Imagine Teacher
Fill the shoes of a promising young teacher in a brand new school and use your skills to increase your class size, develop your students and create the best learning environment.
The game begins with 4 children in the class, the player has the power to seat the children within the class and set the timetable for the week. You then have to work through a variety of mini games within each curricular subject area. As you work through the weeks, more children join the class and you must also juggle their needs and develop their skills.
Most suited to early years as all mini games are a very basic level so older children may find it too easy and become bored.
Advantages
Fine motor skills developed and good hand/eye coordination on the touch/rub the objects and expressive arts mini games.
Increasing basic maths skills. (early years)
Developing basic general knowledge within the history, science and geography mini games.
Bright, colourful graphics.
Easy to follow.
Disadvantages
Games are set at a very basic level so player may become bored easily.
In my opinion, the game is best suited for early years but there may be too much reading for them to follow.
Hotel Dusk
Take control of an interactive mystery novel and discover the secrets of Hotel Dusk. Who is Kyle Hyde - and what mysteries lie behind Room 215?
Take stylus in hand and navigate a tangled web of lies, betrayal, and murder to learn the answers.
The game begins with a very long introduction so I quickly lost interest with it as we are working with limited time in class.
Advantages
Set out like an interactive mystery novel so encourages reading in upper stages.
Disadvantages
Slow starting due to a very long (and boring) introduction, loss of interest may occur.
Suitable for ages 12+ due to violence and bad langauge.
Monday 21 March 2011
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Crazy Talk
Crazy Talk is a program which allows you to bring your pictures to life by giving them facial movements and a voice over. The program was relatively simple to use as we followed the online tutorials and instructions set for us here. I feel, these Crazy Talk avatars would be a great engaging stimulus to use in the classroom, especially within the early years or nursery. They would make a good introductory activity to a new topic or perhaps a lesson focussed on a famous person or inventor, where said person could talk to the class. They could talk to the children and give them information about themsleves and the class could then use this information to write notes about their new topic This would also tie into the following curriculum outcomes:
As I listen or watch, I can make notes, organise these under suitable headings and use these to understand ideas and information and vreate new texts, using my own words as appropriate. LIT 2-05
We used Crazy Talk to design a character relating to our Wiki topic, my groups being 'People Who Help Us'. We each took one of our 'helpers' and created an avatar related to their job. We then placed these on the relevant Wiki activity page. I feel these avatars make the information more accessable to children as they can listen to the character talking about their job, rather than having to read the information.
Thursday 24 February 2011
Games Based Learning - A Wii bit too difficult?
For our games based learning input, Keira, Gillian and I focussed on using Wii games in the classroom. Today we were looking at the dance game "Dance On Broadway" and the samba music game "Samba de Amigo".
This wasn't successful as the beads that make the shaking sound were at the top of the maraca! If this problem were to arise in the classroom, we thought that, instead of giving up on the idea, we could use this as part of the learning experience. This would make a good problem solving activity in technology for the class, and we could ask each of them to design and make their own maracas.
Nolan, S.B. (1995) Teaching for Autonomous Learning, in C. Deforges, (Ed.) An Introduction to Teaching. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
To begin with, we had various problems setting up the hardware as the other group were using the main screens in our classroom. We were then moved to another room for an hour, which another class then required the use of. We finally ended up in a third room, by which point we only had around 20 minutes left. Although it was a hassle to keep moving around, it gave us the chance to set up the Wii using a variety of different resources. Each of us now have the skills to set up the Wii on a Smartboard, DVD player and projector - or so we hope!
We started with "Dance On Broadway" - busting a move to the 'Timewarp', 'Hairspray' and 'The Lion King'! We felt this would be a great dance lesson for the whole class to participate in as, although only four people can control the on screen characters with remotes, the other members of the class can just follow the actions without being scored. This would benefit the quieter members of the class who would like to join in, but would not usually participate were it to be in front of the whole class. Those who wanted to use the remote at the front could then take turns. This would need a lot of space in a gym hall which would also need to have a projector to ensure the whole class could follow the moves. This would be a great stimulus for a P.E. lesson as it has the ability to engage those who may not otherwise enjoy other gym lessons. However, one factor we thought may be an issue in the classroom would be engaging boys in the dance lesson. We would overcome this by initially using more male-orientated games such as "Michael Jackson: The Experience" or "Just Dance". The latter has a male and female character dancing on every song, and is filled with up to date songs that the children will have heard of.
