Imagine you are a 16-year-old high school junior, walking into your honors chemistry class.听You鈥檝e听never heard the words 鈥渃opper chloride鈥� before, but after a 20-minute lesson delivered by your teacher, the expectation is that you will don goggles and gloves and place the corrosive substance in a flame.听
Earth听Space听Science听Teacher听Mrs. Virginia Hall听understands how anxiety-inducing听a situation like that听can be.听鈥淚 know if I were a student, I would have felt so intimidated jumping straight into a real lab鈥攈andling chemicals can be scary and dangerous,鈥� she said.听听
鈥淔or me, starting with virtual experiments makes a lot of sense.鈥�听
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So, after teaching a lesson about the fundamentals of chemical reactions, Mrs. Hall听uses 蘑菇传媒听贰虫辫别谤颈别苍肠别鈥�s听Studio Boards to provide students with an additional opportunity to reinforce what they鈥檝e learned.听Studio Boards are digital, collaborative project spaces where teachers and students create and share interactive content that aligns with curriculum. That could be text, video,听games,听images, quizzes, and more鈥攁ll creatively organized for maximum engagement.听听
Interactive, but Safe
For the fundamentals lesson, Hall uses听Experience鈥檚 Mixing Room鈥� Studio Board as an extension activity to reinforce learning. The interactive tool allows students to virtually combine chemicals and observe reactions, helping them visualize exothermic and endothermic processes in a controlled, risk-free environment.听听
鈥淭o build on this, I incorporate the鈥�Chem Lab Escape鈥� game on Roblox (which is part of the Mixing Room听Studio Board), where students navigate a virtual chemistry lab and solve puzzles that require applying their knowledge of reactions, such as mixing specific chemicals to unlock areas or deactivate systems,鈥� said Hall.听
Supporting Instruction, Driving Engagement
Miranda Mosley, an听Instructional Technology Resource Teacher,听oversees听the听utilization听of 蘑菇传媒听Experience听across听92听schools听and knows that the Studio Boards are a powerful tool.听So,听she听started听working with听teachers to听create听social studies and science Boards听for听K-12, aligned with听curriculum guides.听听
In addition,听Mosley says,听Studio Boards are a great tool for newer teachers, who may still be getting acquainted with听standards, as well听as听substitute teachers who can pop in听and keep the class moving ahead.听
Boosting Engagement Through Friendly Competition
The next step was letting teachers know about the creation of the aligned Boards, so Mosley decided听to run a district-wide contest to increase usage.听The class with the highest usage earned a party听(complete with chicken tenders and ice cream sundaes!), and the elementary, middle, and high school teachers with the highest usage earned a trophy.听听
The district had long had strong elementary usage, but the contest especially boosted middle and high school usage for the 24-25 school year, with 19% and 159% increases, respectively. The contest was so听successful that听Mosley is evolving it for this school year, with teachers creating their own Studio Boards.听听
Saving Time, Building Confidence 鈥�
Once听teachers have created the Boards, they can use them for years to come. 鈥淎s time passes, they can add to them 鈥� they鈥檒l find something that someone else has already created and can just pop it in there,鈥� said Mosley. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to recreate the wheel every year, and that鈥檚 a huge timesaver for teachers.鈥�听
Hall seconds the timesaver element鈥攕he appreciates how the Studio Boards and virtual experiments help her save听time and allow her students to try different scenarios听multiple times.听听
鈥淭hey can see results instantly and play with variables to really understand the concept. For me, the best part is that once they do a similar real lab experiment, it feels so much less intimidating because they already have an idea of what to expect and what to look for. It makes the real lab feel more meaningful鈥攁nd more fun!鈥�听
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