BrainPOP Blog

Dr. Kari Stubbs, BrainPOP’s Vice President of 21st Century Learning, is a member of the Voice of the Educator Working Group within SIIA – the Software & Information Industry Association.  The SIIA Vision website, created to assist the education community in understanding technology’s role in the improvement of education, has invited YOU to share your voice via a short, online survey.  It is part of  a very important national study about the current and future use of technology in our schools and colleges.

Through the survey, teachers, professors, district or campus administrators, community members, and parents can share how their educational institution is progressing towards a Vision for K-20 Education.  The SIIA Vision is based on the understanding that technology allows educators to be innovative and efficient, and is essential for lifelong learning.   The results of the survey will be published and distributed in a free report later this year. This report will give you and your colleagues the opportunity to see how your current level of technology compares with other schools and colleges nationwide – and will also show the ideal level for the future.

The survey will take less than 15 minutes to complete online. All responders who complete the survey will receive a free final report and a 1 in 50 (or better) chance to win an iTunes or Starbucks gift card!  Act fast because the survey closes on May 24th.

BrainPOP’s Vice President of 21st Century Learning, Dr. Kari Stubbs, is a member of the  Horizon K12 Board.  We’re excited to share that the 2012 edition of the Horizon K12 report was just released this week.  Highlights from the report include predicted trends for mobile devices/apps and game-based learning to play a significant role in learning over the new few years.  BrainPOP’s digital content and new GameUp features are ready to support your next steps in your teaching journey in both areas.

According to the report, “The power of apps, coupled with the portability of mobile devices, is causing many schools to take another look at their policies regarding mobile devices. Many see mobiles as a key aspect of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments.”  The BrainPOP Featured Movie app is already a key ingredient in many mobile initiatives, including BYOD.  BrainPOP using district, Forsyth County Schools in Georgia, is featured in the report as a pioneer district for the BYOD movement.

With regard to game-based learning, the report states, “This topic has gained considerable traction over the past decade as games have proven to be effective learning tools, and beneficial in cognitive development and the fostering of soft skills among students, such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking.”  BrainPOP’s GameUp is bringing the power of games to the classroom through its wide variety of high-quality games. The National STEM Video Game Challenge, featured in the report, was a joint partnership between BrainPOP, eLine Media, Microsoft, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, American Library Association, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, and more.

Be sure to look for the full report to use as a tool while facilitating your district’s technology plan.  For those of you attending this summer’s ISTE conference, don’t miss a special session on Wednesday, June 27th at 8:30 am when the Horizon K12 board will share their findings.

 

Tracy Drain is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Her projects are out of this world — literally! Tracy has helped design, test, and analyze spacecraft that are orbiting Mars and are on their way to Jupiter. She hopes to someday contribute to a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa.

BrainPOP and The JASON Project invite you to attend four live events with Tracy on Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 10:30am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm, and 6:30pm Eastern. Each program will last approximately 45 minutes. You’ll have a chance to learn the physics that Tracy uses to succeed in her job, find out about the career path she followed to become a mechanical engineer, ask her questions, and respond to polls, all live! You can also upload a video to show us how you’d solve a spacecraft design challenge that Tracy created specifically for this event.

Click through these links to Learn More About Tracy Drain & Her Work

Tracy’s NASA bio page:

NASA’s Juno Mission:

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission:

JASON Project interview with Tracy

JASON Project video featuring Tracy:

So, how can you participate in the live events?

Tune in to the live events on Thursday, May 31st  and have the chance to submit text questions to Tracy and answer interactive polls. In addition, you can submit video questions and video challenge responses before the event. Schools submitting video questions increase the odds of their questions being used during the event.  For more information about submitting questions, please see the event page on the JASON Project website.

Video Question & Challenge Submission Guidelines

We’re thrilled to release the newest addition to the series of video case studies put out with our partners at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

In this video, Steve Isaacs, a Technology Instructor at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, shares how he integrates video game design and development into his 7th grade curriculum.  Steve’s emphasis on the design process helps students develop essential 21st century skills, while sparking students’ interest and motivation through the use of a medium they are passionate about. Using game design programs such as Gamestar Mechanic and Gamemaker enable this teacher to embed essential programming skills into a unit of study that also has an authentic purpose — his students are creating games to enter in the 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge!

The winners of this exciting competition will be announced at The Atlantic’s Technologies and Education Forum on Tuesday, May 22, 2012.  You can read more about how Steve Isaacs prepared his students to enter their original video games in the National STEM Video Game Challenge here.

We’re super-proud of this BrainPOP Educator! Read more about his work. Or, read the study itself, including a survey of more than 500 K-8 teachers who document their attitudes about digital games in the classroom.

We’ve made some interesting additions to our research page on BrainPOP Educators. BrainPOP teamed up with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop to lead a research project, Teacher Attitudes about Digital Games in the Classroom. 500 teachers nationally were surveyed for the study. Over 60 percent of educators surveyed feel that games helped increase engagement with subject-area content among lower-performing students. 62 percent report that games make it easier for them to level lessons and effectively teach the range of learners in their classrooms. Get the facts and read the full results of the study.