We didn't have so much fun with "Samba de Amigo". Our initial excitement at using the big, colourful maracas quickly wore off when we discovered their design fault - no hole for the sensor. Each of the Wii's remotes have a sensor on top which transmits information to the main device. Most of the remotes accessories have a hole at the top so as not to cover the sensor but these maracas didn't. Sharon suggested we take the maraca apart and try and make a hole in the top which Gillian was very eager to try....
This wasn't successful as the beads that make the shaking sound were at the top of the maraca! If this problem were to arise in the classroom, we thought that, instead of giving up on the idea, we could use this as part of the learning experience. This would make a good problem solving activity in technology for the class, and we could ask each of them to design and make their own maracas.
We then went out to test the game using just the remotes. We did not have much success at this stage either as neither of the three of us could sync the remotes to the game! Aaarrrgh..... We spent the last 20 minutes of our lesson trying to get this to work but to no joy. When we went back to the classroom to report our problem back to Sharon, the whole class then had to use their problem solving skills to work out a solution. Finally, we worked out that the remote needed to feel your wrist twisting in order to pick up the direction you were trying to shake your maracas in. We felt that this would, again, make a good P.E. warm up that the whole class could be involved in, as it would make a good upper body workout. We also felt this would transfer over to other curricular areas such as music. All of the songs on the game have been chosen for their good beats so this would make a good lesson on practising rhythm in music.
Although we didn't get much of a chance to test out the games educational qualities, this experience has again shown me that you should always be well prepared when using ICT in the classroom. You need to test all of the equipment before use to ensure it is all working correctly and you have a sound knowledge of how it works, in order to help any of the children who are struggling. However, I do also feel that a lot of the children would probably do a better job teaching the teacher within some games based learning scenarios. They have grown up using technology such as games consoles and, on the most part, will think nothing of setting up a device and getting stuck in. As stated by Nolan (1995): "Teachers must respect students if they are truly to listen to their ideas, and if students are to respect the teacher's." (page 205) This backs up the idea that respect between teacher and pupils can be gained if the teacher is willing to take on the pupil's ideas, and they will, therefore, be more inclined to listen to their teacher's ideas too. This gives children more of an ownership of their learning, if they are to take an active role in setting up their activities and allowing the teacher and pupils to learn from each other.
Nolan, S.B. (1995) Teaching for Autonomous Learning, in C. Deforges, (Ed.) An Introduction to Teaching. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Thursday 17 February 2011
Co-operative Learning
"Students learn more effectively when they work cooperatively." (Johnson and Johnson, 1988)
As stated by Curriculum for Excellence on their views on collaborative learning:
"We no longer consider that a 'good' classroom is necessarily a quiet one; we undestand that learning is frequently most effective when the learners have the opportunity to think and talk together, to discuss ideas, question, analyse and solve problems, without the constant mediation of the teacher."
They also state that this view heavily derives from the work of Lev Vygotsky and his theories of learning as a social process. This links in with Johnson and Johnson's view above. By working together, I believe that both adults and children can share ideas and learn from one another. This was certainly the case within our co-operative learning group.
As previously blogged upon, I believe Keira, Caroline and I worked very well together throughout this project. We each took an active role in every stage of the development of our team work and, thus, produced some great results of which we were all very proud - especially our movie! As stated by Johnson and Johnson (1989), collaborative learning has advantages of:
- Higher achievement and greater productivity are obtained.
-More caring, supportive and committed relationships are formed.
- Greater psychological health, social competence and self esteem.
Each of these traits was reflected within our collaborative practice as, I feel, we have all bonded over the highs and lows of the experience and achieved a much better result incorporating everyone's ideas, than we would have done had this been an individual task.
Our changing society means that, as well as teaching children the social skills of physical collaboration (sharing, turn taking, communication etc.), we also need to introduce them to the key concept of effective online collaboration. As stated by Donelan, Kear and Ramage (2010): "Skills in online communication and collaboration are particularly important for the modern workplace, where teams may include people in different offices, different sites or even different countries." They then go on to further discuss effective online communication and collaboration which I am eager to learn more about with further reading of their text.
Donelan, H., Kear, K. and Ramage, M. (2010) Online Communication and Collaboration. Milton Keynes: Routledge.
