Introduced to Zu3D

Due to our assignment of creating a stop-motion animation at the end of the term, we were recently introduced to the software called Zu3D. This type of soft-wear is brilliant for creating simple animations that children could enjoy. It's simple structure and navigation system is greatly aim at children to use freely and quickly within any environment. The program was created by ZuLogic Ltd who highly support primary school education in ICT learning and extra curricular activities.

From having a test run on the software it was made easier to see how it could really open-up the creative side of children and test their abilities to create something worthwhile. The program has a number of great features to help create an effective and professional animation for any age. The one feature that I thought was extremely helpful was the 'Onion Skinning' which was an overlay on the original image to judge and see how far to move the object in the next frame. 

After having an experimental time with the software it was now time to have a trail run of creating a short clip within the time of the teaching practice. At first this appeared to be a simple task but then after an hour went by and we saw that as a group we only manage to create 10 seconds, indicating that the task was harder that it seemed. A couple of photos of the process bellow.

Reference

http://www.zu3d.com/ 

Educational Animation

Can Animation Have an Effect on Learning? 

With the fast growth of new technology, animation has become increasingly accessible to a wide range of educators. This allowing teachers to use the resources within their lesson to help create a more enjoyable and interesting education. Ainsworth (2008) believes that most information is hard to explain just by telling therefore, by offering a variety of teaching styles, with the use of animation, students are able to achieve a better understanding of the new information that is given to them. According to Pollmuller and Sercombe (2011) animation is flexible in many ways and can be easily integrated into a variety of subjects other than ICT. One example by Pollmuller and Sercombe is how the stop-frames and calculating the pace of the animation can have an effect of mental arithmetic within mathematics. Animation within education has become an attractive form of transmit information to students. Due to the dynamic and engaging way of illustrating images, animation is able to instruct students greater than a static images  (Lowe, 2003).

However, Ainsworth (2008) did notice that even though there were many advantages to integrating animation there were also disadvantages. One such issues was whether or not the children did gain a full understanding of what the animation was trying to put across. Therefore, by allowing the children to create their own animation, they were able to gain a true visual insight to how animation work and create meaning. 

References

Ainsworth, S. (2008) 'How do animations Influence Learning?', in D. Robinson and G. Schraw (eds.) Current Perspective on Cognition, Learning, and Instruction: Recent Innovations in Educational Technology that Facilitate Student Learning. pp 37-67.

Lowe, R. K. (2003) Animation and Learning: Selective Processing of Information in Dynamic Graphics. Learning and Instruction, 13, (2), pp. 157-176.

Pollmuller, B. and Sercombe, M. (2011) The Teachers' Animation Toolkit. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.