Moulton-Branch Elementary School, located in Valdosta, Georgia, has one of only three SMALLabs located in the state of Georgia. WALB news covered the story when the SMALLab opened to students.

Linton Middle School, located in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area, has a SMALLab installed. Watch the story as it was seen on KDKA news.

Children play a game in the SMALL Lab, a multimedia set-up located in the auditorium of the renovated Moultrie library, this morning. The library is the only one in Georgia with this technology, donated by ABM. It allows computer programs — including games and documentaries — to be broadcast on the floor and interacted with using a wand.

After nearly a year of construction, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library has finally opened — again. Moultrie city leaders said they invested nearly $2 million into the library to give the community interactive spaces, including a SMALLab.

A school in Valdosta got some new and innovative technology to make learning fun. The technology is said to have been the result of research supported by Bill and Melinda Gates.

The Lowndes County School system just got their new Student Multimedia Accelerated Learning Lab (SMALLab) and it’s housed at Moulton Branch Elementary School.

Motion capture suits are used to make animation come alive with lifelike movements at places like Disney and Pixar — and now at Seneca Valley.

Seneca Valley High School students are some of the first in the country to use this technology in a new pilot program this school year. The course is called Honors Motion Capture and Animation 1 and is giving students skills to get jobs in various industries.

District interim Superintendent David McDonald said the renovation was the final project in a district-wide initiative to update school media centers.

“What we’re trying to provide are engaging learning spaces that are also rooted in literacy,” said McDonald. “It attracts kids. They want to go there. They want to collaborate.”

Tracy Williams SMALLab instructor at Bobtown Elementary School

Specifically, I look for three things:
First, the solution should have a proven track record of improving student outcomes across the entire curriculum—not just in math, but in language arts as well. 

Second, the solution must reinforce and improve retention of topics taught in the classroom. It has to enhance the classroom experience, not replace it. 

Third, the solution has to make the learning environment fun, interactive, and collaborative. 

The versatility has allowed for all types of learners to engage, according to Denise Manganello, principal of Seneca Valley Academy of Choice, who has plans to expand SMALLab usage in the Pennsylvania program's classrooms. “It has so many different opportunities for students to learn content or how things are developed or to collaborate and reach a higher level of thinking and metacognition," Manganello told EdScoop. "Really, everybody should be using it.”

“It brings learning to life," she added. "The kids are up, they’re moving. They’re also collaborating, they’re working together and tying it all in.”

Martell: We’ve invested in a lot of technology. We have a new media center, a cyber platform, and two fully-functional fabrication labs. But we have five SMALLabs, and of all of our initiatives, our SMALLabs are having the biggest success. Not only have the teachers gravitated toward it, but the students have as well. We work hard so we can reach every single student with SMALLab.