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]
