Curriculum Review

The following curriculum review is based on critical analysis of two assessment instruments currently being integrated into elective technologies within the secondary education context examined.

The two assessment instruments are:

Year 10 Interactive Animation Project
Year 12 Games Design and Development Project

The review firstly analyses existing new literacies and multi-modal texts within the two assessment instruments. Secondly, it investigates and considers practical implementation and evaluation of current literature, theories and pedagogy in an effort to further refine and enhance new literacies and multi-modal texts in the two assessment instruments.

Revised implementation of new literacies and multi-modal texts in the assessment instruments is presented in the link New Ways.

Luke and Freebody’s Four Resources framework (1999) is referred to as part of the examination of the assessment instruments. The assessment instruments were examined to investigate to what extent the four resources framework is being enacted. The curriculum review also considers relationships to technology and media and cultural, visual and critical literacies.

Example Games

 

 

 


Example Interactive Animations

 

 

 

 

 

Analysis of existing new literacies and multi-modal text in the assessment instruments

The project based assessment instruments provide students with the opportunity to develop new literacies and multi-modal texts in five specific areas:

1.     Incorporating new technologies
1.1.  Theory and techniques associated to software applications and computer systems.
1.2.  Design, development and evaluation of digital products.
1.3.  Graphic design, audio and video editing with new technologies.
1.4.  Advanced timeline authoring.
1.5.  Skill development in animation – keyframe and motion tweening.
1.6.  Coding and programming for interactivity.

2.     Cultural literacies
2.1.  Role of games and animation in our society.
2.2.  Cultural shifts and change shaped by advances in new media.
2.3.  Culture of the arts – media mixing music, writing and art.
2.4.  Narrative script writing for popular culture.
2.5.  Integrating popular sound and visual stimulus.
2.6.  Peer networking, team management, client relationships, negotiation and  ____collective intelligence (Jenkins, 2006).
2.7.  Social and ethical issues (QSA, 2006).
2.8.  Copyright, intellectual property & creative commons.
2.9.  Client relationships (QSA, 2006)

3.     Media literacies
3.1.   Creating and distributing multimedia and multi-modal texts.
3.2.  Design and development of new media products.
3.3.  New media studies – links to media industries and industry experts.
3.4.  User/consumer created content (Hartley, 2009).
3.5.  Media research and networked peer to peer learning.
3.6.  Transmedia Navigation – using multiple modalities (Jenkins, 2006).

4.     Visual literacies
4.1. Interpretation of target audience and context for animations and games.
4.2. DDE cycle of research & ideation > justification, negotiation & selection  combined ___ with ongoing evaluation.
4.3. Designing and developing visual stimuli to produce meaning relevant to the chosen ___ context.
4.4. Analysis of design principles; alignment, unity, proximity, contrast, repetition, relevance and balance.
4.5. Creating scene based navigation – creating visual signs and symbols.

5.    Critical literacies
5.1. Research, reasoning and justification of context – games and animation
5.2. Engagement with popular media (Hoggart 1957, cited in Hartley, 2009 p2).
5.3. Critical analysis and selection of new media to develop a product
5.4. Read/write interactive use of multimedia (Hartley, 2009).

Presentation