This weeks Digital Technologies lesson focused on the use of animation programmes such as ‘Puppet Pals’ and ‘Stop Motion’. Throughout the lesson we looked at the benefits of using animation programmes in the classroom as well as experimenting with animation ourselves from the perception as both the learner and as a student teacher.
The lesson begun with us working in partners and experimenting with ‘Puppet Pals’ as learners. The app allows users to create a short story involving a range of characters from fairy tales to zombies, appealing to every child’s interests. Learners can also move their characters around the screen while using their own voice recordings for their characters voice, bringing their animation to life. As a learner I found the app relatively easy to use and interesting. However, as time progressed I found my mind wandering from the app and the task and therefore I feel the app is best suited to young learners. As a student teacher I can see why young learners would find the app fun and engaging in a lesson.
After our experiment with Puppet Pals we looked closely at what animation is and why we as student teachers should incorporate its use into future lessons. Jarvis defined animation as “the stringing together a sequence of static images, generally so that they appear to move.” (Jarvis 2015 p89). Moving Image Education stated that there are five main types of animation; cutout, stop-motion, pixilation, drawn and computer. Despite acknowledging that cutout animation is the quickest and easiest form, the next task of the lesson focused on stop-motion and the benefits of using this type of animation in the classroom. Stop motion involves the compilation of photographs taken individually with each photo showing a slight movement of the objects in the frame. When grouped together the photos create an illusion of movement.
To begin the task my partner and I discussed the potential storyline for our short Stop motion animation. We settled on the story of a house catching fire as we could use the individual photos to create the illusion of a fire spreading. Once we had settled on the storyline we began to design our background and characters and eventually began taking each individual snapshot which we would later combine to create our animation. Overall, we were very pleased with the outcome of our animation and it was rewarding to see the completed project:
As a learner I found Stop motion to be extremely enjoyable and engaging. Although, the animation was time consuming to construct and required a lot of determination and concentration from the learner, I feel this did not minimize the fun constructing the animation. I found that in contrast to my experience with Puppet Pals I continued to feel engaged with Stop Motion, despite stop motion being more time consuming.
As a student teacher I feel that I would unnotably integrate the use of animation programmes such as ‘Puppet Pals’ and ‘Stop Motion’ into future lesson plans. After today’s lesson I feel I am now aware of the many benefits of using animation in a primary setting and now have the confidence to successfully construct an enjoyable and educational lesson that involves animation. Beauchamp spoke on the importance of teachers feeling confident while exploring and teaching new technologies as the teacher’s confidence and enjoyment of the lesson is mirrored by the young learners in their class. Therefore, if a teacher showcases their nerves and reluctance to explore new technologies to the children, the children will in turn be unwilling to experiment with new technologies (Beauchamp 2012). In addition, the use of animation in the classroom can be used to enhance children’s learning. Jarvis detailed that although the use of animation can be time consuming, there are many benefits to its use “Animation can have a big visual impact” (Jarvis 2015 p.90). Jarvis also included Bertrancourt’s (2005) suggested ways in which animation can be used to enhance learning; to enhance learners’ visual representations, to illustrate processes and to provide an interactive element. Furthermore, despite belief that technologies should be kept as a separate subject from the main curriculum areas such as literacy, the use of animation and other technologies can be used to fit into a variety of curriculum outcomes. For example, the lesson we were involved in today followed both Literacy and Technology outcomes:
“I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience” LIT 1-20a / LIT 2-20a
“I can explore and experiment with sketching, manually or digitally, to represent ideas in different learning contexts.” TCH 1-11a.
To conclude, after today’s lesson I feel animation programmes such as Stop Motion are a beneficial and engaging tool to use in the classroom. I feel after today’s lesson I now have the confidence and knowledge to successfully incorporate animation into future lessons and am hopeful that by doing the children’s knowledge and enjoyment of technology will continue to develop.
References:
Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very Practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.
Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary Classroom: From Pedagogy top Practice. Pearson.
