Brainingcamp

Competent test prep with minimal teacher dashboard gets the job done

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 1 review

Privacy rating

Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

6–8

Subjects & Topics

Math

Price: Free to try
Platforms: Web

Pros: A nice option for individualized, self-paced test prep that requires very little teacher work and generates helpful student data.

Cons: Gives little meaningful feedback and doesn’t promote deep learning, as discovery features are voluntary and separate from direct instruction lessons.

Bottom Line: A good option for students who need a little more practice at their own pace or for those heavy note-takers who crave a good worksheet in an inquiry-heavy classroom.

This would work well for at-home test prep or additional individual student practice for teachers who would rather devote class time to rich conceptual understanding. The testing-style questions and procedural lessons help build student familiarity with common state assessments, and the self-paced, semi-interactive, narrative lectures will serve the needs of those heavy-note-taking mastery learners who crave worksheets.

Most students will likely need some live guidance to see the value of the separate open-ended digital manipulatives and to decide when to move on to practice and assessment. As such, it would be tough to see Brainingcamp working well as a standalone curriculum or tool for a flipped classroom, so those uses are not recommended.

Brainingcamp may be the answer to two common questions many math teachers grapple with: “How can I individualize test prep for each student?” and “How can I support mastery learners when my classroom is inquiry-based and guided by constructivist principles?” Featuring Flash-based interactive slide decks with a Smartboard-like interface, students click through lessons on many middle school math topics, then complete standardized-test-style practice questions and assessments.

On the administration side of things, a spartan dashboard allows teachers to create classes, assign learning activities and assessments to classes (but not individuals), and generate very simple reports. Students must be entered one by one or may set up their own accounts; a full-class import feature is sadly nowhere to be found.

At its core, Brainingcamp is a prerecorded direct-instruction curriculum that does a good job of teaching procedural math skills in a standardized-test-friendly way. It offers some features that give it a discovery-learning flavor, such as free-play digital manipulatives, but multiple-choice questions and easily reducible word problems promote just as much learning as needed for benchmark assessments.

Brainingcamp has a crisp, functional, but bare-bones design; a nicely animated lecture approach with limited interactivity; and sparse student feedback. This site works best as a supplement to inquiry-based curricula. It’s great direct instruction, but giving users more feedback beyond right/wrong and making separate exploration and discovery tools a more integrated part of the learning experience would push Brainingcamp into elite edtech territory.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

Experience is similar to a standards-heavy, direct-instruction math classroom. It’s nicely presented and self-paced with some discovery-oriented tools, but there's not much to encourage deep engagement beyond the content.

Pedagogy

The direct instruction style used isn’t necessarily bad; in fact, some guided practice and digital manipulatives make it about as good as a lecture can get. Independent practice will be familiar to standardized test-takers.

Support

Students and teachers get data on progress, but little help available outside of lessons. Feedback of the right/wrong variety. Could work fine for test prep with teacher support, but students may struggle using as a standalone product.

Common Sense reviewer

Community Rating

Bring your math lessons to life!

This website is really awesome! I love the fact that there are so many different lessons to choose from: Expressions & Equations, Functions, Geometry, Number System, Ratios & Proportions, and Stats & Probability. Within those topics there is a wide range of lessons to choose from. I love the fact that it can engage all learners at one point or another. As a teacher, it is off setting that you have to pay for it. Therefore, having the school district pay for it might be the way to go. However, for a 1 teacher it is only $59, and for a classroom it is $95 a year. So, it is affordable. Do the free 10 day trial to check it out!

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Privacy Rating

Data Safety How safe is this product?

  • Unclear whether this product supports interactions between trusted users.
  • Unclear whether personal information can be displayed publicly.
  • Unclear whether user-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.

Data Rights What rights do I have to the data?

  • Unclear whether users can create or upload content.
  • Processes to access or review user data are available.
  • Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.

Ads & Tracking Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays traditional or contextual advertisements.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.

Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.

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