all of the students back for their first session, and a lot has changed.

We started with a homeroom meeting in 3139, to explain to the students how things have changed. We went over the new structure of the sessions, as well as the homeroom concept and the integrated class groups, which are no longer restricted by age. The students were really interested in that, and a lot of them raised the point that it will add a good deal of variety to their ITA experience. They'll have the chance to interact with students in different grades, and get to know people outside of their normal range.

After the orientation, students went to their first real session, coming to B106, for their first lesson on Excel. The very, very first thing they had to learn was how to use the network setup, which has changed since before the summer. That ran very smoothly (a lot smoother than it did for several of us instructors).

Following that, we started for real on Excel. Elizabeth explained how Excel can help with a whole host of different things, such as making lists, organizing information, and doing math. She started with formulas, having everyone take a look at a sort of trick equation to illustrate the order of operations. Marleny went up to the board to show how it was solved, doing a great job with the answer. After that, Elizabeth showed an example of a spreadsheet she made this summer, explaining how Excel can be used for keeping track of different kinds of information (dollar amounts, contributor names, etc.) all in one spreadsheet.

Because everyone was so attentive, we ended up ahead of schedule, giving everyone plenty of time to work on their Excel projects. Students were given the option of creating spreadsheets based on what's in their garage, their favorite songs, books, movies, etc. Everyone got right to work, putting together their lists and ranking things with as much information as they could.

Here's an example of Allie's spreadsheet:


And here's Jaylah's:


All in all, it was a great day for ITA, and it's good to be back!

The Road Test... Dun Dun Dun!

As 1:00PM approached, the students mingled and mashed in the hall getting their daily dose of sugar. Unfortunately, as they filed into the room, they were informed by AJ that no food or drink is allowed during this road test!

After AJ directed each student to their prospected seats, they read the instructions together and then moved right onto the test~

When the allotted time was over, the students were on break! Except.. they stuck to their computer so much, it didn't seem like a break so AJ said, "At least do something that looks like you're on break!" Nevertheless, the student's break resumed.. on either Facebook or their projects.

As the students came back to their work-mind set, AJ introduced his favorite treat to the class, chili-powered dried mangoes. It was tried by many and liked by some.

Anny even mentioned "Baby Lucus (at least I believe that's what she said)" and the similarities of it.

After the student's were giving time to finish up their projects, Jose went up to give his presentation.

Jose: PowerPoint was very interactive and quite simple and clean! Your organization skills were really put to use in this project. Good Scratch project! The class enjoyed seeing your starfish get eaten~ =X

Marleny: Although you didn't seem that enthusiastic to go after Jose, your computer was very still good! Or as Eliza would put it -- she remarked, "I like the way your computer is VERY blue! All color coordinated and whatnot~" Loved your Scratch project! Very humorous and true. Girls running from random guys! ;)

Maddie: Very thoughtful when creating your computer. Especially when you bought the headphones!

Jaylah: Very humorous PowerPoint! Liked the title page. Loved the transitions to different slides. Never seen that kind before! Liked how slick your your PowerPoint was.

KeKe: Loved the intergalactic, glow-in-the-dark PowerPoint and computer! Gamers would be intimidated to see you at their LAN parties! =) Cute Scratch project. Loved the Pac-Man like game!!

Anny: Great PowerPoint (and especially getting the internal hard drive! ;D). Great Scratch project concept: The Booboo stalking the furry little Monkey! Very, very humorous!

Last but not least, Jamarra: A different approach to your PowerPoint (making other students guess what the component is)! I like it! Getting your audience to interact with your PowerPoint and your presentation as a whole. Like your clever use of South Bridge and North Bridge schools! You're an alumni in doing and creating presentations!

Loved it when you said, "It's about what's inside the case that matters."

Your Scratch project was very ... deep. Connecting our confusion with your character's.

The rest of the time was spent on being free~

The New Ghosts

So, the day before, the students were all asked to enable SATA 0 and disable SATA 1 before they powered down their computers so that the computers can be newly imaged.

And when the time came for the new images to be discovered, the Dropbox was a topic that was discussed between Eliza and Anny. Unfortunately... that wasn't the only thing that was discovered today...

When Eliza decided to show Anny how to use the Dropbox via desktop, she linked her Dropbox to the desktop... and every single computer in that room (or.. just all over the network!)!

Distressed, the first thing that came out of Eliza's mouth to AJ, who later came into the room was All About The Dropbox -- forget the Pentium, Weird Al!~

After some researching, rebooting of the computers, and reinstalling, AJ wrote to Brad and those guys and then proceeded to ask everyone in the room to turn off all of their computers.

As the students turned off their computers, they headed out to break. During this time, AJ turned on one computer to see if the Dropbox problem was fixed. It wasn't.

As each student came into the room, they were instructed to turn on their computers and resume work on their projects. When Krystal turned on her computer, everything was ENLARGED! "I'm not blind, you know!" stated the very frustrated Krystal as Jose goes, "Whoa.. that's giving me a headache." Indeed, her icons were large... Cristina attempted to help, but the problem was unsolved. Luckily, Tenzin walked into the room. The two sought Tenzin out for help but... the problem remained unsolved. Once again, Krystal rebooted her computer and this time around, everything seemed normal... right?

Earlier in the day, AJ had mentioned something about a password... that is, the new network drive requires the user to log in with a username and a password. Well, after several failed attempts, Cristina sought help from AJ and his email. Hidden deep within was the username and password. Unfortunately for Krystal, when a password was entered (instructor's), her computer wouldn't stop loading... so once again... She had to reboot her computer.

"By the time I open my project, class would be over!" Krystal remarked as she was instructed to reboot.. one last time.

After she got onto the network drive, without the prompt of a password or username, she began working contently on her project.

BTW Work Time and OS TEST!

The students started the day with diving right into one of their two projects! Whether they wanted to finish their scratch project or begin building their own computer was up to them. Many of the students started off with the more familiar scratch project because the Build Your Own Computer was recently introduced at the end of the day yesterday~

Nevertheless, many of the students jumped right into newegg.com and began finding parts for their virtual computer as soon as they finished their scratch games.

After the first break, Maddie was the only one working on her Scratch project, but she was also the only one who dived into this project with a mindset of making a complete game.. with all the levels and everything. Before the break, Cristina had worked with Maddie as she came up with a goal of making her dog chase her cat through this maze... but once all the other students started working on their Build Your Own Computer again, Maddie decided that she wanted her dog to chase the cat throughout the house. This required a background changing variable which Cristina did not know how to do. As she explained to Chou the problem that they were dealing with, he goes, "Oh.. I haven't done that before." But after 10 minutes or so, Maddie was well on her way to finishing off her project.

Hope it turns out the way you wanted it to, Maddie! Good luck, girl~ =)

As the students were supposed to head out to their next break, Chou kept telling them that they needed a break away from computers (they've been staring into the monitor intensely for a while now)... so he wasn't going to help them with any of their projects until the allotted time was done.

When they came back, the class had a Q&A session about operating systems, more work time, and then began their long awaited operating system permit test.

Permit Test?! Hardware?!

After shortly discussing DR3 -- a type of ram and Dance Dance Revolution, AJ ask the students if they had a question (one of the three that they were supposed to have written down over the weekend) and Krystal wondered whether a virus would effect both operating systems once it's caught. Jamarra answered with.. "not really" and AJ confirmed that even if you have two operating systems, you won't spread the virus because "they don't share needles." A perfect leeway to the Weird Al video about being White and Nerdy.

After the video, the students were to write a joke that Weird Al had in his video (must be about computers) and the majority of the students wrote about Weird Al making a web page for his dog... but couldn't exactly explain why the joke was funny!

"You better do better on this next test," said AJ as he played "All About the Pentium" by Weird Al.

