Animations and Simulations

Hello blogger,

I'm going to focus on BrainPOP, as i found it very easy to use and quite diverse.

BrainPOP creates animated, curriculum-based content that supports educators and engages students. Uniquely suited for 21st-century learning, all products are fully compatible with interactive whiteboards, learner response systems, projectors, Macs, and PCs. There is no downloading, installation, or special hardware required to use the applications (BrainPOP, 2009).
As in video games, animations and simulations encourage engagement with visual stimulation towards tasks. I watched a free link on BrainPOP on William Shakespeare, it outlined his story with prompted answers at points where the creators assumed students might be getting bored. This is a great way of redirecting to the learning, as they recapped what had been said by associating new information with what student might find relevant. BraiPoP gives examples of, and for, different learning styles through interactive learning tools e.g information on ADHD. The way the content is set out is engaging and the drawings are quite simple, but to the point. Activity's may be outlined first, by two characters "Tim and Moby", this will help learners engage, active learners retain understanding through engagement (index of learning style, 2009).

Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris

BrainPOP(2009), Viewed at,http://www.brainpop.com/, On the, 9th August, 2009.

Felder,R.,M.,Soloman,B.,A., Index of Learning Styles, Accessed, 28th July,2009 at
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm