Learning Labs, Inc.

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PRO Landscape Workshops May 2009

PRO Landscape

PRO Landscape Customers,

We are pleased to announce we will be offering two training classes this summer.

The two-day Fundamentals Class covers the basics of Image Editor, Planner and Proposal. We also offer a one-day Advance Planner Class for more experienced users. Both training classes are classroom style training sessions with a combination of both lecture and lab with an emphasis on hands-on experience.

Fundamentals Class: July 22-23, 2009 / Kansas City, MO
The two-day Fundamentals Class is priced at $695 per person. You can find additional details or register at:
Click here for additional details.

Advanced Planner Class: July 24, 2009 / Kansas City, MO
Topics covered include snap tools, trim tools, layers, triangulation and much more. This class is for advanced users only, and is priced at $495 per person.
Click here for additional details.

If you have any other questions or need more information about the training, please call us at (816) 842-4955, or email us at prolandscape@drafix.com.

Fall Training Schedule
We will be holding additional classes in the fall of 2009. We determine the training locations based on your feedback. If you would like to recommend a location for the fall 2009 training schedule please submit your suggestion to prolandscape@drafix.com.

Thanks to our exclusive partnership with Drafix, the maker of PRO Landscape, Applied Technologies (a division of Learning Labs, Inc.) is able to bring the PRO Landscape software to your school at incredible academic pricing. Check it out!

Whitwell High School Wins 2009 Tennessee SkillsUSA Robotics and Automation Technology Competition April 2009
Whitwell High School in Whitwell, TN took home several Robotics awards at the recent Tennessee SkillsUSA State Conference. Learning Labs, Inc. proudly sponsored the event.

Whitwell's robotics team, lead by teacher Jeff Long, won 1st place in the VEX Robotics competition. They also won the Judge's Excellence award for overall design and performance as well as the Programming Skills award for their autonomous program. Lawrence County High School's robotics team took home 2nd place in the VEX Robotics competition.

Because Whitwell won the event, they were automatically invited to the 2009 VEX World Championship to be held in Dallas, TX April 30-May 2. According to Long, the team has accepted the invitation.

Other winners included Cleveland High School for the Judge's Award for Innovative Design, and Morristown-Hamblen High School East for the Robot Skills award.

If you are interested in learning more about VEX, please consider coming to the 2009 Applied Technologies Summer Workshop, "Integrating Robotics and STEM into your Classroom," July 8-10 in Calhoun, GA.

Learning Labs personnel also assisted with the Automotive Service Technology event.

See pictures from the Robotics and Automation Technology Competition.

GA TSA Chapter Among 20 Finalists for National Award April 2009
The Coosa High School TSA (GA) chapter is one of 20 finalists in the 2009 ACT OUT LOUD: Raising Voices for Safe Teen Driving contest sponsored by The National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), a nonprofit coalition of youth led and youth serving national organization that focuses on youth traffic safety and health. As a finalist, the chapter received a grant of $1,000 and a FLIP Video Camera. Coosa TSA will use the $1,000 grant to fund awareness activities planned during the contest. People from across the country will be asked to vote via the world wide web May 11 through May 22, 2009 for the best ideas and projects from the 20 finalist schools. The top three will win prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000 respectively. Voting will take place at www.actoutloud.org.

Read more about this story.

RCA Hosts Vex Competition March 2009
Rockdale Career Academy in Conyers, GA was a host site for the VEX Robotics Exhibition on Thursday evening. Fourteen teams from RCA, Grayson, Shiloh, Ola, Savannah, South Forsyth and other districts battled it out in the arena with their robot designs. The objective of the competition was to score points by using student-constructed robots to gather foam blocks and place them in the containers around the arena. The two teams from RCA were eliminated in the quarterfinals; Stephenson High School in DeKalb County won the event, which qualifies them for the VEX World Championship in Dallas from April 30 to May 2.
This story was republished with permission from the Rockdale Citizen; photo and story by Lee Depkin.

See more pictures of the event!

State Health Science Correlations Posted December 2008
Recognizing the need to illustrate how our Health Science Foundations and Career Pathways products support state standards, Applied Technologies has posted the following reports for the states we have completed:

Florida (106 Kb PDF)
Georgia (166 Kb PDF)
North Carolina (104 Kb PDF)
South Carolina (95 Kb PDF)
Tennessee (432 Kb PDF)

Lab Focus: Tennessee School for the Blind November 2008
Raised eyebrows is the usual reaction we get when we tell people we have a Career Connections lab at the Tennessee School for the Blind. But the fact is, for over six years instructor Ken Johns has been using Applied Technologies curriculum and materials to offer his students a wide range of experiences they might not have had otherwise. (Applied Technologies is a division of Learning Labs, Inc.)

The lab has over 20 Career Pathway Units (CPUs) ranging from Aerospace to Digital Photography to Robotics Technology to Structural Engineering.

"The technology curriculum is a dynamic, hands-on program of study that teaches students about the development and applications of technology and the effects technology has on individuals, society, and the environment," said Johns. "Our goal is to create excitement, amazement, and thrill that is shared by others who work with technology on a daily basis. The entire curriculum is computer driven with activities and lessons that allow the student to explore the three main areas of study: Communication, Transportation, and Production."

Read more about the Tennessee School for the Blind and its impact on students on the Applied Technologies website.

Purchase Vex Robotics Design Kits and Components from Learning Labs, Inc. October 2008
Learning Labs, Inc., your local academic Vex distributor, has recently designed a new brochure highlighting some of Vex's innovative Robotics Design System kits and components. Email us requesting your brochure today! Be sure to give us your name and address so we can get it right to you!

The Vex Robotics Design System offers middle and high school students a new and exciting platform for learning about science and areas rich with career opportunities. Computer programming, mechanical engineering, math, and physics are just a few of the many fields students can explore by creating with Vex technology.

Beyond science and engineering principles, a Vex Robotics project encourages teamwork and problem solving with groups. It also allows you to easily customize projects to meet the level of your students' abilities.

ZPrinter 450 Highlighted on Discovery Channel's Prototype This Program October 2008
Discovery Channel will begin airing a new show on Oct. 15 called Prototype This. According to the channel's website, the show is described as such:

In a warehouse on an island in San Francisco Bay, a team of engineers and PhDs are inventing the future one prototype at a time. From finding solutions to today's problems, to conceiving cool machines that are just fun to have around, the Prototype This crew imagines and then invents the future by using emerging technologies to build the craziest, one-of-a-kind prototypes of tomorrow.

The Prototype This website has videos of each of the cool tools they have in their shop, including a video of the ZPrinter 450.

To view the video, click the Begin Tour button from their website, then click the Workshop tab, click the image of the 450, then click the Play button to watch the video.

Mastercam X3 is Released! September 2008
CNC Software announces the release of Mastercam X3. Mastercam X3 offers expanded machining flexibility and an increased emphasis on speed and automation. Feature Based Machining, new high speed tool motion, and faster toolpath generation combine with dozens of additional new enhancements in a package intended to improve shop floor productivity.

Find out more about Mastercam X3.

New Agriscience Planning Guide Hitting Your Mailbox Soon! September 2008
The Applied Technologies Agriscience Planning Guide, Volume 8, has recently been completed and we will start mailing copies out soon. If you can't wait to get your hands on it (and really, who can't!?), please email us and we'll be sure to get your copy to you ASAP. This Planning Guide includes information on all of our Agriscience courseware, materials, equipment, software, and more.

One of the new things you'll find in the Planning Guide is the Small Engines PAC (Pathways for Agriscience Careers).

The Small Engines PAC immerses students in the function, uses, and basic maintenance of small engines. The mechanics of small engines are supported with related scientific and mathematical concepts alongside hands-on experience with basic troubleshooting and maintenance that anyone can benefit from. The course provides a solid foundation for future education in engine-based industries, including many automotive and engineering fields. A large variety of careers related to small engine design, manufacture, and use are presented, indicating the pervasiveness of the small engine in our lives.

New Edition of Health Science Foundations and Case Study Videos! July 2008
While Applied Technologies' Health Science Foundations course is updated frequently, they also send licensed users annual CDs containing each year's new edition of the Instructor's Guide and the web-based course. And as the 2008-2009 school year is upon us, these new editions are going out the door as we speak.

One of the newest and exciting features of the course is a user's forum and discussion board. Here, licensed users can exchange ideas, network, and ask questions and receive answers.

They've also updated the free demo of Foundations to include a lesson from the Academic Foundations standard. This standard--a review of anatomy and physiology as well as diseases and disorders associated with the 12 systems of the body--was added throughout the spring.

Additionally, they've added a new case study to their DVD. Visit the Case Study section on Applied Technologies' Foundations home page to see all four segments of the video.

Case Closed! Applied Technologies' 16th Annual Summer Workshop Deemed a Success! July 2008
"Best workshop I've ever been to. Staff was very helpful and welcoming."

"I had a great time. Enjoyed the workshop and can/will utilize the lessons learned."

"Super job on your preparation and the friendly 'can-do' attitudes and professionalism of all at Learning Labs and Applied Technologies. Thanks!"

"I thought that using 'fun' projects alternating with class instruction was excellent. The networking with other teachers was wonderful! I learned a tremendous amount of information. This is the best in-service I ever attended!"

Those were just some of the comments from this year's workshop attendees (some of whom traveled from as far away as Indiana and Washington state).

This year's Summer Workshop focused on forensic investigations. Using technologies and activities in CPUs such as GPS, Forensics, Polymer Science and Plastics, Digital Photography, and more, the attendees were put into groups and given the task of determining who was responsible for causing a sickness at a local (fictional) apartment complex. Soon, however, they discover that the building has burned down. Was it an accident? If not, who's responsible and why?

See a photo gallery and read more about the workshop.

Customer Appreciates Commitment and Support July 2008
Schewanda W. Guyton, the Explorations in Technology Instructor at Lindley Middle School in Mableton, GA, recently sent an email to Learning Labs, Inc. President and CEO David Richardson thanking the company, and specifically our field technicians, for a great school year. Here's excerpts:

My successful year is primarily due to the follow through on the commitment that you made to all of us during last summer's training. You made a commitment to provide your service and assistance in whatever possible way to help ensure that the Explorations in Technology programs at our respective schools run smoothly.

I would like to thank you and your entire staff for the support you provide Lindley Middle School. I want to especially thank your technicians, Carl and Paul for their patience! They always provide courteous and professional service, helpful suggestions, and without hesitation, on the spot training. Those guys keep a pleasant smile and offer kind words even when they setup for an installation and then, have to un-setup, and make additional trips just to get the job done right!

I am looking forward to continuing our relationship; especially since I know how deeply committed you are to the education of our students.

Read the entire email.

Engineering Design Projects with Vex Coming Soon! June 2008
Applied Technologies' Development Department is hard at work at creating a new curriculum for engineering design. Integrating the power and flexibility of Vex design kits with Pro E modeling software, this curriculum will spark your students' imagination and creativity. Applied Technologies will provide numerous projects intended to kick-start your classroom's design ideas and problem-solving skills. We invite you to contact us for more information or to offer ideas or suggestions.