Digital Technologies this week introduced me to animation programmes such as Puppet Pals and iStop Motion.  With a partner I created a story on iStop Motion based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, to do this we had to draw our background, characters and many other props.  Straight away I could tell that children within a classroom setting would love using animation programmes such as these ones, as they allow creativity and imagination to be used from the very start.

Movie Image Education states that there are five main types of animation – cut-out, stop motion, pixilation, drawn and computer.  (Jarvis, 2015, p89) states that “Animation involves the stringing together a sequence of static images, generally so that they appear to move.”  When first trying to create an animation myself and my partner realised that we were moving Goldilocks too quickly, this meant it didn’t look like a realistic walk, however we grasped quickly that time and effort needs to be spent on making an animation.  In class I found it beneficial that we got the time to watch tutorials on all these different types of animations on the Moving Image Education website before we started making one ourselves.  Animations can be used in many ways to enhance learning as it enhances learners visual representations, illustrates processes and also provides an interactive element (Bertrancourt, 2005).  All of these aspects show how important it is that animation and ICT as a whole is used widely in schools, as (Beauchamp, 2012, p66) states that “ICT equipment is part of pupils everyday life, so should be part of their everyday play.”

As the use of technology within schools should be placed within a range of subjects and shouldn’t be seen as a separate subject, myself and my partner decided to do an animation which could fit into both Literacy and Technology Curriculum for Excellence outcomes.

I can explore and experiment with sketching, manually or digitally, to represent ideas in different learning contexts. – TCH 1-11a.

To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text. – LIT 1-16a.

These outcomes relate to the animation myself and my partner carried out as we told the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Therefore, children themselves could use an app such as iStop Motion within a Literacy lesson to show their understanding of a text by being able to put an animation together about it.  I thoroughly enjoyed making all the different backgrounds and props needed, as the setting changed three times from the woods, to a kitchen and then a living room.  Therefore, our animation didn’t always have the same background, from this I feel as though it made it look more interesting.  We also incorporated three plastic bears into the story along with our drawing of goldilocks, as we wanted different eye-catching features involved to make it more intriguing.  The different features on iStop Motion meant that we could slow down our animation so that people viewing it could see the words we added such as “Too hot!” when Goldilocks was trying the porridge.  From this, I have realised that animation programmes allow for anything to be created; from something random, to a story being told with drawings or other props.  This providing a great opportunity for children within a classroom to use their imagination to create something that they feel interested in.

Overall, this class has gave me the confidence to deliver lessons to children in the future using animation programmes such as iStop Motion.  This being very beneficial, as hopefully my growing confidence and enthusiasm will mean the children I am teaching also feel this way towards technology.  Along with developing confidence, I also found it very enjoyable creating an animation; this also being something I hope children get out of lessons that I teach using technology!

References:

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary Classroom: 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.

Moving Image Education website: [Online] Available: https://movingimageeducation.org/create-films/animation [Accessed: 19 February 2018]

Within this week’s class of Digital Technologies we focused on a movie making app called iMovie, to create a movie based around internet safety.  We also looked at different quizzes and videos we can deliver to children to highlight the importance of staying safe online.  As Safer Internet Day was last week, I feel as though this was perfect timing to look at what we can do as student teachers to raise awareness of children staying safe online.

We were made aware of the different resources there are in place to deliver to children about internet safety.  We engaged with a quiz as a whole class which involved ten questions, and each question had four different answers to choose from.  I feel as though this type of exercise would be very beneficial to carry out with any age group ranging from primary one to seven as it can both introduce children to staying safe online or reiterate the knowledge they already have.  If I carried out this type of quiz with a class, it would make me more aware if any children are still struggling to see the dangers of being online based on the answers they are giving.  I would then make sure I carry out more lessons based around internet safety, such as letting them watch videos like the one we watched in class on Glow called ‘thinkuknow.’  This would allow them to see clearly what to do if something happened online that made them feel in danger, such as speaking to a parent or teacher.  I am very aware that children even after receiving information on staying safe online may come in contact with trouble online, therefore I feel as though it will be my job to highlight to them what to do if this ever happens.  Such as blocking people, making their social medias sites private and not sharing high levels of personal information.  The importance of telling children points such as this is highlighted by (Beauchamp, 2012, p60) when he stated that “The most successful schools… in terms of e-safety ensured that pupils knew what to do when things went wrong.”

I feel strongly about teaching children of the benefits using technology effectively has as well, such as how it raises attainment in different areas across the curriculum (The Scottish Government, 2015).  It is absolutely necessary that children in the 21^st century are digitally literate so that they can communicate effectively in society through the use of technology such as mobile phones, iPads and tablets etc.  Digital literacy has a wide range of different benefits such as how children are able to think critically, highlight what information is beneficial and what is not, and be creative.  Apps such as iMovie allows movies to be created for all different purposes, it can include text, videos, pictures, music etc.  This week I worked with a group to make a movie based around internet safety, our story ‘BEar SAFE!’ which won ‘best script’ at our movie day was based around the fact that not everyone online is who they say they are, this would highlight to children to only have close friends and family on their social media sites.  We made a plan of what we wanted to happen within the movie, and we all had different roles to make sure it came together successfully.  Therefore, some of us edited the movie whilst others created Instagram accounts which was the site our movie was based on.  Our story was about a bear who thought he was speaking to a unicorn, however, it was really a werewolf! Thankfully, the bear remembered all that he had previously been told and blocked the werewolf when he asked to meet up.  Children watching this would be able to see the dangers that could have happened if they had of met up, as he was completely different to what he said he was.  I feel as though iMovie would be a very good app for children to create movies themselves on, whilst linking it to internet safety, as through this they would discuss as a group different outcomes that can happen if you are careless online.  This giving children the opportunity to engage with digital storytelling in a unique way to include their self-expressions as stories (Porter, 2004).