Johnson, R. and Johnson, D. (1988) Cooperative Learning. Available: www.context.org/ICLIB/IC18/Johnson.htm
As stated by Curriculum for Excellence on their views on collaborative learning:
"We no longer consider that a 'good' classroom is necessarily a quiet one; we undestand that learning is frequently most effective when the learners have the opportunity to think and talk together, to discuss ideas, question, analyse and solve problems, without the constant mediation of the teacher."
They also state that this view heavily derives from the work of Lev Vygotsky and his theories of learning as a social process. This links in with Johnson and Johnson's view above. By working together, I believe that both adults and children can share ideas and learn from one another. This was certainly the case within our co-operative learning group.
As previously blogged upon, I believe Keira, Caroline and I worked very well together throughout this project. We each took an active role in every stage of the development of our team work and, thus, produced some great results of which we were all very proud - especially our movie! As stated by Johnson and Johnson (1989), collaborative learning has advantages of:
- Higher achievement and greater productivity are obtained.
-More caring, supportive and committed relationships are formed.
- Greater psychological health, social competence and self esteem.
Each of these traits was reflected within our collaborative practice as, I feel, we have all bonded over the highs and lows of the experience and achieved a much better result incorporating everyone's ideas, than we would have done had this been an individual task.
Our changing society means that, as well as teaching children the social skills of physical collaboration (sharing, turn taking, communication etc.), we also need to introduce them to the key concept of effective online collaboration. As stated by Donelan, Kear and Ramage (2010): "Skills in online communication and collaboration are particularly important for the modern workplace, where teams may include people in different offices, different sites or even different countries." They then go on to further discuss effective online communication and collaboration which I am eager to learn more about with further reading of their text.
Donelan, H., Kear, K. and Ramage, M. (2010) Online Communication and Collaboration. Milton Keynes: Routledge.
Johnson, R. and Johnson, D. (1988) Cooperative Learning. Available: www.context.org/ICLIB/IC18/Johnson.htm
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Sunday 13 February 2011
The postie is running a little late with my invitation to the Oscars...
All of our hard work was finally rewarded this week at the unveiling of our final movies - and not a moment too soon! I have found the movie making process to be quite stressful, as we seem to have stumbled across problems at every step of the way. Firstly, we experienced a multitude of problems with the filming devices, we then discovered the software we used to convert our files had left them corrupted and we had yet more trouble during the editing process - nightmare!
We used Windows Movie Maker to edit our movies which I felt required a lot of time and patience. However, after the initial frustration whilst we worked out how to use its features, I found it to be a relatively straight forward program, with a wide capacity of choice in terms of putting together and customizing our movies, in order to personalize them and make them our own. Each member of our group (Keira, Caroline and I) worked together throughout each stage of the process, on the most part, completing the tasks as a group rather than delegating. This ensured that each of us not only had an opportunity to input our ideas into our movie, but we also now all have a full understanding of each feature of Windows Movie Maker. I feel this was the most beneficial solution for us all because, as developing professionals, we are working to broaden and deepen our skills in each area of ICT. Upon reflection, all three of us now feel more confidant in using this within school, as opposed to if we only had a chance to work with one aspect of the program.
Reflecting upon our movie making fortnight overall, I feel very proud and have a real sense of achievement when watching our final movie. We worked well as a group, with each individual fully engaged and contributing with each stage of the task. Although we have experienced a multitude of problems, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and feel I have benefited greatly from it.
We used Windows Movie Maker to edit our movies which I felt required a lot of time and patience. However, after the initial frustration whilst we worked out how to use its features, I found it to be a relatively straight forward program, with a wide capacity of choice in terms of putting together and customizing our movies, in order to personalize them and make them our own. Each member of our group (Keira, Caroline and I) worked together throughout each stage of the process, on the most part, completing the tasks as a group rather than delegating. This ensured that each of us not only had an opportunity to input our ideas into our movie, but we also now all have a full understanding of each feature of Windows Movie Maker. I feel this was the most beneficial solution for us all because, as developing professionals, we are working to broaden and deepen our skills in each area of ICT. Upon reflection, all three of us now feel more confidant in using this within school, as opposed to if we only had a chance to work with one aspect of the program.
Reflecting upon our movie making fortnight overall, I feel very proud and have a real sense of achievement when watching our final movie. We worked well as a group, with each individual fully engaged and contributing with each stage of the task. Although we have experienced a multitude of problems, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and feel I have benefited greatly from it.
Friday 4 February 2011
iPads - How exciting!