After break the students were sent off to researching an answer to one of the questions that they compiled before the break. As AJ left for the day, he had the students answer the question via blogs!

As he left, Chou came into the spotlight with Antivirus and Spyware. After debating whether or not worm, trojan, rootkit, and phishing were either Anti or Spy, Chou told them the answers and explained to them the reasons.

The next activity was reviewing for the hardware permit test. Cristina lead the group on a competitive 2 team Jeopardy game focused on hardware. At the end of the game, Chou asked Gates: Windows, Jobs: Mac, [blank]: Linux. The first team's score, for getting the wrong answer, depleted to 0. The second team's score, for cheating (Googling the answer), was also depleted to 0. They're ALL winners!

As the students were getting done with their permit test, they finished their blogs. As each one of them finished up and published their blogs, they rebooted their computers and got to working on their projects!

Hope you 8 did well on the permit test!!

--- Eliza ended the day with the introduction to the student's BTW.

Thrilling Windows 7 with Chou!

The day started off with a little Michael Jackson -- can you guess which song? ;)

The connection of Thriller and computers is if the computer doesn't have an operating system, then they're just like zombies!

So.. in order to de-zombify their computers, the students will be installing Windows 7 with Chou~

After discussing operating systems, the students are to restart their computers hitting F12 to enter the Boot Device Menu

But before that, Chou showed another video to the students: iPhone 4
And discussed what the iPhone 4 would be without the operating system.

Next,they all got to work on installing Windows 7~

As the students were waiting for Windows to finish installing, Maddie states that she's glad that "Jose isn't the president of the world." Jose quickly retaliates and says, "Hey, I would be a great president.." and then he trails off into a story about how he and Krystal was waiting for the bus and some lady approaches them and greets them with, "Hi! I'm the laid off mom, can I sing you a song?" It was a song about losing her job and how she cannot get it back.

Soon after that, their installation was completed and they proceeded to download Mozilla Firefox and Google chrome, Malwarebytes and the Microsoft Security Essentials, and then they went and downloaded Google desktop. What came next was finding themes that interested them.

After the students came back from their break, Chou set out to teach the students about Scratch, a simple programming application that can create games for the students to play. DIY games? How fun is that!

Computer Parts Apart!

The second day began with an addition of Jele, a student from the class of 2013.

After everyone introduced themselves to Jele, Eliza began the lesson plan with a memory game where the students had to memorize a set 20 words from cat to ice cream and zebra!
Then Eliza had the students write down names of friends and family (as many as they can remember!) then asked the students which activity was easier.

Krystal and quickly hit the nail on the head and connected the activities to RAM and hard drives (because they ARE in ITA!).

The next portion of the class included a Hardware Review that Cristina quickly went through. The students were reminded to pay attention to the images because they'll be needing it in a bit ;)

Once the review ended, Eliza handed out worksheets of components that the students had to compare. Each pair/group of student was to compare a certain component and choose which was better.

The next activity was similar to the last one, but required a component that fit a certain motherboard that Eliza had posted up on the screen.

Each student was to report their findings...
Krystal's attempt to find a RAM that fit the motherboard didn't quite match the specs, so Maddie quickly offered her findings... After she explained why her RAM fit the motherboard, Jose stated, "for two dollars less, you can get mine!"

Next.. The class went through the steps of what to do before you open your computer and then proceeded to opening their computers. After Cristina showed the class how to open their cases and carefully take out a couple of pieces, the students cleared their desks and lined up to grab their computers from the pile of computers.

After their break, AJ entered the class to present his "Famous Motherboard PowerPoint" that landed him his job at ITA! The students attentively listened and gave good feedback to fully understand what AJ was teaching about the motherboard.

Next, the students blogged to AJ everything that they know about computers~!

Systems and Service: The First Day

The first day of camp started out with Kiki and Maddie coming in early -- which lead to AJ and Cristina kicking them out to create what the students call, "a setup," where the students must figure out their first test: turn the computer power on.

"Are these computers working?" were the first words that filled the room when the students sat down. After a few chatters about the computer's inability to turn on, a loud "EVERYTHING is unplugged!" flew from Jamarra's mouth.

After discovering this, the students all helped each other whether it was physically helping Maddie with her problem (the powerstrip was turned off so she had more work than anyone else!) or verbally advising Krystal.

As Cristina lead the first discussion on, the students realized that even though plugging everything in wasn't AT ALL difficult, finding the problem was harder than they thought (they all just sat there wondering what was wrong with the computer).

AJ's next question about systems and services "opened their minds" about technology and the service that can come from their computers. They verbally brainstormed the different services that a computer can do for them and their community. AJ went down the rows asking each student. Then shared two comic strips about today's technology.

AJ's next joke (shown below) striked up crickets in the audience... until the short Matrix clip was showed -- I think they got it then! He IS the one ;)

Silence swept the room as AJ played his "Radiolab: Making Radio Lab" and continued as the "Fish Love" video played on for a couple of minutes. The discussions which followed applied the two video/audio to computers.

Each of the student pairs went up to the front of the class and introduced themselves and explained the relation between the video/audio and computers.

AJ wanted the students to all be like Neo, but someone stated, "I want to be like Miguel (who was the farmer who had a self purifying ecosystem)."

To overview the systems, AJ had everyone come up with some sort of system. His examples included pushing the shutter button on the remote and having the projector's shutter on and off and water which enters the body and leaves as urine. Somewhere along the line, AJ mentioned getting energy by drinking and a few moments later, Jose says, "Water has no calories... (therefore you can't get energy!)"

Some of the examples that the students came up with included cars, doors, facebook, the passing of a bill, bodily functions, jumping into water, and basically EVERYTHING!

-- During break, Maddie and Jamarra called the help desk to find out what their passwords were. Jamarra had called and was transferred about three or four times. When she finally talked to someone who knew about ITA, she said, "You know what you're doing because other people were just transferring me around." It turns out... she was talking to Marquis Stern, a 2009 ITA graduate! When AJ heard the name, he darted to the front of the room (from the door) and asked to talk to Marquis. The problem was solved and the two had their passwords reseted. --

After break, AJ jumped right into clarifying systems and lead to a preview of the workings of the computer... the motherboard, RAM, etc.

Next, AJ discusses binary, or takes "A Trip Down Binary Ln." which is "just like math class!" says a voice in the audience. After a short explanation and example, the students succeeded in converting their first binary number, 1001, to a decimal number, 9!

The class takes a new turns towards hardware and software. After running through the hardware, AJ informs the students that when they bring in their hard drive, they can update to Windows 7! He then quickly recalls a story about Maddie getting mad when he took out her hard drive during Freshmen Orientation. Though Maddie denies ever getting mad, AJ stands firm on his recollection!

The software discussion leads to viruses... and takes a jump to the history of viruses (which will be covered in exactly 7 days...)!

After introducing operating systems, AJ concludes his portion of the day with "Tough Concluding Questions" and informs the students on their PLC dates and expectations.

Eliza starts her portion of the day immediately with... hardware! She introduces what is "Inside Your Computer!" with an illustration of exactly that (what is inside our computers [from the motherboard to the power supply]).

Next, Eliza briefly runs through each of the hardware parts and what they do. One question which stumped everyone was, "What does PCI stand for?" After AJ quickly Googled it, he announced that it stood for, "Peripheral Component Interconnect!"

Soon after the Googling, the students took a 10 minute break.

When they came back, the students began their task of deciphering a Newegg page and comparing different computer parts based on their specs. They are to identify each component and decide where they go. Then to compare and evaluate which component is better and explain why. The students jumped into their assignment and started sorting which component is better than the other! They then filled the red lines on the image above.

