The Glazer Children's Museum is merging innovation and education with the opening of their brand new, interactive experience, SMALLab. SMALLab, which stands for Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab, will premiere to the public on Sunday, April 3 and is the first of its kind in a U.S. children's museum. SMALLab is an embodied learning environment where every learner is up, moving, and collaborating with peers. During each SMALLab experience, museum guests can work together to solve puzzles, create stories and character plots, learn about the world, and paint digital masterpieces. "To be the first Children's Museum in the nation to pioneer this technology means that our region gets the best educational tools for kids today so they can be prepared as critical thinkers for tomorrow. "says, Jennifer Stancil, President and CEO of the Museum. Patrons will be able to participate and interact with the newest experience, every Saturday and Sunday free with museum admission at posted times.
"Installing our new SMALLab is a dream realized. I've been watching the trajectory of SMALLab since its early days at Arizona State University as "gaming" as a way to educate began to gain momentum. Bringing this innovation to Tampa to improve learning outcomes in a diverse range of subjects is just the beginning of a long string of new experiences we're excited to lead.," Stancil continued.
In addition, SMALLab will be available as a field trip enhancement during the summer months and upcoming school year for all group field trips. The pricing of $9.50 per student covers all field trip costs and includes SMALLab learning module teaching topics as diverse as literacy, physics, fractions and more. The SMALLab experience accommodates a maximum of 26 students and 3 chaperones. Each educational scenario is 45 minutes in length and includes a SMALLab Educator to facilitate. Available scenarios, field trip details, and descriptions can be found at GlazerSMALLab.org. Registration is currently open for these programs.
This innovative, motion-capture technology is proven to increase student learning by 86%, and yield a 7x increase in student-centered discussions. Educators can watch as their students become the fraction, letter, molecule, paintbrush, or playing piece in hundreds of educational activities, all aligning with Pre K-12 STEAM curriculum and Common Core standards. To learn more about SMALLab visit GlazerSMALLab.org or to view pictures and video demos check out the GCM Press Kit.
