Tinybop Schools offers a digital space for science modeling with which students can interact and learn.
Rather than showing a process in a book, with arrows, or on a video, Tinybop creates interactive situations. The idea is to have students engage with STEM and scientific processes so that they can see how they work in a hands-on and memorable way.
Thanks to curriculum-aligned and multi-language content, this should make for a very useful resource for teachers to use in class and for students at home.
This guide aims to lay out all you need to know so you can assess if Tinybop Schools is suitable for your class.
What is Tinybop Schools?
Tinybop Schools is an interactive models tool designed for schools to teach sciences to students. This covers life, physical, and earth sciences with many model examples for each, with which students can interact.
Thanks to a focus on simplicity, this is a drag-and-drop interaction STEM-teaching system that can be picked up easily, even by younger students. In fact, it often doesn't even require reading to understand.
Thanks to iOS, Android, and web app options, this is very easy to access across devices so students can use their personal ones or class setups as needed.
How does Tinybop Schools work?
Tinybop Schools lets a teacher setup an account that can then have student profiles created within that to be shared as needed. Students are then able to begin using the models right away on any device signed in with that account.
Teachers can introduce topics or use printable materials to help students understand what they are about to experience. Alternatively, teachers can set a model and have students begin to explore it on their own. Thanks to the self-explanatory nature of the models, and the curriculum-aligned material, it can make for a great way to have students explore and learn that way.
Students can explore life sciences, such as how a mammal gives birth or the human body digests food; physical sciences, including states of matter or weather; and earth sciences such as space and tectonics. Each category has more than enough to cover most teacher requirements.
What are the best Tinybop Schools features?
Tinybop Schools is so intuitive that it can be used from a very young age and by students of a wide range of abilities. In fact, it's so simple that often it can be a watch-only process that still teachers students plenty even without an ability to interact or read.
The language options are broad with the basics in English but translated content that is available in more than 40 different languages. Since this works across nearly any internet-connected device, it should be very widely accessible.
Some really helpful printables are available that make both teaching the topics and assessing them an option. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of digital feedback in the teacher dashboard as student progress isn't monitored or assessed there.
How much does Tinybop Schools cost?
Tinybop Schools offers a one month free trial and a few tiers of pricing options for schools to use.
The Homeschool level, charged at $50/year, gets you a single teacher sign-on and up to five students.
Go for the Classroom tier, at $150/year, and you get four teachers and thirty students.
The Schools tier is a custom option that allows for wider access at a bespoke price. This also offers curriculum mapping, translation, LMS integration, dedicated training and support.
Tinybop Schools best tips and tricks
Go free
Rather than introduce the tool, have students play with this to learn how it works, giving them a sense of control and satisfaction as they interact.
Print resources
Use the printables as a way to expand the exploration and to give students a deeper understanding of what they just experienced.
Assess
Take time to stop and assess student uptake to see how they adapt to this learning style, and in what ways you can add to the experiences as needed.