Want to learn more? We’ve posted some amazing interviews with the teachers involved in the case studies for this research project.  Hear them talk about their experiences with game based learning as they give you a firsthand look at their students’ engagement in the classroom.  You’ll leave feeling inspired and ready to try out gaming with your own students!

This is the homestretch: submissions for the lesson plan contest we’re sponsoring with Intel are due May 22^nd! Implemented through We Are Teachers, the contest invites educators to submit lesson plans showcasing the use of our resources on mobile devices. Grand prizes include $200 (put it to use at ISTE, perhaps?!) plus a Flip cam you can use to film your creative ideas in action. We’ll also feature the winners right here on BrainPOP Educators.

To help get your creative juices flowing, We Are Teachers has put together a few tips for pairing digital resources with mobile devices.

Show a clip to introduce a lesson. Have partners watch together on a Slate or Netbook. Challenge them to tackle any related activities together, and ask them to brainstorm questions they have about what they’ve just seen. Then, use their questions to jumpstart your class discussion.

Invite fast finishers to tune in. Allow fast finishers to don headphones and watch relevant movies on a Smartphone or Slate.

Use video to differentiate your lessons. Video and movies are great tools for reaching a broad range of learners. Show a movie that ties in to what you’re teaching. Students who are still struggling with the concepts afterwards can re-watch the movie on a mobile device or view another clip that highlights the material in a different way. Meanwhile, students who demonstrate a firm grasp of the material can work on creating their own movies using mobile devices.

Have students watch movies from home. You’ve no doubt heard the buzz about the “flipped school” model. Make it work for you! Have students watch educational movies and lectures at home. Then use class time to complete assignments previously given as homework. Even if you don’t fully adopt the model, having kids watch movies on their mobile devices at home can help to deepen their knowledge of the material and illustrate difficult concepts in a new light.

Get more great ideas and contest details here!

Wednesday, May 16 3:00PM ET:

Memorial Day is more than the summer kickoff – it’s an important topic to address in the classroom. BrainPOP and Knovation (formerly netTrekker) team up to help you identify the most engaging lessons and useful resources focusing on the holiday. We’ll demonstrate the pairing of BrainPOP’s high-quality content with Knovation’s extensive Social Studies collection and useful search and resource building features. Take home best practices for creating engaging and meaningful learning experiences for your students to remember this day and what it is all about.

Jaclyn McLaren is a 6th grade Earth Science teacher at Webb Bridge Middle School in Alpharetta, GA.

I have been teaching 6^th Grade Earth Science for six years and we have been able to use BrainPOP, thanks to a PTA grant, for the past five years at my school.   The teachers at my school use the resources on a daily basis.  BrainPOP brings an innovative educational experience to our classrooms where the students look forward to learning in this creative way.  They enthusiastically focus on the fresh new ideas offered during these movies and continue on to the final questions with much anticipation.

This year though I wanted to do something different as a test review.  I was thinking how I could incorporate BrainPOP into my classroom.  Then it came to me, I would have students create their own videos on topics taught in class.  The students would get in groups and I would assign them each a different topic discussed over the school year.  I decided to incorporate this idea for use as a year end review.  The students overwhelmingly agreed how exciting it would be to create their own videos on topics taught in the class.  They formed groups of three to four classmates in which I assigned a different topic discussed over the course of the year.

Each group created a 3-5 minute skit BrainPOP style.  The video began with an introduction letter reading the question, the actors wearing their specifically designed t-shirts, and the rest of the video consisted of detailed information regarding their topic.  They then followed up with a 10 question quiz and answer key to give to students.  Each group member was required to do research on the topic and act in the video.  Then each group member was assigned a task.  One member was the writer of the script, one was the quiz maker, and one was the t-shirt designer.  They were then given a timeline for each task at which time I approved and returned them. Finally, they had 2-3 weeks to film the video.

It was so amazing to see the students’ creativity come alive with the videos, added background music and even bloopers.  We then took a few days in class to watch the BrainPOP videos, the quiz makers displaying their questions on the activeboard, and the students answering questions at their desk.  My 6^th grade students will definitely remember this project and all had a great time proudly viewing their finished products.  As a teacher it was nice to see them take on tasks as editors, actors, writers, and designers.  They all did a great job.

Worry nevermore, BrainPOP now has an  Edgar Allan Poe movie!  We profile the 19th century author’s background and career as a writer, as well as his influence on gothic literature.  Join Tim and Moby as they explore the common themes found among some of his most famous literary works, including “The Tell Tale Heart, “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”  While Poe’s style is mostly gothic and gloomy, don’t be fooled.  Students will learn about the author’s softer side and discover pieces of literature that are not as dark.  The movie is the perfect resource for teaching students about the gothic horror genre, poetry, and the classic author.  The FYI section that accompanies the movie offers some insight to the myths and mysteries surrounding Poe, as well as famous quotations from the man himself.

We’re excited about the ability for users of BrainPOP and Google Apps to connect the services. By doing so, everyone benefits from the ease of single sign on (sso) and the ability to send quiz scores directly to a Google spreadsheet. The embedded slideshow below will walk you through the ease of installation, but if you want a more detailed explanation, check out the webinar from March 2012. If you’re in a school that uses Google Apps and BrainPOP already, this integration is a no brainer!