Tuesday 19th February

Today we looked at animation and how this can be used with teaching and learning. This topic is going to be explored more next week where we will be creating our own animations. This week was mainly about introducing the topic and giving us the chance to explore the concept and play about with some of the resources using the iPads. The idea of this class was to give us the opportunity to explore the concept and see how this could really come in handy for use in the classroom.

Animation can be thought of as a series of paper images being photographed in quick succession to give the impression they are moving (Oxford Dictionary, 2019). The drawn characters are there to replace real actors and actresses however may have human voice overs. This technique allows children to specifically practice their creativity skills where they have to design their own characters. All of the skills needed to produce an animation provide a platform for learning across the curriculum. As previously discussed, ICT is an area taught in schools which has a link to all areas of the curriculum rather than being a sperate taught subject. There are so many amazing digital resources that can be used to enhance the learning in most subjects. By allowing children to produce an animation in the class, they are developing skills in not only curricular areas like literacy, maths and art but also developing their creative, communication and problem-solving skills and many others at the same time. ICT gives children the opportunity to “achieve something that would be very difficult or even impossible to achieve in any other way” (Beauchamp, 2012, p54). This sort of thing could never be created by just pen and paper and so it takes children’s ideas to a whole new level. It is exciting and rewarding for both the teacher and the pupils.

What does this form of technology bring to teaching and learning? Firstly, animation can really help children with challenging behaviours (Beauchamp, 2012, p55). This is due to the fact that mistakes can be changed very easily and that things can be added or removed at the click of a button. They can experiment with different ideas and don’t feel frustrated when something doesn’t go to plan for them. Overall, it helps reduce any insecurities children have with their work. Bertrancourt (2005) suggests 3 ways in which animation can be used to aid learning (Jarvis, 2015). One main one that stood out for me was “to enhance learners’ visual representation” (Jarvis, 2015). This could be a way to really simplify a teaching concept, anything from a story to mathematical processes to steps on how to be safe online. It allows children to associate images they have been shown in order to remember the topic. It gives them something to think about and save as a memory and I think that that is very beneficial. The other 2 ways suggested by Bertrancourt were “to illustrate processes” and “to provide an interactive element”. With anything, the more children are involved, the more they are keen to continue and the more they will retain. With this kind of activity being used in the class, it grabs children’s attention, keeps them focused and entertained while also being educational.

After the class, I really like the idea of animation. I consider myself to be quite creative and art was always a subject I enjoyed at school so this kind of thing seems really exciting. Similar to my view last week on the use of iMovie, I never considered this being something that could bring any value to a lesson. However, it has so much potential to be a really amazing addition to the class. Next week, in groups we are going to be making our own animations. My group have decided to base ours on the topic of natural disasters, particularly looking at tsunamis! We have some great ideas using different props and characters and I am really excited to see how it turns out.

The CfE Experience & Outcome we aim to work with is:

“I can recognise basic properties and uses for a variety of materials and can discuss which ones are most suitable for a given task” – TCH 2-10a 

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. London: Routledge.

Oxford Dictionary. (2019) [online] Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/e-book [Accessed: 19 February 2019]

Tuesday 12th February

This week the focus was on using the app iMovie. For this class, as a group, we had to create our own iMovie on internet safety. I think this was a very good topic to pick as it is such a big issue in today’s digital world. Our movie was pitched at primary school children aged 10+ as we felt that nowadays, this is how young some children have online accounts and social media.

At present, children are much more exposed to social media and the internet than before. As educators, it is important that we do not tell children that they cannot have these accounts, but that we educate them on how to be safe while using them (Beauchamp, 2012). With the use of digital technologies increasing, we need to make sure that not only children but also parents and carers are aware of the dangers that you can face while being online. It is imperative that accounts are kept private and no personal details are shared. Most importantly, only befriend people that you know and trust. By following these simple steps, you are already keeping yourself somewhat safe.

