ICT and Animation

I believe that implementing animation within the classroom is a relatively easy task and should be something that teachers aren’t afraid to do. I will admit that without the input that we had in relation to ICT, I would have been worried to give access to this within a classroom but the lecture made me realise that you shouldn’t hold back because you are unsure.

The movie above demonstrates something that we came up with as a group after following steps previously. I think it is quite simple to have children get to this point. Starting with a software such as the ‘Pivot Animator’ you can build up the skills that the children will need. For me personally, I would have it set into steps, starting with Pivot and then building up to the finished product.

Pivot Animator is a great way to introduce the kids to animation using technology. It allows them to explore different ways to move an object and how it takes time to make it look as realistic as possible when you play the animation. This means introducing the children to the importance of only slight movements in each frame.

Once you have let them explore how animation works, you could have them create a story individually or within a group. Using Pivot again, you will be able to allow the children to create their stories using a software before you move on to introducing 3D objects.

Zu3D is also a simple and effective software which we used to create our movie above. It shows the children how you can take the same things learned through Pivot and implement them in real life using objects made out of Plasticine for example.

However, there may be barriers to doing this with your class. You might not have the software available to introduce you pupils to ways which could enhance their creativity or you may not be able to book the IT suite or you may even not have the time to give to go back and forward to complete the task.

I think that these are barriers that are easily overcome. Pivot is a software which even can download at home. Even if you can’t download it yourself, you could ask a technician to look into it and make it available on the computers in the IT suite. If you can’t get access to the IT suite but have use of a computer within the classroom then it may be an idea to change it to a whole class effort. Assigning different groups to think of different parts of the story is a good way to start it off. If they create their ideas on paper first you can then get them to upload each group part to the computer which will finally lead to one big story created by the story.

There are always ways of getting round things but sometimes you just have to be a little more creative. After this input, I do feel a little more confident that I could introduce this into the classroom and not avoid it. I think it is a great way to encourage the children’s creative skills and I believe that it something that could be linked to literacy and imaginative writing.