In today’s digital technology input we were exploring animation through apps such as Puppet Pals and iStopMotion. These are creator apps which allow people of all ages to create their own animations using a variety of themes, characters and tools. Prior to this input I had no experience of creating animations and was not familiar with these apps, so I decided to first look up what animation was. Animation involves “the stringing together of a sequence of static images, generally so that they appear to move” (Jarvis, 2015, p89).

According to Moving Image Education there are five main types of animation:

1.Cutout – quickest and easiest

2.Stop-motion – example is plasticine models

3.Pixillation – humans become the puppets

4.Drawn – example is the classical Disney animation

5.Computer – also known as CGI and found in games and movies.

(Moving Image Education)

After finding this definition, my group and I decided to watch some tutorial videos on the iStopMotion app. I found this tutorial particularly helpful :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7_OeWpR6I&feature=youtu.be

My group and I then began to explore Stop Motion animation through iStopMotion. This app allows you to take snapshots of items and then plays the snapshot as a movie. We were given the task of using a bendy figure to create a short animation which involves movement.  At first we thought this would be a fairly easy task however, we quickly found out that the bendy figures did not bend very well and they were extremely hard to place in a position without them falling over as their heads are extremely large compared to their bodies.

As such we found it hard to make the movie without our fingers being in the shot holding the figures and it was also hard to get a progression within our shots that made it look like the figure was moving. We have thus decided not to use these bendy figures in next weeks animation activity.

We then moved on to prepare for our activity next week by creating a story board of our iStopMovie. I found story boards particularly helpful in aligning our groups thoughts on how our iStopMotion movie should look and cement our plan of action for next weeks input. It also allowed us to plan the materials we would need to bring in order to get the most out of the programme. This is our story board ;

Our animation was based on the mathematical principle of using fractions which were represented by Lego bricks. We have decided to use the idea of building Lego city to discuss the concept of fraction walls and equivalence, with the different sizes of Lego bricks representing different fractions (E.g 1/2, 1/3 etc). We decided that for this concept to be expressed through animation, the children must have some prior knowledge of fractions and equivalence to ensure they are able to fully understand the process. We are going to base our animation on a construction site, with a worker driving a digger with Lego blocks in the front. The background will say ‘Construction beware’ and we will insert the different definitions and fractions underneath.

I am really looking forward to completing this animation activity next week and finding out the following :

1. What skills would the children develop during this process
2.  Just how long it will take to complete the process as a whole.
3. Is it worth the time?

References

Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.[Accessed: 19.2.19]

Moving Image Education website: [Online] https://movingimageeducation.org/create-films/animation [Accessed: 19.2.19]

IStop Motion tutorial : [Online]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7_OeWpR6I&feature=youtu.be

[Accessed: 19.2.19]

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the module so far we have been exploring the benefits of technology within the classroom.  Although their is endless amounts of benefits we must also be mindful of the dangers of children being online and thus we focused on this during today’s input.

During this class we were given the task of creating an I-movie that highlights the dangers that children can face online. This is something that I have been very apprehensive about facing in the classroom environment, this is such a prevalent issue in today society so it is so important to voice the correct information in a way that children will be able to understand and relate to without restricting them from social medias and technology as a whole. My opinion is supported by the quote “…E-safety is not about restricting children, but about educating them” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.58). My group began planning for this lesson plan by creating  a story board/written plan which outlined our story plan, main characters and the setting. My group and I decided to focus our story on the use of Snapchat,  the importance of not accepting strangers and never sharing personal information. Our story followed Sophie who is a primary school pupil who receives a friend request from a stranger named Harry on Snapchat.  We decided to focus on Snapchat as it is an app that children are using on a daily basis from an extremely young age. This app allows anyone to add you and their is also a feature which is called the snap map, which allows any friend to see your location down to the street. This is extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands and it allows anyone to track a child’s location so it is so important for them to understand this danger. We see Sophie debating whether to add this person  or not however she eventually does. They begin to chat and we soon find out that Sophie had shared her Snapchat details on her Instagram which was not private. This was another area we felt was important to focus on as anyone can view your Instagram if it is not fully on private. Harry is claiming to be a person who went to her school but is now in high school and he is using pictures from google to send to Sophie to convince her he is real. After the two had been speaking for a while Harry asked Sophie to meet and she agreed. Harry then asks Sophie to not tell anyone about the two of them meeting and Sophie begins to feel like something could be wrong. She texts her friend Jodie and asks for her advice, Jodie tells her to never meet someone you don’t know and that she has to tell her mum because Harry could be anyone. Sophie does what Jodie has advised and tells her mum, she then shows her mum the messages and her mum saves some as proof. She then blocks Harry from Snapchat. At the end of the I-movie we decided to put in a series of questions and steps to being safe such as;

The Experiences and Outcomes that we focused on in this activity were;

I can extend my knowledge of how to use digital technology to communicate with others and I am aware of ways to keep safe and secure. TCH 1-03a 

(Scottish Government, 2008)

Internet safety within schools is core to the children’s welfare, they must fully understand the dangers they could face online and the ways in which to avoid these dangers and what to do if something does go wrong (like in the story above). Beauchamp further this point when  stating that “The most successful schools… in terms of e-safety ensured that pupils knew what to do when things went wrong” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.60). In such a digitally immersed society it is the place of the educators to give the children the information they need to be able to be responsible citizens online and to have the confidence to know if what is happening is wrong and how to report it. Websites such as ThinkUKnow and programmes within such as Hectors world are also great ways of helping children to understand the dangers online, they express the information in a child friendly manner and the Hectors world animation is something the children will be able to enjoy watching while learning. These are two programmes I will most definitely be integrating into my classrooms internet safety lessons.

Overall, this lesson taught me vital information about the internet safety and the ways in which to teach it within the classroom. I am now more equipped to be able to take such lessons and plan to do so using quizzes, hectors world and short films as well as discussions. It also helped me to become more familiar with the I-movie app which I found very easy to use, however I did find it took a long time to select each video or photo clip we used.  In the classroom environment I will be sure to remember that it is my job to educate the children on how to be safe online and how to deal with the possible situations rather than steering them away from social media. I now recognise that it is important to teach them how to act if they are confronted with scenarios as opposed to encouraging them to avoid the possibility altogether.

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary Classroom: From Pedagogy top Practice. Pearson.

Scottish Government (2008) The Curriculum for Excellence [Online] http://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf

 

 

In today’s input I was introduced to the concept of multimodal learning through e-Books. Prior to this input my knowledge of E-Books went as far as knowing you could download books onto your tablet or kindle.  Firstly we discussed the definition of an E-Book : “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device” (The Oxford English Dictionary). We then moved on to discuss what the E-Book app Book creator has to offer and the learning possibilities it possesses. Book creator is an Ipad app which allows anyone to make books such as children’s picture books, comic books, photo books, journals and textbooks.

The overall objective of this lesson was to create an eBook on the app book creator which both summarises a book and expands the children’s learning. I chose to complete this activity on the book ‘The Gruffallo’. I decided to focus my activity around Literacy, covering such areas as rhyming words, punctuation and adjectives.  I followed the original story but completed my E-Book using pictures, words, sounds and interactive opportunities such as :

 

 

The experiences and outcomes I chose to cover in this activity are:

I can explore digital technologies and use what I learn to solve problems and share ideas and thoughts. TCH 0-01a 

I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use
what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts. TCH 1-01a

I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to and asking different kinds of questions. LIT 1-07a

After completing this activity and delving deeper into the possibilities E-Books have to offer I can now recognise the many benefits E-Books have within the education environment. E-Books encourage children to develop their passion for reading in a fun and creative manner. They emphasis the link between technology and learning by showing that reading and creative writing does not have to be done by pen on paper.  These E-Books are on devices which are extremely familiar to the youth of today such as Ipads and computers and they are also portable which means children can read wherever they like – even in areas such as outside (Jarvis, 2015). E-Books also allow children with learning difficulties to engage fully with reading texts, which in other scenarios they may struggle with. This is due to the use of such things as pictures and sound recordings. It also allows children to show their creative side when producing texts of their own, with the variety of tools these apps have to offer: Beauchamp states that “ICT can allow pupils to record their thoughts in a wide variety of ways. They are able to write, draw, record both sound and video, or any combination of these depending on their age and ability.”(Beauchamp, 2012, p101).

This input also sparked discussions on the use of Ipads within classroom environment in general.  I believe that Ipads are a great asset within the classroom as they provide a link between learning and the technologies that the children use on a day to day basis to play games etc.  However, I do believe that Ipads can only be a great assest if every teacher in the school is trained on how to use them in the best way. I also believe they can only be used if they do not cause a divide within the classroom, one school in Aberdeen proposed that parents lease Ipads for their children to use in the classroom (Education Scotland, 2012). I feel this would simply cause a divide within the classroom as some parents would not be able to provide their child with an Ipad and thus Ipads should not be within the classroom if the parents are the ones who need to purchase them.

Overall, I found this app extremely enjoyable to use. I spent four hours creating a piece and I honestly could have spent the full day expanding on it. The way in which the pages turn like a real life book is a great feature. My only complaint is the monotone male voice that narrates the story and when using in the classroom environment I will be avoiding this feature.

References 

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very Practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.

OxfordDictionaries.com

(Education Scotland,2012) Http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18081005