Eliza lead the class comparison and answered questions which the students had. 4:00PM, the time to leave came quite fast... and the students all tidied their space and flooded the hall.

last day of lab :-(

For our last day of lab, we started out with a HUGE road test. Students entered the class room to discover a dismantled computer at each of their desks. They were a little shocked to have to wait in the hallway until exactly when class was going to begin. But once they saw the computer parts everywhere, they knew what they were going to have to do . . . or they THOUGHT they did! AJ gave them detailed instructions about preparing their computers for the customer, who would be coming in an hour. They had to fix the computer, get any missing parts, and then make a lot of changes to the software and the appearance of the operating system. They dove in to it with some trepidation, but by my observations, they stayed determined and did their best. Way to go 2012!

Then we had some work time to finish our BTW while Eliza corrected yesterday's permit tests and she and AJ told each other jokes.

After that, students presented their projects.
Allie went first and gave an impressive presentation of her home computer and her computer of the future. She wants to make a computer that will read people's thoughts and show them on a screen so the speaker/teacher can see if everyone is understanding. It will be able to read people's word thoughts and picture thoughts.

Then David presented. He gave a good presentation, first talking about each of his computer components in a very relaxed and funny way.

Taylor presented next. Her computer was meant to be a computer that she can use to watch movies at home.
Her second project was a blog entry about a computer that designs and creates ice cream flavors. (That would sell millions!)

Ninah told us about her fantastic computer, and about her future computer that creates a virtual 3D image of any clothes you want to try on.

Brandon talked about his different components for the computer he built for programming. His dream computer helps catch wanted criminals, it will identify them no matter what their disguise and no matter where they are hiding.

Richie showed us a cute picture of puppies before he told us all about his computer and its various components. He  bought some candy for Chou so he would spend enough money. (Very Funny!). His computer of the future reads thoughts of people who are handicapped and can surf the internet for them.

Jon has built himself quite an impressive computer (although he confused RAM with hard drive memory when explaining it). He has such a good sense of humor that everyone was laughing during his presentation. He created a game in Scratch where a cat would run around maze.

Bronson's computer was impressive, with a case that lights up (wow!). His mouse is shaped like a car! He also made a Scratch game, but it wasn't working. In his game, built with Garrett, the roadrunner and coyote were chasing each other through a maze.

Dhondup's computer components were nice, with a motherboard with on-board sound. His Scratch game was a pong game that knocked out bricks. It was built together with Diana.

Diana also built a nice computer, and she and Dhondup did a great job on their game!

Malibu's computer looks great! and her project was a game that had three objects: a person, a cat, a ball. She made a self portrait cartoon for the person in the game.

Garrett wanted to build a computer for making videos.

Everyone did such a great job! It was an amazing camp and everyone learned a lot! I am so glad I got to be here with these amazing students.

Almost to the Finishing Line!

Today's Schedule

Start to 2:10 Work on BTW
2:10-2:20 Break
2:20 - 3:00 Permit test re-take, silent work time
3:00-3:10 Break
3:10-4:00 Finish BTW

Tomorrow:
Road Tests
Present Projects (Scratch and BYOCOPU)

Here is a snapshot of what is happening right now (1:36):

Everyone is quietly focused on working on his or her BTW. All you can hear are a few whispers, mouse clicks and some typing. AJ is kneeling next to David's computer helping him look over his BTW to see how he is doing with his computer purchase. He is encouraging him to maximize what he can get for his money. They are talking about why his optical dive is SO EXPENSIVE! And Chou mentions "Do you guys know that if you are making a gaming computer, sometimes Linux won't all the games you want?"

During class today, some students went with Michelle to talk to some incoming high school students about the importance of science. Here is a quote from an email from Michelle describing the experience:

"I just took a group of 4 ITA students to the PEOPLE Science Prep class.  Alison was telling me how they totally lacked motivation and I figured our kids could talk about their own experience and maybe help out a bit.  After 10 minutes in that room, I want to hug every one of our students [...].
We are all so LUCKY!!!!!!"


It is true that we ARE lucky: lucky to work with great people, including Michelle!


While everyone was working on projects, I met with most of the students to talk about their blogs, mentioning what they are doing well and what they can improve. It was interesting (for me at least!) and I hope it helped. The general advice was to add more details and to stay on top of proper English. Some students have a handle on both of those things already and we were able to talk about features of Blogger that they could use to enhance their blog or to create a personal blog for their own use.


Then we talked about how the most important part of a project is right at the end, when you are working really hard and finishing up. AJ played a song for us to wrap up the day, and everyone headed out in to the lovely weather.


Have a nice day, everyone!!

Scratch and Sniff!

We started off making a short little game in Scratch. It was cool and fun, fun, fun! I couldn't get the ball to chase my cat, but the kids were doing great. I can't wait to mess around with it some more and I bet the students feel the same way. Then we had some work time in Scratch and some time to work on the BTW.

A.J. gave us a quick demo about purchasing online by talking us through his thinking process as he looked at different components on Newegg.

Things to remember when purchasing:

• get the best you can afford to have a working system right now
• keep in mind the ability to upgrade
• maximize what you purchase

READ THE  CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Then we played Review Jeopardy and took a permit test.

Weird Al, a magical mystery tour, and some chili-covered mango

We started our day with a couple of Weird Al videos that were making fun of the world of computers. The we took a Learn @ UW quiz on the videos and talked about the videos. Funny! It is cool that we all get most of the jokes now, and we wouldn't have got a lot of them just a week ago.

Then Brad stopped by to take us upstairs to RADS for a tour. We learned about the different services provided by RADS and saw the workshop where they do their magic. AJ and I were joking before we went in that it was like entering the Chocolate Factory . . . (Everything you see is eatible, I mean edible) . . ..

Apparently, there were too many people for the whole group to then tour the DoIt Tech Store, so the class returned to the lab to continue working on their BTWs.

We worked on our BTWs for the rest of the day. AJ shared some chili powder covered mango with everyone. The class seemed to like the unusual treat, although they drank a lot of water afterward!

Everyone worked on the BTW and chatted until it was time to take the permit test, which proceeded in silence.

And that was it!  All in all, a pretty darn good day.

I am enjoying my role as supportive instructor: reading and composing blogs, making comments and asking questions that keep the flow going, and generally acting like Ed McMahon on the Johnny Carson Show.

Second Monday: we know a lot already, we're ready to learn some more!

It was great to see everyone ready to go today!

We started with a series of questions regarding operating systems:

• What are the differences between the different types of OS's that there are? (different programs)
• Do you need and OS to make an OS? (don't know!)
• When connecting to another computer can you get all the information from one computer to another? (yes, but not automatically. Depends on the operating system)
• How much information can an OS hold? (complicated question: doesn't really hold information, but it can control information, have information programmed in to it, take up certain room in the computer, like the way Windows included Internet Explorer in previous versions. The less things the OS uses, the fewer resources it takes up within the computer. It can take up a lot of hard drive and it can use up a lot of RAM too.)
• How do you make an OS? (don't know! look it up!)
• What makes one OS more expensive than another? (market, supply and demand)
• In general, how expensive is it to install a new OS, as compared to upgrading/dating? (Depends, look it up!)
• What makes one piece of software more effective than another similar piece? (personal preference)
• What are the basic functions of an OS? (too complex to answer in this class)
• UBUNTU: Why no search box in Google Chrome? (different program for each browser)
• Is there an OS that is better for home computers? (depends on what you are doing, there are some OS specifically built for servers, for simple devices, etc)
• Are there any OS other than the ones we have covered? (yes, there are tons)
• Is a newer hard drive better than an old one that's been wiped clean? Even if the specs are the same?  (tricky question, very possible that it could be better/worse, depending on a lot of factors)
• What does BIOS stand for? (Basic Input-Output System)
• What besides a computer is need to make an OS? (don't know)
• How does a computer translate between decimal numbers and binary?  (codes for each letter, codes for each number)
• What pieces of hardware are necessary and what are optional? (great discussion question, do extra research: power supply, motherboard, memory (hard drive/ram), processor, 
• Why do we need a BIOS? (basic input/output system = start-up sequence program before OS, software that is hardcoded in to the motherboard. You can reconfigure it, but it is hardwired in to the motherboard)
• Why is upgrading necessary? (not 100% necessary, helps with security
• Is there a program that helps you to create an OS? or do you need to know binary? (don't know for sure, probably written in a language called machine code, which is different)
• What makes the flavors of Linux different from each other? What are they? (there are a ton of them! Look them up and read about them.)
• What was the hardware called to uninstall and reinstall an OS? (???)
• How do you use binary with words? (codes for letters)
• Are certain OS better for certain programs? (issue of preference)
• How is video written to binary? (many types of formats, depends on how it is rendered, you can look it up and learn more)
• How is antivirus software made? (not 100% sure, but probably similar to a spell checker, programmed to look for certain things and then remove it)

