iWizards reach outside of Mercy to share tech knowledge

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The iWizards will share their mission with a program to introduce seventh and eighth grade girls to useful design apps. The program, called iCreate, will be a half-day event on Saturday, Jan. 14, and is designed to teach attendees to use the apps ArtRage, Animation HD, iMovie, and Photogene.

The event is divided into different sessions, led by the iWizards. In one session, attendees will design an image on ArtRage and then animate it. In a second session, they will learn the basics of photo composition and take photographs before placing their work in iMovie and creating a slideshow. Using AirDrop and projectors, the projects can be presented at the end of the event.

Mercy Associate Principal Mr. Larry Baker said he is looking forward to the iCreate event.

“In two hours’ time, [attendees] get to do a fairly deep dive into four really good apps, and it’s all creative-oriented,” he said.

iCreate was inspired by the iWizard’s annual presentation at Freshwoman Orientation and is now in its third year. Mr. Baker hopes that the iCreate program can be adapted for Mercy’s annual Tech Talk Conference in February, where K-12 educators learn new ways to bring technology into the classroom.

Another part of the iWizards’ efforts to extend their reach outside of Mercy is the Hub, a website created this year by Mr. Baker and maintained by club members to connect other iWizard teams across the country and even internationally. The Hub has already opened interactions with teams from eight states as well as Israel and Hong Kong.

The iWizards plan on collaborating with the other teams to share experience and advice.

“Some of [the teams] have been very successful at doing things other than what we do, like running help desks at their school, or building websites with lots of resources,” said Mr. Baker. He hopes Mercy’s team might be able to learn from their examples and expand the iWizard program at Mercy.