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

I can explore online communities demonstrating an understanding of responsible digital behaviour and I’m aware of how to keep myself safe and secure. – TCH 2-03a

I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence. – LIT 2-29a

These Curriculum for Excellence outcomes relate to children of all ages being taught how to stay safe online, and therefore afterwards they are able to take forward their knowledge.  Children being given the opportunity to work on apps such as iMovie, increases their literacy skills also.

Overall, this week’s class allowed me to identify ways in which I can deliver lessons around internet safety such as letting children carry out quizzes and watch videos.  Creating a movie on iMovie myself and also letting children create their own is another great way of letting children explore what can happen online if they aren’t safe.  Therefore, making movies themselves should hopefully enable them to make the correct choices online.  As a student teacher I am now fully aware that the best way children will learn about an area such as this, is to be educated instead of feeling like they are being given into trouble.  However, as I mentioned it is important that children are also made aware of the benefits technology has, such as how being digitally literate raises attainment in a range of different subjects across the curriculum.

References:

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

Porter, B. (2004) Digi Tales: The Art of Telling Digital Stories. Bernajean Porter Publication.

The Scottish Government (2015) Literature Review on the Impact of Digital Technology on Learning and Teaching.  [Online] Available: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/24843/1/00489224.pdf [Accessed: 13 January 2018]

In today’s class I learned how to make a multimodal eBook through working as a group to create an eBook brochure and summarising a book individually.  My understanding of the benefits eBooks have has expanded, as my understanding beforehand was vague.  It was very interesting to see how lesson plans can be made through apps such as Book Creator, and how many different areas of the curriculum using eBooks fits into.

An eBook is an electronic book which can be read on a computer or different devices such as iPads and phones.  At the beginning of the class we got into groups and discussed our understanding of the benefits eBooks have in classrooms (photo attached below, red pen was our knowledge before we explored Book Creator, blue pen was written after).  As my understanding has expanded I can now recognise the many different benefits eBooks have, such as how it makes reading fun for children as it is done on electronic devices.  EBooks are also portable, meaning children can read an unlimited amount of books on their devices in different environments – such as outside (Jarvis, 2015).  They also make reading and creating texts in the 21^st century modern, as the use of technology is ever-growing.  This meaning a connection is made between what children do in their spare time such as play games on iPads etc, with their learning. EBooks are a useful resource for teachers to use in classrooms also as they benefit children of all ages and abilities, this is due to aspects such as sound and videos which can be included within them.  Due to this, children who may struggle to read will benefit from using eBooks.  This being something printed books do not offer, therefore certain children may find it easier to engage with eBooks as they include many more key features which draw children in.

Due to watching tutorials on how to use Book Creator beforehand, I was confident with using it when it came to working as a group to complete an eBook brochure on student life at UWS.  To make this, we went a walk around the campus to take pictures and videos of main places within the university, such as the library and lecture theatres.  We were then able to add these into our multimodal eBook to make sure we had pictures and videos to support what we were writing.  Although we ran out of time to add on things we had wished to, this group task gave us the ability and further confidence to use Book Creator on our own.

The book I summarised on book creator was called “Giraffes Can’t Dance” which is about a giraffe called Gerald who can’t dance and lots of other animals make a joke out of him.  However, he meets a cricket who plays the violin and this is when he and all the other animals discover that he can dance! I think this would be a good book to read with children to teach them about the importance of being kind to each other and accepting differences.  Allowing the children to make a summary of this book on Book Creator after reading and talking about it would allow me to identify if the children have a good understanding of it.  Through this, children will have the opportunity to summarise a text and make it multimodal by including two or more semiotic systems, which are; linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial.  (Beauchamp, 2012, p101) 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.”  This shows how important it is to let children learn on apps such as Book Creator.  I feel as though this would be a good lesson as it draws in three areas within the curriculum – Literacy, Technologies and Health and Wellbeing.  This lesson if carried out would cover these curricular outcomes:

I recognise that each individual has a unique blend of abilities and needs. I contribute to making my school community one which values individuals equally and is a welcoming place for all. – HWB 0-10a / HWB 1-10a / HWB 2-10a / HWB 3-10a / HWB 4-10a

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

Using what I know about the features of different types of texts, I can find, select, sort and use information for a specific purpose. – LIT 1-14a

Therefore, today’s lesson gave me an understanding of how important eBooks are within the classroom and taught me the benefits they have for children and teachers.  I am now confident in using apps such as Book Creator to help me to create lessons in the future due to the group and individual task.  I am looking forward to introducing and assisting children in using eBooks in future years of teaching as I truly believe that it makes learning fun, whilst bringing in many different areas within the curriculum!

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.