Starting Flash

There is no doubt that it takes more time to learn than many other software programs used in education - its strength is the diversity of projects that can be done, suiting wide ranges of ability and age of pupil. This means that many programs often used can be discarded in favour of Flash - for instance Powerpoint (very limited by comparison) - paint programs - other multimedia packages. Furthermore many programsdesigned to teach specific materials fall short by comparison because far more learning occurs when the pupil tries to explain a topic themselves.

Thus the tremendous potential is that it enables students to be continuously challenged as the move through primary and secondary schools as they seek to represent information about their chosen subject. The level of learning that results is vastly superior to that achieved by being shown information in whatever form.

The basics of Flash can easily be learnt over the week end - some will pick it up in a few hours. The easiest way is using the Flash Kit CD which shows and describes exactly how the program operates with a series of ten 5 minute lessons

Preliminary projects can also be easily handled with full classes of 32 children on 16 computers - the secret is to limit the use of the program to one aspect of the software at a time by the use of template. These are pre-designed files that already have some action built into them so that the learner does not have to learn everything about the program to produce some exciting work. The range of these templates is being developed all the time as new projects are introduced into the classroom. A Flash Forum is operating for teachers to share their experience using Flash in the classroom.

Here are some of the projects that have been used to start children off with Flash: -

To progress further into the wide range of uses of Flash in a full class of 30 does require teachers to have helpers (here it is envisaged that pupils are encouraged to explore their ideas in a more open ended way and repeated questions occur of "How can I do this or that?"). These helpers can be members of the class itself ( or from another class) who have developed their understanding of Flash by attending a Computer Club.

We suggest that the ideal year to start a project in for the first time in a school is year 4, next year the year 4 project is repeated and a new one introduced to the then experienced year 5.At the same time Year 3 can be approached. Over the next three years a primary school can has a wealth of knowledge in it's pupils and quite ambitious projects can be undertaken!