Expedition Preparation - Technical Gear

The last posting I will enter before heading out tomorrow is the preparation which took place for the technical gear I would be taking on this expedition. I would like to thank Jim Hansen who has acted as my technical lead and Ann Finne who helped get the TouchSmart systems for the schools. Putting all this together has taken quite a bit of time and effort and I appreciate everyone's assistance.

Here is the list of products for the expedition:

1. Hewlett Packard's TouchSmart all in one computer system. This is what the students at Rocky Mountain, Heritage Middle and Paramount Elementary schools are using to monitor the expedition. Provides a fabulous interactive touch screen experience for the students. When we did a demo for some of the school leaders, they loved it.





2. An HP media smart server. I wanted to be able to download my video and camera shots remotely, from anywhere. If anything catastrophic took place with my cameras, my photo and video files would be safely stored at home.




3. My HP tablet. We will be wearing gloves most of the time we are in Antarctica, so I wanted to be able to see how convenient it is to a tablet in the cold temperatures.



4. HP mobile digital picture frame. I'm able to carry hundreds of my favorite photos with me at all times. Non-obtrusive and easy to carry (members of the expedition have loved it).






5. A surprise HP product that I will mention at another time






6. Something that was a surprise addition at the last moment. Jason McAnear on my team told me about "The Flip." A small video camera that was easy to upload and edit on the computer.


7. My Nikon D90 SLR camera

I asked a couple members of my team to do a quick demo to post on this blog, but I'm still experiencing video upload issues.

Student Assembly

Yesterday, March 10th there was a send off at Paramount Elementary School. This is one of the schools Hewlett Packard (HP) provided a TouchSmart™ computer system. It has been set up in the library for students to monitor the expedition. These computers are incredible and very interactive for students. It is an all in one computer that allows the student to touch the screen and pull up pictures, move through pages or surf the web.

Principle Brigham introduced Dr. Linda Clark, superintend of the Meridian School District. Dr. Clark spoke about dreams and working to accomplish dreams and then mentioned that one of mine was going to Antarctica. I asked the students if they had knew where Antarctica was on the globe and if they knew what gravity was.

“If gravity really works, then I will come back and visit you when I return. If not, then I’m going to drop right off into space.” The students got a good laugh out of that one.

I think the students had a good time because the presentation was more interactive and involved them all the grades attending. The key was keeping them interested. I find that is a true learning concept for all age groups.

It has been fantastic to have the support from strong educational leaders like Dr. Clark and those from Rocky Mountain High, Heritage Middle and Paramount Elementary schools.