Posts on “ mobile learning ”

With all the excitement about our new iOS app, BrainPOP welcomes guest blogger, and mobile technology advocate Scott Newcomb.  Scott has taught for 10 years and works with 4th graders at St. Marys Intermediate School, Ohio. This is a public school in its 3rd year using mobile learning devices with their students. Scott helped organize and participated in the first Mobile Learning Technology Conference in Ohio in May of 2009. Scott has helped with professional development training for staff members using smartphone computers. He has presented about Mobile Learning at the E-Tech Ohio Conference, Mobile Learning Technology Conference in Ohio 2009-2010, OSBA Conference, and the ISTE Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA.  He has also conducted webinars on the topic of mobile learning for Classroom 2.0 Live, EdTech Talk and the Reform Symposium. Can’t Miss Mobile Learning Resources @SNewco 1)   Mobile Learning Integration via @kylepace If you are looking to integrate iPads and iPods into your classroom curriculum, this is the site for you! It has an entire section of apps that work well in the classroom.  It also has user guides, pod casts and a user agreement. Another great aspect of this site is that it highlights tips and tricks… Read the Rest»

It’s been an “app-solutely” great week here at BrainPOP! First, we launched a major update to our iOS Featured Movie app, enabling mobile access to all our movies and quizzes. You’d been asking for it, and we delivered! Now, we’re thrilled to report that users have given the app a five-star rating and a ton of awesome written reviews. If you haven’t yet left a comment in iTunes, we’d love it if you did! [Note, you’ll need to view the page IN iTunes in order to write the review.] iTunes has also featured us in several categories: · “New and Noteworthy” in Education, under iPad as well as iPhone · Number 3 among the free Edu iPad apps · “Curricula Support” under “Apps for Teachers” · “Just for Fun” in “Apps for Kids” And please leave us feedback or questions regarding the app. We’re working hard to support mobile learning in classrooms and on the go.  

You’ve been asking about it for months … and now you’ve got it! We’re proud to announce the launch of a major upgrade to our popular Featured Movie app, enabling mobile access to our entire collection of movies and quizzes from your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.  The upgraded app, available in the iTunes App Store will continue to deliver a fresh – and free! – Featured Movie and related quiz every day.  But you’ll also have the option of adding one of two subscriptions for additional learning. “Explorer Level”  complements the free Featured Movie with four additional related movies and quizzes each day. ($1.99/month) “Full Access Level” gives you unlimited access to all 750+ BrainPOP movies and quizzes  ($6.99/month)- sorry, K-3 teachers – BrainPOP only for now. If you’re already a BrainPOP subscriber, you’ll be able to log in from the app at no additional cost. If you’ve already been enjoying the previous version of the app, there is no need to re-download, just click update when prompted by iTunes®.  So, take the new version for a spin and tell us what you think – we’d love your feedback! Our Featured Movie app has been downloaded more than 900,000 times, and… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, September 21 6:30 PM EST Duration 1 hour Go mobile with BrainPOP! Special guest host Tammie Mihet, a Florida teacher, shows you creative ways to use work our Featured Movie app into your day. Whether you use the app in Chrome, on an HP TouchPad, or on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, you’ll pick up great integration ideas, lesson plans, resources, and more.

Aysha Ames is a fourth grade mathematics teacher in Montclair, New Jersey. BrainPOP has been an essential component of her classroom for the past two years and she is always finding new and creative ways to use iPod Touches, other mobile devices, and technology with her students. Check out how she uses the BrainPOP Featured Movie App in conjunction with her Morning Meeting. As a mathematics teacher of 75 students I find that it’s often hard to address current and historical events in a class period when there’s so much subject matter to teach. I was at a crossroads…I wanted to connect my students with the world around them, but I had difficulty finding the time!  Then I discovered…there’s the BrainPOP Featured Movie App for that! I think Morning Meeting is a great way to foster a spirit of community in my classroom. My homeroom students and I generally like to discuss the day’s historical significance and current events; however, there was a huge disparity in students’ background knowledge.   I would often find that certain students would dominate the discussion while others would remain silent. I would have no idea what my students previously knew about the topic, or what… Read the Rest»