Last week, Sharon had an exciting surprise in store for our class as she gave us the opportunity to test the educational value of (play with) the iPads and iPod Touches. This resulted in great excitement for the class, and very jealous flat
mates at home!
As well as being very happy showing off my brand new toy, I also wanted to look further into the educational aspects of the iPad. As stated by the Apple In Education site: "iPad apps are expanding the learning experience both inside and outside the classroom. From interactive lessons to study aids to productivity tools, there's something for everyone." There are a variety of features on the iPad, designed in order to aid the learning process. For example, iWork, a productivity application, which includes: Pages the word processor, Keynote (which allows you to create presentations) and Numbers, the spreadsheet tool. These can also be printed out directly from the iPad.
I was sceptical about how the device could be used in the classroom, in order to improve the learning experience rather than just as a fancy gadget the children could play games on. However, after reading through each of it's educational features and watching the video clip (showing how the iPad is transforming teaching and learning at all levels), I now believe that, with the suitable research, funding and training, the iPad could be a very valuable resource within the primary classroom.
This is demonstrated in Chicago Public Schools as the iPad, as stated by John Connolly (Technology Director, Chicago Public Schools), has generated 'excitement and enthusiasim' within the classroom, which is apparent during the example teacher lesson. The children all appear to be engage in the tool and eager to answer the teacher's questions. As Stacey Boyd (Kindergarten teacher) explains, the apps available for the iPad are really helping the children with their letter formation and sounds, through repitition in the fun, engaging games (although I keep rewinding the clip to hear what she says I just can't catch it but I think it is the 'Super Eye' or 'Super Y' they are using in the classroom). Ben Grimley (Senior Director, PBS Kids) also talks about the benefits of this app by explaining that it is both engaging and educational, therefore, helping the children learn how to read, write and get engaged in their learning. The other apps in this video also demonstrate it's ability to include all learners as it's apps can be audio, visual and kinesthetic.
Links to other popular education apps can be found here. Unfortunately, we didn't have access to Sharon's password in order to try out any of the free apps from this list, however, she has now given us the information needed - so hopefully I get another chance to have a play around with the iPad again!
I think that the idea of using these in class could really benefit a lot of the learning which takes place in the classroom. However, putting this ideal into practice is more difficult as funding would be the biggest issue for schools. In an ideal world we would all have an iPad sat in front of us, like in Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where the lecturer adds notes to the lectures as she goes along and each student receives these straight to their device. It is also used to bring up relevant articles or book chapters which the lecturer can be talking about. If you could get that sorted for us Sharon, you would definitely be the best lecturer ever!!
P.S. I tried various times to embed the video to my blog as I found it very informative but it just wasn't having any of it. I have included links to the website where it can be found instead.
Apple in Education (2010) Learning With iPad.
Available: www.apple.com/education/ipad/ [accessed 4.2.11]
mates at home!As well as being very happy showing off my brand new toy, I also wanted to look further into the educational aspects of the iPad. As stated by the Apple In Education site: "iPad apps are expanding the learning experience both inside and outside the classroom. From interactive lessons to study aids to productivity tools, there's something for everyone." There are a variety of features on the iPad, designed in order to aid the learning process. For example, iWork, a productivity application, which includes: Pages the word processor, Keynote (which allows you to create presentations) and Numbers, the spreadsheet tool. These can also be printed out directly from the iPad.
I was sceptical about how the device could be used in the classroom, in order to improve the learning experience rather than just as a fancy gadget the children could play games on. However, after reading through each of it's educational features and watching the video clip (showing how the iPad is transforming teaching and learning at all levels), I now believe that, with the suitable research, funding and training, the iPad could be a very valuable resource within the primary classroom.
This is demonstrated in Chicago Public Schools as the iPad, as stated by John Connolly (Technology Director, Chicago Public Schools), has generated 'excitement and enthusiasim' within the classroom, which is apparent during the example teacher lesson. The children all appear to be engage in the tool and eager to answer the teacher's questions. As Stacey Boyd (Kindergarten teacher) explains, the apps available for the iPad are really helping the children with their letter formation and sounds, through repitition in the fun, engaging games (although I keep rewinding the clip to hear what she says I just can't catch it but I think it is the 'Super Eye' or 'Super Y' they are using in the classroom). Ben Grimley (Senior Director, PBS Kids) also talks about the benefits of this app by explaining that it is both engaging and educational, therefore, helping the children learn how to read, write and get engaged in their learning. The other apps in this video also demonstrate it's ability to include all learners as it's apps can be audio, visual and kinesthetic.
