PC Autopsy the Movie

The three Autopsy Teams (Proton, Neutron, Electrons) disassembled their computers, calatoged the parts, and the re-assembled the computers, hoping that the machines would survive the process and reboot:



Music by Fatboy Slim.

Computer Autopsy Day 1

So the kids in class have started to take apart their "cadaver PCs". It was a good day -- very noisy and active, but lots of good questions. They are documenting the dis-assembly with digital cameras and in their blogs; they are also identifying each part in a PC Parts Catalog database. All their data is being uploaded to a class space in Moodle.

I've really enjoyed using Moodle. It's as linear and structured as any courseware I've used, which can make it difficult to set-up and teach to the kids. But there are enough options that you can make the kinds of spaces and tools that you need; and it's free. The Forums and blogs do not seem to handle EMBED tags quite right, which is really frustrating a couple of the kids who want to play with Flash and QuickTime. I guess if you're a 12-year old kid who wants to learn how to embed media objects in HTML, you really don't have a big problem -- if you know what I mean.

Anway I'll see if I can Google-up a solution to that problem.

[ click images for larger view ]

Bob the Egg - Lives!

Today, after the Convocation at Bentley's Lafayette Campus, the Middle School did a little engineering exercise of sorts. Each Advisory got an egg. The egg was to be dropped and we needed to protect it with a given "kit of parts". I made a little movie of the event:



[ click to view the slide show ]

The Lab in Action

Here is an "action shot" from the new Computer Lab on August 31st: