Pixeled Multimedia Teachers Association

Actionscript PD

It’s always hard to give up a day of your weekend to school-related work, but it was a really useful and enjoyable day last Saturday.
Despite a slight glitch with addresses, everyone managed to find I.D.E.A. in their new premises at 190 Queen Street
Paul and his staff made us very welcome and the facilities were great. It was interesting to have a quick look at a show reel of some of the 3D animation being done by the diploma students. The recent Federal budget announced the introduction of HECS for some of the pathways offered by I.D.E.A, making private providers a more attractive proposition for some students. We look forward to hearing more from Paul!
Although the participants in the workshop came from a variety of backgrounds, with vastly different levels of experience, our trainer Adam Parker was able to pitch the session at a suitable level for all. I enjoyed Adam’s historical tidbits (YAH-Alan Kay!!) and interesting analogies that would work well with our students. For example, he likened a Flash object to a biological cell. The inner nucleus contains the instructions inbuilt by Flash that we don’t need to know about, with a cell membrane that has various openings that we can send instructions through via scripting. I also loved Adam’s little paper model of timelines within timelines. Adam paced things really well, giving us breaks at just the right times.
There wasn’t a great deal of hands on, but it never became boring and Adam left us some exercises to work through in our own time. I think everyone came away with something to add to their knowledge of Flash and Actionscripting. Lunch at nearby Gloria Jeans was enough to fill everyone up. It was also a great opportunity to network and share ideas with fellow teachers. Most participants agreed they would like to attend more! Feedback the committee will certainly take on board.
Claire Bloom
Warrandyte High