Taking this tip, I decided to check it out. The tool is simple, and probably best for younger students, but I could imagine that even older kids could enjoy flexing their creativity with the comic tool. The interface consists of drag and drop characters, objects, and text. The background can be changed as well.

Monica mentioned to me that she wished students were able to save their work and come back to it later, but at least they could print it out. Regardless, it would be yet another great way to get students interactive with their learning.

Thanks for the tip, Monica!

During the presentation, Robert walked through a typical science lesson that incorporates the BrainPop videos and activities. He started right off using the added activities included with each BrainPop movie by utilizing the printable quizzes as a pretest. 

Quizzes have been used with the BrainPop videos for a while, but as new videos are debuted there are also new types of activities. Those of you that have been BrainPopping for a while will be noticing that even the old videos are starting to get the same extra features that are coming with the newer movies.

Robert’s presentation continued with a Lab that followed the video. This lab lead participants through a scientific exploration of candy. And while his lab was great, the thing that really stood out to me was how the new educator page is going to shine because of users like Robert. The new Educator page on BrainPop features a lesson upload section where teachers can share the lessons and handouts that they create. Since he custom made his lesson including some very cool worksheets, many teachers will be able to download, customize and take advantage of the hard work that he has put in.

Another interesting strategy used in his presentation was his use of screen shots(still frames) from the videos. Visual reminders of the videos that they watch will help them to recall the information. Grabbing screen shots can be easily done by hitting the print screen button while holding the ctrl and alt buttons. This takes a picture of everything that is currently on your screen and places it on your clipboard. You can view and edit it by opening your favorite graphics editor and pasting(CTRL V).

Though I’ve talked about BrainPop several times on TTB, not much has been said about BrainPop Jr (which focuses on the early primary grades). It not only extends the content to reach the younger ages, but it was also built from the ground up to really shine when used on an interactive whiteboard such as Promethean’s ActivBoard. Though it can be used just fine on the typical desktop computer, several new interactive features (along with a design geared more towards use with Interactive boards) truly make it an interactive experience. Lorraine’s presentation looks to offer some extremely insightful ideas on how to do just that.

Attendees of this presentation should walk away with some very useful ideas on using BrainPop Jr. with the Promethean ActivBoard, and letting the kids get the absolute most out of the experience. Lorraine will be presenting at 9:00am, Monday morning at the Promethean booth. If you happen to miss the presentation, I will be posting a recap, along with a quick walk-through on how she had her students creating their own BrainPop stories.

For a full listing of BrainPop’s activities at NECC, plus information on their exclusive trial offer, check out brainpop.com/necc.