Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary create animations together
Introduction
Mrs McAllister, from Kincardine-in-Menteith primary school teaches the composite P1- P3 class and was inspired by a visitor from the MacRoberts Centre, who came to the school to show work produced using the Digital Blue camera.
Afterwards Mrs McAllister got together with Margaret Cassidy (the ICT curriculum officer) and looked at how they could start using animation in the classroom. The school borrowed laptops and webcams from the Riverside ICT centre and began creating animations using Image Studio software and logitech cameras.
Collaborative learning
Having the class work in mixed age groups developed a great deal of social interaction amongst the children, enhancing their motivation in the task and increasing their self-confidence in their own learning.
They worked together in small groups to produce simple storyboards and then they selected a theme for their animation based on a topic that was of interest to them. They engaged in plenty of discussion and adopted roles suited to their personality. However, whilst working with the children it was apparent that there was a shift in roles during the animation process. Each child appeared to take responsibility for their own learning and were able to communicate with one another effectively in order to achieve their goal.
The main hurdle was communication between the child moving the object and the child working the camera.
Problem solving
The whole process was a challenge as many of the children had never been exposed to this type of ICT before.
The class teacher worked alongside Margaret Cassidy in supporting the children and mediating their work. Brief demonstrations were given to the children on the use of the technology and ideas of how to tackle the storyboarding. Having the hands-on approach to learning allowed the children to learn whilst doing. They also learned from one another in the groups and from children in other groups.
This was an open-ended activity. There was no limit to the length of the animation or the theme. Pupils were encouraged to use their creative skills in producing a short animation with accompanying sound effects and music which were added using Windows Movie Maker.
Many of them had to work out for themselves how to film various scenes, such as how to make objects fly and how to move objects so that they look like they are moving at different speeds.
Assessment
Throughout the whole process children were assessing their work, they would circulate the room and look at what others had been doing. A great deal of peer and self assessment took place. Working in the class you heard children exclaim ‘how did you do that?’ or ‘show me how you put in the music’. Pupils were able to reflect on their learning through discussing it with their own groups, other groups and the teacher. They were aware of what they were learning and how they were learning it and could then apply that knowledge to their work.
The children’s work was displayed to other children, staff and the wider community at a Celebration day and the animations put on a CD for them to take home and keep as a record of their achievement in creating their first animation.
The children displayed a genuine interest in the task and even the youngest ones progressed at a rapid pace. The use of the technology seemed to open up a new world to them building up their confidence and widening their knowledge of ICT skills.
About the school
Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary School consists of 40 children in two classrooms. They have interactive whiteboards in both classes and use these on a daily basis. Staff use a variety of technologies for teaching and learning and receive plenty of support from the head teacher, the ICT Curriculum Officers, from each other and once a fortnight an ICT specialist visits the school to work with the children.
Everyone involved is committed to taking ICT forward and making sure it is successfully embedded into the curriculum.