BrainPOP in the University Classroom – The Final Installment

We couldn’t help but share the final comments from the students at Middle Tennessee State University. We’re thrilled that the university’s Professor of Biology, Cindi Smith-Walters PhD, has introduced BrainPOP to so many of her students and it’s exciting to hear how their using BrainPOP on their own!

BrainPOP has everything that a teacher would need to teach a lesson and learn something new along the way. Science is definitely my weak point, but BrainPOP has helpful videos and quizzes that are a good source of information and fun to watch at the same time. Throughout the semester, we had a couple of assignments that required us to use BrainPOP and I thought that it would be another one of those boring sites with more words than pictures, but that was not the case. I was surprised at how much there is to do on this site and I found it interesting to just search around on my own free time. I cannot wait to use this site in my classroom and to learn more from all the helpful videos and quizzes. It definitely gets a plus from me.

-Jordan L. Littleton

BrainPOP has been a fun and creative way for me to educate myself on topics studied in class. For students, it gives them a memorable cartoon mixed with visual explanations. My mother is a second grade teacher and said she uses BrainPOP to introduce lessons, and provide a good foundation to what her lessons hold. Her students catch on to the theme of the video and retain what is being taught. Personally, I can remember all of the BrainPOP videos what were required to watch for biology class because of the cute robot along with the helpful quizzes at the end.

In the future when I am a teacher, I definitely will incorporate BrainPOP into my lessons. Instead of me getting up in front of the class and just lecturing, it allows a fun visual aid for all the visual and auditory learners. It also is a great tool for proving background information for the teacher. I would recommend BrainPOP to any teacher looking for an entertaining and imaginative way of learning/teaching.

-Andie Lee Williamson

BrainPOP has really helped me understand key concepts this semester in my biology class.  It breaks things down in a simple format easy enough for the youngest students to understand and makes things less intimidating in the way information is presented.  The information is always written in a somewhat comical tone, however, the message is still clear.  This is especially important for someone like me because I am not a “science person,” so having the illusion that I’m not really researching science is a great thing for me.  I love being able to read information and then complete reinforcement activities to test my knowledge. The same goes for watching a BrainPOP movie-  I’m always able to read the information then watch a video on the topic.  After watching the video, I’m able to take a quiz to review. Being able to rely on BrainPOP has been a great help.  As a future educator, I appreciate helpful sites such as BrainPOP, plan on using it in my own classroom, and would recommend it to any student or educator.

-Raven L. Booth

Let me start by saying brainpop is wonderful! This semester we have used BrainPOP to address different topics within biology. The videos I viewed went in just enough detail to get a great explanation and still be concise. I loved that! Being a pre-service teacher, I need all the resources I can get to put in my library of teacher lesson plans and materials. BrainPOP has been in my resource collection long before Dr.C’s class, but I am glad she has introduced everyone to it in case they have not used it before. My favorite uses of the videos are for my science lessons. They are great for the ‘set’ in a lesson plan. They really grab attention of students. Today, whether we like it or not, technology is HUGE in the classroom and BrainPOP is great for all levels of tech users.

My favorite videos for my lessons have been in the Earth System unit. I am a bit of an environmentalist, so I love to spread my passion on to the future of this earth, i.e. my students, by sharing these great, entertaining videos. You can also use BrainPOP on your tablet with your own children. I have a six-month-old baby girl and a three-year-old niece who watch along with me when I am searching for good resources for my lessons. My niece loves the videos! Another great thing is the wide age group that can grasp the concepts and apply their knowledge in their everyday lives. This is a HUGE plus! Thanks BrainPOP!

-Misty Moman

BrainPOP has been a favorite learning website of mine since I first viewed it in a 3rd grade classroom. Moby has always given me a laugh and spiked an interest in me learning the material in the videos. In my recent science class, we used the website to learn about topics such as Bacteria, the Big Bang Theory, and Evolution. Each video gives the basic information on various subjects and can assist in supporting both struggling and advanced students. There are quizzes and activities that are available to assess each child’s understanding. As a pre-service teacher, I plan to use BrainPOP whenever there is a video that covers my current topic. Especially with the rise in technology, BrainPOP has truly taken education to an interesting and fun level. I am thankful that I have experienced BrainPOP and am looking forward to the educational advances it brings in my classroom.

-Lindsay Crawford

I was introduced to BrainPOP about 5 months ago and am now totally addicted! I cannot believe that I had never heard of it, especially since I have a 2nd grader. I am currently enrolled in 5 classes as I work toward my Interdisciplinary Studies K-6 degree and I have used BrainPOP regularly as a source for lessons in 4 of those 5. I have even turned a few other students on to the wonders of the site, as well! I have 2 kids of my own, my step-daughter is 8 and my son is 3 and they both love it! I put the app on my iPad and they’ll watch it for as long as I’ll let them. As a mom and future educator, it is great to have such a diverse resource available that is so user friendly. have recommended BrainPOP to all of my friends with children, and will continue to use it throughout my education as well as my teaching career in the future!!

-Dayna Judd