Ed Publisher Offers Multimodal Instruction System for Struggling Students
Brainchild, a publisher of educational assessment and intervention programs, is offering a new approach to instruction that keeps students continuously working and engaged while in the classroom.
The Brainchild Academy Concept (BAC), launched at the FETC 2010 conference Wednesday in Orlando, FL, combines educational technology resources with in-class interaction between a teacher and students. Rather than simply having the teacher lecture or the students do written work, the method involves three separate components all in use simultaneously, making the classroom a center of continuous activity for students who might otherwise have difficulty focusing.
The three components, or "stations," of BAC are:
- Brainchild Achiever!--a diagnosis and assessment tool that detects a student's strengths and weaknesses and subsequently matches the student with the appropriate tutorials, which are integrated into the system, aimed at facilitating improvement;
- Study Buddies--handheld learning devices that allow students to work at their own pace, either alone or in groups;
- Worksheets--students solve problems based on what they've learned at the previous stations, reinforcing their newly acquired knowledge and skills.
When students reach the worksheet station, the instructor or tutor enters the picture, answering questions and helping to work through concepts that a student may not fully comprehend, as well as making suggestions as to how students might solve particular problems using what they've learned when the connection is not obvious. In this way, students build their inductive and deductive problem solving skills, as well as their ability to think critically about hypothetical situations.
The education and employment training program at Florida's Centro Campesino currently uses BAC to work with students who are children of migrant farmworkers. A case study of BAC's use at the school is available in PDF form here.
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Scott Aronowitz is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He has covered the technology, advertising, and entertainment sectors for seven years. He can be reached here.