A.J. proceeded to answer the questions that he knew the answers to, (but then there were some that he didn't know about).  It was a long discussion, but we got a lot of our questions answered!

Virus Information:

Students were given a few minutes to look up information about their questions and then about various kinds of viruses. Each row had a different virus to research: worms, rootkits, phishing, trojan horse. We also took a few minutes to talk about how to evaluate sources on the net.

Worms

• can replicate themselves
• can travel from computer to computer w/o human interaction
• subclass of a virus
• file dependent and can be reproduced

Rootkits

• sneak in to system and make themselves an administrator and can control the computer for whatever they want
• you have to download it yourself
• attach to BIOS or other targets of basic system
• they hide within the system, sometimes cause erratic behavior

Phishing

• tricks you to get personal information out of you
• mimic original sites
• it is us that get fooled

Trojan Horse

• It is like a virus rootkit that looks like an innocent or useful program
• keyloggers, etc
• have to be deleted instead of cleared because it is a file attached to something else
• it appears to be doing something you want it to do, but it is really doing something else

How do you prevent these things getting on to your computer.

• Do not use Limewire.
• Don't download everything you see.

Research on individual questions:

• Carrie
• Different flavors of Linux: which is best?
• They can't tell you what is best for you, because it depends on your computer and on how you use your computer.
• Bronson
• For creating an operating system:
• Linux from Skratch is a program you can use to make your own flavor or app for Linux.

Software on the Cloud

like Google Docs

Introduction to the BTW project:

Binary and Networking

We started with a lesson on binary brought to us by A.J., who helped us transfer numbers back and forth between binary and decimal. He said is isn't like learning another language, but more like just learning to use something you already know in a new way. (So, maybe it is like learning new vocabulary?).

Then Chou talked to us about networking. We looked at some photos of of different cords and cables to see how they can connect. Crossover cords are connected in a way that allows the computers to know that they are sending information back and forth to each other. Or, you can use a hub to connect computers through Ethernet cables. A "Switch" works like a hub, but you can connect even more computers to it. We also learned that "LAN" stands for Local Area Network and "WAN" stands for Wide-Area Network, which is often wireless. A "router" is the most advanced way to create a network, and you need that for a wireless network. Each computer that is on a network is called a "node". Each node has it's own very special and very private address, just like a home, called an IP address. The router has probably has and IP address, but it assigns various IP addresses temporarily to each computer that is active on the network. The "subnet mask" tells you what type of network you are connected to you, and it also tells you how many computers are or can be on that network.

We then took a short break, during which, as usual, the vending machine owners made quite a profit!!

After the break, we began by turning off our monitors and talking about domain names. Chou says that the actual domain name equals the IP address of a particular server. If you know the IP address of a website, you can type that in instead of the domain name and the browser will take you to the correct website.

Then we worked on establishing a series of 4 networks within the classroom. Some rows had a bit of trouble at first. Garret was still working in Linux, so he had a difficult time until he switched to Windows. Then we tried to set up a network within the whole classroom and everyone "pinged" each other to see if the computers were reading each other.

The students then rebooted their computers and then left for a break. Chou wanted the students to ping every single other student to make sure that EVERYONE is on the network.. Some of the students couldn't "ping" each other because they had forgotten to turn off their firewall. We weren't able to get the network working, so we weren't able to play a game together, which is unfortunate. It seemed like everyone learned a lot though, and hopefully we will be able to network and play games on another day.

Learnin More and More (Day Four)

We started with a series of questions about operating systems. We talked about different versions of hardware and software, using the example of the soon-to-be-released new iPhone (which we were all drooling over).
A.J. wrote some questions on the board: What is the difference between Installing and Upgrading an operating system? What are the differences between different versions/types of operating systems? What is the power of an operating system? The Eliza added: What are the advantages/disadvantages of having different types of OS? and What is the difference between ordinary software and and OS? None of these questions have necessarily been answered yet, but that isn't the point right now, since we are thinking about what we want to understand.

The students then came up with questions.

Alli: What goes in to making an OS?
Bronson: Do they do it in teams?

David: What are all the different OS in use and what are the advantages of each one?

Richie: What ARE the different OS? What's different about them?

Everyone shut off the monitors to prepare to listen. A.J. said that they would get different pieces to the answers as they go through the lesson today.

GUIs . . .
Graphical User Interface

Game: Name that GUI! What is that operating system!

We looked at a lot of images of older and newer GUIs and identified which one they were. ( I felt old because I had used the oldest of the Mac GUIs from 1984!!)

After a short break, during which we raided the vending machines, we looked at the schedule from the rest of the camp. Then, we booted in to Windows 7 and installed Chrome, Rocket Dock, Firefox, and Cool Iris.

A.J. talked to us about drivers and how to install them.and we played with the different software we could download to enhance our computers.

We then booted in to Ubuntu and used the free office  software to make a presentation to answer one of the class questions. After finishing the presentation, students had some free time to play around with Linux and see what they could find and use. Most students went right to the games! A.J. then showed everyone how to use the terminal and type in commands in Linux. It was very different from what students are used to!

Then . . . Permit test time! (And Students took it through Linux!).

Computer Service Camp (Day Two)

Today we took apart and then put back together a computer!!

Everyone approached the task with what seemed to me to be a mixture of fear and excitement. Everyone seemed to have a good time and learn a LOT. Carrie was diligent and worked slowly,. but methodically. Malibu was the first one done, and said she had done it before with some old computers of her fathers.

Before taking apart the computers, we played a memory game to compare our short-term memory to the RAM and our long-term memories to the hard drive. Then Eliza talked to us about each of the components of the computer and what they do. That made it so we were able to more easily identify the parts when we took apart the real computer.

Once we got the machines all put back together, AJ talked to us about data storage and input-output devices, as well as universal design.

We were busy and involved so, forgive us for the boring entry!

First Day of Computer Services Camp (or, as AJ would say . . . OOOO DaNG!)

The Juniors straggled in from their first morning of their internships to find . . . . EVERY COMPUTER IN THE LAB WAS UNPLUGGED! Lejia, our intrepid intern, had come in before the session to unplug the computers . What was the purpose of this activity? One student (whose name I do not yet know, but I promise to learn very, very soon) was quick to realize that it was part of the lesson plan: Students had to solve the mystery of what was wrong with the computer. AJ asked the students HOW they thought about solving the problem. Did they think "First I'm going to make sure that there is power, then I am going to make sure there is an internet connection" or did they just grab a cord and look to see where it fit and plug it in? One student pointed out that the cords were also color coded.

The next part of the lesson was about "What is a system?"
AJ showed a video called "Fish Love" to get the students thinking about how the ecology is a system, how food is a system, and how systems relate to computers as a whole.