Links to other popular education apps can be found here. Unfortunately, we didn't have access to Sharon's password in order to try out any of the free apps from this list, however, she has now given us the information needed - so hopefully I get another chance to have a play around with the iPad again!
I think that the idea of using these in class could really benefit a lot of the learning which takes place in the classroom. However, putting this ideal into practice is more difficult as funding would be the biggest issue for schools. In an ideal world we would all have an iPad sat in front of us, like in Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where the lecturer adds notes to the lectures as she goes along and each student receives these straight to their device. It is also used to bring up relevant articles or book chapters which the lecturer can be talking about. If you could get that sorted for us Sharon, you would definitely be the best lecturer ever!!
P.S. I tried various times to embed the video to my blog as I found it very informative but it just wasn't having any of it. I have included links to the website where it can be found instead.
Apple in Education (2010) Learning With iPad.
Available: www.apple.com/education/ipad/ [accessed 4.2.11]
Thursday 3 February 2011
Movie Editing
Today's input was almost on a par with Monday's in terms of frustration levels! We had to convert our movie clips into a different format in order to edit them using Window's Movie Maker. For this, we used a website called zamzar.com which is quite simple to use, as you simply select the files you want to convert, the format you are converting them to and then supply an email address for the website to send you instructions for downloading your new files. Easy.
Or perhaps not... after spending the best part of an hour converting and downloading files, we opened up our new movie clips only to find that most of them were corrupted. Thus resulting in lots of frustration! Although I think movie making would be a very beneficial and engaging activity, the problems arising from our task would make me very apprehensive about doing it in the classroom. It has shown me that you always need to be prepared with a back up plan when using technology and plan well in advance. Although a very useful program, Sharon warned us that at peak times, zamzar.com can take a while to convert your files and may take a few hours to complete - not to be relied upon the day before a lesson anyway!
More information on movie making can be found in the texts that Sharon directed us to today:
Bazalgette, C. (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Schools. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2007) Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools. Washington: ISTE.
Or perhaps not... after spending the best part of an hour converting and downloading files, we opened up our new movie clips only to find that most of them were corrupted. Thus resulting in lots of frustration! Although I think movie making would be a very beneficial and engaging activity, the problems arising from our task would make me very apprehensive about doing it in the classroom. It has shown me that you always need to be prepared with a back up plan when using technology and plan well in advance. Although a very useful program, Sharon warned us that at peak times, zamzar.com can take a while to convert your files and may take a few hours to complete - not to be relied upon the day before a lesson anyway!
More information on movie making can be found in the texts that Sharon directed us to today:
Bazalgette, C. (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Schools. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2007) Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools. Washington: ISTE.
Monday 31 January 2011
Movie making - oh dear!
Today seemed to be one disaster after the next as Keira, Caroline and I discovered, alas, that we were not the Spielbergs we thought we could be. Our task was to plan and film a short movie, based on a subject of our choice, therefore, we chose to continue with our 'People Who Help Us' theme. As Keira had to leave early, we decided to come in an hour early, in order to plan our movie and ensure we had the same amount of filming time as everyone else. We spent the first hour planning and discussing each scene of our movie on a story board. This was very beneficial to us as it ensured each member of the group was working toward the same idea about how our movie was going to run. This initial task went well as were able to gain a full understanding of the different aspects we were to include in our movie, so that the actual filming would run as smoothly as possible. Little did we know, no matter how intricate our plans, there would be no end result without a working camera!!
To film our movies, we were using Flip Video Cameras which I had previously used on placement. During my upper stages placement, my class were practising and performing a dance taught to them by a visting professional. I was in charge of filming their final performance at their school show. After a quick run through from the class teacher, I discovered that these cameras were really quite straight forward to work so using this technology did not worry me. However, even though we tested the camera before leaving the classroom(a must before using any technology, in my opinion!), when we set up the first scene ready to begin filming, the camera would not switch on. After pressing various buttons, trying every battery in Keira's flat and muttering a few expletives, three frustrated students traipsed back to the class, feeling a bit disheartened.
