So Far, So Good!

While some aspects of our new Digital Media Design program are still gelling, we hit the ground running during the past two weeks. My brilliant students dove right into a research project about future technologies, to provide them with a bit of a backdrop against which all our projects will be framed. They used free, web-based Prezi to create dynamic and engaging presentations which addressed the current and predicted states of robotics, 3D printing, transportation, communication and more. These were then published to our Edmodo virtual classroom.

We also started experimenting with the Makerbot, printing objects from its SD card, which ships pre-loaded with four 3D objects. One of my students also downloaded a bracelet from Thingiverse which we printed. We were all surprised to see how flexible the PLA filament can be, as the bracelet allowed for twisting and some re-sizing. Still much to learn about this amazing piece of technology.

Students observing the Makerbot at work for the first time. 

Abby wears a fashionable Makerbot bracelet, courtesy of Thingiverse. 

Rock Star Joe coming his hair with a 3D printed comb (one of the designs included on the Makerbot's SD card)

DMD students also started a unit on Digital Storytelling this week, using Microsoft's Photo Story 3 (free download!). MS PS3 is a great little tool if you're unfamiliar. Students can craft stories using images, text, video, music and spoken narration. I used some guidelines provided by the University of Houston's amazing site for digital storytelling and allowed students to choose their topics. Since we now have block scheduling at our school, a few 80 minute periods will allow plenty of time for them to produce and present some incredible stories (3-5 minutes each). I will post the greatest hits here shortly...

"Thank you for shopping with Amazon. My name is Anthony. How may I help you?" Anthony hard at work producing his digital story. We use mic/headset combos via 1/8" mini-plug ports on our PCs. When everyone's working, it looks like a customer service call center in Room A141. 

Daryl searches for the right element that will make his digital story perfect. 

Lastly, speaking of 3D Printing, check this out: