Toontastic at Bel-Aire Elementary School

Launchpad Toys  /  Tiburon, CA / Spring 2011

It is Earth Day at Bel-Aire Elementary, and the students in a third grade class use Toontastic, a creative storytelling app for the iPad, to share why they think it is important to protect the Earth. The kids discuss why they like using the app, and their teachers emphasize the influences that media tools have on this generation of learners. (Created while interning at LaunchPad Toys).

"... the children we have now are born with digital technologies, so they're excited every time we get to use a laptop or an iPad."
-- Lisa Muray, 3rd Grade Teacher, Bel-Aire Elementary School

creative direction

There is nothing more inspiring than watching children engaged in and focused on learning and sharing. During the video shoot, I found myself just mesmerized by how much the children enjoyed playing with the Toontastic app, and how eager they were to show their stories to their peers and the community. The energy in the room was infectious, and I wanted to communicate that exact feeling through this video. The app allows children to be their own author, director, and creative storyteller. As a result, their teachers could not be more excited about the fact that using the app made their students better writers. This video aims to provide educators with an understanding as to how the app can be integrated into an elementary-level English class, and sharing the excitement that students have for 21st century technology.