Press Release from ACMI
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is delighted to announce it has won two international awards recognising achievement in online development at the 2011 Best of the Web Awards in Philadelphia, United States.
Held on Friday 8 April as part of the annual three-day Museums and the Web Conference, the awards recognise the online work produced by international museums.
ACMI’s Generator project took out the Best Education Website category as well as winning Best Overall Website.
ACMI’s Head of Media Technology, Michael Parry, was in Philadelphia for the conference and accepted the award on ACMI’s behalf.
Generator is a dynamic online space which is designed as a virtual creative studio and resource website for students and teachers to explore, share and create moving image works. Categorised by education themes that are aligned with curriculum requirements, Generator features a diverse range of screen content and resources in a safe, moderated environment.
Through Generator, users can learn about creative practice from Australia's internationally recognised screen talent in ‘Learn From the Makers’, and browse moving image work by students, industry professionals, and the public in the ‘Video Gallery’. Generator's ‘Production Resources’ section provides information on production processes and includes the ‘Storyboard Generator’, an interactive tool that demonstrates storyboarding concepts and allows students to create their own. Users can also use and contribute to a free, extensive media library of creative commons licensed video, image and sound files.
Part of the Victorian Government’s FUSE initiative, Generator was developed following a significant grant from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) who supported ACMI’s mission to provide free locations for Web 2.0 engagement and education for students, teachers and the broader online community. The website and interactive officially launched in September 2010.
Supporting Generator is the ACMI Educators Lounge a collaborative online space where teachers can explore the theory and practice of digital technologies and the ways in which they intersect with existing and emergent classroom practice.
Sara Cousins, ACMI’s Digital Producer bringing the initiative to life, is very happy with the early recognition for the project launched only seven months ago.
“These awards recognise the importance of investing in online education, particularly online screen literacy initiatives and making them as accessible as possible,” said Sara. “While the creation of media is ubiquitous amongst young people, the principles of storytelling are often lost in the rush to upload the latest video and share with peers. A well constructed story will stand miles apart from the hundreds of thousands of videos uploaded daily to YouTube.”
ACMI’s Generator is free and safe to access.
Explore Generator here
Educators can sign up to the ACMI Educators Lounge here
See full list of 2011 MW Award Winners here