Japanese and Western Influences on the Local Animation Character Design Identity in Malaysia

Identity is regulated by culture and can be delivered meaningfully in numerous expressions, among which animated designs. In tandem with technological evolution, animation today shows fusions of various cultures. Two main influences in the Malaysian animation industry are Japan and Western countries due to their status as pioneers in animation. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the influence of Malaysian, Japanese and Western animated character designs on the local university students’ production of their character designs. This study was conducted based on semiotic theory, followed by a research method that employed a content analysis approach using the SPSS software. Through the analysis of cross-distribution and Chi-Square, it was found that the criteria of physique, national characteristics, and colors in the students’ work showed similar characteristics to both local and foreign animations. Consequently, further studies should be conducted to comprehend why the students are inspired by Japanese and Western styles. These influences also raise the question of whether these cross-cultural forms lead to a new identity of Malaysian animation or only a trend

Japanese and Western Influences on the Local Animation Character Design Identity in Malaysia

Identity is regulated by culture and can be delivered meaningfully in numerous expressions, among which animated designs. In tandem with technological evolution, animation today shows fusions of various cultures. Two main influences in the Malaysian animation industry are Japan and Western countries due to their status as pioneers in animation. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the influence of Malaysian, Japanese and Western animated character designs on the local university students’ production of their character designs. This study was conducted based on semiotic theory, followed by a research method that employed a content analysis approach using the SPSS software. Through the analysis of cross-distribution and Chi-Square, it was found that the criteria of physique, national characteristics, and colors in the students’ work showed similar characteristics to both local and foreign animations. Consequently, further studies should be conducted to comprehend why the students are inspired by Japanese and Western styles. These influences also raise the question of whether these cross-cultural forms lead to a new identity of Malaysian animation or only a trend

Exploring the use of digital storytelling in students motivation to learn Seerah (History of the Prophets) subject

Digital Storytelling (DS) has been popular in education since the 1990s, however, the use of DS with Augmented Reality (AR) technology in teaching the Seerah (History of the Prophets) subject in school is scarce. AR is one of the most evolving technologies that is being implemented in various fields such as military, medical, advertising, entertainment, and particularly in education. The benefit of AR is well known for its interaction with virtual objects in a realworld environment. This study aims to extend the benefits of AR to the digital storytelling for teaching Seerah subject, a case of Prophet Nuh a.s, as a medium to complement the existing teaching method for teachers in telling a story about the Prophets to the school children. The aim is to explore the use of DS with AR technology in providing an immersive experience, to motivate children to focus, and to remember the story. To this end, a series of interviews with the experts and a survey with school children and parents have been carried out to gather the user requirements and expert opinions throughout the development and implementation of the application. Upon completion, another series of User Acceptance Tests were conducted with the experts and school children. The findings suggest that the use of DS through AR, packaged with a colorful storybook might be an important and effective tool that can be utilized in learning environments to support and motivate primary school children in understanding, remembering and ultimately to learn the lessons from the Seerah Subject

Digital storytelling of Prophet Nuh A.S: an Augmented Reality application

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the most evolving technologies that is being implemented in various fields such as military, medical, advertising, entertainment, and education. The benefit of AR is well known for its interaction with virtual objects in a real-world environment. This study aims to extend the benefits of AR in the teaching and learning of the subject of Seerah (the History of Prophets), Prophet Nuh AS, as a medium to complement the existing teaching method for the teachers in telling a story about the Prophets to the school children. The aim is to test the usefulness of the AR technology in providing an immersive experience, help children to focus, and remember the story. To this end, a series of interviews with the experts and a survey with school children and parents have been carried out to gather the user-requirements and expert opinions throughout the development and implementation of the application. Upon completion, another series of User Acceptance Tests were conducted with the experts and school children. The findings suggest that this AR application accompanied with a storybook can help to assist school children in understanding and remembering the Seerah of Prophet Nuh AS. We hope that the application could be beneficial for the teacher and school children

MACA / Juaini Jamaludin... [et al.]

•MACA' is a new app created with the aim of helping students to have an online learning platform for •VCS 265' Contemporary Art & Design in Malaysia course. It enables students to do their revision at anytime, anywhere. The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education) has highlighted ten shifts to be achieved in education system and one of aspirations is for students to induce continuous excellence in education. This app is designed in line with one of the shifts under MEB (HE) which is to globalise online learning and make it as an essential component in higher education. Besides, this apps has the potential of meeting one of the demands on Industry (IR) 4.0 which is big data analytics. There are two main features included in the app which are notes in slide show presentaion and exercises. Interactive notes related to VCS265 Contemporary Art & Design in Malaysia is the first key feature of this app, followed by several excercises containing fifteen questions that are randomly chosen for each chapter. Besides. the tool that is used for building this app Is Macromedla Flash. This app is user-friendly and feasible, since most of the students own at least a smartphone and this allows them to access this app at their convenience. One of the outcomes is aimed to target the students who have lack interest in Malaysia's history of contemporary art and design, with the hope that this will encourage the students to be more confident to learn and excel an history and appreciation excercises with ease