Wendy Gorton is a technology integrator at an American school in India, a Google Certified Teacher, and Google Apps EDU Certified Trainer. She enjoys integrating collaborative and innovative technologies in the classroom to help her students learn and share about the world with each other.  Find her to collaborate on www.twitter.com/wendygorton! I first saw Moby, not in the flesh, but most certainly in the plush, roaming around the halls of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) annual conference in Denver last year. I was immediately transported back to the memory of my first walk down Main Street in Disneyland when I was six, spotting Minnie Mouse and instantly enveloping her in hugs. As a fully-grown adult having this kind of excitement and glee over seeing this whimsical character whose beeping wise cracks are so familiar to me, my students, and my fellow teachers, I can only imagine the joy that my students would have. I instantly uploaded the photo online for all of my students back at home, who comment back with cries of joy and, “Did he beep?” I discovered BrainPOP as a student teacher five years ago and never turned back. Oftentimes, videos can be maligned… Read the Rest»

ISTE’s Special Interest Group for Mobile Learning is pleased to announce a Video Contest on Mobile Learning! Here’s the scoop: Who:The contest is open to ISTE SIGML members. If you are an ISTE member but not a SIGML member, it is easy to join. Log on at www.iste.org, click “Connect” (top left), and then choose “Join a SIG” from the left-hand navigation. Once there just check the box next to Mobile Learning (SIGML), click “Save” at the bottom of the page and you’re done! What: Show off your best practices in mobile learning by creating a short video (3 minutes max) that showcases what you are doing with mobile learning and share it with ISTE members. An independent panel of judges will pick the top 10 videos. ISTE members will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite 3. Winners will receive some fabulous prizes! For the full scoop, visit the contest wiki http://sigml.iste.wikispaces.net/2011_Video_Contest When: Videos are due May 13, 2011 Prizes: First – Flip Camera with accessories and ten Titanium headphones (HPK-1040) from Califone Second – ISTE book and five Titanium headphones Third – ISTE book and one Titanium headphone To see the contest entries from 2010, please visit… Read the Rest»

Missed the Mobile Learning Experience in Phoenix earlier this month? Still interested in learning more about mobile devices in the classroom? Your problems are solved! Checkout the Mobile Learning Experience Conference blog. With hundreds of blog posts over the three-day event, you are sure to find some pertinent information from favorite apps to student perspectives on mobiles. I love the scoop on the QR codes and their potential for student learning. Check it out and let us know what ideas bubble to the top for you!

Kate Ryder, a 5th year elementary school teacher, is one of five winners in the Mobile Learning Experience Contest. Join us in congratulating Kate as she shares her vision for mobile learning, “My own love of learning, A-Ha moments, and FUN are promoted by my favorite mobile devices. I, myself, have experienced a positive impact professionally and personally when incorporating mobile learning into my daily life and as a result strive to provide my students with the same opportunity.” Mobile Learning Facilitates A-HAs and FUN There are two things any teacher, from pre-service to old-school veteran, will tell you are required for high student achievement (academically and socially). No, it is not based on years of research…just good old fashioned common sense! Students learn and retain more information when: 1.  The students’ light bulbs illuminate and they have “A-Ha” experiences. and 2. Students are engaged, on task, and learning when they are…dare I say it…having FUN! Even though this is not justification for the “powers that be,” it is understood by educators that are in the trenches everyday. (However, when decision makers are asked about their favorite teacher…inevitably, that teacher cared to make learning memorable and FUN!) Mobile learning facilitates these two elements in… Read the Rest»

Join us in congratulating, Mary Bade, as one of the five winners in the Mobile Learning Experience Contest.  Mary is a a former 5th grade teacher and current Teacher Technology Facilitator at Los Ranchitos Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona. She started teaching for the Department of Defense Schools in Italy in 2006 and moved to Tucson in 2008. Her current school district, Sunnyside Unified School District, has taken on a digital initiative to put laptops in the hands of 5th and 6th graders by the end of 2011. Mary shares with us her vision for mobile learning, “I am honored and encouraged to be a part of this endeavor by the district, but want to take learning to an all new level with the students by making it a truly mobile learning experience.” Life Long Learning In Your Hand What better way to engage students in achieving academic success than reaching them with the tools they use every day. Laptops, iPods, iPhones and iPads are where our students are comfortable using and acquiring information. I envision a class where all students are engaged in the learning process with a computer in front of them and a smaller portable device for on the go… Read the Rest»