Archive for September 19th, 2009
Animation and Motivation
In August, I introduced GoAnimate to my university students (Early Admission Students) and asked them to choose an area in grammar that Chinese speakers often have difficulties with. This could have been prepositions, vocabulary (commonly misused words), tenses, and so on. First, I can gave them a short example:
GoAnimate.com: frightened vs frightening by smcminn
Then I ask them to create a story (approx. 3 minutes long) where a grammar error occurs causing some misunderstanding and, eventually, the discovery of the grammar rule. The results were interesting. Here’s one example:
GoAnimate.com: EGG animation by Paddy and Terence by Paddy Cheung
More examples can be found here. (Just a warning: some are good, some are bad.) I would need to rework the activity to ensure better quality, and, perhaps, less offensive creations.But that’s the idea of experimenting, isn’t it. You learn from what works and what doesn’t.
After the task was completed, I asked students to complete a questionnaire. The results, I think, are mainly positive. I’m excited to explore the use of animation in the classroom some more.