Written by Sarah Thompson (JWOC's Education and Volunteer Manager)
The Brainpop app is still being actively used in our Free Classes Program here at JWOC since the licence was kindly donated to us 6 months ago, through tablets generously donated to us through Team4Tech! Scholarship Student teachers Kimchhay, Dany, and Sitham play an active role in training other scholarship students and volunteers on how to use Brainpop to the best of their ability in the classroom. Kimchhay conducted a Brainpop workshop during our monthly teacher development workshops last May and has since encouraged the Free Classes teachers to integrate it more in their lessons as a supplemental tool.
The Brainpop app is still being actively used in our Free Classes Program here at JWOC since the licence was kindly donated to us 6 months ago, through tablets generously donated to us through Team4Tech! Scholarship Student teachers Kimchhay, Dany, and Sitham play an active role in training other scholarship students and volunteers on how to use Brainpop to the best of their ability in the classroom. Kimchhay conducted a Brainpop workshop during our monthly teacher development workshops last May and has since encouraged the Free Classes teachers to integrate it more in their lessons as a supplemental tool.
Many teachers we spoke with enjoy using it with adults and expressed the feeling that Brainpop visuals and videos can help the teachers better explain a difficult grammatical idea or concept. One teacher said, "I am talking about the visuals on the tablets which is very attractive for students to involve with our lessons. All videos are relevant with daily life activities so the students could catch the meaning even more than explaining by examples." Another teacher commented that Brainpop provides extra grammar ideas and has funny games that are stimulating for the students. The quiz sessions are also helpful to reinforce difficult grammar concepts and allows the teacher to check that the students are actually understanding and retaining what is being taught.
While Brainpop is an excellent additive here at JWOC, a few teachers still are not very confident in using it to complement their lesson plans. Technology usage is slowly integrating into different aspects of Cambodian society and we are working to ensure that they are comfortable integrating it in their lessons by focusing on more Brainpop training in our teacher development workshops. Introducing new technology in the classroom can be difficult for students with no tech background, however, here at JWOC we believe building their IT capacity and pushing them to use new tools will better prepare them for the future and allow them to become even better educators.
