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Shepherd Chimururi Cool Lifestyle Correspondent
When it comes to teaching abstract topics whether in science or geography, animations are the best way to go.

Surely there is no better way to convey how a bicycle pump works or the functions of the human respiratory system? We all love to eat but nothing even the most equipped laboratory can explain how food is digested like an animation.

On the internet there are millions of computer generated instructional models that employ animations and simulations to teach students about cell division, chemical reactions, thermal conductivity, electrostatic processes and other scientific concepts.

The animations cover all educational levels from kindergarten to tertiary level.

It is not debatable that students learn more from a moving image on a screen than they would from a still picture of a text book worse still photo copies with tiny black and white diagrams.

A computer model offers progressively detailed views of a molecule of DNA, from its basic double-helix outline to a close-up of its colour-coded nucleotides. The potential that animation holds for science teaching is enormous.

Constructed properly, moving illustrations can engage and motivate students, make unseen worlds visible and impart an intuitive feel for abstract concepts.

Animations can help get a message across in a number of ways, from providing an introduction to delivering clear step by step instructions.

Animations are also a great way to illustrate an abstract concept, as normally inanimate objects can be made to move in an animated film sequence, to have lives of their own and even to speak.

This is a new way of imparting information that was previously the preserve of Walt Disney through his cartoons. Today, thanks to computer technology, it is much quicker, simpler and cheaper to put together animations than in older times when lots of long hand drawings would be involved.

As plenty of YouTube videos from children have already proved, you do not need sophisticated equipment to make a quick animation. And equally, the possibilities are only really limited by your imagination.

As digital multimedia tools become more affordable and easy to use, they also become increasingly appropriate for the classroom learning environment. In the spirit of STEM, students should be able to make their own animations.

Research indicates that digital animation projects have truly compelling results. Developing original illustrated animations provides a rare opportunity to enrich the curriculum using students’ own creativity there by increasing engagement as they create their own learning objects and take ownership of the material they are learning.

Students should be able to develop strategies for solving problems using the software, developing their geometrical thinking as they combine activities with the questions asked during the animation process. Integrating animation into your science and math classrooms allows you to engage the boundless creativity each of your students possesses.

When you put digital animation tools into the hands of students, you provide them the opportunity to construct their own projects and build their own understanding.

Here are a few tips for making multimedia educational presentations, including animation, more effective. Prune extraneous words and pictures. Include on-screen organisational cues or signals to help direct learners’ attention.

Synchronise narration so that students hear and see words simultaneously. Use spoken narration in a conversational, rather than formal, style. Place text levels close to the image they are intended to describe.

Local publishers need to grasp this new technology with both hands, with new digital departments springing up alongside traditional print ones to convert old media to new.

Amazon lead the way with the Kindle.

We are now beginning to see how animation can have a massive positive impact on how we deliver educational material the same applies whether considering educating small children, preparing secondary pupils for their exams, helping students to engage with their coursework, etc .

Shepherd Chimururi (executive director – Dzidzo Inhaka Audio Visual Learning)

Mobile:+263 772 608 276 / [email protected]

www.dzidzoinhaka.co.zw.