30 10月 2013 by Muvizu_Admin in News

We’ve always known Muvizu has a huge amount of educational potential and have heard from many of you that use it to teach or learn and just how effective it can be. Here’s a fantastic example of that power in action courtesy of Professor Christina De Coursey who lectures at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and has used Muvizu around the world.

The University of Pune, based in Maharashtra, India, set out to harness the power of animation software and to deliver through Christina a fully-focused, well-rounded course to teach Business English.

Objectives

In addition to assisting with language skills, the course provided a marketable business skill with each student’s short animation giving them a physical portfolio piece. Students would also gain from the experience of interacting with a native English-speaker.

With students required to attend each of the 20 sessions, progressing in animation skills and writing a reflective diary at the end of each session, the end product was a 2/3 minute English language animation of a business meeting – scripted by the student.

What was the class like?

Many of the students walked or cycled up to an hour in from the fields to the university. If their father was ill, they would miss class because they were the ones who would have to do the farm work that day. They loved the course, benefiting hugely and becoming even more proficient than Christina expected. “Many had never touched a computer before in their lives. They are smart, driven, determined kids, who are determined to make it and will grasp anything they are offered, using every opportunity purposefully.”

As a lab class, the students largely worked alone with Muvizu. These solo sessions were supplemented by brief lectures, handouts, video clips and individual assistance was there if needed!

Within the confines of a friendly, task-oriented class, the students were encouraged to collaborate on projects – helping with specific tasks and the voice-recording of the script.

Questions were encouraged, with the use of a personal diary being key to the process. Students were quizzed – asking “What would you tell a friend about animation? How does it differ from your ideas before you started?”

As Muvizu’s primary interface is in English the need for oral communication offers an ongoing opportunity for learners to practice lexicon grammar entailing more than learning programme-related vocabulary, and offering opportunities to practice phonology, gain fluency and to integrate new vocabulary into known syntax patterns.

By allowing students to make their own way around the animation software and establish relationships with the researchers, their secondary language skills were truly tested – both by the demands of the Muvizu interface and the necessity of establishing a strong relationship with the course assistants.

The final session ended with a screening of stills and video clips from the student animations and a big celebration of their successes.

It's great to hear we are not the only ones excited by the possibilities for animation in education.

Are you using Muvizu to educate? Share your story with us.