Fayette students use whole bodies to solve problems in new lab

The media center at Spring Hill Elementary in Fayette County has been converted into a learning environment that combines technology with whole-body physical activity. Bookshelves are on rollers so books can easily be relocated, making room for a large white mat that serves as a screen for projected images. Students take off their shoes and walk on the projection to solve problems. It's called a SMALLab, an acronym for Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab, and Spring Hill Elementary is the first school in the metro Atlanta area to install it. The school purchased using federal Title I money. SMALLab was created in 2010 by a team of researchers and media experts at Arizona State University to encourage learning by blending human interaction with a computer. The program uses motion-capture technology to track students' movements. The school's media specialist, Jeff Eller, says the new technology is helping students learn concepts faster than they would in a regular classroom setting.