STEAM is all the rage in the education world right now, and the collaboration of Pixar Animation Studios and Khan Academy is sure to be the all the rage in tech-forward classrooms! STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, so it’s no wonder they could create a partnership that’s sure to excite teachers with the amazing advances that we all know Pixar and Khan Academy encompass! Students will be introduced to the wild world of film making by the artists, scientists, animators, coders, sculptors and everyone else involved in the forward thinking productions of Pixar Animation Studios. Students will be introduced to the behind the scenes steps that so many movies they are familiar with came to life.
I was able to log into my personal Khan Academy account, and because I set my account up as a teacher, I am able to upload my entire class of students. This will give them access to the incredible series of lessons that they will be able to take part it, and best of all, it’s free! I’ve printed out the letter than Khan Academy has set up, been given a Class Code, and will have the letters ready for our Open House that’s coming up. The beauty of Khan Academy is that it’s available to anyone, at no cost, so I strongly suggest including this in your favorites!
Now, back to Pixar in a Box! There are six different areas that are covered: Environmental Modeling, Character Modeling, Animation, Crowds, Sets & Staging, and Rendering. Each topic has two different lessons, with some appropriate for all ages, while others are better for high school or higher. Each lesson takes no longer than an hour, and they’ve even created additional hands-on extensions that go along with the introductory lessons. Another component that I really like is the ability for people to ask questions of Pixar and Khan Academy – the answers that I read through were very thoughtful, and will show kids that people really do take them seriously!
As a teacher, and a parent, I can say, with confidence, that Khan Academy is an asset to the world of education. I’ve used their math and science videos in my classroom, as well as at home, to help my students, as well as my own kids, to reinforce concepts in a different way than I might explain. The partnership with Pixar Animation Studios is a perfect way to show students the importance of math concepts within the world of technology, especially when it comes to movies that they are all so familiar with.
http://pixarinabox.org/
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar
