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Team Building

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:01:00 +1000

Digi Ed has had a very busy start to the new financial year. We have had two presenters travelling from Moree to Bega as part of a Country Area Program Tour called LandsCAPe. We have worked with students on Claymation movies set in their home town and have developed quite an array of short films. The movies highlight how regional NSW is made up of different environments from the Desert to Sea and the Snow.

In July, Digi Ed held an amazing Team Building workshop for The Junction Works Pty Ltd. On the second day of the companies Inaugural Annual Conference, the staff made 20 movies illustrating the Conference Themes. These movies were put together to create an induction video for future use. The feedback, as shown below, was great.

There was overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding Digi Ed's workshop at the conference. Staff who were originally ambivalent about a day of "making an induction DVD" thought it was:

"Great to learn something new, especially hard work put into making animation movies, or any movies"

"I particularly felt that it was the best conference I have attended"

"A change from usual duties, time to spend time and talk and interact with work colleagues"

"I personally liked Digi Ed session. More food for thought for some of my more computer literate disabled clients"

"The conference was great in team building as it brought everyone

together which helped to bond everyone as The J Works as one"

And lots, lots more.................

So well done Steve, A great result and really effective in achieving one of our main objectives which was to bring people together and allow then to have fun while doing something constructive (contribution to making the induction DVD)

Thanks again

Breda

Breda Barry, General Manager People & Culture, The Junction Works Ltd

Our Performers in Schools website has been getting many hits and it is great to see that schools are using this resource when looking for in school performances. We have extra staff on board with Digi Ed. It is with great pleasure that we introduce Ian Clarke our new Hunter Presenter and Matt Hunter and Briana Green who have joined our Sydney Team. This increased capacity means that we can offer more workshops than before. It should help with our big schools who like to engage in the Digi Ed experience in the one day rather then have it spread over a few.

Calymation Animation

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:20:00 +1100

Welcome back and I hope the start to the new school year has gone smoothly. Digi Ed has over 200 school days booked for our Claymation Animation workshops in 2011. This is fantastic news and easily our best start to year in our 6 years of operation. With our increased capacity we still have over 400 days available and would love to work in your schools. So have a look at our newsletter or respond to our blog.

Digital Animation Workshop (Claymation Animation)
Digi Ed will run a Claymation Day at your school, in your classrooms. We will bring over $30000 worth of equipment to your school and teach your students to write a narrative, create clay characters, design backdrops, shoot footage, edit footage, add titles, add music, add sound effects and burn to a DVD. This five hour workshop has won the NSW Department of Education’s “Frater Award” for excellent performance feedback every year it has been on offer since 2005 and in 2010 won the new PinS or “Performers In Schools” Award. If the day is not the “best day your students have had at school” we will refund your money. Have a look at the website for more info and example movies created on the day.

Performers In Schools
Check out the Performers in Schools website. This website is based around performers that were authorised in 2009 by the Department of School Education. It is designed to give teachers a reference point for in-school performances or incursions. All performers listed on the website have valid public liability insurance and have had working with children checks carried out on them. The performances have educational merit and are monitored via a performance feedback form.

Digi Ed Software and Hardware
For years now Digi Ed has been helping schools engage students in learning. We have offered advice on how to continue with claymation after the Digi Ed experience. Now in 2011 we can provide all the equipment needed. We sell a range of goods associated with claymation / stopmotion. Whether you need a Digital SLR Camera, software, modelling clay, tri-pods or a complete Digi Ed Pack, you can contact Digi Ed and know that we are guiding you based on 6 years of experience. Check out the Digi Ed Shop and remember that schools can receive significant discounts from the advertised prices.

Staff Development Days
Digi Ed is available for staff development days. Why not engage your staff next staff development day while participating in the ultimate “using technology to achieve curriculum outcomes” activity. Your staff can work together as they create their own claymation movie in what has been described by participants as the best staff development day ever. See the website for details.

Holiday Workshop

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:41:00 +1100

Digi Ed is running some Holiday Workshops throughout January. We will offer 3 lots of 2 day workshops in our new studio in Norwest Sydney. We have 6 new iMacs and Canon 1000d Cameras ready to be utilised throughout the school holidays. Students can book in any of the three dates available or ring to arrange another suitable time to utilise the space.

Digi Ed won the “PinS” award for outstanding Feedback in 2011. The award is presented by the Performers in Schools Website and is given to performers who maintain outstanding feedback from schools throughout the year.

Christmas is not far away and as such we are offering parents the chance to buy up big at the Digi Ed Shop . We sell all your Stop Motion needs including software, cameras, clay, pastels, coloured paper and even backing boards. We are also offering a Holiday Workshop Gift Certificate that can be redeemed at any of the Three Holiday Workshops in January, or at our afternoon / evening workshops on Tuesdays during the Term.

Afternoon / Evening Workshops

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:57:00 +1000

Digi Ed has moved. We have relocated our office to suite A17, 24-32 Lexington Drive. Bella Vista 2153. We are on the second floor in the building at Norwest that Fitness First is in. Just below the Westpac Bank.

We are in a new building and have the space to do what has been asked often of us over the last six years. Where can we do more claymation? Parents, students and interested adults have asked us about claymation courses. So we have created some. Starting on the 12th October, adults and students can enrol in afternoon / evening claymation workshops. Both the 1 1/2 or 2 hour workshops will run for ten weeks and give participants the opportunity to develop their interest in a supportive environment. All aspects from storyboarding to the creation of music and sound effects will be explored over the 10 weeks. If you are interested in becoming the next Nick Park or just spending time learning a new skill why not enrol today? Places are limited with only twelve participants in each workshop. All equipment and materials are provided including Digital SLR Cameras and Computers. The course will be run by degree trained professionals who help students make movies every day for a living. Remember that at Digi Ed we believe that engagement is central to all learning so with this as the overriding factor in everything we do, you can bet that these courses will be enjoyable and hands on.

Dragon Stop Motion

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:11:00 +1000

Digi Ed is proud to announce that we are a reseller for Dragon Stop Motion Software. This software is the industry standard in stop motion and claymation. It is used by many professional studios and is available for Windows and Mac platforms.

The Performers in Schools website is up and running and has been very well received by schools who like the idea of having a central location for performers that have “working with children checks” and valid insurance as well as a performance feedback system.

Digi Ed is launching Claymation 2. In response to customer demand we have developed an advanced claymation workshop that takes advantage of some of the many advanced features available in “Dragon Stop Motion 2” software. This workshop is ideal for High School customers that have participated in our claymation workshop in the past or are more interested in covering camera techniques as opposed to narrative outcomes. In the advanced workshop students use Digital SLR cameras instead of video to take their shots. This allows for a much higher quality image as well as focus and depth of field control. Please ring Steve Towell if you wish to discuss any aspects of the new workshop.

It’s Term Two already and Digi Ed is working flat out. We have only four or five days available in this term and Term 3 is filling fast. We advise any of our regular customers to book their workshops as soon as possible as we may be in the situation where we can’t fill demand for our product.

Steve Towell

Performers In Schools

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:25:00 +1100

Digi Ed is pleased to announce the formation of the Performers in Schools website. The NSW Department of Education has recently cancelled its Performance in Schools Program. Digi Ed has decided to run its own program and at this early stage, has 26 performers signed up to take part. When we start we should have over 60 performances for you to explore. This website will allow teachers to find performers suitable for their classroom. All performers on the website will have completed working with children checks and have valid public liability insurance. They have also been assessed as suitable for the classroom in 2009 by the NSW’s Department of Education. We will run a performance feedback sheet that will help monitor the quality of each performer. This website should be up and running in a few weeks so stay tuned to this blog for details. Remember before you book any school performances make sure they are “Performance in Schools” certified.

Digi Ed has had a phenomenal start to the year with many dates filling fast. If you are planning on having Digi Ed at your school this year please book soon to avoid disappointment. The movie of the month competition will be running again from the 1st of March. Don’t forget to vote for your favourite movie and be in the running to win free movie tickets.

Movie of the Month

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:56:00 +1100

Congratulations to our Movie of the Month winners. Vivienne, Caroline & Isabelle from Tangara School for Girls were the Movie of the Month winners for September / October. They have been sent two Hoyts movie passes each, via their school. Our random winner of two movie passes was Brayden from 6G at Saint Patricks Sutherland. The competition was a great success and we would like to thank all the students who voted. We received over one thousand votes which exceeded expectations. The new competition is up and running and I wish all participants luck. This months movies are from Georges River College, Clarence Town Public School, Sherwood Ridge Public School & Ellison Public School. Feel free to check out the movies and donâ€™t forget to vote. http://www.digied.com.au/movie-of-the-month/ Thanks and Good Luck Steve Towell

Competition

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:59:00 +1000

Competition Digi Ed has launched its â€œMovie of The Monthâ€ page. The Digi Ed presenters have chosen four from the hundreds created last month. Students can vote for their favourite movie and in doing so enter a random competition for free movie tickets. Choosing the movies made me think about the value in comparing student's work. I thought I would write or rather pose some questions about the value of academic competition. Is academic competition still valid? Should we compare students against one another or against a set of criteria / benchmarks? Which has more academic merit? Is the age old tradition of Dux still important? If one child manages 98 in a standardised test and another receives 99 is there a real difference in their ability or should they both be considered academic equals? At my childrens' school every child receives an academic award at the end of the year. The end of year assembly is split into stages so that every child has the chance to make it on to the stage and be applauded. Is this fair? Does this encourage mediocrity or does it build confidence? The â€œMovie of the Monthâ€ is obviously a subjective competition. Most students will vote for their own or their friends in an â€œAustralian Idolâ€ style popularity contest, but who is to say that the movies chosen by the presenters were the best to begin with? Please feel free to respond to any of these issues and bear in mind that this is a moderated forum and it may take some time to publish responses.