Campfire Apps

Last week the APPlied Club at Patapsco worked on making and filming their own video trailer for the PHS Connect app. The video focuses on the features within the app and provided wonderful humor. Our video features each of the students in the APPlied Club (at least those who were present at last week’s meeting) and was inspired by the Billy Mays type commercials. We all had a great time filming the video and we owe a big Thank You to Connor Mathena for editing the video and putting it all together in the format you see below. We hope you enjoy our first video trailer for PHS Connect!

While surfing the web, I came across this video and I thought I would share it with all of you. It shares information about  what “Global Kids, Inc.” is doing to teach students about world affairs. Global Kids is a non-profit organization for global learning and youth development. Groups of high school aged students are offered during school and after school programs to help teach them about things that are happening in the world that they don’t know much about. When asked if they wanted to learn more about global affairs, they were very excited because they never get to know about the different cultures of people that they go to school with. And they’ve never gotten the opportunity to learn this in school. They are using an online virtual world called “Second Life” to explore the world through the virtual side of things. They’re getting the chance to interact and learn more about people all over the world while sitting in their classrooms at school. To learn more about this project and what Global Kids is doing you can watch the video below.

Need a little fun to help fight that winter chill? Try our latest game for preschoolers and young children. Henry’s Winter Headlamp is available for download on the iTunes App Store for iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Henry’s Winter Headlamp is the third app released in the Henry series. This new version is complete with a festive winter theme including snowmen, penguins, hats, gloves, scarves, and even an igloo. You can see the Winter Henry in action in this video:

Don’t have an Apple device? No problem! Henry’s Winter Headlamp is now available for Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook! The app is available for $0.99 on both devices. You can download the app for the Barnes & Noble Nook here. And you can download it for the Kindle Fire here. You can learn everything you need to know about Henry’s Winter Headlamp by visiting the Henry’s Winter Headlamp page on the Campfire Apps website.

As a parent you may feel overwhelmed by all of the technology and digital media that your child seems to be mastering these days. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, World of Warcraft, Tumblr., texting, email…how in the world are you supposed to keep it all straight? Let alone keep your kids from going overboard with the technology that they consume and participate in on a daily basis. How should you balance technology and digital media and devices with the “be here now” mentality and making sure that your children are present in day to day life events?

Common Sense Media has put together this little video with five pointers for helping parents “understand and manage the lives of their digital kids.”

The 5 Common Sense Tips

1. Be calm
2. Embrace their digital world
3. Find balance
4. Provide alternatives
5. Be the parent!

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Which of these 5 tips do you feel is most important? Which do you think your children would find most valuable to them?

I didn’t intend to share anything today, but when I saw this post on Gizmodo, I couldn’t help but share this with you all. Ever since the first Toy Story movie came out, I couldn’t help but watch those movies completely suspended from reality, except not quite…I more felt submerged in a possible reality. The amazing artwork and technique from Pixar made my childhood toys actually come to life. I always felt that if my Mr. Potato Head or Slinky Dog toy had really come to life, this is exactly what they would look like, sound like, and act like. The Toy Story movies are so dear to me personally and this is an amazing and dedicated tribute to the impact these movies have had on multiple generations of people.