If you’re over 30 years old, you’ve probably never heard of BrainPOP, but it’s an award-winning website with animated videos designed to teach traditional educational topics. Its primary audience is school-age children and with its entertaining and captivating style, it is used by a large number of schools in the United States. The videos were originally Flash animations and are now being converted into conventional movie files that can be viewed on mobile devices.

If you have an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad, the BrainPOP website is not viewable on your device, but they have a free app that you can download to view some of the content. Although you don’t have access to the complete library as you do through their website, you’re able to see a new video each day. In this way, the app is more like a teaser for the website and maybe once they’ve finished converting their entire library, the app will also provide complete access.

In its current form, the app still provides good value since a new five-minute video is released daily. It’s not a lot, but for many parents, that’s just about the right amount of screen time for their children. The animations are colorful and stylized in a simple way that makes them easy to watch. The presentation is usually funny, if somewhat corny, and always engaging, while the educational content is rational and intelligent. Some parents may take issue with the educational perspective presented in BrainPOP but it is merely the same content that is taught in most public schools in the United States. This should not detract from BrainPOP being a useful learning tool. For parents that have different views or in-depth expertise in certain areas, the mainstream perspective and knowledge that BrainPOP presents provides a perfect teaching opportunity.

Along with each video, an optional multiple-choice quiz is provided that tests the viewer’s retention and comprehension. Although the ten-question quiz may be tedious to go through, the thinking that it provokes effectively turns something that starts out as entertainment into a learning experience.

With this app, if you miss a day you can’t go back to view the previous day’s video so you’ll have to open the app every day if you want to catch every bit of entertainment. In this way, the BrainPOP app entices avid learners to pay for a subscription to the BrainPOP website. If your learning speed is more casual, then the app alone may be all you need.

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