Conclusion (This section won't be completed until late in 2011)
As we have never had access to such an abundance of information, the ability to classify and prioritize information is becoming increasingly important for students. Teachers have always possessed these skills. The Storyboard methodology enables teachers to make such choices explicit as they model the thinking skills required to create an animation using logic and order.
My initial observations from working with the children in the Storyboard project are:
1. Concept consolidation. Students have a deeper understanding of an issue or concept because they've learnt to look at it from several angles.
2. Metacognition. Children have an opportunity to discuss, demonstrate and refine their own learning. "Metacognition becomes essential when tasks are more challenging". (Wilson & Clarke 2004:39).
3. Student engagement. People like choices. Options create opportunities and promote engagement.
4. Paradoxically - More is less. Learning all about something provides sufficient context to make deep learning easier than isolated tangents. e.g. If you received a role in a play, it is easier to learn whole sections of the script than just your lines as you will understand how the whole story fits together. More is less also applies to the skills and multitasking involved as "..the child-producer who wants to design a lesson on the computer must learn about the content, become a tutor, a lesson designer, a pedagogical decision maker, an evaluator, a graphic artist, and so on". (Harel and Papert 1991:78)
5. "The learning process itself needs to be emphasised rather than the use of a specific technology since technologies are rapidly changing and evolving". (Lynch & Fleming 2007:3). This is why I like Storyboard as a thesis title as it is a pre-computer term which emphasises logic in order.
Authoring with animation creates history much like ancient cave paintings, cultural artefacts and preserved art from every generation. Animations tell their own stories.
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Wilson, J. and Clarke,. D. (2004). Towards the Modelling of Mathematical Metacognition. Mathematics Education Research Journal. Vol. 16. No. 2. (25-48).
Harel, I. and Papert, S. (1991). Software Design as a Learning Environment. in Harel, I. and Papert, S. (eds.) Constructionism. Norwood NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. (41-84).
Lynch, G & Fleming, D. (2007). Emerging technologies