AJ then moved in to discussing how computers work in a very basic manner, describing that they all need power to transfer data and that therefore computers also have lots of fast-moving, heat-generating parts. This lead to the first discussion of troubleshooting methods and techniques for isolating problems with a computer.

Eliza took over after break. She let AJ become "Ed McMan" for the hours to follow, sitting in the fun desk at the back of the classroom. This happens to be the first time Eliza has worked with the class of 2012! She had them all write their names on the placards, which belong to PTE, but that we'll use just this one time, so that she can learn the students' names.

After giving a small introduction, Eliza jumped to a brief overview of the actual parts of a computer system.

"This is the motherboard, it connects all the parts and data. You can call it the Mama!"
North bridge, south bridge, Random Access Memory, etc...

It's LIVE BLOG TIME:
2:13PM
ELIZA: And when you save a file, where does it go?
STUDENTS: The Hard Drive.

2:15 to 2:24PM
We messed a around a lot with files and saving PPTs in the right spot.

AJ THOUGHTS: Students seem to not do so well creating their own folders and understanding the network. Also, we were confusing. By this time in ITA, we need to do a better job of having the students independently create folders in the network so that they are comfortable with their own file organization.

2:28
NOTE: Core 2 is like generation 2... DUO or QUAD refers to the number of cores in the processor.
NOTE: A slash in the specifications means there is an option! (Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo)

Last Day!!!

Today was a bit of a patchwork, what with it being a shortened session and Elizabeth being gone. But, she was here in spirit, partly because she made brownies for the class and dropped them off early. So, yay! Nummy brownies!!! And they were, in fact, particularly nummy.

Several of the students were finished with everything expected, including their BTWs and Showcase projects, so we rewarded them with a movie day, showing a film that AJ picked out called "Talk to Me." It's a docudrama about a DJ in the 1970s. The students liked it, but what's not to like about a movie and brownies?

The students who still had things to do were able to work in another room, and there was plenty to get done. Some had road tests or permit tests to take, BTWs to finish, or Showcase projects to work on. A lot got done--the perfect way to end an ITA session.

Thanks to everyone for a great semester!

Digital Audio - day 2 to final!

Elizabeth's last day of digital audio for the semester . . . tear :(

Students entered the room in spurts - Jose asked about Elizabeth's birthday and everyone wished her a happy birthday, which included a big birthday hug from Anny!! Thanks Anny - you're awesome!

To celebrate/start the day off, Elizabeth showed the class a funny youtube video about getting your wisdom teeth out - this girl, obviously strongly affected by the drugs, starts talking about riding a magical unicorn and eating papyas! It was pretty awesome and the class had a good laugh, and immediately suggested another video in the same vein - Dave after the dentist. We watched this one too (this one of a cute little 7-8 year old boy) as he tried to process through what was happening to him!

After these fun interludes, Paul launched the class into work time, explaining the results of the BTW grading and responsibilities on the showcase. The class worked diligently (basically :) we know how to enjoy one another's company) Jaylah and Carrie went to a separate conference room to record a few more lines, Alli, Ninah, and Taylor McDonald finished everything up quickly and were able to spend time relaxing, and Anny, Tenzin, Jose, and Diana's group soon finished things up and worked on their showcase projects. (and made funny feedback noises accidentally with their skype accounts . . . ;) We were without Taylor Hill today sadly, so Keke diligently worked by herself to finish their project, editing away!

At 1:50, it was time for the final show - the road test!!

Acid Session 7

The 7th session of the Sony Acid Unit this semester is about to commence! ..in exactly 3...2...1...0...-1...-2...-3 ...NOW!

Today's session was a very worktime-oriented one, with a short continued lesson from the previous session on mastering with Audacity, and the second Permit Test attempt at the end of the session. The majority of the lab time was used for the students to work on their BTW and Showcase projects.

Chris, starting the day off with the Mastering with Audacity lesson, covered topics such as rendering, normalization, and compression--and shortly following the lesson, the students were given a small challenge which allowed them to directly apply the terms and skills they were just introduced to during the Mastering lesson.

After the lesson, challenge, and first break, the students got right to work, either working on their BTWs or their showcase projects. The students were making great progress on their Acid BTW projects, however, when it came to the showcase projects, a lot of them were far behind and needed ideas on what type of project they wanted to create with this year's showcase theme of "Fun with Numbers." So a lot of the questions and session time ended up revolving much around the showcase projects, seeing as how mostly everyone was in pretty good shape with their BTW progress; they were either just about finished, finishing up, or already done with them.

Finally, with about half an hour remaining in the session, the students began taking their second attempt at the Acid Permit Test and the little time they had after they completed the permit test was used as additional worktime for BTW and Showcase projects.

Overall it was a pretty productive session.

The Final Conquest: BTW

Welcome back to another fine Saturday and another ITA session! Paul having recently gotten his wisdom teeth out, Elizabeth began the day with short clip from the Red Green show (on how to take old appliances, namely stoves and refrigerators, and turn them into office furniture for teenagers. Riveting!) The class got a bit of a laugh to start off the day :)

Following, the class got to listen to Radio Lab, a show similar to this American Life. The show was on Numbers, featuring stories about babies' concept of numbers (according to an awesome French scientist who does experiments by putting sponges with electrodes on babies' heads - crazy!!) as well as how crime can be investigated using the natural patterns of numbers by looking from deviance from those natural laws. Afterwards, the class talked about the use of sound effects and the splicing of the lines - everyone agreed that it was a little hard to follow sometimes, but it kept the audience's attention! (quack, quack, quack!)

After a short break, Elizabeth gathered the class with a learn@uw quiz, including questions on the due date of the BTW :)

And then the work began in earnest! Groups set off to complete and polish up their BTWs. Tenzin, Anny, Diana, and Jose were pretty much finished, but spent some time polishing and getting more sound effects. Keke was gone again today, so Taylor was joined by Michelle and Jose to record the lines for their project and then finish editing. Alli, Nina, and Taylor M also spent a little time completing and polishing. Great work today everyone!

The class ended with blog time and Elizabeth continuing to encourage work on the showcase projects. Hurray hurray! It's the end of the day!

THE RETURN: OF ITA!!

Here we are, all back from spring break!! Though perhaps not all the students were quite as enthusiastic about this fact, Paul and Elizabeth started the day anticipating smooth sailing. Before spring break, the BTWs were purported to be nearly done - all we needed to do was finish things up, and send 'em off!

To liven things up a bit, and as per AJ's suggestion, Paul and Elizabeth had an example of professional level radio drama to start the class off. This American Life, a production of Public Radio, is one of AJ's favorite shows and provided a good intro to the class. The students listened to the 400th episode, in which the producers decided to undertake the most difficult task imaginable: taking stories their parents had pitched to them and make them into entertaining radio. Now of course, their parents were thinking of stories along the lines of the Erie Canal or the personality of Enron. The challenging story the class listened to was on "Funny Funerals". Many students seemed to enjoy it a lot - Diana was giggling through some of it and there were a couple times when students burst out into all out laughter (sometimes all by themselves as not everyone has quite the same sense of humor).

After listening to stories of ministers exiting funerals into a closet door and humorous masses in other Ukrainian, AJ and Elizabeth led a discussion to get a feel for what the students thought. AJ pointed out the fact that, though this story was only about 10 minutes long, this producer probably had 3 hours or so of other audio she had to sort through to create this story. When asked how the producer had made this difficult topic interesting and funny, Jose and Diana mentioned the different music and voices she used - Elizabeth added how much she had appreciated a scene where the producer particularly recorded the elevator music and commerical recording while she was on hold at a funeral :) Overall, the students learned a little bit more about story-crafting, and how to technically construct things well to make them interesting.

