Welcome Schools! 
FreshBrain is a great resource for use in your school. It is progressive, educational, safe, fun and FREE.
FreshBrain provides a safe social-networking-based website where teens can explore, connect, create, and share with technology. In the FreshBrain environment teens participate in fun and educational activities and projects while learning the technology and 21st century skills that they need to be successful.
How FreshBrain Helps YOU!
| TEACHERS | Make your class more interesting, educational and fun - while saving you time! Leave the complexity of technology to us. |
| PRINCIPAL | Enhance the Technology and 21st Century Skills you provide your students. Expand your curriculum. Save staff time. Make learning more fun. |
TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR | Stay current with technology while saving time with FreshBrain's "software as a service" (SAAS) secure and scalable platform. All you need are computers connected to the internet. |
CURRICULUM DIRECTOR | Enhance your curriculum through educational and fun Activities, Projects, Learning Paths and the tools and training necessary. |
SUPERINTENDENT | Establish your school as innovative and progressive. Deliver Technology and 21st Century Skills your students need to be successful. |
Examples
There are lots of ways to use FreshBrain in your school. Here are a few examples.
Computer Programming
There are a number of ways to use FreshBrain in your Computer Programming Class.
- Create a group for your class, where students can interact, share ideas, help each other.
- Take advantage of one or more of the programming Learning Paths, such as:
- Allow students to select from the list of Activities in the Developer technology area as one or their assignments (or provide them with a list and have them choose).
- Have students work together using one of the Projects in the Developer technology area, or let them define and create their own.
Language Arts
My favorite example is a Shakespeare class. Some students love it, others not so much. How can you make it more interesting and fun, while making sure that the objectives are met.
How about assigning multi-media projects related to the curriculum? The students will learn the material while at the same time will develop new skills. They can do this on their own through Activities or with others through Projects. Here are some examples:
- An interview style podcast - an interviewer asks questions of Othello
- A documentary video - of an important event from one of Shakespear's books
- A multi-media poster - maybe an advertisement for a upcoming play?
FreshBrain takes care of the environment where the students do these projects, including the steps that they take and tools. What a great way to enhance the curriculum!
Foreign Language
In most cases, you don't think of a language class as an opportunity to teach technology skills. But why not. Students love to make videos, music, or do cool graphics. And what better way to reinforce material than to have them use what they know with new media.
Here are some examples .
- Make a video from a movie, in Japanese - take a movie that the students know, have them rewrite it (shorten to say 15 minutes), then act it out speaking only Japanese
- A multi-media poster - advertise a product, include graphics and video, of course in Japanese
Robotics Club
Robotics is really popular with teens, and as a result most high schools have Robotics Clubs. These Robotics Clubs follow a similar process.
-
Meet - Decide which competitions to participate in
- Create teams
- Get a parent or teacher to work with them
- Buy the robot kit or parts they need (fundraise)
- Build their robot, program it and compete
There are a number of problem with this.
- It is hard for inexperienced kids to participate
- It is expensive
- There isn't much to do outside of the robot competitions
FreshBrain is starting to work with a clubs to have then use the new Robotics Technology Area. They can use the Learning Paths to teach inexperienced members how to program robots and hold their own virtual competitions.
Want more information - take a look at the Robotics Poster, Student Overview and Leader Overview.
Standards
FreshBrain is a perfect partner in meeting the demands that schools have around educational standards.
ISTE / NETS
FreshBrain is perfect in helping your school, district or state to map to the ISTE /NETS standards. The areas that FreshBrain specifically supports are as follows:
- Creativity and Innovation - this is the core of FreshBrain!
- Communication and Collaboration - FreshBrain is a safe social networking site
- Research and Information Fluency - FreshBrain leverages the web
- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making - lots of support, but the approach is left to the user
- Digital Citizenship - FreshBrain promotes a positive online digital experience
- Technology Operations and Concepts - a comfortable way to integrate technology in education
Curriculum Standards
Curriculum directors have their work cut out in meeting standards across all of their classes. FreshBrain does not map its content (Activities, Projects and Learning Paths) to the various subject standards that exist. But the content typically includes steps and skills developed which are valuable in the mapping process.
21st Century Skills
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has created a valuable model for insuring that we prepare our students with the skills that they will need to be successful.
The framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.
FreshBrain is a perfect match for the following elements.
- Learning and Innovation Skills
- Information, Media and Technology Skills
Getting Started
If this sounds interesting to you, please check out our Getting Started page.
If you would like to talk to us, please contact us - schools@freshbrain.org.