Pennsylvania Charter School Adds Multimedia Lab with Grant Funds
Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School (LPPACS)will install a semi-immersive multimedia learning lab and a whiteboard lab thanks to a grant of nearly $50,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
The school will use $34,999 of the Title I Innovation Grant funds to deploy build a SMALLab (for situated multimedia art learning lab) that "creates a space with a projected computer display which students can enter and move around on, while others gather around," according to a news release. "Students inside SMALLab hold glowing balls that are their interface with the computer, somewhat like a mouse or Wii controller."
"We believe we are the first school in this area with a SMALLab. We think it will make learning fun and improve comprehension for students who struggle to learn with more traditional teaching methods," according to LPPACS Federal Programs Coordinator Lindsay Rodgers, who wrote the grant application and oversees Title I programs.
Approximately $3,400 of the funds will be used to purchase five whiteboards and 10 whiteboard wall mounts to create the whiteboard lab, which is intended to help students receiving Title I tutoring and those practicing math in small classes.
About $400 of the money will go toward the purchase of eight iPads to allow teachers to control smartboards from anywhere in a classroom. Remaining funds "will go toward workbooks to help Title I students prepare for the Keystone graduation exam and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment state testing," according to a news release.
More information about SMALLab is available at smallablearning.com.
About the Author
Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].