Angela A Thomas

Posted in Literature, New Media Literacies, digital fiction | Tagged inanimatealice | 10 Comments

10 Responses

1. on March 28, 2009 at 1:48 pm Shauna Pollard

   Inanimate Alice is a very interesting site. While interacting with it I was struck by the variety of uses teachers could make of it – from English, to Geography, Art and Music, drama and photography. The range of media used and the variety of subject matter and audiences really make it versatile. I will definitelybe looking at ways to use it in the future

   
   
2. on March 28, 2009 at 1:51 pm Cheryl

   I’ve just spent a few hours perusing ‘Inanimate Alice’ and as a slightly technophobic high school English teacher, I’m sold! I loved the multimodal, interactive nature of the narrative. I will definitely be using it with my students.

   
   
3. on March 28, 2009 at 1:53 pm Shawnah

   I read through the first three stories of inanimate alice, and whilst the production itself is stylistically very good, I found it a little frustrating to navigate. My two biggest annoyances were that the site does not provide detailed instructions on how to use it (particularly the game in the “Italy” espisode) and that moving between screens took too long, as the arrow button was delayed.
   However, the development of the writing and complexity of graphics over the course of the episodes as the character matures is effective. The production provides a number of avenues for teaching within the classroom

   
   
4. on March 28, 2009 at 1:53 pm jennifer

   Inanimate Alice is a fascinating and entertaining text. I am glad I have been introduced to it and will be trying to incorporate it into my programmes as a teaching tool and an example of a digital story that operates on a number of levels. It will probably stimulate a positive response and might even be a way of persuading teachers that there are other perfectly legitimate and complex ways to tell stories that students are able to access.

   But why is it called ‘inanimate Alice’? Is it a pun? A reference that just goes over my head? Is it because we can’t see her, so we animate her? So that is likely to be the first thing I ask my students to explain to me.

   
   
5. on March 28, 2009 at 1:53 pm Alisha

   It was an interesting experience reading and participating in the text Inanimate Alice. As a teacher I can see how digital fiction requires a whole new set of reading skills and interactivity of behalf of the reader. It will be wonderful to take what I have learnt today back to the classroom to teach children about digital storytelling and the skills they need to read digital fiction. Most importantly though I can’t wait to give my students opportunities to create their own digital fiction texts.

   
   
6. on March 28, 2009 at 1:54 pm Anonymous

   Inanimate Alice is a great resource for differentiated learning. There are so many layers to the texts but it remains accessible to learners of varying abilities because of its interactive nature. It also caters to different types of learners which is always helpful when looking for activities that will engage the entire class.

   
   
7. on March 28, 2009 at 1:56 pm Anonymous

   Looking at the program ‘Inanimate Alice’ has exceeded my expectations in regards to utilising technology in the classroom. Students are able to interact with the narrative and explore all of the digital concepts used as well as identify all the themes that surface as the story progresses. You can see direct links with “Inanimate Alice’ and the quality teaching framework as it is highly engaging and culturally relevant, especially to the students within my class.

   
   
8. on March 28, 2009 at 10:37 pm Jess

   Brilliant photos! I love the computer lab you have – is that always at your disposal or is that your normal teaching classroom?

   I’d love to know what your students made of I.A. and if they were reading/interacting with it as a pedagogical resource?

   One of the comments, made by Shauna, talks about the different uses in terms of disciplines/subjects that I.A. could be used with. In the two lesson plan packs (that I think you’ve downloaded Angela) I have a few examples of using I.A. with subjects other than English/literacy teaching. If anyone is interested, you can download the packs from here: http://www.inanimatealice.com/education. I’d be interested to hear how others are using born digital stories like Inanimate Alice.

   
   
9. on March 28, 2009 at 10:59 pm Angela Thomas

   Thanks Jess! Yes the students today were all English and/or Primary school teachers so they were interacting with the story as educators from all levels (year 3 to year 12). The story is so richly layered that every single person could imagine a different way or ways to explore its use in their respective classroom contexts.
   Unfortunately it only played one part of a day packed in with other things, so although you may see pictures there of the teachers with the pedagogy packs, we did not get a great deal of time to investigate and discuss the range of lessons you provided. However they now know where to look and can do so at their own leisure.
   We have a number of computer labs in our faculty but this one is my favourite and the only one with Second Life installed, so I jump in with my room bookings early to make sure I get it. The seating layout could be improved but the computers are all new and pretty

   
   
10. on April 9, 2009 at 6:29 am Promoting Digital Literacy from the Bottom Up « iTeach Inanimate Alice

    [...] to try digital fiction? (And yes, Angela has a pretty decent computer set-up!). Do read Angela’s blog posts about this session too. Posted by Jess Filed in IA News No Comments [...]