App Review: Flip Boom Lite and an A+ for Toon Boom's Active Support of Education

Toon Boom’s free iPad app FlipBoom Lite is truly a tool 3-year-olds can use to create animation.  She says not having put it in front of a 3 year old yet…..

Expanded Flip Boom Interface

 

Let me tell you why I think this is true.  It is a very simple interface with basic drawing tools, ie a finger.  What is more seductive than motion and add the double excitement for the young child of creating that motion.  Of course adult supervision is required at first but I suspect they will get the idea and want to take off on their own very quickly. But then how long are you leaving your iPad with your 3 year old unsupervised anyway? There is helpful information on a well designed support site. A short video tutorial sets the stage quite well.

View of dialogue box that changes frame rate, sets up onion skinning and lets user put image in photo archive

This is not just a tool for young kids.  I have used it to test out animation ideas and anyone who has had a hankering to try out animation will love this free app. Free means you can't save your projects.  You can save individual images as photos so if you were incredibly motivated you could save each frame. It is free so expect some limitation.

 

Creating  short animations with your very young child can be lots of fun, but how can these tools be used with older kids to improve their achievement at school?

Toon Boom has some solutions that are being used in schools right now.

The Women in Film & Video DC Animators Roundtable recently hosted representatives from Toon Boom corporate headquarters in Montreal. The most inspiring part of the event was a video presentation by the President and Chief Executive Officer, Joan Vogelesang.  I was certainly aware of the company but I have used other products in my own work. However, I was unaware of their dominance in the animation production universe. Many major studios use their software.  However, what was most impressive to me was their interest in education.  Toon Boom support of the use of digital storytelling tools in education goes way beyond self serving their corporate interests.

They offer a number of products designed specifically for educational and non-professional use detailed in the current issue of Toon Boom News.

Students at Bluffton Elementary School in South Carolina in the Animation Lab, working with   Toon Boom products

Bluffton Elementary School, located in South Carolina used the Flip Boom family of products with students from grades 3 to 5 to create animations demonstrating their understanding of the core curriculum. The first year of implementation, this innovative approach resulted in an increase of up to 15% in overall grades throughout the core curriculum. As noted in an article in Toon Boom’s publication Toon Boom News Summer 2012, there was also an “over 40% increase in science, 36% in math, 12% in social studies and 26% in writing amongst African-American students. This achievement was recognized by the Department of Education, which granted them the 2012 Palmetto Gold Award in the Closing the Achievement Gap category, which recognizes programs that narrow the gap in achievement between historically lower and higher achieving student demographic groups.” 

Congratulations, Toon Boom.  Keep up the good work.