Learning+with+stop+motion+animation

  a.  Non linear learning is a reflection of current society and digital natives (Prensky, 2001a) way of thinking. Students are exposed to multitasking and networking which involve this new way of thinking. Prenksy (2001b) states the brain is developing differently to what it was prior to society's technology infusion, ‘it is very likely that //our students’ brains have physically changed-// and are different from ours - as a result of how they grew up…we can say with certainty that their //thinking patterns// have changed.’ (p. 1). b.  The learning is more holistic and therefore can be richer, involve deeper thinking, promotes and extends connections with prior knowledge and skills. For example:
 * __STOP MOTION ANIMATION__**
 * Stop Motion Animation can provide very rich, holistic, purposeful and connected learning to a much greater extent than pre-technology teaching could. Some of the improvements in learning are:  **
 * In the recent past, and in many schools still, students could spend a literacy session handwriting a narrative (draft, edit and final copy) and drawing a picture at the bottom of the page. After recess, for math, they might practice measuring with a ruler or make a paper cube. Once a week they may be lucky enough to have a music lesson on the recorder or a session in the computer lab. The content was often unrelated offering no continuity of purpose or true relevancy to the child or society. Stop motion animation integrates these key learning areas (English, Math, Arts etc) in the one task, providing a purpose and much deeper understanding for the student. It reflects what occurs in our contemporary society both in terms of skills with the technologies and integration of knowledges in the formation of an animated movie. Integration enables a teacher to cover more of the curriculum content compared to separate or loosely connected subject areas.

 c.   Social learning and team work has a greater emphasis in schools today than when I was at school. Individual learning is important but can restrict the development of children’s social skills and the ability to work together in various situations. Witherspoon, Foster, Boddy & Reynolds describe advantages of group animating as “Learning to brainstorm, collaborate, exchange and share ideas [which] can result in authentic learning” (p. 1). Again, working in teams is reflective of a large sector of the current work force and important for healthy growth and development of the child. Therefore it is very important these skills are learned and practised as early as possible. d.  Stop motion animation empowers students by making them responsible for their learning through decision making. These range from who will do what within the group, to generating / selecting ideas and solving problems along the way. I have seen how engaging this technology activity is with Grade 5/6 students in 2007. A far greater percentage of students are engrossed in this work than when asked to handwrite a narrative on their own. Overall, class behaviour improves dramatically. e.  Stop motion animation relies heavily on visual imagery to communicate to the audience. Once again this is reflective of today’s society that is inundated with visual imagery. Students need to learn to read, analyse, evaluate, judge and create visual imagery to understand it and effectively communicate with it. (Bamford, nd; Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006). __References:__

Bamford, A. nd, //The Visual Literacy White paper,// University of Technology Sydney.

Jones-Kavalier, B., Flannigan, S., 2006, //Educause Quarterly,// ‘Connecting the Digital dots: Literacy of the 21st Century’//,// No 2. Prensky, M., 2001a, // On the Horizon, // ‘Digital natives, Digital Immigrants’, University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5 October 2001. Prensky, M., 2001b, //On the Horizon,// ‘Do They Really //Think// Differently?’, University Press, Vol. 9 No. 6 December 2001.  Witherspoon, T., Foster, M. S., Boddy, G. & Reynolds, K., 2004, //Clay Animation: Encouraging Visual Literacy,// World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2004, Cantoni, L. & McLoughlin, C. (Eds.), AACE, Lugano, Switzerland, pp. 4090-4095.