Stop-motion animation is a fun and exciting tool for students to use that can foster their creativity while learning something new in the classroom. Stop motion is where multiple photographs of objects or characters are taken and collated together to create an amination video. Stop motion can is used to teach a variety of subject areas and new skills for students, from science to history to English, stop motion allows storytelling and creative expression from students.
Stop motion however can have some pedagogical issues that educators need to be informed of and understand how to combat it. Using stop-motion animation requires access to the appropriate technologies and resources and while stop-motion can be created with basic equipment such as a smartphone or tablet, it is important to understand that the quality of the final product will be affected depending on what equipment is being used (Howell., 2015). Teachers should work with the school's IT and computer departments to ensure that students can get the access they require to use the necessary software and hardware.
Another issue to examine by teachers is ensuring there are clear learning objectives and assessment criteria met that can be easily linked to the syllabus and curriculum. Stop-motion animation allows students to work collaboratively using teamwork and communication skills throughout. Educators and students would benefit from clear learning intentions and assessment criteria that take into account both the creative and technical aspects of animation.
A great example of using Stop-motion would be to ask students to create an informative Stop-motion animation about an Australian animal including how they live, their habitat, diet, appearance and other characteristics. This is an aspect in which students are required to learn and allowing them to do this creatively and uniquely can get students more involved and enthusiastic about learning.
Stop-motion animation has been proven to have significant benefits for students' digital creativity and learning in the classroom. Using Stop motion animation can assist students in developing their storytelling skills as they must convey a narrative through visuals only, (sometimes audio can be used). These also help in fostering teamwork and collaboration as students will usually work in pairs or small groups to create their animations.
A resource I recommend for teachers to use for Stop-motion animation is the application "Stop Motion Studio". This app is simple and easy to use for young students and in my personal experience using these tools was exactly that and it took no time to learn all the different steps involved.
As you can see below is just a basic short video created to show that the possibilities in creating stop motion are endless and students have large creative freedom when it comes to using this digital technology.
References:
Howell. (2015). Investigating how computational tools can improve the production process of stop-motion animation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
(Created by Author)
Hey Margot,
Great Post! Love the detail you went into with the description and your understanding of stop motion, and especially appreciated the in-depth possible issues of the technology. Acknowledging the issue and then suggesting to reach out for support is great! Super great example activity too, furthering on that, maybe different groups could do different aspects of the same animal or each group gets a different one to then showcase to the class for group learning?
Love the app suggestion too! Overall great post !
Hey Margot,
Loved this blog post a lot. It has really interesting, cool and fun ideas provided that in the future I will definitely use as a teacher. I love how you included the potential issues associated with using this technology instead of simply talking about how great it is and what you can use it for, it gives the readers a sense of authenticity. I love the video you included at the end showing us what type of video you can make and showing us your personal experience with the technology. Overall I really enjoyed reading this blog post!
Shira Charif
Hello Margot,
You have provided an excellent explanation of how Stop motion Animation can be used to positively benefit students in the classroom. I really appreciate the images and videos used in your blog as it is visually appealing however I would have liked to see some images and videos which explicitly show viewers the features in Stop Motion Studio as this would really benefit pre-service teachers when implementing this tool in their classroom. I would have also liked to see some curriculum links which relate to Stop Motion Studio as this would also benefit teachers in teaching class content. You have provided a reference to back up your argument however I believe some more references could have strengthened your…