124 ICT IN THE EARLY YEARS
124 ICT IN THE EARLY YEARS
DIGITAL ANIMATION IN THE EARLY YEARS
with the visual mode to succeed. However, one of the main findings from this study was that teachers were often working with little knowledge of what they could expect from this kind of work. Because of a lack of curriculum guidance in this area, there is no developmental sequence which can be applied to children’s work. This can lead to children repeat- ing the same experiences in future years, or failing to address particular aspects of editing. In addition, some teachers have had little training in media production and so are not able to support children’s learning effec- tively. In the projects reviewed by Reid et al. (2002), practice varied widely, from teachers who scaffolded tasks very well to teachers who simply gave cameras to pupils and let them get on with it. While there is now more guidance for early years and primary teachers (bfi 2003), there still needs to be more extensive focus on teachers’ professional development in this field if media production is to take place in nurseries and primary schools.
A further difficulty can be presented by the fact that the boundaries between different kinds of texts are very blurred and are becoming increas- ingly fluid in this digital world. This can lead to some confusion about what the nature of literacy is and how print-based literacy relates to work on media and moving image. There are key differences between modes and these differences need to be understood by teachers in work relating to media, otherwise confusions about the aims and outcomes of specific activities could arise. In addition, while there is evidence that work on moving image and media can have a positive effect on print-based literacy (PNS/UKLA 2005), it is important not to always use media to extend skills and understanding in relation to the alphabetic code, as this privileges the written word and means that insufficient focus is placed on skills and understanding in relation to media texts. Therefore, while the literacy curriculum should be revised to reflect the porosity of texts in the new media age, there still needs to be specific attention paid to media educa- tion if children are to develop appropriate knowledge and understanding.
The relationship between digital film production and ICT is, of neces- sity, close. Digital filming and editing requires the use of a wide range of ICT hardware and software, including various types of cameras (digital video, digital still, Digital Blue cameras, webcams, cameras on mobile phones); computers (desktops and laptops); editing software (e.g. Adobe Premiere, iMovie, Kartouche, Windows MovieMaker); or packages which combine a range of features, such as Lego Studio. In addition, some film production can involve the use of microphones and projectors to play back the films. There has been a perception in some quarters that young children are unable to operate complex hardware and software and that this precludes them from being involved in media production (Gauntlett 1996). However, as the chapters in this book attest, that position under- estimates the knowledge and skills of young children and fails to recognise that as soon as a child is able to control a mouse or touch screen, they can begin to explore software in an independent manner.
ICT IN THE EARLY YEARS
This brief review of media education in relation to the early years has identified a significant gap in the knowledge base. We simply have very little knowledge about what young children might be able to do in this field. The rest of this chapter will outline a project in which 3- and 4-year- old children made digital, animated films. This project was undertaken in order to identify the range of skills, knowledge and understanding developed in this kind of work and to explore the implications for curricu- lum and professional development. While it is recognised that small- scale projects such as this will not be sufficient to inform curriculum change, they can offer glimpses into some of the opportunities and chal- lenges faced by this kind of work. In the following section, I will provide a brief overview of the project itself.