The last two sets of ILP days were changed from two-day sessions with each group of students to one day sessions. At first I didn’t see how we could produce anything of value in one day, and was concerned that there would be no time for experimenting or discussion. However in all of the sessions the outcomes were only slightly shorter than the two day sessions.
I think the shorter time meant the pupils focussed more, and wasted less time. However it curtailed the discussion of the given topic. In this case the animations needed to be about pollution, and I think we relied on the students having a lot of prior knowledge, but they mostly did have this knowledge, and with a little prompting came up with ideas.
I think it must have been interesting for the students to experience the hands on Stop-Motion animation and the more computer -based Flash in two days, and will have enhanced their appreciation of both the fundamental mechanics of animation and the concept that there are many ways to approach a creative idea.
In all the sessions I felt the staff were given a taste of Stop-Motion animation, but would need further technical training to be able to run their own sessions.
All the staff I worked with were great at organising the day, leading discussions and generating ideas. They were also all very willing to change plans as the day went on, reacting to the way pupils progressed and were willing to go off on tangents. The TA’s were also very helpful, and good at helping out pupils who were a bit ‘lost’ and stuck for ideas.
I did find as the day progressed I was needed to sort out technical problems, and maybe show the pupils who had worked quickly how to then add sound in i-movie. This meant I relied heavily on the staff to help with all the non-technical problems. Power running low was a particular problem with limited sockets and leads draping around not being ideal. I think the lap tops could have lasted if the pupils turned them off when they weren’t animating, but they tended to surf the net and play with i-photo while preparing their drawings, and it was hard to police as they all worked differently. However I did warn them of this, so I think the one’s whose lap tops lost power should have at least learned that instructions are there to help them, not stop them having fun! (mmmm)
It was great having access to the Art cupboard, as this allowed pupils to come up with all sorts of clever ways of making things, without having to cart tons of materials around. I just put out a wide range of samples, then went and got more as necessary.
The students came up with some lovely animations, and I was impressed by the number of original ideas and creative solutions, particularly in the model making/ set design. Considering the large group sizes I think the students managed themselves very well , and worked in teams well. Once they started their animations they were generally very focussed, and keen to produce a good product. We did find if the group size exceeded three there was usually one or two that did most of the work. Even students that entered the sessions fairly determined not to participate became more engaged at some point during the day and were then really focussed from that point on.
Putting the students in such a different situation to their normal school day is challenging for them, and the potential to not take it seriously and mess about must be there, but the students responded very well and got a lot out of the day. I was very impressed by what they achieved in the time, and I think they will enjoy seeing their work up on a web site. I think they learnt as much about teamwork, communicating ideas and experimenting as they did about animating. Many of students who said they weren’t any good at art were very surprised by how much they achieved. The days were all very positive, and I would like to thank Jo for all her excellent technical support ; Hannah and Greg for all their general support, and the whole Art Dept. for being so vibrant and having such a ‘Can Do’ attitude.
Iona
