>>I'm Justin.
I'm sixteen years old and I use technology because it allows me
to express myself like, to the fullest extent.
Maybe six or seven I got my Game Boy, where I had the original Pokemon
and yeah, that was the beginning for me.
>>Clyneice: He was introduced to technology fairly early.
Because I was consulting in technology, I had my own computer,
so the home computer became his computer.
So he was a second and third grader with his own computer
and I think that helped a lot.
>>Justin: If it's an A day, I have two tech classes.
So I'll do programming and my interactive media class,
three D modeling animation.
>>Christopher: This class is about using Maya to create the assets
for video game simulations and informative pieces.
>>Computer voice: You're on my side of the arm rest.
We're not gonna have problems, are we?
>>Christopher: He's actually one of my best students.
He has a very deep understanding of how things physically interact,
but not only that, characters, dialog, story creation.
He does very well.
>>Justin: One of the interesting things about animation is
that it's not just animation.
You need to know a lot of different things, like biology,
to see how things move so you can make them move correctly.
So he's trying to sneak.
I still have the little kinks in it, but...
So, you know, timing is essential.
This is what actually controls pretty much all the animation.
So I have my timeline and, you know, all this right here,
all these little circles and the arrows and these, they're controls
that you use to animate him.
>>Gideon: First things first, I want you to take out a piece of paper.
I want you to answer this question.
>>What do you see as the greatest divide between East and West?
>>Justin: I love history, 'cause it's almost just like a storybook.
>>There are important people and heroes and bad guys and,
you know, all that good stuff.
>>Gideon: Okay, I want you to go to www.NationMaster.com
>>Justin: Nation Master.
>>Gideon: The great thing is that the students have an acumen
for technology, if it's tapped into.
Luckily, our students here have the opportunity and some of the resources
at their fingertips in this school to really work with the technology.
>>And what I want you to do is click on the tab that says statistics.
I think it's the second--
>>David: Bill Gates once said, "It's difficult to prepare kids
for the next five years jobs, because they haven't been invented yet."
>>And so what we said in our vision was,
we want to become the highest performing school in the nation,
through the use of STEM technology education, science, technology,
engineering and math, innovative master teaching,
and then obviously a curriculum that changes to prepare kids
for the competitive global market.
>>Gideon: I think if we don't tap into the technology resources
and skills that the students have, we're missing the boat as teachers.
So I try to foster it as much as possible.
Giving them opportunities to do projects
that use their technology skills, such as putting together videos
and then uploading them to YouTube.
>>This place is where we come to make a difference.
>>Gideon: I like trying new things.
It stretches me as a teacher and it really does provide the students
with a different kind of experience.
>>Ready?
>>Justin: You know, we just kinda pick a place, we just spar.
>>Sometimes you need to let out a little anger or frustration.
>>Much bigger than me.
>>It's fun, 'cause I just love proving
that I'm better than these two.
>>Justin: Hello, family.
What are you making?
>>Cookies.
>>Justin: So, this game.
This is a great way to just kind of blow off steam,
but it's not something you would really obsess over.
Not like World of Warcraft.
>>I played it because I've just heard so many good things about it,
and everyone's like, "Oh my god, this game is wonderful."
>>And I was thinking, "You know, maybe I'll just try it out."
>>You know, I've kind of--
>>I'm kind of into the whole MMO thing.
>>But the reason definitely why I quit is 'cause I got nothing done.
I didn't write scripts.
>>I didn't read.
I didn't do anything.
I'd just get home have to do my homework, just jump on this
and just play it till I had to go to sleep.
>>Clyneice: Pretty much, I just talked to him
about how important it was to not spend six hours and eight hours
and I think I talked to him about that kid somewhere in Asia
that played forty eight hours straight and then died.
>>It's tough.
>>Clyneice: So we talked about, "You don't wanna go too over focused.
You don't wanna be too extreme."
And he'd go, "Mom, you know, I really have this balance.
I got everything covered."
So and I do feel that he has that.
>>Justin: This is Spore, and in this game,
you model your own little alien creature and you kinda live
through the stage of civilization.
>>So this is my creature right here.
I can manipulate him as much as I want.
I can grab hold of his spine, move his arms
and do all sorts of things with him.
It really is a good way to kinda teach the very basics of modeling.
>>Clareice: You try to get a balance between, how much are you, you know,
micromanaging their lives?
>>Especially since they don't want you there.
You know, when they start hitting seventeen, eighteen.
>>Justin: This is Michael.
>>To the dungeon.
>>Michael: Ah, bang.
>>Clareice: I think as a parent, you still have to make sure,
because the digital opens the world.
It is just so all encompassing
that if you stand back too far, you-- they'll get lost.
>>Justin: Well, that's crap.
>>My Xbox is definitely the most important part.
It's where I play the games that I film for my machinima purposes.
>>The secret is turning pure game play into something that looks kind
of like a movie and, you know, you'll have shots.
>>You'll have music, you'll have, you know, dialog, actual dialog.
I've written scripts for these sort of things.
>>What I have right here, it's a camera, kind of a camera,
and through this I can view everything that we just recorded.
And I can pause the action and I can rewind it and whatever.
I edit it, you know, mix it all together,
add special effects, add the sound effects.
>>You know, anything I need to amplify the cinematic experience.
I can upload it and people will look at my stuff and you know,
there are actually some decent film critics and I think of myself
as one too, so I can look at my work and be like, "You know,
that cut right there, that wasn't a really good one.
Maybe if I'd gotten it from an angle."
But I feel that I do improve over time
>>Clyneice: I do feel that, especially for Justin,
technology is a good thing.
I think it helps him to find something he can be passionate about,
something that potentially see him in a career in.
And so I do feel that as long as you've got some oversight
and you're not allowing them to be totally kids and get
into dangerous areas, that it's one of the most wonderful things
for them, because this is the direction that the world is going in.
>>Michael: This is RPG Maker XP.
It's a program that lets you build your own RPG.
>>Justin: An RPG is a role playing game.
so it kind of gives you like the standard kind of setup.
And you can add in your own sprites or sound effects.
He customized this and made it really unique.
>>Michael: Yeah, so you just pour all your dreams out right here.
It's mainly for us.
>>Justin: For us, yeah.
There isn't really a crowd of people out there waiting
for us to-- give us our masterpiece.
>>Michael: I mean, this is a little community.
>>Justin: I mean, it's enjoyable to just do this
and then kinda play through.
It's like, you know, "I made this"
>>Justin: It's just a good feeling.
>>For more information on what works
in public education go to edutopia.org