Back in December 2007

December

Following on from the UNE Creative Animations workshop with two of my year 7 students, I took the skills I had learnt back to the classroom. The two students I had taken with three others had written a script for the inaugural Namoi CMA script writing competition. They unfortunately hadn't won, but here was the means for them to have the fulfillment of completing their vision and gain the satisfaction of taking their project full circle.

A few planning sessions followed where the girls divided the script into manageable sections, decided on backgrounds and cast members. The girls were so enthusiastic that they were happy to get as many supplies from home as were necessary and even completed each of the 5 background boxes at home in their own time. From there they only needed condensed time. I deliberately timed the filming for the end of year when I knew other teachers would not mind the girls being out of class. Setting them up with the digital camera on a tripod in the book room they worked well together, sharing the tasks to take photo after photo after photo.

They were long days, but the girls were so involved in the creativity of the task, the satisfaction of completing something they had started, that they never swayed. Each time they completed a section of the script they would crowd around for the uploading of the photos and watched in awe as using Quicktime pro 7 they were turned into a little movie.

As a teacher, I can't begin to express my own joy at the learning and devotion my students demonstrated with this task. This is the power of connected learning...watch out for them at film festivals!

Melanie

Back in September 2007

September

On the last day of Term 3 at Peel High School I was very surprised to receive a phone call from Col Easton from Namoi CMA. He was running their script writing competition for high school students that had been the inspiration for a unit of work I'd completed with my year 7 class. He was calling to let me know that my group of boys, who called themselves the "Order of the Muffin", had won the competition with their script entitled "Squirt and Droplet: Environmental Police" The prize was $10K to have their script professionally filmed.

Excitement throughout the school was evident and none more so than for the boys themselves. They devoted their lunch times and sport time to planning meetings so we could edit the script, design costumes, plan locations and gather props. Without the very great support and time devoted by Col to bring the project together though it would never happened. Many members of the community really helped also, the Tamworth dramatic society and even the Mayor of Tamworth, Mr Treloar, made it all possible within the budget.

Finally the big time arrived in November and our camerman/director, Gareth Tillson, arrived and really brought the project to life. We bundled all the students involved with all the props and supplies we needed onto a mini-bus and headed off to each location over 3 days. Timing was vital, we didn't have much and there was a lot of filming needed with a lot set changes. With the professionalism of Gareth and the ever present organisational skills of Col, the project did happen though and we managed to film all the takes we needed to.

It was then out of our hands, Gareth returned to Sydney to edit the film into the final product. I think this was the hardest point for the boys, the project was completely out of their hands now and all they could do was wait for the premier in the last week of school.

The big day finally arrived and Gareth delivered the final product for the boys, family, friends and teachers at the school to see. With breathless anticipation we waited in darkness for the movie to start and it truly lived up to my expectations. I think personally I had more fun watching the boys in the darkness and seeing their delight at watching their vision come to life and laughing their way through.

Afterwards they couldn't stop relaying events that had taken place throughout the filming and they really felt like celebrities with the local radio station there to record interviews with each of them.

All in all, it was a memorable experience for everyone involved and something I would encourage many others to take part in.

Melanie.

New to Mac1 PL

Just thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself, my name is Melanie Eggins and I'm the new PL at Mac1. I'm based in Sydney and my aim is to assist teachers with integrating ICTs into their everyday lessons more effectively to encourage connected learning and helping students to feel more in touch with their education. By making their learning more relevant to students I believe we can re-engage them in lessons and create life long learners.

Personally, I believe that is what our society is about today. With mobility in the working place and the access to the internet, our lives have become about learning, our students are not switched off, if anything they're more switched on and need to be stimulated more. This is where ICT can assist us if we make them more accessible and user friendly for all.

If you are interested in PL for yourself or your school, please feel free to contact me on:

(02) 8741 0700

or

meggins@mac1.com.au

More UNE Creative Animations

Find out more about the UNE Creative Animations Enrichment Program here

Check out photos of the professional learning day, teachers and students animations.  

2007 Break-Up Party

MOE Myth Buster Forum

The MOE forum held at the MAC1 Institute - Brisbane focused on the Apple build for EQ's Managed Operating Environment (MOE) it's implications for schools and the EQ Computers for Teachers initiative and answering questions of school administrators and teachers. 

The MOE is a standardised build for servers, desktops and laptop computers across Education Queensland schools.  Apple are building a solution for schools and demonstrated developments in the MOE build they have been working on in conjunction with the Education Queensland MOE team. 

If you require any further information about the MOE and your school please contact MOE Senior Developer Luke Glyde on (07) 323 0043 or e: luke.glyde@deta.qld.gov.au

Useful Links 

MOE Overview

Apple MOE build

About Smart Classrooms 

Keep up to date with Smart Classrooms 

MAC1 Institute Official Opening