Carroll Middle utilizes interactive playground for learning
Jun. 3—LUMBERTON — L. Gilbert Carroll Middle School is offering its students a playground experience that pushes the boundaries of learning and exercise.
The program is called "Lü" and it is software that utilizes a projector, motion sensors and LED lighting to transform any space into an active and immersive educational environment where kids are engaged physically as well as intellectually. Lü was installed in the school's gymnasium on April 28 and since then students and teachers have become immersed in the experience, according to the school's Principal Christopher Burton.
"It's all designed to keep kids interacting with what's going on," Burton said.
While most playgrounds have about a dozen apparatuses, Lü has a continuously growing portfolio of curriculum-based applications covering all subject matters.
"There are math games, there are physics games, there are social studies games. You've got different science games," Burton said. "It's quite a bit different learning math on this than it is in the class."
The idea to implement Lü at the Carroll Middle began with Burton challenging the school's physical education teacher with the task of finding something new and innovative to take the school to the next level. It was then that Health and Physical Education teacher Jerry Lawson found Lü, a learning software so new only a handful of schools in North Carolina used it.
"Mr. Burton was asking me to think outside of the box and look for something unique... Once I saw this online I just offered it to him kind of thinking it was way out of our reach but the school and the school system came through," Lawson said.
One of the aspects that sold Burton on Lü was the fact that it caters to all students, especially those who struggle with focusing in a classroom setting.
"Everybody in the class is interacting with this," Burton said. "This is burning that energy off."
Lü has a series of fast-paced games that gets the heart rate going during the gym period, but it also offers programs to help center students like meditation applications that guide students through calming exercises.
On Thursday, students sat and listened in silence as fourth-grade English Language Arts teacher Ziena Walker read to them while Lü projected a serene campfire scene complete with outdoor sound effects.
Students in school today have grown up with technology, Walker said.
"This is where they are so our school is meeting them where they are and I love that about our school," Walker said.
"I love the fact that this program increases the ability to want to have fun learning," Walker said. "It puts them in a setting which allows differentiation. If you're a visual learner, this is dynamic... Most of the students are visual learners. It's just dynamic to help with the different types of learners."
Walker said that Lü offers an element of movement to the learning process that is paramount for students, specifically males.
"The male brain works better at a young age if they're moving," Walker said. "Let's get them moving. This is not a day and age where we say 'Sit down and learn.' Get up, get up! that's how we learn."
During the last month, students have been utilizing Lü for the first 10 minutes PE class, participating in math exercises.
This summer, the school's professional teachers will be working to incorporate their curriculum into Lü to create interactive games that will parallel what students are learning in their classrooms.
"We plan on implementing this with lessons next year," Burton said.
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at tsinclair@robesonian.com or 910-416-5865.
