I have been a primary school teacher for the last twenty-five years and in those twenty-five years, I have seen many rapid changes in technology. I’ve witnessed the switch from chalkboards to whiteboards, an increase in the reliance on computers, tablets being used in the classroom and kids having phones at an even younger age. With these technological advancements, I have noticed changes in the way students learn and retain information. While I think books are extremely important and really help children with their processing of information, I also think it is important for children to know how to engage with all types of media. Video is a preferred media of mine as it assists children who are both visual and auditory learners. As part of the curriculum, I would like some 2D videos made up to assist the early learners with learning things such as reading a clock, doing maths, and spelling. I’ve written up all the education content I would like to cover but now I just need a 2D animation company to put the video together for me. In my many years of teaching, I’ve also come to notice what kind of content children are most receptive to. A person talking to them through video? They lose interest. As soon as they watch an animation, however, they’re instantly a lot more engaged.
The school has agreed to spend some money on creating these animation videos on key topics each year level needs to cover. For the moment we’re only going to create videos for the years 2s and year 3s, and then from there, we will try to seek out more funding to create videos for the other year levels. I’ve since spoken to a highly regarded video production company in Melbourne about creating these animations and they seem really excited to get on board. They too felt that animations are the best way to get children excited about learning. If anyone has any examples of great 2D animation videos that have been used in the educational realm then please let me know.