technology
in the beginning...
We started camp in 2005 with 21 brand new Dell laptops with Microsoft Office, 15 digital cameras, which we assigned to units, and 4 Dell laser printers.
Every camper took lots of pictures and in the lab used them to make Powerpoint presentation and used Microsoft Digital Image to apply special effects.
We taught campers about geocaching and used Google Earth and Microsoft Streets and Trips
We had a Dell server we used to back up the photos (this was pre Google Drive
in 2007 we added lab rats
They started as aides to the lab director. The year we didn’t have a full time lab director, they took over the lab. No one asked them to, no one stopped them. It’s been like that ever since. Although we do also have adults in the lab, including former lab rats.
we were able to refresh the lab
Sony gifted us with a new mobile lab. Sadly now the lab is mostly refurbished laptops.
we introduced Spheros in 2013
we fell in love with these waterproof, bluetooth connected, app controlled, programmable robots.
we added a mobile lab
In 2009 AT&T gifted us with our first set of Androids – we no longer needed to equip our units with cameras, and we didn’t need to use separate GPS devices.
We use them to drive Spheros.
We are on the second generation of Androids, and have added some tablets.
We added coding in 2015
Campers started programming the mobile phones with MIT App Inventor, and later Thunkable in the Cave of Code with dedicated aides we called Codebats.
We started using code.org and scratch.mit.edu and added chromebooks as we started more and more to rely on Google Drive for photo back up, and cloud based programming
In 2016 we added engineering concepts - driven by the internet of things
We added Tinkertown — we have a great collection of Snap Circuits – Snap was our inaugural Tinkercat
We have a Center for Applied Technology (CAT) which has a 3D printer and some examples of the Internet of Things. We have some Arduinos and DragonBoard 410s
Zip and Click modeled Ohm’s Law at our Friday Technology Showcase. Girls can earn the Ohm’s Law patch by sharing the meaning of Ohm’s Law.
On the crafts buffer we introduced copper tape light up name tags – watch Excel demonstrate
we added a social media team and the technology goddesses studio
They provide our social media presence for Instagram, YouTube and Twitter
the lab continues to evolve
We contributed the funds to redo the power, audio visual capabilities and carpet of the lab.
We moved away from classroom style instruction and moved to Harkness style table groups – campers can opt into the technology they choose
In 2020, we held a virtual camp for the first time – luckily our theme that year was programming.
We added Deaf Education & Awareness, thanks to Netflix.
In 2021, we were back as a socially distanced camp. Our concentration was Engineering; the type varied by day, most days there was more than one type. Activities and examples were within electrical, mechanical, chemical and software engineering.
We continued with Deaf Education & Awareness and started an Artificial Intelligence cohort.
In 2022, our theme was an escape room type challenge – Escape to Camp.
We had a small number of Google Pixel 6 Pro’s and showed technology accommodations for the deaf and hard of hearing. We used them to show augmented reality examples. Snow and Ceal programmed a number of NFC tags and hid them around camp.
It was a programming year, and we defined patches for Deaf Education and Awareness and Artificial Intelligence
the technology aides are now collectively called the '@'s
thursday night is @night - they prepare for friday's technology showcase and explore other technology projects
