DRAWING KIDS IN: Cartoon Network and the online course provider JAM.com—a new project by DIY.org—have partnered to create "Become an Animator," a free course for young students to learn the basics of animation. It will be the only free course on JAM.com and the JAM mobile app, both of which offers courses such as "Become a Pop Singer" and "Invent Your Own Machines" for a price. Students will be able to animate their own original creations as they make their way through the 15 "quests," each of which highlights a part of the animation process. Julia Pott, an animator for "Adventure Time," which airs on Cartoon Network, teaches the course.
Cartoon Network plans to share some of the content created by students on its platforms. Cartoon Network claims to have committed $30 million to science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) education, having already partnered with Scratch and Google on other initiatives. The network aims to "open up the imaginative world of animation to more kids than ever," network President Christina Miller said.
Correction, June 30: A previous version of the article said that students would be able to animate Cartoon Network characters and that the quests needed to take place on a weekly basis.