This discussion took up a good chunk of education time, so Paul did a quick review on more advanced concepts like clipping, different kinds of cords and mics, buses, normalization . . . the students took it all in (hopefully) and then went on break!

The due date for the BTWs was the end of class, yet it soon became apparent that this was a bit of a shock. Taylor was in a group with Keke and had been absent the past few weeks, so she didn't know much of what was happening and Keke was absent today. So she and Elizabeth worked on the script Keke and Taylor had agreed upon at the beginning of working on the project.

Tenzin, Diana, Michelle, and Jose's group unfortunately had difficulties saving and ALL their dialogue was lost - having to start from scratch, the whole group ended up in the recording studio, working well together.

Jaylah and Malibu's group also had difficulties and lost some of their project. They ended up in the copy machine room rewriting and rerecording. (as the conference room was locked)

Alli, Ninah, and Taylor, however, saved correctly! They all worked very well together the entire BTW time, various screams and bird call sound effects erupting every once in a while from their side of the room :)

Around 2:10, after all the craziness of discovering the missing projects and scrambling to get everyone set, Paul called the class together for the second permit test attempt. After this was over, Paul directed the students towards blogging, as Elizabeth spoke with Jaylah and Malibu about getting their .wav files off of the H2 recorder and saving them.

Though Paul and Elizabeth's dreams of completed, shiny, new BTWs were not realized, the day ended on a hopeful note - Paul announced that the class would have a whole other day to work on their BTWs!! Good planning Paul. Hopefully this extra time will allow everyone to complete projects they enjoy and are proud of.

Until next (two) week!

ACID 4/10/10

The day started off with the students taking a learn@uw quiz. Chris went on to explain mastering in Audacity. Garrett was wise-crackin' as usual with his whole "lil' dude" thing with Chris. We told them that today was the first official BTW day so to get started with their song.

The artist of the day was Lady Gaga. We got to the "Bad Romance" music video during break and the whole class (including Chris) kept singing "Roma Ro-ma-ma-a... Ga Ga ooh la la..."

The students came back from break and were hard at work with their BTW projects. Although, there was frustration in the air. Richie, at a point, started to lose confidence and told Chris "Hey... this sucks." AJ and Chris helped motivate him to be creative and work on developing what he started. Marleny needed help getting a solid rhythm going so I helped set her on the right path and AJ further aided her in making the drums sound cleaner.

Overall, the session went well and the students got a lot done.

Acid Day 6

"Welcome to Acid Day 6!" ...nobody really said that at the start of class but it would have been a nice intro, especially if it was said with a super big and official voice (like Mufasa's voice from Lion King or something). :D

Well enough pointless, yet semi-comedic rambling for now, time for the good stuff.

So this session only had two things on the agenda: 1) Lesson on some Basic Engineering Principles (i.e. mixing and mastering) and 2) BTW work time.

But before getting into all of that, Chris made a quick announcement on how well the students did on their Permit Test, with almost 100% of the class passing with a score above 60! The students were also reminded then, however, that the primary focus of the Acid Unit is audio production and that the secondary focus is audio production software (i.e. Sony Acid) ..what a way to re-insure some confidence levels for those who didn't do so well on the Permit Test!

Following the quick announcement, the students were asked to blog about the function of the beatmapper as well as begin their brainstorming for ideas on the they were going to create and produce for their BTW. After the spending a couple minutes on the blogs, the students took a quick Learn@UW quiz and then Chris and Tony got right into the Acid lesson of the day: Basic Engineering pt. 1.

The lesson touched on some mixing and mastering concepts such as volume, equalization, panning, and effects. The students were introduced to things like the volume and pan sliders and envelopes, and they were also given the chance to mess around with the different frequencies of, and add different effects to a track/sound.

Following the lesson, the students where free to do as they pleased for their first 10 minute break, and then once they returned they went to work hard on their 3 challenges for the day which pushed them to really apply what they just were taught about volume, equalization, panning, and effects in the context of mixing and mastering audio.

The remainder of the session was dedicated to the completion of the 3 challenges and although many did not finish all three and they didn't get the chance to work on their BTW's, it was still overall a pretty productive session and I'm sure the students got a lot out of it. It is clear that they are really ready and anxious to begin their BTW's so next session they will definitely get to work on them.

Acid Day 5

Fifth session of Sony Acid and the day starts off right on time with everyone in attendance! Today was mostly a work day, with a quick review in the beginning and a Permit Test in the end.

The day began with Chris making the announcement that today's lab would be ending about 45 minutes early because there a performance planned that would require more time then usually allowed during community hour. Oh yeah, and that performance/poetry/workshop was great!

So after the quick announcement, Chris continued with the lesson and moved right on to a quick review of the Sony Acid interface and and tools. This review was well needed, as it covered the functions of the main tools, the difference between Draw tool and the Paint tool, and some very helpful vocab that Acid uses quite frequently such as "event clips" and "snapping."

Directly following the review, the students were given their time to finish up the beats they've been working on from last session for their mini BTW project. Some of them were very far with their 24-measure beat, while others were still in the beginning phase of the process and still trying to find the right sounds. For the next 45 minutes or so the students spent working on their mini BTW's and Chris and Tony where constantly moving from student to student helping them along with their beats, answering questions, and troubleshooting any problems they may have been experiencing; everyone was quite busy, which is always a good sign! (unless of course everyone is all tired and stuff :]).

By the time their work time was just about up, a lot of the students had made outstanding progress with their mini BTW's and many were already finished! Following their work time the students were allowed a quick break and then upon their return they began their final portion of lab: their first attempt at the Sony Acid Permit Test--and I've got a feeling that they all did quite well on it.

EPIC DAY 6 - BTW CONQUEST!

What a title, huh? As today was mostly working on the BTW projects due at the end of next session, Elizabeth attempted to liven things up at the beginning with a pirated youtube LOTR video. Theoden and Aragorn charging against all orc odds at Helm's Deep ought to motivate anyone, right?

After this brief intro, accompanied with the suggestion on the part of Alli that we have a movie day (wouldn't that be a fun way to end the last session?!), Elizabeth launched the class into the learn@UW quiz. After clarifying a few details, such as the fact that the BTW is due at the end of NEXT session, the class was ready to begin worktime.

Many people were missing today, but groups made do with the resources they had. Krystal and Malibu quickly got together and decided on a course of action, running to the other tower to use the conference room to record. The rest of the class, in the meantime, continued working on their scripts. AJ eventually came in to introduce the feedback quiz on learn@UW, and to ask each student to take it. Soon after, Alli and Nina were ready to record as well - Paul esocrted them to the recording studio.

Before this, however, the class discussed, prompted by Elizabeth's question, what everyone was doing over spring break. Alli and Nina have track practice thwice a day the entire week!! Wow, you go girls! That's pretty intense. No one else seemed to really have any special plans.

Random sound effects, from screams to bells ringing filled the air over the calm solo piano that Elizabeth put on as background. Eventually, Michelle, Anny, Tenzin, Jose, and Diana were able to start working in earnest - for the first half Tenzin was writing their script so there wasn't as much to do. Jose and Diana, the two main actors, left for the recording studio after Alli and Nina had finished their time.

Elizabeth shared facts about romantic composers during the break (did you know that Felix Mendelssohn's sister was a virtuosic performer and composed Queen Victoria's favorite Mendelssohn piece?) and Michelle and Anny debated whether or not they could jump down to the outdoor courtyard without breaking something . . .

Switching up from Chopin Nocturnes to extravagant romantic orchestral settings, the end of class began in earnest. Perhaps music really does influence our actions - the students seemed particularly attentive during this last set of worktime. Wrapping things up with blogs at 2:45. Another fine day of ITA. BTW conquest to be completed next time!

Learning About Mother

Zon escorted her students upstairs where their laptops were already set up and ready to go. However, since there were a shortage of computers in Elizabeth's classroom, the computers were given up.

The students sat still in their seats with a pen in hand scribbling furiously at their packet of notes for hardware. Everyone had questions about every part on the mother board.

Finally after about 50 minutes of lecturing, the students were given a quick 5 minute break. Afterwards, the class gathered around the small table and looked inside Yangchen's computer tower. Zon had the students point out each part and describe what its function was.

She also showed the students how to take out a RAM of stick and how to put it back. The students' faces lit up with amazement at how easy it was, and how much people are paying for other people to do such a simple task. Aliyah got a chance to try it out and she seemed proud of herself for figuring it out.

After awhile, the students began to complain about how tired and head-aching they were. So, Zon took them on a field trip to the ITA office. When they arrived there, AJ answered some of the questions they had about hard drives. The confusion on the students' faces cleared up.

The class was suppose to take their PowerPoint permit test and a learn@UW quiz, but the laptops were upstairs. Zon had forgotten that they needed the laptops.

When the class came back into the room, they began to write in their journals about what they learned about and what more do they want to know about. Also, they had to choose on focusing on either getting certified in PowerPoint or hardware. After everyone finished their journals, they walked downstairs for community hour.

Digital Audio Session 5

And it's off to the races . . . as students meandered in around 12:10-15, Paul started off another day of Storytelling with Digital Audio! And what better way to begin than with a learn@UW quiz?

After the quiz, Paul gave a brief overview of how to render files as a reminder - then, he set the students to work on their Behind the Wheels. After a bit of trouble getting freesound.org up (Jaylah and Taylor thought that it was freesoundS) the students began diligently working on their scripts, the end result and goal of the day. After their scripts were completed, students were free to start searching for sounds and recording. Soon the room echoed with intriguing noises students were checking out, while Paul and Elizabeth looked on fondly and discussed old Christmas TV specials. Students were so enraptured with their work, that they didn't even take their first break.

As she was going around checking on students to see how they were, Elizabeth discovered Carrie was in a lot of pain with a toothache - apparently, she'll have to have some dental work done tomorrow. It was difficult for Carrie to concentrate, so Elizabeth set her up on some comfortable chairs in the smaller partitioned part of the room. Feel better soon Carrie! AJ came in later and told her to head on home.

Promptly at 1:20, Paul introduced the permit test, explaining that today was the first attempt.
The room fell silent as students stared intently at their computer screens, weighing their options. Towards the end, Malibu asked when we were doing blogs. Good call Malibu! Though originally planned to be at the very end of the session, it seemed to make the most sense to use the current post-PT silence for blog writing time. Paul and Elizabeth switched the schedule around slightly so students could complete their blogs immediately. This way, the instructors already had a captive audience and didn't have to gather the class's attention from something else!

The students were very on top of things today! As they commenced blog writing, Diana asked if there needed to be a picture this? Excellent work Diana! Artifacts are always required for ITA blogs, though today Paul and Elizabeth forgot to mention this!

Class ended early at around 2:00 in order to allow plenty of time for the students to make it to community hour in the basement, escorted by Paul as per the new rules of ITA

When Paul returned, as this blog is unnaturally short considering the shorter day, he wrestled the computer away from Elizabeth . . . . ahhh!!! Paul - no!!!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And then some other stuff happened. A long, sinewy creature descended from the sky in a cloud of mist, sunlight flashing on its golden scales. It was Tianlong, the great and powerful celestial dragon of China. With a voice like a hundred thousand cheering soldiers, Tianlong whispered to us the secret of Creation, granting us a all a brief glimpse of the eternal wonder of the universe before breathing salient vapors on us and making us forget what he had said. Though we no longer remember the secret which he told us, the moment of awareness left an indelible mark on the heart of each and every one of us, manifesting as a subconscious joy that accompanies each passing moment.

But, maybe I just imagined that. Still, it would have been cool, right?

And the beat goes on... without Zon

For the 4th session of the extra awesome fun lab, the students had to put into practice their promise to work independently to learn and understand technology at their own pace.

A.J. filled in, with Ryan and Chris' help. Here's how it went down, by student:

Gavin decided to audit the ACID class with Chris and Cristina, with the explicit instructions that he is not to ask for help, but rather figure things out himself, and pay very close attention. We've never seen such a focused and driven Gavin. It was wonderful to see that he not only stayed with it, but did a great job with one of the only preserved beats in the class.

Jamarra got a little antsy sitting in the back of the Senior classroom. Definitely the Seniors hard at work rubbed off a little on her and her friends though, because they were all pretty focused as well. Jamarra delved into Lynda.com to watch and learn how that site works. She also went around and helped her classmates to sign up for Lynda.com accounts through the STS site.

Maddie was another star for the day. She finished her powerpoint, started working on an adventure shopping spree with GoogleSpreadsheets, and also helped her classmates out. In the end, she sent A.J. her powerpoint and her blog entry which was a detailed account of her accomplishments of the day.

Jenny was hard at work as well. She mostly worked on getting pictures of all her friends and finishing her powerpoint. We are unsure if she wrote a blog entry.

Finally, Aliyah was also hard at work. She had a fabulous powerpoint emailed to A.J. by the end of the day. She put a lot of effort into it and obviously was able to successfully try new and exciting ways to layout a powerpoint slideshow.

Overall, good day. Next time we have to present those powerpoints and possibly take a Permit test on the subject!

Digital Audio Day 4

Today was a big day for the Storytelling group. First, Tony filled in for Elizabeth, doing a great job of leading the students through a quick review of several key concepts. He showed them how to use Distortion and Flange in their projects, and how to remember to use the Track FX tool. Since this was a review, a lot of the students already knew how to use a lot of these tools already, and Jose and Jaylah were able to answer a lot of his questions without help.

Next, they went straight to work, finishing their "Stories Without Dialogue" exercise. They all did a great job staying on task and helping each other as needed. By the time they were finished, there were some really good projects, including Diana's, which was a humorous take on the Chariots of Fire theme, and Jose's, which was about a man running from a zombie attack. Good job, everyone!

Here's some nice screenshots of what they did:

Jose:


Diana:


After they finished that project, we let them get into their groups and work on their BTWs. I gave them a sheet with a bunch of helpful hints for writing script outlines, character sketches, mapping out settings and music/FX lists. The groups did some great work, delegating responsibility in preparation for getting their rough drafts for their scripts finished. They're due March 3rd, so good luck everybody!

ACID Day IV

It seems like "Technical Difficulties" is the theme for Chris and Cristina today. All pumped up, Chris was excited to show the students his Double Dutch Bus video (by Frankie Smith) BUT... the speakers weren't working.

AJ to the rescue!

The speakers started working and the dance floor was set!

AJ and Chris were dancing all over the aisle of students. Unfortunately, (except for Brandon) the students were all sitting down.

At the end of the song, Chris asked the class, "Did it click?" and received no response. What he was getting to was the song Double Dutch Bus was sampled by Missy Elliot's Gossip Folks.

Next, the students went to search for their own sampled songs and the class discussed where the original sampled part came from and how it was manipulated.

Once the sharing ended, the learn @ UW quizzes were up and being completed.

Next, Chris showed examples of how to being making a song to the class and then played some of his first works. AJ also played his first beats/songs.

During the exploration unit, the students were let loose to create their own song. Although they only needed 24 measures, the students felt like they needed more time. They only had 38 minutes and counting.

At some point in time, the room became deadly silent. The students were vigorously working on their "Mini BTWs."

Then Chris decides to make an announcement, asking if all of the students found where the beats are. He called out, "Tenzin!" Which is common, but... there were no Tenzin present in the class. Doundup once again corrected him, but this time, his classmates corrected Chris.

After this moment of noise, the class went back to their silence. Back to working on their songs.

