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Tātai Aho Rau : Pushing the boundaries of educational possibility
The “Magic Book”
This project involved collaboration between New Zealand children’s author Gavin Jones and the University of Canterbury’s Human Interface Technology Lab (HITLab). The author selected his text and picture book, Giant Jimmy Jones, to incorporate MagicBook technology to the illustrations. This enabled readers to see three-dimensional virtual content and allowed children to fly into immersive virtual environments. Alongside the creation of this MagicBook, a workshop was held for children to learn how to construct a narrative through using illustrations and they also developed skills using Anima8or software enabling them to build their own versions of the Giant Jimmy Jones MagicBook.
The children who participated in the workshop were able to learn the technical skills to use Anima8or to create three-dimensional objects on a landscape base to generate an augmented reality scene. The majority of children had extensive experience with using computers both at home and at school and were adept at writing, but were not as confident with their drawing skills. The researchers indicated that although the children had developed new computer skills, the scenes that the children produced did not greatly enhance the story, as is the case in a conventional picture book, and many of the students did not regard the picture book as a narrative experience that was aimed at them. At the end of the project the children were most enthusiastic about the new computer skills that they had learned, but it was also evident that they had gained a clear understanding of creating a visual narrative, establishing that in a picture book the images do not have to reflect the text exactly, the pictures can challenge readers’ expectations of the text, they can tell stories not mentioned in the text and they can add interest and humour. Teachers of the children involved were generally positive about the Anima8tor programme software for curriculum delivery, particularly for the links with cross curricular activity, however, they also recognised that there are some difficulties with utilising this type of software in a school setting, including time constraints and a limited availability of expertise.
The Magic Book Report (PDF)
education
