Project Proposal

Project Proposal
Concept

The subject that we have decided to base our interactive project is on Global Warming, and this will be done through the format of E-Learning. The purpose of this prototype project will be to teach young children about the consequences of global warming and the process of how to be more ‘green’ (environmentally friendly). The inspiration for our project developed from the evidently present media coverage and general consensus concerning the environment i.e. Act on Co2, the irregular weather and its destructive capabilities etc. So based on the principle that not only are the children the future, but people adopt and change habits more effectively when they are young, thus we decided to target young children. The design of our project will be tailored to the preference of our chosen target audience, which are children between the ages of 6-11. Our project will consist of various features, which will make our topic informative as well as entertaining, captivating and most importantly interactive. We will use bright and playful colours throughout the piece because we believe it will appeal to our target audience and maintain their attention. We will also include simple quizzes and interactive games, which consists of tips and facts to make learning about global warming less tedious and easier to absorb. To test the effectiveness of our idea we will conduct a small survey and analyse the qualitative information provided by our participants from the target audience. Then if necessary we will make the appropriate changes based on their response.


Project timeline

As a group, we aim to finish our pre-production by week 6 (18th March). This involves researching existing successful E-Learning projects, gathering possible inspirations and also watching tutorials, which would help us to extend our knowledge of the chosen programmes.
The production aspect of the E-Learning will begin in week 7 (15th March) and we aim to have fully completed by week 11 (26th April). In order to successfully meet this target, we have outlined specific separate deadlines, which we collectively as a group will take responsibility for. We will firstly be editing our images in Adobe Photoshop combining both our own illustrations as well as images from the Internet. We will then be bringing the images into Macromedia Flash, where we will be animating them and using them to create our interactive games/quiz.
In order to receive maximum feedback from our target audience, we plan to show our project at various stages in the E-Learning process, i.e. once we have drawn our characters.
In week 8 (22nd March), we plan on recording our ‘arts and craft’ tutorial as well as recording the voice narrator for the project.
The post-production will take place in week 11 (26th April) where we will be presenting our final prototype to a selection of our target audience. From this feedback, we will implement any changes to the project as a direct result from the feedback.

Product description

The opening sequence will be of the Earth in outer space popping up on to the screen. The user will then notice that the Earth is sad. At this point the viewer will have to interact with the programme and click on the image of the Earth, which in doing so will navigate them to a short animation clip. After this animation clip has finished the viewer will then be brought to the main menu. At the main menu there will be three different logos: The earth in the centre with a recycling logo and light bulb logo. The proposed piece will have two different sections to it, recycling and energy. In each of these sections the user will be guided through the programme by the narration of logo. The first section is about recycling. This is where the user will become familiar with the three R’s, which will be demonstrated by the use of images, sounds and video. This section will also include a drag and drop game as well as a short quiz at the end. The second section will focus on energy and information will be fed to the user using the roll over text bubble. There will be a game and quiz in this section as well but it will be featured together as a game quiz. The user may at any point return to the main menu by clicking on the logo of the Earth. Once they have successfully completed the programme they will be then be shown another short animation clip. Overall, this proposed piece requires the user to be actively engaged and interactive.

Relationship theory and practice

E-learning programmes allow the learner to be taught in motivating ways enabling them to be actively engaged throughout. This is done by interactively. In order for this to happen there must be certain elements present. Modern computer technology allows us to combine different media elements together, such as video, images, sound and animation, all of which are elements that can be found present in most E-Learning programmes. This use of multimedia allows the learners to interact with the programme. Clarke (2001) suggests “learners must be able to interact with the content by making choices and receiving feedback.” (pg. 2). We will be implementing this idea in our own e-learning programme by the use of a short quiz at the end of each section. This will test the learner’s knowledge of what they have learnt as well as reinforcing the material they may have not yet grasped.