NEW iPad tripods are changing the way students tell stories at St Finbarr’s School, Ashgrove.
Arts teacher Carlie Daly said the work of Year 2 and Year 6 students who participated in a media unit had greatly benefitted from the purchase of 15 new iPad stands.
Carlie said the Year 6 students delved into the stories of asylum seekers and refugee migrants to Australia in a cross-curricular English/Media Arts study.
She said taking inspiration from a scripted interview written in English, students brought to life unique characters with an important story to tell.
“Using a documentary style, they have been responsible for acting, directing and editing the entire production,” Carlie said.
For students, the most difficult part of filming is most often, holding the camera steady,” she said.
Student Emily Burnell said she loved using the iPad stands because they had amazing balance and you did not have to hold the iPads.
“You can do close-up videos and far away shots, simply by zooming in,” she said.
In Year 2 students were in the second term of an English/ Visual Arts/ Media Arts unit.
The initial project involved reimagining a fairy-tale and developing physical characters from plasticine.
They had then storyboarded their ideas and filmed their characters using stop motion animation.
Carlie said the students always looked forward to filming.
“They love watching their stories develop on screen, movement by movement.
“The iPad stands have been a brilliant resource to keep iPads steady for this process.
Year 2 students Xavier and Maddison said they really enjoyed the unit where they learnt about the importance of teamwork.
“It’s fun to work with a partner while filming clay animation,” Xavier said.
“Because if you get stuck, someone can always help you,” Maddison agreed.
Carlie said overall, the students agreed the stationary tripods had definitely enhanced the quality of their projects in The Arts and other subject areas.