For our movie, we based it around account cloning (where someone else makes a fake account pretending to be someone they are not). In the movie we see Ross taking pictures from Chloe’s Instagram account and using them to make a fake account, as if he is Chloe, using her name, some personal details and pictures she has uploaded of herself and her friends. Ross then gets in contact with Lynne, an old friend of Chloe’s. They chat and Chloe (who is actually Ross) suggest they meet up for a catch up. Lynne quickly agrees. We then see Lynne leaving her friends to go and meet Chloe and to her horror, she sees that it is in fact not Chloe waiting and a stranger. At the end, we included our top 5 tips to staying safe online. I have inserted an image of our plan below. We felt this was a good storyline to base our movie on as Instagram is an account that is more common for younger children. Their naivety causes them to share personal details such as date of birth, school and the town they live in. This is a topic which I do feel quite passionate about and I want to ensure that when I become a teacher that internet safety is talked about openly and regularly and children are fully aware of the dangers but most importantly know what to do when something goes wrong.

As much as the lesson was based around educating children about internet safety is was also about how iMovie as an app can be used to enhance learning. This could possibly be a good lesson idea for children to be working in groups and prepare a presentation on a topic they have been studying or acting out scenes during a health and wellbeing lesson. The possibilities are endless and the teacher along with the class could have lots of fun using this app. Once familiar with the app, it is very straight forward and easy to use. There are many features available within it such as inserting text, images, video clips, colours, backgrounds, sound clips, the list is endless. At first it is difficult to see how an app like this can have any benefit to teaching and learning rather than just being a fun activity. However, when we were making our movie, every so often we would stop to discuss the skills we were using and how this might also reflect skills children would be practicing in the classroom during a similar activity. Some we have come up with include:
• Collaboration skills
• Listening skills
• Talking skills
• Acting/drama skills
• Creative skills
• Literacy skills
• Problem Solving skills
• Research skills
• How to work with iMovie

The CfE Experience & Outcome we used during the session was:

“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

This is not something I ever imagined being useful for a lesson and I feel like this class in particular has really allowed me to think outside the box and see the real benefits and possibilities of using such technologies in education.

References

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

Tuesday 5th February

This week, the class was based on eBooks and in particular using the app Book Creator. Before we got started using the app we talked through some characteristics of eBooks and how they could be useful in a classroom setting. An eBook can be described as “an electronic version of a printed book” (Oxford Dictionary, 2019). This electronic book can be accessed and read on any digital device such as a computer, iPad, tablet or phone. Giving children the opportunity to work with these devices, on their own or in groups, lets them explore things for themselves and become more independent. They can be as creative as they like. Using this resource in the classroom doesn’t only help to develop children’s creative skills but also helps them to work on their collaboration with others, problem solving and literacy skills. This proves that digital technologies cannot be labelled its own subject as it contributes to many areas of the curriculum.

A report carried out by the University of Hull on the use of iPads in the class and at home for homework, found that the use of iPads within the classroom allowed children to be more creative and engage more with their peers through class work and assessment materials. At home, parents said that their child(ren) had “greater motivation, interest and engagement” with the learning (Burden et al., 2012). 75% also commented that children were much more willing to complete their homework tasks (Burden et al., 2012). While I am in complete agreement with these statements and believe that the use of iPads and other technologies are definitely the way forward for learners and teachers in today’s world, I do strongly believe that there are key skills in education that cannot be taught with the use of digital technologies. Therefore, I think the use of iPads in the classroom should be carefully controlled by the teacher, used when appropriate and more importantly not over used.

Book Creator is an app which allows you to create your own book. This could be anything from children’s books, comics, textbooks or journals. The app allows you to insert all forms of media. Some include images, text and even sounds clips. Drawing on a previous post, this makes the book multimodal and therefore has a massive range of benefits for using with children in the classroom. The task this week was to create an eBook based on the storyline of a children’s book. The eBook had to include images, text, sound and some interactive aspects for children to get involved with. The book I had chosen to use was The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and Jim Field. I started by reading through the book and noting down the key ideas that I wanted to include. I took photos of the images I thought illustrated the key points well and used these in my eBook. Throughout I added little tasks for the children to complete to make the book more interactive. On the first page I included some sound clips of different animals in the book, on the third page I had some hyperlinks which would take the children to some websites where they could do some research on Lion’s. The fourth page asked them to draw a picture of one of the upcoming scenes. At the end of the book I added in a section called ‘Your Turn!’ which consisted of a series of 4 questions, 2 of which asked the children about the story line of the book, one asked for them to write down some facts they had learned from the websites and finally the last one allowed them to record themselves making the noise of 2 animals from the book using the sound button.

