By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
BI celebrates Teen Tech Week
0330 Tech week 1
Students in Robin Hammocks business class worked with media specialist Miriam Hudson to learn PhotoStory. - photo by Photo provided.

The Young Adult Library Services Association since 2007 has sponsored national Teen Tech Week. The primary goal of the week is to demonstrate to teens that the library or media center is an important piece of the technology puzzle.
During the week of March 6-8, high schools in Liberty County scheduled special events and contests to utilize technology with students. The events helped teens and teachers to hone their technology skills while having fun.
Several classes scheduled time in the media center to learn how to transform digital images into interactive learning tools using Microsoft Excel with the help of Nikki Lukkarinen, a media specialist at Bradwell Institute. Teachers and students were taught how to add roll-over labels to maps and diagrams in a technology workshop.
Miriam Hudson, a media specialist at Bradwell Institute, taught several groups of teens and teachers how to use Microsoft’s Photostory, which is a free picture-editing presentation software that enables users to import digital pictures and add panning effects, text, transitions, music and narration. The students and teachers said they enjoyed seeing their photographs come to life during the workshop.
Teen Tech Week at Bradwell Institute culminated with a unique use of technology. Lukkarinen worked with the physical education classes to infuse gaming technology — Wii’s “Just Dance 2.” Teens and teachers got the chance to exercise their gaming skills and their bodies at the same time.
At Liberty County High School and Bradwell Institute, students played a bingo game in which they picked up cards from the media center that listed several activities that had to be completed using a computer or other forms of technology. Each activity completed had to be verified with either a teacher or a media specialist’s signature. The winner at Liberty High was Aaron Place, who received a Panther flash drive.
Both Liberty and Bradwell offered the challenge of a Technology Trivia quiz as well. Students were given a list of about 20 questions to answer about the history of technology, acronyms, people related to the field, etc. They were allowed to use any means necessary to find the answers — other than asking an adult. Liberty’s winner was Daneisha Norman, who received a Panther flash drive.

Sign up for our e-newsletters