Our initial enthusiasim for the project - where we had spent days gathering outfits and props in anticipation - had quickly worn off after this set back, and we now knew we would be racing against the clock to get our movie finished in time for editing with Sharon on Thursday. Luckily, after much hanging around until new cameras could be found, we were able to film all of our footage within the last hour and are now set to edit it. This experience has taught me to never fully rely on ICT in the classroom as it can also go against you if it doesn't feel like working that day!
To film our movies, we were using Flip Video Cameras which I had previously used on placement. During my upper stages placement, my class were practising and performing a dance taught to them by a visting professional. I was in charge of filming their final performance at their school show. After a quick run through from the class teacher, I discovered that these cameras were really quite straight forward to work so using this technology did not worry me. However, even though we tested the camera before leaving the classroom(a must before using any technology, in my opinion!), when we set up the first scene ready to begin filming, the camera would not switch on. After pressing various buttons, trying every battery in Keira's flat and muttering a few expletives, three frustrated students traipsed back to the class, feeling a bit disheartened.
Our initial enthusiasim for the project - where we had spent days gathering outfits and props in anticipation - had quickly worn off after this set back, and we now knew we would be racing against the clock to get our movie finished in time for editing with Sharon on Thursday. Luckily, after much hanging around until new cameras could be found, we were able to film all of our footage within the last hour and are now set to edit it. This experience has taught me to never fully rely on ICT in the classroom as it can also go against you if it doesn't feel like working that day!
Sunday 30 January 2011
Voices of the World
Today Sharon allowed us to become involved in her 'Voices of the World' project, by contributing an activity for the members to complete, on one of the forthcoming months. Voices of the World' is a Wikispace in which teachers and their classes from around the world, can joing in one online community. We had a brain storm during our first input as to what we associate by the word 'community'. Sharon listened to each of our views and allowed us to anonymously write down our thoughts, then took each of our phrases and developed our thinking of them. For example, I thought of a community as a place where people work together in harmony, however, as Sharon explained, just because people are working together in a community, does not mean they are all getting along. She also further developed our thinking by explaining that a community does not just have to be a physical place, a project such as 'Voices of the World' joins its contributors in an online community, in which they can share their ideas.
Working alongside Keira (http://reflectiveblog-ict.blogspot.com/) and Caroline (http://ict-elective-blog.blogspot.com/) once again -I'll be sick of these two by the end! (Just kidding girls...) - we looked into the activities undertaken on 'Voices of the World', and began to think up ideas of our own. As this will be used by others throughout the world, where the participant's first language may not be English, we decided to keep our task pretty simple.
'Voices of the World' May Task
Working alongside Keira (http://reflectiveblog-ict.blogspot.com/) and Caroline (http://ict-elective-blog.blogspot.com/) once again -I'll be sick of these two by the end! (Just kidding girls...) - we looked into the activities undertaken on 'Voices of the World', and began to think up ideas of our own. As this will be used by others throughout the world, where the participant's first language may not be English, we decided to keep our task pretty simple.
'Voices of the World' May Task
- Children in the class will draw/create pictures to go alongside the sports mentioned.
- Note: No children are to be in the pictures.
- These pictures should then be placed on a Powerpoint.
- Using a sound recording program, such as Audacity, the class can then record themselves saying each of the words aloud, in their first langauge.
- The teacher can then merge these using a simple program such as 'myplick'.
This is our group's task for May's Voices of the World task.
We thought this task would be a great learning tool for children to hear other children talking in their own languages, and could learn the words for these sports ourselves in class.
P.S. I also made a rather good cake for this input...
Saturday 29 January 2011
Animation -Take 2!
"Almost anything is, in principle, possible through collaboration because you are not limited by your own resources and expertise" (Huxham and Vangen, 2005, page 3)
The focus of this week's inputs is collaboration - a vital tool to enable teaching professionals to better their practice by learning from, and with, others. Our collaborative skills were tested on Monday whilst filming our animations. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the task as various people had different ideas about exactly what we were supposed to be doing. In the end, we worked in groups to make an animation, similar to those made in first year (see my previous post to witness the joy of my masterpiece!) Keira, Caroline and I were joined by Gillian to work on an animation, based on our topic 'People Who Help Us'. We had a clear idea of exactly what we wanted our movie to consist of, but struggled when it came to putting it into practise.