CfE experiences and outcomes which I worked towards during this session were:

“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 

“As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, key words and main ideas of the text, and use this information for a specific purpose” –  LIT 1-04a

I was really pleased with how my eBook turned out! What I like most about using the iPads is that it allows you to do things that wouldn’t be possible using worksheets or textbooks. It makes the lesson more enjoyable for the children also. The app was very easy to use and had lots of different features which allowed me to make the book so interactive. With more time, this app could be used to create something very effective. It is definitely something I will remember for future use in the classroom!

References

Burden et al. (2012) iPad Scotland Evaluation. [Moodle Resource] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39914/mod_resource/content/2/Scotland-iPad-Evaluation.pdf [Accessed: 19 February 2019]

Oxford Dictionary. (2019) [online] Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/e-book [Accessed: 19 February 2019]

Tuesday 29th January

In today’s class, we were looking at a programme called Scratch Jr. This introductory programme was designed to help children learn how to code and be creative. Scratch Jr can be used for children working at early all the way through to second level. It is a great way to introduce children to the world of coding and getting them to develop many skills. It is a programme I would imagine children would find extremely enjoyable. Coding can be a difficult skill to grasp, however it plays a big part in developing literacy in the classroom today. There are many benefits to using Scratch with children as it helps to develop a range of skills such as creative thinking, logical reasoning, problem solving and collaboration skills. When individuals learn how to code, they are also learning how to actively solve problems, design their own projects and also communicate their ideas in a range of ways.

My only previous experience of using Scratch was when I was in 2nd year of high school and I used the regular program. I remember it being such fun learning what all the different buttons were for and programming the characters to move around the screen. This brief knowledge did come in handy for this class. Our task for today was to design an interactive story which focused on the teaching of literacy. After playing about with the programme for a short time I became very familiar with it and it was very easy to navigate around. There are just enough features that you can programme your character to do, without making everything over complicated. The programme itself is very bright and colourful and has a good range of backgrounds, colours, characters and functions that make it very interesting and fun to use. The user can programme characters to move forward, back, up or down as well as getting them to speak or perform other actions such as jumping, getting bigger or smaller and doing 360-degree spins. The fun is endless.

For my task, I focused at aiming my activity for children working at first level. I used the Experience and Outcome:

“As I listen or watch, I am learning to make notes under given headings and use these to understand what I have listened or watched and create new texts.” – LIT 1-05a

My idea for this was that the children would watch the story of Sam the Scratch Cat going on an adventure to meet his friends. Sam advises the children to take notes on the information his friends give him such as their name, a description of themselves and their role in the community. At the end of the story, the children then have to write their own imaginative story and try to include as much of the information they have written down as possible.

In the world we live in today, everything is linked in some way to technology and so I think it is important for children to be learning about this form of technology that is coding. In England, children learn to code from age 5 to 16 (Curtis, 2013). Throughout this time they gain a wide range of knowledge which will hopefully prepare them well for their future. Naughton (2012) talks about his views on the topic and mentions that he believes children from all backgrounds should have the opportunity to learn some key ideas of computer science and understand computational thinking. This is something I fully agree with. I think it is so important that children have experiences in using different technologies and programmes. Not only do they allow children to gain deeper understanding of technology it allows them to be creative and express their ideas.

Towards the end of the session, we had the opportunity to walk around the room to have a look at other people’s ideas and everyone was doing something completely different and based on a different area of the curriculum. This further backs up the statement that technology can be used in any area of the curriculum to enhance learning and not only focused within ICT lessons. “Scratch is designed for exploration and experimentation, so it supports any different learning style” (The Lead Project, 2014).

Overall, I enjoyed this class and I feel it allowed me to think more widely about how these applications can be used for any subject across the curriculum. Scratch Jr is a very simple programme to use but also very effective in producing materials for use in the classroom. It is one in which I will definitely come back to using at some point in the future.

References

Curtis, S. (2013) Teaching our children to code: A quiet revolution. [Moodle Resource] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39846/mod_resource/content/1/Teaching%20our%20children%20to%20code%20a%20quiet%20revolution%20-%20Telegraph.pdf[Accessed: 10 February 2019]

Naughton, J. (2012) Why all our kids should be taught how to code. [Moodle Resource] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39847/mod_resource/content/2/Why%20all%20our%20kids%20should%20be%20taught%20how%20to%20code%20%20Education%20%20The%20Observer.pdf [Accessed: 10 February 2019]