When it was time to share their projects, some of the students were eager to showcase their works while others hid in their shells and closed out of ACID (just in case they were forced to share their works).

ACID Day 2

Today started off with a Song Analysis exercise. AJ joined Chris and I to extend his knowledge of drumming with us. Richie's pick "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye challenged everyone to pick out all the different percussion in the song. David's pick "Forever" by Drake featuring Travis Barker got the discussion flowing about pace. AJ shared a Keith Moon clip before we moved on.

Chris then went through the powerpoint and introduced sampling using various examples including Drake's "Best I Ever Had" which samples a song from 1975.

Chris opened the floor up with challenges using ACID. These involved what we covered today. In all, the Beatmapper, Chopper, rhythm, and song analysis was covered today.

The session finished with the students blogging about how this ACID session was the "Best They Ever Had."

The Story of Storytelling (day 3!)

Another fine day of storytelling through digital audio! The day started off with an enjoyable break from the norm - watching a film making documentary! Elizabeth explained a little of the background of the film, Persepolis; it portrays the story of a young girl growing up under the tyrannical state of Iran before and during the revolution. The story is crafted completely in black and white old style animation, each frame of the movie painstakingly drawn.

In discussion afterwards, Carrie mentioned that she enjoyed the film, though she had come in the middle of it. Jose pointed out that each of the actors really put a lot of emotion behind everything they said, even though they wouldn't be seen in the end by their audience. Elizabeth pointed out the the scenes describing the Foley Artist and his work - a foley artist is a professional job where you create the sounds necessary for a film or cartoon. The foley artist for Persepolis would move, dance, sway, using regular household items to create sounds as ordinary as the swishing of clothing in a crowd to the rolling chains of approaching tanks. For more information, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_artist

Afterwards, Paul led a lecture on SFX, explaining various sound effects in Vegas and the basics of creating them. For more information, see the examples on the student wiki: https://ita.wisc.edu/studentwiki/doku.php?id=program_knowledgebase:digital_audio:audio_effects_run-down
Paul challenged everyone to create a "story without words", a scene that is completely told through sound effects. Two examples he played were: someone coming in out of the cold and sitting in a rocking chair; and someone sharpening a sword, then fighting someone else, and then going back to sharpening the sword. Students nodded around the room as the scene began to make sense to them, as they caught on to how Paul had crafted a small 'storyline' using only sound effects and strategy.

Afterwards, break time! Most everyone sat at their computers and checked facebook, myspace, etc.

The Exploration section of the class began with Paul splitting the class up into groups to continue working on the "recording a scene" projct from the previous week. Tenzin, Diana, Nina, and Jose all stayed in the room to create a restuarant scene - Alli and her group ended up in the recording studio, though the H4 wasn't working so they ended up having to wait for the H2 from another group. Michelle, Jaylah, Malibu, Krystal were in the conference room on the other wing recording.

After the break, not many people had finished working on their projects - Alli's group was still adding sound effects and Krystal and Malibu's group still had editing to do . . . but soon after a little more work time, the groups were able to render their projects! Taylor and Diana's group shared a scene they had created of a French restaurant scene, with Jose as the waiter! Alli did a lot of the editing for their group. Michelle's group did a scene of girls at a dance discovering one another outside the dance room and going back in. And apparently, the groups switched a little since last week and they took the same idea with them! Because Taylor and and Alli had a very similar restaurant idea! Eventually, they also finished and we listened to a funny scene about people getting angry about a piece of hair in their salad and throwing food on one another!

In the midst of waiting for everything to be rendered, everyone worked on their blogs/did the learn@UW quiz. Paul went through the questions, getting answers from the students as they went - mostly from Jose, Keke, and Alli in the back!

Overall, it was a fun day - learning about editing and sound effects. Till next week!

Storytelling: LIVE PERFORMANCES!!

That's right . . . today was LIVE PERFORMANCES!! Unfortunately, even as Paul and Elizabeth tried to get everyone excited about this opportunity to exercise acting skills, things were off to a bit of a slow start! Not many people were there right at 12:15, but Elizabeth got them started on the learn@UW quiz while Paul went downstairs to find everyone. Eventually, we were all here and ready to start!

The learn@UW quiz had questions at the end having to do with one of the lesson plans - "Narrating without a Narrator". Elizabeth had the class listen to an episode from "Adventures in Odyssey", a radio drama for kids. Students had to listen to the scene and tell what was going on based on sound effects, dialogue, and other clues in the scene, since there wasn't a person narrating the entire scene. Afterwards, Elizabeth transitioned into some other examples, including a battle scene from the Chronicles of Narnia and another Adventures in Odyssey example story in which the kids get a rather eccentric substitute teacher.

After this, Paul and AJ took over with the live performances! The class was given 10 minutes before break to brainstorm and talk about what they were going to do . . . and then, when the Exploration section began, so did the live performances! Paul took each group to the conference room in the other tower to record, while Elizabeth and AJ hooked up the computers to skype the recording computer and record the performance on audacity. Everything ran smoothly - the groups got set up and then performed. The first group did a fun scene about a robbery in a walmart with really amazingly convincing emotions (including screams!), Jose's group did a creative story in which the characters, fruit and vegetables in a bowl, debated the values of vegetables vs fruit, and Michelle's group did a funny story about being in a movie theatre and talking too much - great sound effects girls! Overall, Paul and Elizabeth were VERY impressed and really enjoyed seeing the students creativity. But the day wasn't over yet! The students soon pressure Elizabeth and Paul to go do their own live performance! They grudgingly complied - Paul ended up coming up with a great story about a guy getting hit by a car as a woman is walking past. He wouldn't accept medical attention even though two of his limbs had fallen off :P Go Paul! Everyone seemed to enjoy it (Jaylah declared she would buy it if it were on itunes) but unfortunately it was the one performance that didn't record!

A taste of what the audactiy recordings looked like :)

After the live performances, Elizabeth and Paul led a discussion on them - what went well, what didn't. Elizabeth made the connection that in the future, when everyone has more time, the projects will be even better because the students will be able to go over lines again and again and have separate tracks in Vegas for editing. From there, she showed the students a BTW she had done a few weeks ago with a friend. She explained to the class how she had a separate track for each individual sound effect (fire crackling in the back, a door slamming, etc) and that she had each of these tracks named. Michelle knew right away that the 'crunching' noise at the beginning was supposed to be snow and imagined that the whooshing noise was wind in the woods by a cabin. That was exactly what Elizabeth was going for, though other students thought it was crunching leaves. Overall, the class talked about using creativity - about the fact that it isn't necessary to have snow in order to have a snow-like sound!

Afterwards, Paul discussed Theme, Story Arc, and Concept with the students. He used the example of Spiderman to point out where the exposition (beginning and setting) and climax (for Spiderman for instance, the climactic scene is when Mary Jane is held captive by the Green Goblin and Spidey comes to save her and fight him). He also talked about the Concept in stories like the Pirates of the Carribean - the concept being "the golden age of pirates". He explained how, if one has such a theme, it would be anachronistic to have, say, a cell phone appear in the movie. All these amazing storytelling techniques will give the class a good vocabulary to discuss their stories.

During the certification section, the students were released to play around with the H2 and H4 and record a short scene. Paul and Elizabeth had a few scripts they could use (one from the Princess Bride and the other that Paul had written) though most groups decided to use their own ideas. Elizabeth took one group off into a conference room where they practiced their scene (in a Mexican restaurant with two people who only speak English and can't understand the menu and another person who only speaks French!) and Paul took another group to the recording studio with an H2.

Soon after, the whole class gathered back in 3139 to blog about the day - Paul and Elizabeth emphasized getting everyone invited to the blogs! And it seemed to work! Hurray! Another successful day of ITA!!