Shield of Innocence Initiative, a Nigerian non-governmental organization has harped on leveraging animation and games in formal education because of its veritable vehicle of delivery.
The organization has So far been able to use the tool of social media to share its education program, known as Edu-Toons to over 10,000 learners.
“We taught a subject on fractions using our “Louis Pedantic” series titled “Fraction It In,” Bidemi Nelson, Chief Executive officer of Shield of Innocence said at the 10th Annual “2020 mEducation Alliance Virtual Symposia Series with the theme: Play and Technology for Lifelong Learning which held from September 14 to 16, 2020.
“Edu-Toons & Edu-Games are educational solutions for primary-school level of learning which can complement each other or work individually, depending on learning objectives. They present curriculum-based subjects to learners using animations and games to teach and assess,” Bidemi said.
According to her, they are designed to provide education to Out-of-School and displaced children in both official and vernacular languages.
“They are considered Covid-19 educational solutions because they can meet the educational needs of millions of learners still at home due to the Covid-19-related school closure.
They can also be used within traditional school settings to assist learners and teachers. They are easily accessible to all categories of learners irrespective of economic class because they use mass media channels such as televisions (for animations) and phones (for games).”
Below is full text of her presentation at the symposium:
EDU-TOONS & EDU-GAMES: LEVERAGING ANIMATIONS AND GAMES IN FORMAL EDUCATION
Presentation by Bidemi Nelson, CEO, Shield of Innocence Initiative, Nigeria, at the 2020 mEducation Alliance Symposia Series (Adapting Games for Offline Learning: Part 2)
15th of September, 2020
Formal education typically has features of its teaching and learning being organized, being in a school system and its educational progress and academic outcomes being based on teaching and learning outcomes within a school system. Nevertheless, it has the following gaps:
· Its success is believed to be hugely dependent on the existence of school and its attendance;
· It is not available to every learner because not everyone can attend school and many times, schools and school resources are not adequate;
· Actual learning and effective assessments are not guaranteed;
· Educational content can sometimes be irrelevant for work and life skills.
The need to critique formal education and compare formal education in both traditional settings and animation and games (Edu-Toons & Edu-Games) settings therefore becomes pertinent. We will do this in 3 areas:
· Channels: Formal education in traditional settings requires that learners be located in a school and a classroom for learning to take place while formal education using animations and games does not require learners or learning to be in a classroom but rather for learners to have access to traditional mass media such as television or phones.
· Process: Formal education in traditional settings requires traditional classroom teaching and learning such as rote learning be employed while with Edu-Toons & Edu-Games teaching and learning takes place via storytelling, problem identification, problem exploration and sequenced problem solving.
· Feedback: Formal education in traditional settings requires that traditional tests and assignment system which is abstract and boring in many cases be employed, alongside the fact that it does not support learners to identify learning gaps individually and specifically.
Edu-Toons & Edu-Games on the other hand makes use of simple computer games that simulate real life problems and help learners identify their learning gaps, individually and specifically.
Edu-Toons & Edu-Games are educational solutions for primary-school level of learning which can complement each other or work individually, depending on learning objectives. They present curriculum-based subjects to learners using animations and games to teach and assess.
They are designed to provide education to Out-of-School and displaced children in both official and vernacular languages. They are considered Covid-19 educational solutions because they can meet the educational needs of millions of learners still at home due to the Covid-19-related school closure.
They can also be used within traditional school settings to assist learners and teachers. They are easily accessible to all categories of learners irrespective of economic class because they use mass media channels such as televisions (for animations) and phones (for games).
So far, we have been able to use the tool of social media to share Edu-Toons to over 10,000 learners. We taught a subject on fractions using our “Louis Pedantic” series titled “Fraction It In”. Our commitment with Edu-Toons & Edu-Games are as follows:
• Ensuring the continuation of formal learning within or outside school.
• Actual learning outcomes relevant for life and work skills.
• Effective assessments where both learners and teachers can identify learning gaps immediately.
• Providing primary school curriculum-based education to children who ordinarily are not catered for by their government or resident country’s educational system.
• Bridging learning disparities among primary school learners globally by encouraging collaboration in curriculum content and development, teachers’ networking and the exploration of animations and games to teach and learn.
Edu-Toons & Edu-Games are in need of support in various areas to cater to the learning needs of children. Some of these areas include:
• Collaborative Networking: Our team needs more hands. We need more teachers, animators, game designers and researchers, among others to help us with developing and modifying learning and assessment content.
• Finance: We need financial support and/or investment to produce a batch of Edu-Toons & Edu-Games to cover 60 lessons in Mathematics, English and Basic Science subjects.
• Mentoring: We desire mentoring opportunities with organisations and individuals who are passionate about using animations and games to educate children.
