“Bring Movement into the Classroom”… with Hopspots By Trine Askjær-Jørgensen Studies show that active pupils learn better and more because movement significantly increases learning. Thus, pupils who are more active “exhibit better focus, faster cognitive processing and more successful memory retention” compared to children who spend the entire school day sitting still (Abdelbary 2017). The reason for this is that keeping the body active through movement increases the blood and oxygen flow to the brain, which promotes mental clarity and positively affects cognitive development as well as physical and neurological health (Abdelbary 2017). Several studies have shown “a significant positive relationship between PA [physical activity] in general and cognition in children”, and “positive effects of regular PA on the structures and functions of the brain” (Have et al. 2016). Among other things, physical activity increases information processing and helps children build the foundations of their social skills (Abdelbary 2017). Although children must learn how to work while sitting still, it is also important that we understand that “play and movement give kids the chance to release stress and take breaks from the rigor of schoolwork” (Abdelbary 2017). The challenges of today’s teachers and [...]

Hopspots challenges children’s competencies At Bagterpskolen in Hjørring and Herningvej Skole in Aalborg the teachers and pupils love Hopspots. We talked to Anja Godtliebsen, teacher and IT-advisor at Bagterpskolen, and Henrik Bundgaard, after school care worker and head of pre-preparatory classes at Herningvej Skole, about their experiences with Hopspots. At Bagterpskolen Anja has borrowed Hopspots for 4 months in total during the past year. She particularly took Hopspots in, in her role as IT-advisor because as she says, “she knows what’s good” and thus she books ahead in order to make Hopspots available at her school. At Bagterpskolen everyone from the first grade and all the way up to the 6th grade have tried Hopspots and Anja says, “they are all equally eager to use it and even the older children find The Chase and Mix’n’Match fun”. According to Anja, Hopspots is ideal for getting children to move while learning, because it does not take a lot of preparation time to use it during class, and she says “it’s nice to be able to bring Hopspots into the classroom and it is something that the children think is fun and when they even learn something [...]