Session 9          

Academic Research 

The advancement of the technological age and access to new learning tools necessitates the integration of creative technology into education. However, the prospect of planning for and providing a learning environment which promotes innovation and collaboration, whilst embracing new technological tools, can be daunting for practitioners. This can be due to the somewhat elusive notion of creativity and innovation in education (Barlex, 2011). So can stop-motion animation affect and influence the realisation of creative technological learning? Moreover, does it make an invaluable contribution to engaging, collaborative learning?

In order to answer the question of whether stop-motion animation can affect and influence the realization of   creative technological learning we need to explore what creative technological learning is and how it can be fostered. The contributions it makes to engaging, collaborative learning and whether or not it makes an invaluable contribution will depend on the learning outcomes of activity. 

Creative technological learning is the learning done using technology in a creative way in order to engage learners in learning. As we live in a technology driven world education is competing for attention with all the latest electronic gadgets that learners can get their hands on. Therefore it is imperative that learners attention is captured and sustained in education with the positive use of creative technology. Creative technological learning changes with society depending on what the society that uses it deems as creative. Beetham and Sharpe (2007) state that learning technologists help accelerate the learning cycles in education in order for it to keep up with the short cycles in society such as scientific and employment demands as well as youth culture. Animation is one of three technological forms the other two are multimedia and virtual reality, Animation is the  dynamic representation that shows incremental change over time (Ainsworth, 2008).  Animation is a form of innovative technology that can be used as a tool for creative learning. Tversky, Morrison, & Betrancourt, 2002: Moreno & Mayer, 2002 (cited in Ainsworth, 2008) state that research shows that animation does help learning but under certain conditions.   Lowe (2003) states that animation is only a useful creative technological learning tool if the processes are supported with 'instructional enrichment.' Lowe (2003) also states that animation will only be effective if the learner is helped to extract the relevant learning required for a particular topic from the animations so that they can internalize it into their existing knowledge base.  However Ainsworth (2008) argues that animation can be used to learn successfully only if the complexities are overcome. In order to harness the positive affects and influences of stop- motion animation the disadvantages and distractions that detract from the main learning intentions need to be minimized. According to Ainsworth (2008)  many factors influence learning using animation and success of any application is also dependent on the way these factors interact. Ainsorth (2008) suggests six different levels of explanation to help with understanding learning through animation which are: expressive explanation, cognitive explanation rhetorical and motor and perceptual explanation , strategic explanation, meta -cognitive explanation, 

Although stop-motion animation can provide learners with dynamic information that static graphics cannot it is the learners extraction of the relevant information and its incorporation in to their existing knowledge base that is key to whether or not it is a successful tool for learning. Stop-motion animation can affect and influence the realization of creative technological learning if supported by teachers and if it matches the learners learning interests and styles. I believe the constant narrative provided by our lecturer in conjunction with the sample animations have helped us complete our group task of making an animation ourselves. Even though we have been exposed to many new software and technical words and processes the continuous narrative delivered in the lessons in conjunction with example animation clips and support has helped me grow in my learning. Animation can make an invaluable contribution to engaging, collaborative learning if the learners collaborate and remain engaged enough in the learning to assimilate their external learning into their internal knowledge base as I have done during the process of making our group animation. Reiber, (1991 cited in Ainsworth, 2008) state that animation can  motivate some people to learn.This was true in my case however I also found that animation helped me cognitively as well, as I had to learn through experience (Tversky et al, 2002). I made myself familiar with our learning objectives for our animation task and the criteria needed for it which helped in the production process of the group animation.

References

Ainsworth, S. (2008). How do animations influence learning? In D. Robinson & G. Schraw (Eds.), Current Perspectives on Cognition, Learning, and Instruction: Recent Innovations in Educational Technology that Facilitate Student Learning. pp 37-67. Information Age Publishing.

Beetham, H., & Sharpe,  R. (2007). Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing and Delivering E-learning. Oxford: Routledge.

Lowe, R.K. (2003), Animation and learning: selective processing of information in dynamic graphics Learning and Instruction Vol 13  157–176