SMALLab
SMALLab stands for Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab and it was founded by an interdisciplinary team at Arizona State University led by the CEO, David Birchfield. Birchfield has a Doctorate in Music and a background in digital media and performance.
David Birchfield, CEO of SMALLab
He and his team do research on games, K-12 education, assessment, digital media programming, development of critical thinking skills and learning capabilities. Each person has a particular strength in one or more of the following: subject matter, media, learning, psychology or business skills. The overlap of skills seems that it would allow for easy communication and smoother development of games. The variety of subjects covered (science, math, music) means that the company is able to produce a great variety of products to meet the needs of schools. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find information about the board or advisors of SMALLab.
SMALLab is a company that produces activities where an interactive screen is projected on the floor or a wall and students experience “embodied learning”. This means that students learn by simultaneously moving around and interacting with content. It’s well worth the 11 minutes it takes to watch a video that explains and demonstrates the concept.
http://smallablearning.com/news
The company has branched out and now has development centres in different parts of the United States. They accept game development ideas from outsiders offering assistance in the form of developer video tutorials and an eight-week program called Professional Development by Design. Such initiatives will allow SMALLab to grow by using outsiders’ expertise, which means that the company can still devote plenty of resources to research and further development of their products. Since 2005, the group has published more than 30 articles related to embodied learning. The emphasis on research lends significant credibility to the group’s work. Being part of a university means that there will be a continuous flow of graduate students with fresh ideas and mastery of different subjects to further nurture the company’s growth and increase its longevity. Many of these characteristics match those described by De Coster & Butler (2005) and are indicators of success for this company.
My entrepreneurial potential lies in my knowledge and experience in chemistry, both in the field and in labs. Combined with my experience in various teaching environments and my experience and course work in management, these skills would allow me to contribute strongly to science education ventures. I would ideally collaborate with others who have a background in education, sciences and technological design and business.
De Coster, R & Butler, C. (2005). Assessment of proposals for new technology ventures in the UK: Characteristics of university spin-off companies. Technovation, 25, 535-543. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2003.10.002
Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
sheza 10:28 pm on June 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I hadn’t heard of SMALLab before you posted this profile, and I think it is fantastic! When Smart Boards came into the classroom it changed the way teachers taught and I think that SMALLabs has the potential to do the same. I liked the introductory video on their main website and I was happy to hear of the the developers say that it is not meant to replace teachers, but enhance teaching methods. I am also happy to read that it has been developed by highly qualified researchers in the subject field related to the game developed. This is definitely something I can see more schools buying into within the next 5 years. I think it will explode into the public education system just like Smart Boards did and CEO David Birchfield will be a very happy man then 🙂
mariefrancehetu 5:02 am on June 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Sheza,
I totally agree with you . . . in my own mind any and all technology should not replace the teacher, but enhance teaching and learning methods. I feel SMALLab has great potential to do both. I would absolutely love to have access to these tools for teaching second languages to adults – what a great way it would be to present grammar concepts intreactively – or help students discover how the brain works when translating a word or understand the physicality of pronunciation (how the palate, tongue and lips work together when pronouncing)! I feel using this form of technology to increase embodied learning experiences has endless possibilities.
Marie-France
mariefrancehetu 4:53 am on June 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello,
I think SMALLLab is an extraordinary learning venture and has tremendous potential to transform the school classroom. My vision and understanding of embodied learning so far has been ‘hands on’ experiences where students actually manipulate material, using their sense of smell, touch, vision, hearing and thus ‘feeling’ the learning experience in a holistic way. It is possible to handle physical objects for many subjects taught, but many principles remain abstract or untangible and this type of ‘virtual’ embodied experience, I believe, could help students experience embodied learning when exposed to these concepts. Out of all the ventures presented here, this is the one I find the most impressive and the one with the most potential. Not only would I certainly invest in this venture, but I feel excited at the thought that this embodied virtual lab could some day become part of all classrooms.
I also thought that David Birchfield’s presentation was excellent. As a speaker he reached out to the audience with confidence, portrayed himself as a regular guy with an extraordinary idea and concept to share. His use of a PPT was well used to support his presentation.
I don’t teach K-12 anymore, but ventures like this one almost make me want to become a primary or high school teacher again . . .
I think it is high time we change the set up of classrooms – the traditional way being student desks on one side of the room (usually in rows) and the teacher at one end. Classrooms need to be more dynamic, they need to become a learning lab and the ‘SMALLab’ concept explores that idea.
Thank you for sharing this learning venture!
Marie-France