Posts on “ cemignano ”

Drs. Karen Trujillo and Barbara Chamberlin of New Mexico State University introduce Math Snacks, a collection of games and animations designed to address math learning gaps in grades 5-7. Walk away with easy-to-implement strategies and access to support materials sure to take the math-related game play in your classroom up a notch.

Last year, Dr. Kari Stubbs was recognized as one of Daily Edventures’ global heroes in education and they’ve recently caught up with her again for an update on BrainPOP’s work, her thoughts on the intersection of education and technology, and future trends. Daily Edventures is an education-centered blog that has a focus of identifying inspiring advocates for education, 365 days a year.  The site’s editor, Anthony Salcito, is Vice President of Education for Microsoft Corp.’s Worldwide Public Sector organization and works with education institutions around the world to facilitate optimal use for technology in learning environments. Head on over to read about Kari’s thoughts on mobile learning and BYOD environments, and catch a short screencast of BrainPOP’s Windows 8 app in action. She also goes on to discuss the growing popularity of game-based learning and BrainPOP’s ability to meet these new demands for educational games with GameUp. Kari’s interview further includes news on BrainPOP’s future plans for more individualized instruction, as well as an audio clip of her discussing BrainPOP’s recent work around education and technology. We have a lot of exciting plans on the horizon, so be sure to check back often for updates!

Recognize Earth Awareness month with BrainPOP’s spotlight and the Mixer! Our Earth Awareness spotlight includes environmentally friendly topics such as Wind Energy, Recycling, and Hybrid Cars to reinforce students’ understanding of what they can do to help our environment. We’ve even included lesson plans and games to further support this important topic. Once you’ve taken the time to explore our April spotlight, test your students’ earth awareness by creating a unique, BrainPOP quiz using the Mixer. Choose from hundreds of earth-focused quiz questions, or craft some of your own to customize and remix a quiz that meets the specific needs of your class. To get started, you’ll need a BrainPOP Educators account that is linked to your BrainPOP subscription. For tips and tricks on using this valuable tool, be sure to check out the Mixer screencast.

BrainPOP’s Allisyn Levy shares her experience integrating assessment into game-based learning. For a long time, I was on a hunt for an amazing English Language Arts game that tied into curriculum and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A big part of my role at BrainPOP® is vetting games for GameUp®, our online games portal. I focus a lot on working with teachers and students to play-test new games and features so we can shape our offerings to meet our audience’s needs. For months my search continued, and for every huge handful of games we saw, only one or two were really gems. We did discover some outstanding Language Arts games, including Classroom Inc.’s TSN2, Learning Games Network’s Quandary, and many of the iCivics games, all featured on GameUp. But we started to realize that you can actually tie digital games across all subject areas into English Language Arts (ELA) using assessment. In one of my favorite student challenges, I ask the class to create a “cheat sheet” or walk-through. This involves the kind of 21st-century skills the CCSS focus on, both in terms of ELA and literacy in the content areas. Quality digital games are a powerful way to teach the formulation of evidence-based arguments, for… Read the Rest»

What makes two figures congruent? Find out in BrainPOP Jr.’s new math movie, Congruent and Similar Shapes. In the newest addition to BrainPOP Jr.’s Geometry unit,  Annie and Moby explore geometry and learn about the properties of different shapes. They also guide students in comparing and contrasting the shapes and sizes of multiple figures. The movie’s visual explanation of congruent and similar shapes is a great support to reinforce  your students’ understanding of geometry concepts.

Seeing the (Virtual) World Through Others’ Eyes: A Game-Based Approach to Developing More Positive Relationships Thursday, April 11 at  4:00 pm ET REGISTER HERE for the webinar. Intuitively, our capacity to understand, compromise, and foster positive relationships with others should be greatly enhanced by our ability to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” In edWeb.net’s next webinar, researchers from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education will share the results of a series of studies they conducted on using a game-based virtual environment and negotiation exercise. Harvard Doctoral Candidates Geoff Marietta and Elisabeth Hahn will present their findings, which show that walking around in someone else’s (virtual) shoes does indeed encourage compromise and facilitate more positive relationships. In addition, they will explore how these studies shed light on the vast potential for game-based virtual environments to improve the many different types of relationships found in education: student-student, teacher-student, family-school, or central office-school. Join Geoff and Elisabeth on April 11th to learn about game-based approaches for helping your students develop more positive relationships. *Please note that this webinar is not hosted by BrainPOP and all professional development certificates will be issued by edWeb.net.

Share your BrainPOP experience and insight with fellow educators from all over the country! Consider submitting an ed tech conference proposal that highlights resources like ours and demonstrates the creative ways you use them with your students. Need some inspiration? Take a look at the possible workshop topics below: Technology and the Common Core State Standards:  Discuss the ways you’re harnessing the power of technology tools to help meet the CCSS. Our State Standards Tool and Lesson Plan Pages are great resources for this topic. Also check out the archived webinar Getting to the Core of It: BrainPOP & the Common Core State Standards. Digital Content on Mobile Devices:  Whether your students use iOS, Android, Chrome, or Windows 8 devices, there’s a BrainPOP app for you. Plus, mobile access is now a part of all applicable subscriptions. How are you working mobile learning and devices into your curriculum? What are the benefits of mobile learning? Game-Based Learning: In what ways do you use the cross-curricular titles found on GameUp? Explain the impact game-based learning has had on your students. BrainPOP ESL:  Talk about the difference BrainPOP ESL has made for your ESL/ELL students. How have you worked this resource into… Read the Rest»

Heading to ISTE? Submit a proposal to be part of the Online Learning Institute on June 26, 2013 in San Antonio! Jointly sponsored by EDC’s EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO), the International Association of K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) , the 9th Annual Online Learning Institute is now accepting proposals to host roundtable discussions on the topic of your choice related to online or blended learning. This day-long event offers professional development to virtual school practitioners and will provide an opportunity to network with fellow online educators and leading national experts in online and blended learning. Participants will also share strategies and lessons focusing on the successful implementation of online learning. Check out the Online Learning Institute’s agenda for a list of sample roundtable topics to get inspired. Submissions are due April 15, 2013.

The New Media Consortium has invited educators to submit proposals to be part of the NMC Emerging Leaders session and the 2013 NMC Summer Conference. The Emerging Leaders session gives educators the opportunity to share any project they’re overseeing that create better opportunities for learning and creative expression. Sessions are presented to a large international audience as ten minute, TED-style presentations that answer the following questions: What is next for your project? Where do you want to take it? What do you need to get there? (Money, resources, tools, talent, etc.) What will you have accomplished (or be able to accomplish) once you get there? Presentations will be judged by individuals from private foundations, corporate foundations, federal funding agencies, and venture capitalists, along with a seasoned not-for-profit executive who will be identifying those projects they feel deserve further support. The sessions will also include 5 minutes of dialogue and feedback from the panel of judges. The individual who presents the judges’ and audience’s favorite project will receive the NMC Entrepreneurship award and a check for $2,500! The top three presenters will be invited to the NMC Future of Education Summit in January 2014, with a comp registration and expenses reimbursed… Read the Rest»

Integrating technology while meeting the daily demands of a curriculum can be difficult for educators. In the second of her three-part series with us, POPstar Lisa Parisi shares tips and tricks for getting the job done. She’ll share strategies that work in any setting, whether your classroom has minimal technology or the set-up of your dreams. You’ll leave this webinar feeling inspired to meaningfully incorporate technology and improve your everyday lessons.