1. Multimodal Learning Environment Analysis and Critique
BrainPOP: Main Idea
By Emily Kelly

2. Summary of BrainPOP Main Idea
The Main Idea BrainPop video discusses, in detail, what a main idea is, and how to find it in a text. Tim and Moby receive a letter from a student who is confused on how to find the main idea in a text. Tim and Moby take a few texts and guide the viewers through finding the main idea. The viewers watch as they learn more about finding the main idea.

3. New York State Standards
This BrainPOP activity supports the following Common Core Standards:
Reading Standards for Informational Text K–5
Key Ideas and Details
2. Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

4. New York State Standards
This Common Core Standard relates to this BrainPOP activity for it teaches the students how to find the main idea in informational texts.

5. Interactive Multimodal Learning Environments Special Issue on Interactive Learning Environments: Contemporary Issues and Trends By Roxana Moreno & Richard Mayer
Pacing Principle: “Pacing is an example of controlling type of interactivity” (Moreno & Mayer, 2007).
This BrainPOP main idea video allows the student to stop the video, or rewind it. Other than that, the video goes at a certain pace that does not give the student the opportunity to change it.

6. Interactive Multimodal Learning Environments Special Issue on Interactive Learning Environments: Contemporary Issues and Trends By Roxana Moreno & Richard Mayer
Feedback Principle: Multimodal learning environments are most beneficial when they promote meaningful learning and allow the learner to interact (Moreno & Mayer, 2007, p. 318).
This BrainPOP main idea video only allows the student to watch, not interact with it. The student could find the main idea from the texts in the video and write it on a separate sheet of paper, but there is no way for him/her to do this on the video. If the student is incorrect, they will receive the correct answer, but no feedback on their specific answer.

7. I feel that this BrainPOP video is a good resource for teachers to use to help their students learn about main idea. However, I do not find it to be an effective multimodal learning environment that successfully involves the students.