FK organizes Professor's Field Trip for Interactive Storytelling Animation Development (Scratch Application)

PEKAN, 9 December 2023 - A total of 120 primary school students from four schools around Pekan participated in the Professor's Field Trip Programme (PTP): Development of Interactive Storytelling Animation (Scratch Application) organized by the Faculty of Computing (FK) at Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA).

The participating schools include Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pulau Serai, SK Tanjung Batu, SK Seri Terentang, and SK Pasir Panjang.

According to Dean of FK, Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Adzhar Kamaludin, the programme aims to foster skill-sharing between UMPSA lecturers and students in the field of animation, enhancing the competence of teachers and students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and Higher Order Thinking Skills (KBAT).

"Congratulations to all the students. Alhamdulillah, in a short period of five to six hours, the participants have begun to understand animation techniques using the Scratch application, assisted by 15 lecturers and students.

"Scratch is a visual programming software designed to help students create programs that foster creativity without the need to master a complex programming language.

"To sustain skills in this application, each school will participate in the Interactive Storytelling Animation Development competition (Best School & Best of the Best), expected to be held in January 2024," he said.

In the upcoming competition, each group is required to create a three-minute animated video using the Scratch application.

"Each school can submit a maximum of three entries for the competition. We hope that all participants will continue this activity at school to become more proficient in using this application," he added.

The event was attended by Deputy District Education Office (PPD) Learning Sector, Ahmad Salleh Mohamed, Headmasters of SK Pulai Serai - Nor Akilin Mohd Lazim, SK Tanjung Batu - Tuan Ahmad Zaki Zainudin, SK Seri Terentang - Norhayati Haji Hassan, and SK Pasir Panjang - Manisah Wanthan.

Haziq Zakuan Ahmad Khairudin from SK Pulau Serai, one of the participants, expressed his joy and excitement at the opportunity to learn this application.

"At the initial stage, this application seemed challenging, but once you understand it, it becomes easier and more interesting.

"The most enjoyable part was when each group had to create a one-minute animated video telling the story of an elephant and a hedgehog.

"We were able to prepare animated videos as a group, incorporating our respective ideas," he said.

By: Nor Salwana Mohammad Idris, Centre for Corporate Communication

Translation by: Aminatul Nor Mohamed Said, UMPSA Career Centre (UMPSACC)