New Professional Development from Brainchild Trains Teachers on Data-driven Instruction with Mobile Technology

PHILADELPHIA--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Brainchild is offering new professional development options to K-12 schools implementing Kineo® tablet-based learning solutions. The PD offerings help schools successfully use tablets to deliver individualized, data-driven instruction.

“Every day we speak with districts that have purchased tablets with no implementation plan”

Kineo—introduced to the K-12 market in February 2011—is the first tablet created exclusively for education. Kineo includes many powerful tablet features and is also designed to work with Achiever!--Brainchild’s standards-based assessment and instruction software (video). Achiever! data from Kineo syncs seamlessly with data from desktops or laptops via Brainchild’s proprietary software, GlobalSYNC™.

Brainchild’s new professional development is detailed and covers everything from planning and technology deployment to curriculum integration and data analysis. Options include traditional in-service training, one-on-one onsite training, refresher courses, leadership workshops, and data analytics for progress monitoring.

While many hardware companies offer installation and phone support, most teachers need guidance in how to use tablets for data-driven instruction. “Every day we speak with districts that have purchased tablets with no implementation plan,” said Jeff Cameron, president of Brainchild. “Schools are coming to Brainchild for help because we have over 15 years of experience in developing mobile learning devices and educational software, and in training teachers to use mobile devices for data-driven instruction.”

Brainchild works closely with school staff to create a training plan. Brainchild specialists evaluate the school’s available software resources; data and measurement tools; physical infrastructure including wiring and connectivity; classroom set-up; and teacher experience before mapping out a training and implementation plan.

This summer, Brainchild Professional Development programs with Kineos include Response to Intervention (RTI), school improvement programs, and summer school for students preparing to take exit exams. Innovative Brainchild PD in Texas, Florida and Alabama is training teachers to use Kineo with Achiever!. Brainchild’s onsite technology specialists — graduate students from a nearby college of education — pull data from each day’s classes and train teachers in applying those data to adjusted individual and small group lessons for subsequent days. Summer school teachers receive valuable real-time experience while students benefit from individualized instruction. One such program has resulted in retest pass rates of over 90 percent.

“Over the years we’ve found that graduate students with their enthusiasm and comfort with technology and data, are able to easily transfer theory into tangible results, freeing teachers to concentrate on student outcomes. The result is a pilot-copilot relationship benefitting everyone. Teachers see remarkable student progress and get excited when they work through the process of using technology to generate data and ultimately, get positive results,” added Cameron.

Learn more about Brainchild Professional Development at brainchild.com/Pdfs/BrainchildCatalog11.pdf or at Brainchild’s exhibit booth 3219 during the ISTE 2011 (International Society for Technology in Education) conference in Philadelphia on June 27-29. A review of Kineo is published in the July, 2011 issue of Technology & Learning magazine.

About Brainchild

Brainchild, Corp. is a Florida-based company for standards-based online assessment, instruction and reporting tools helping students reach and exceed learning objectives. In addition to its Achiever! series built individually for each state, Brainchild also manufactures Kineo® and the Study Buddy, mobile learning devices built specifically for classroom use. Call or click for more information: 800-811-2724 or Brainchild.com. Follow Brainchild on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.