BrainPOP Blog

Dr. Kari Stubbs, Vice President of 21st Century Learning at BrainPOP, recently returned from the REAL (Recommendations for Education and Advancement of Learning) Commission kickoff meeting in Washington, DC. The commission consists of 25 leaders in education technology from industry and academia. They have been charged with recommending an initial research and policy agenda for Digital Promise.

Digital Promise is a national center created by Congress with bipartisan support to advance technologies to transform teaching and learning. It is designed to identify the information and technological needs that will improve all levels of formal and informal learning and education to prepare Americans to compete in the global economy. The REAL Commission report will help to guide the inaugural years of Digital Promise and identify any policy hurdles that inhibit progress.

The kickoff meeting included a visit from US Education Secretary Arne Duncan, United States Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, and Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Jim Shelton.  Jim Shelton shared that his own kids love BrainPOP! It was an enthusiastic moment to hear from this education activist and proud father.

Watch for the final report this year. Plus YOU can join the Digital Promise conversation. Simply click to share how you are using technology in innovative ways.

Wednesday, January 25 4:30PM:

The Way to Research: netTrekker Search & BrainPOP

Thinking about projects tied to Black History Month and Presidents Day? This webinar highlights the power of BrainPOP and netTrekker. See how well the two complement each other and support your students as they work on research projects. You’ll leave wondering how you ever ran your classes before!

Congratulations to Andrea Keller for her TCEA Teacher of the Year award nomination!  The winners will be announced at the upcoming TCEA conference in February. Dr. Kari Stubbs, Vice President of 21^st Century Learning at BrainPOP recently interviewed Andrea to find out more about her award winning teaching style!

Kari: Tell me about you. . .

Andrea:  This is my 10^th year teaching.  For 9 of those years I taught special education in a self-contained classroom.  Before school started this year I had the opportunity to move schools and change positions.  I now teach children with varying abilities in a LIFE classroom K-5.  I absolutely LOVE it!  It has challenged me in new and meaningful ways.  As a LIFE classroom educator,  I find it critical to work with the general education population too.  I am also a team manager for Destination ImagiNation.  My passion is leveraging technology for student with a variety of abilities.

Kari: What is your favorite teaching tool?

Andrea: My favorite technology tool is my iPad 2.  I’ve successfully leveraged a variety of grants to bring technology into my classroom. Elaine Roberts, a private donor, made this technology possible for my class. Our class loves to use the iPad2  to Skype.  We also use it during calendar time, independent work, direct instruction, free choice time, and to connect through twitter.  I am able to differentiate my teaching on so many levels with a few very basic apps, like BrainPOP.

Kari: What are your go-to teaching resources?

Andrea: I have to say BrainPOP first.  When talking to other teachers about tech they can use in their classroom I also always mention Photostory.  It’s a great way to get teachers to use tech in a super easy way and have a fun product in the end.  I’d also recommend Pinterest, Twitter and, Wonderopolis.org, and Livebinders.

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Today, we are proud to announce that one of our favorite BrainPOP features,  closed captioning,  has arrived in BrainPOP Español!  With closed captioning available in every movie, understanding and following Tim and Moby in Spanish has never been easier!  This feature is sure to help both native Spanish speakers, and students learning the language.

Closed Captioning:

• Helps students identify the words they are listening to.
• Assists reading comprehension in Spanish.
• Provides access for students with hearing disabilities.
• Allows classrooms, or computer labs with poor audio equipment to use BrainPOP Movies without missing a thing!

If you’ve never seen BrainPOP Espanol, be sure to check it out. Tim has an excellent accent!

We’ve been working on some great new resources for grades K-3! Check out the following movie topics on BrainPOP Jr.:

Maya Civilization
Equivalent Fractions
Mixed Numbers
Plant Adaptations
Subject Verb Agreement
Energy Sources
Illegal Drugs
Physical and Chemical Changes
Sugar
Collage

There are also some brand new lesson plans for our K-3 movies:

Health
Coping With Anger
Dealing With Bullies

Art
How Are Colors Created?
Exploring Subjects in Art with Vincent Van Gogh
Sculptures and Statues

Language Arts
Letter Fun with Moby
What is a Library?

Math
Patterning with BrainPOP Jr.

Science
Hibernation and Cold Weather Adaptations
Fossil Sequencing Game
Learning From Thomas Edison

Social Studies
What Do You Know About Mexico?
From Alexander Graham Bell to the Cell Phone

As a proud sponsor of the STEM video game challenge, BrainPOP will be participating in PBS kids’ twitter party this Thursday night.  RSVP to join the party and chat about the learning theories behind game design with students and the unique opportunities to build STEM skills through participating in the STEM video game challenge.  Network and learn from fellow educators, collect gaming resources, and get a chance to win iTunes gift cards, PBSkids goodie bags and even a Kindle Touch!

This Wednesday at 6:30 PM ET, we welcome back to our webinar series BrainPOP educator extrodinaire Adam Coccari.  Not only is Adam working with his students to prepare games for the National STEM challenge, but he is an award nominated game designer himself, recently releasing Math Evolve for the iOS platform.  This innovative app is a fun and engaging game for practicing basic math facts.  Your can download free version of Math Evolve here.

Adam is a dynamic educator, doing innovative things with his students, so be sure to register for the webinar and tune in for an engaging conversation.

We’ve Updated Our Research Resources!

You know we’re always trying to make life a little easier for teachers. As part of that ongoing effort, we’ve redesigned the BrainPOP Research section, enhancing its offerings and making it even easier to navigate. Explore research and white papers relating to the integration and design of BrainPOP. There’s a science-based effectiveness study as well as relevant articles from outlets like theJournal of Educational Computing. Read about the use of multimedia in K-12 education and review case studies that demonstrate the ways teachers are using our resources. It’s all here!

Interested in being part of future research projects or sharing your own findings?  We can’t wait to hear from you!

BrianPOP is pleased to partner with Samsung and the Turning Foundation to sponsor the Classroom Improvement Technology Grant.

The purpose of this grant is to help educators develop 21st century classrooms and improve achievement by providing technology tools from multiple, industry leading companies. By assembling a package of technology-based classroom supports, we hope to improve achievement and the overall success of students and teachers in the classroom.Grant applications will be accepted from teachers in grades K-12 who are currently teaching in an accredited, non-profit school building in the United States. Ten (10) classroom awards estimated at $3,600 each will be distributed.

So what are you waiting for?  Apply for the grant by Feb 15th and good luck!

Join us for Wednesday’s webinar at 4:30PM ET.

At BrainPOP we’re committed to providing high quality games not only through GameUp but by supporting game design projects in multiple education settings. To that end, we welcome Shannon Sullivan, Vice President of World Wide Workshop, for this special webinar on the Workshop’s Globaloria game design curriculum and social network for learning. She’ll explain how it’s inspiring innovation and learning among thousands of students across the country.