Digital Cre8or is a new and exciting course where both teachers and pupils can learn all about creating and sharing digital media. The Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology has setup Digital Cre8or Ireland as a not for profit organisation that offers the British Computer Society’s Digital Cre8or award to teachers and pupils in Ireland. The Digital Cre8or award is a Level 4 award of the National Qualifications of Ireland and also boasts international recognition. Digital Cre8or consists of 8 units, 5 units are all about creativity and 3 are about sharing your digital media creations. Digital Cre8or has been very successfully piloted in schools across Ireland and proved popular with students and teachers alike. It is particularly suited as a Transition Year digital media project where students could take either 4 or the full 8 units and have their work externally assessed before receiving their award.
Each unit is broken down into six lessons where students learn skills in literacy, project planning, problem-solving and collaboration. Each of the lessons build on the previous ones and provide opportunities for students to express themselves creatively in submitting their assignments online for each of the lessons. Students also write their reflections on what they have learned in each of the lessons on their blog which they make available to all the other students on their course. Students who opt to take 4 units take three of the creative units from Digital Audio, Digital Still Images, Moving Image Language, Digital Video or Storytelling with Animation and one of the sharing units from Sharing with Optical Media, Sharing on the Internet or Sharing using Multimedia Presentations. Computer platforms in schools, is not an issue, as suitable software for creating and editing digital media is available on the PC and Apple platforms.