We filmed our animation using the Digital Blue Animation cameras, although very user friendly and easy to work, the process for filming can be quite frustrating, especially as the finished clips ake a very short film. To make your animation 'flow', the camera must be clicked around five times and the models moved very slightly, in order for each scene to be continuous. We found this to be a problem as our unsteady hands made this intricate process very slow (especially when it came to a certain life guard and her rather large bust, which made her very hard to keep balanced!). Communication is also key whilst collaborating on a shared project such as this. We realised the importance of this whilst filming our scenes as poor communication between the person moving the model and the person taking the shots, resulted in hands sneaking into some of the scenes! We recognised this as a problem and overcame it by devising a solution where the camera said 'NOW' before taking each click, so that the person moving the models knew to keep their hands out of the shot. This resulted in the rest of our clips being filmed with a lot more success! Due to a shortage of time, we were only able to produce two short scenes with our models, rather than a scene for each as we had planned.
Here is our animation in all its glory! (An Oscar for '127 Hours' or 'The King's Speech'? Clearly the judges haven't seen this little gem...)
I think this activity would be really engaging if used in the classroom, however, I think a class would need very careful demonstrations and the task to be broken up into much smaller steps, throughout a longer period of time. I would be keen to use this as a round up activity at the end of a topic, in order to assess the children's knowledge gained over the course of the topic. I would make the process of planning, creating and filming the animation into a mini topic, ideal to keep the class motivated and engaged in the lead up to a school holiday, perhaps! These would then be a fantastic addition to a whole school assembly, in order for the children to show off their final work and feel a sense of achievement!
I will continue with the rest of the week's activities in tomorrow's blog.
Nicole
xxx
Huxham, C. and Vangen, S. (2005) Managing to Collaborate: The Theory and Practice of Collaborative Advantage. London: Taylor and Francis Routledge.
The focus of this week's inputs is collaboration - a vital tool to enable teaching professionals to better their practice by learning from, and with, others. Our collaborative skills were tested on Monday whilst filming our animations. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the task as various people had different ideas about exactly what we were supposed to be doing. In the end, we worked in groups to make an animation, similar to those made in first year (see my previous post to witness the joy of my masterpiece!) Keira, Caroline and I were joined by Gillian to work on an animation, based on our topic 'People Who Help Us'. We had a clear idea of exactly what we wanted our movie to consist of, but struggled when it came to putting it into practise.
We filmed our animation using the Digital Blue Animation cameras, although very user friendly and easy to work, the process for filming can be quite frustrating, especially as the finished clips ake a very short film. To make your animation 'flow', the camera must be clicked around five times and the models moved very slightly, in order for each scene to be continuous. We found this to be a problem as our unsteady hands made this intricate process very slow (especially when it came to a certain life guard and her rather large bust, which made her very hard to keep balanced!). Communication is also key whilst collaborating on a shared project such as this. We realised the importance of this whilst filming our scenes as poor communication between the person moving the model and the person taking the shots, resulted in hands sneaking into some of the scenes! We recognised this as a problem and overcame it by devising a solution where the camera said 'NOW' before taking each click, so that the person moving the models knew to keep their hands out of the shot. This resulted in the rest of our clips being filmed with a lot more success! Due to a shortage of time, we were only able to produce two short scenes with our models, rather than a scene for each as we had planned.
Here is our animation in all its glory! (An Oscar for '127 Hours' or 'The King's Speech'? Clearly the judges haven't seen this little gem...)
I think this activity would be really engaging if used in the classroom, however, I think a class would need very careful demonstrations and the task to be broken up into much smaller steps, throughout a longer period of time. I would be keen to use this as a round up activity at the end of a topic, in order to assess the children's knowledge gained over the course of the topic. I would make the process of planning, creating and filming the animation into a mini topic, ideal to keep the class motivated and engaged in the lead up to a school holiday, perhaps! These would then be a fantastic addition to a whole school assembly, in order for the children to show off their final work and feel a sense of achievement!
I will continue with the rest of the week's activities in tomorrow's blog.
Nicole
xxx
Huxham, C. and Vangen, S. (2005) Managing to Collaborate: The Theory and Practice of Collaborative Advantage. London: Taylor and Francis Routledge.
Sunday 23 January 2011
Right. Third time lucky...
Firstly - Sorry about the blog change! I'm not too sure what went wrong with my first one but it wouldn't let me post anything - it was more like I was viewing it as a viewer, if that makes sense?
Secondly - It's a minor miracle I still have a laptop to type this on, as the more frustrated I got with it, the closer and closer it was getting to ending up on the road outside my window!
So, where to start... aside from the small hiccup at the first hurdle (I'll be paying a visit to the library for a few books on blogging it seems!), I'm really looking forward to the rest of the ICT module. I feel like I have a good grasp of the basic aspects of ICT but I am looking forward to taking an in-depth look at the various 'fun' educational concepts that can be incorporated into the primary classroom.
During our first year of ICT inputs, I enjoyed the movie making activities so I am looking forward to developing my skills in this area. Keira, Caroline and I are working in a group of three ICT people, without the language input. Although our group is smaller than the others, I am glad taht we won't need to worry about the addition of a foreign language to our movie, as languages are not my strong point! Our movie will be aimed at pre school age childre, as we have chosen the topic 'People Who Help Us'. Our plan is to dress up our furry animals and re-inact a scene with various helpful people from society, in order to showcase these roles to the children. For example, a police man, doctor, lolly-pop lady etc. Watch this space to see if this ends up any better than our last attempt....
(Although we - rather imaginatively - managed to incorporate it into the story, the captain wasn't actually supposed to fall - whoops...)
Our other collaborative project is a 'bear exchange', (hopefully) with other trainee teachers, from across Europe. Working in the same group, we have chosen to send a toy Nessie (Keira Baird: "Eh, but it looks more like a dinosaur?") along with various postcards from Scotland. As Carrie pointed out, whilst abroad, the first thing asked of Scottish people is usually: "Does Nessie exist?!" Therefore, we believed this to be a fun theme which will give our peers an insight to life in Scotland, with a focus around Dundee. Our 'Loch Ness Monster' will be more of a 'River Tay Monster' as Tessie (as we have now proudly named her!) will have lived in Dundee, underneath the Discovery. I am really looking forward to this project as it gives us a chance to be active, as we will be going out and about in Dundee to take pictures of Tessie's home, in order to give her recipients a taste of life in Dundee. We may even learn some new things ourselves!
I hope to make my blog more exciting over the coming weeks but this is just a wee start and I'll look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
See you next week!
Nicole
xxx
P.S. I take no responsibility for any health related issues that may emerge, due to the comsumption of my cake on Thursday - you have been warned...
Secondly - It's a minor miracle I still have a laptop to type this on, as the more frustrated I got with it, the closer and closer it was getting to ending up on the road outside my window!
So, where to start... aside from the small hiccup at the first hurdle (I'll be paying a visit to the library for a few books on blogging it seems!), I'm really looking forward to the rest of the ICT module. I feel like I have a good grasp of the basic aspects of ICT but I am looking forward to taking an in-depth look at the various 'fun' educational concepts that can be incorporated into the primary classroom.
During our first year of ICT inputs, I enjoyed the movie making activities so I am looking forward to developing my skills in this area. Keira, Caroline and I are working in a group of three ICT people, without the language input. Although our group is smaller than the others, I am glad taht we won't need to worry about the addition of a foreign language to our movie, as languages are not my strong point! Our movie will be aimed at pre school age childre, as we have chosen the topic 'People Who Help Us'. Our plan is to dress up our furry animals and re-inact a scene with various helpful people from society, in order to showcase these roles to the children. For example, a police man, doctor, lolly-pop lady etc. Watch this space to see if this ends up any better than our last attempt....
(Although we - rather imaginatively - managed to incorporate it into the story, the captain wasn't actually supposed to fall - whoops...)
Our other collaborative project is a 'bear exchange', (hopefully) with other trainee teachers, from across Europe. Working in the same group, we have chosen to send a toy Nessie (Keira Baird: "Eh, but it looks more like a dinosaur?") along with various postcards from Scotland. As Carrie pointed out, whilst abroad, the first thing asked of Scottish people is usually: "Does Nessie exist?!" Therefore, we believed this to be a fun theme which will give our peers an insight to life in Scotland, with a focus around Dundee. Our 'Loch Ness Monster' will be more of a 'River Tay Monster' as Tessie (as we have now proudly named her!) will have lived in Dundee, underneath the Discovery. I am really looking forward to this project as it gives us a chance to be active, as we will be going out and about in Dundee to take pictures of Tessie's home, in order to give her recipients a taste of life in Dundee. We may even learn some new things ourselves!
I hope to make my blog more exciting over the coming weeks but this is just a wee start and I'll look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
See you next week!
Nicole
xxx
P.S. I take no responsibility for any health related issues that may emerge, due to the comsumption of my cake on Thursday - you have been warned...
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