eMagination Week

This week is a blended learning camp with a number of different multimedia types. During eMagination week at tech. integration summer camp, we have been creating our own video games using Gamestarmechanic.com, creating cartoons with Goanimate4schools.com and publishing our own comic books using Comic Life. This is always a fun week for me to teach as many of the elements between these three projects are similar, yet there are enough differences that it doesn't seem boring to spend 4 hours in the lab creating and developing their masterpieces.

The students arrive at 8:00am and I usually take about 15 - 20 minutes covering a quick mini lesson for creating video games, gaining extra characters, and developing a "true story" within a video game. Gamestarmechanic makes this very easy and fun for the students. Most of the time I have to stop them to take a break outside as they probably would play all day long.

After about an hour's worth of work we take a short recess break outside to stretch our legs and play a few games and have some snack. After all, sitting in front of a computer screen for 4 straight hours, even with students from the digital revolution, is too much time!

After coming in from our break, I once again share a quick 15 - 20 minute mini-lesson on creating animations, adding voice overs, sound tracks, or creating complex actions between characters. Then the students get another hour to play with the program and discover what they can create. The best part about teaching this course is the "sandbox" time that the students explore with on their own. I get to walk around and observe how, and what, the students discover on their own, and answer unique questions that they have on a case-by-case basis. The best is when a student figures out something new and shares it with his/her classmates right there on the spot. That to me is the true meaning of learning, and why I love teaching these summer camps.

We take another short break outside and end with one more mini-lesson about using Comic Life, creating a Simpson character, layering using iWorks instant alpha, or finding ways to add backgrounds to our colorful comic books. The students then end with an hour to write, edit and publish their comics. Some export their comics to web pages, and others prefer to print them in color and take home a hard copy of their masterpiece.