20/02/18
Animation
ICT allows pupils to “achieve something that would be very difficult or even impossible to achieve in any other way”, (Beauchamp, 2012, p.54). The skills that children gain while carrying out tasks and experimenting with different types of technology are skills they use not just in the subject of ICT but also in everyday life, in and out of the classroom.
The skill of confidence is one of the most important skills we can give to children while using technology and showing them that we are confident while using the different apps and programmes will help them feel like they can do it too.
“ICT equipment is part of pupils’ everyday life, so should be part of their everyday play” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.66). Children should feel that using technology is fun and not a chore and a of making it fun is letting them explore the world of animation.
Bertrancourt (2005) gives three ways in which animation can be used to make learning more effective:
- gives visual representations
- illustrates processess
- provides an interactive element (Jarvis, 2015, p.92)
The process of animation is “the stringing together” of still images but giving the appearance of movement (Jarvis, 2015, p.89). Creating animations gives the children the chance to be in control of their experience and learning with technology and make something as simple or as complex as they want.
Diving into a new branch of technology can make teachers, student and children unsure of what to do and how to use it but the different types of animation can be broken down in to five main types:
- Cutout – quickest and easiest
- Stop-motion – e.g. plasticine models
- Pixillation – humans become the puppets
- Drawn – e.g. Disney productions
- Computer – e.g. games and movies (Moving Image Education)
Starting off with the simplest of the five, cutout, is the easiest way to get to grips with the process of animation.
Reference List:
Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary Classroom: From Pedagogy top Practice. Pearson.
Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very Practical Guide for Teachers and Lecurers. Routledge.
Moving Image Education [Online] https://movingimageeducaiton.org/create-films/animation [Accessed: 21st March 2018]
