Animation

=    = = = = = = ** Animation ** =

Animation is a wonderful teaching tool to help children learn whilst incorporating several fundamental aspects. Through the careful planning and designing process, children will be required to use critical thinking and by working on their animation, it will also promote students planning and time management skills. Making an animation is very hands on, and children and the students will no doubt make several mistakes but through these mistakes, they will improve their skills and qualities and help promote their self-confidence. By using animation as a learning tool for my students, it will support my teaching goals of having a fun and interactive learning environment where students feel safe and comfortable to give anything a go within their means. I believe to be successful in gaining children’s enthusiasm to learn, its all about learning to have fun whilst having fun learning.

I anticipate that the children will learn several important skills associated whilst making their animation. The skills and learning disciplinaries covered are:

** ~Teamwork~  **    -Animation is a co-operative exercise and will utilize the varying skills of the children in the group getting the best out of them. You will find that where some children can draw well, others will be good at operating equipment or playing instruments; or performing voices or acting as artistic directors.

** ~Math’s~ **  -Animation can be used in the math’s teaching program; it teaches students the meaning and importance of timelines. The photos they take have to be placed in a specific order in order for the photos to make sense. If they are placed out of order, the animation will make little to no sense. -Students will also be developing the understanding of action and reaction of objects.

** ~Art~ **  -Animation will promote the artistic side in children, as they will have to build their own characters (if its claymation) and put together scenes to make sense of their story.

<span style="font-size: 80%; color: rgb(70, 50, 251)"><span style="font-size: 80%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(39, 5, 230)"><span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">**<span style="color: rgb(14, 15, 251)">~Literacy~ ** -Animation will also help promote students literacy skills, as they will have to read instructions, work with titles and communicate with other members in their group effectively.

Although these skills can be learned in a more traditional classroom without the use of such technologies, animation provides an extremely fun and interactive way of learning. It insights the students interests and promotes their self confidence as they make an animation which will impress all their friends and especially impress the most influential role models of their life, their parents. Animation will also help promote their awareness and usefulness of technology as the role of technology is only gaining a broader grasp over the world and the student’s lives. If this technology is not grasped effectively then students will become computer illiterate and will have to struggle as they become lost in the technology era that dominates our world.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 170%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; color: rgb(55, 11, 234); text-align: center"> ~Problems~ Teachers might encounter several problems whilst students are making their animation. These include: __Equipment__: Lack of equipment, Lack of knowledge of how to use equipment, usability of equipment, equipment breaking. __Resources__: Not enough resources available to make animation. __Time:__ Not enough time in a lesson to organize and structure the students animation. May have to have an after school activity day to finish the animation. __Appropriate area:__ Not enough room or area for students to all fit to make their animation adequately. __Teacher not knowledgeable enough:__ The teacher may not know enough about the animation process or programs used to help fix any errors or problems. __Lighting:__ No adequate lighting provided i.e. lamps, torches, etc. __Camera stand:__ Not enough camera stands for each individual group. They are very important to make sure that the camera doesn’t move and gives the illusion of stillness for the animation. __Camera:__ what if the camera breaks, or has serious malfunctions that losses a groups work, are there enough cameras to go around for each individual group. Do the students know how to use the camera effectively, students may have to spend a lesson learning how to use the camera. __Battery:__ How long can they use the battery before it goes flat, how do they recharge it? __Warranty:__ Does using the camera the way we plan to use it affect the warranty of the camera or battery __Insurance:__ What if a camera goes missing or is stolen/ broken, do we have insurance to get another one. __Stealing camera equipment:__ Children stealing or breaking camera equipment, such as lens, case, memory card, cables, etc. __Stealing ideas:__ Children not using original ideas to make their animation. What if the characters the students made fort the animation get ruined before they have finished making their project?

=<span style="font-size: 250%; color: rgb(36, 37, 249); text-align: center; display: block"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center; font-size: 50%">~Assessment~  = =  =   Assessment is always difficult. It is easy to assess knowledge recall amongst students but this is often a poor way to determine whether students understand and comprehend the underlying material. The assessment should be structured so that there are tasks that require students to apply their knowledge to solve problems rather than regurgitate knowledge that has been passed on to them by the teacher. Animation is best done as an assignment or project as it allows students the scope to think about the process over a period of time and apply their ideas appropriately. If done successfully, the teacher should be able to see a complete working animation that shows the skills and techniques applied by all students. An animation project would be easier to assess then a quiz, essay, report or exam as the teacher could visually see what the students of done and how they have gone about making their animation. It will also show the teacher where students had trouble and where they could improve their skills and knowledge.

This is my attempt at making an animation:

media type="file" key="Prehistoric Australia.wmv" This is an animation by Greenpeace: media type="youtube" key="clIhgIhCfqM&hl=en" height="355" width="425"