Combining Fun, Movement and Learning to Code with Bryanne Leeming the Founder of Unruly Studios

Mike is joined by Bryanne Leeming, CEO of Unruly Studios, and creator of Unruly Splats.   Bryanne begins by explaining the origins of Unruly Splats. Her early exposure to programming was key, as was the entrepreneurialism of her parents and her childhood involvement in sports. After graduating from college, she worked in product development. Seeing the interesting but often passive experiences offered by many Edtech products, Bryanne founded Unruly Studios. Bryanne describes Splats as “programmable floor buttons”. They’re stomped on by kids to cause interactions, and kids can program them to create new games. Originally prototyped while she was still in business school, Spats are now in hundreds of schools across the U.S. and Canada. Kids have stomped them more than 1 million times Mike asks about the impact of Covid on Splats, and Bryanne explains that even before the pandemic she and her team have been interviewing hundreds of teachers about their needs. As a result, they offer special challenges between schools and other moments of engagement. Mike then asks about the social needs, especially in our time of social unrest. Bryanne discusses how they have baked in social from the start. They then discuss Unruly’s focus on building communities of practice, and how the Splats work with instructors and across the curriculum. Mike and Bryanne then further discuss Unruly’s efforts in light of the pandemic: How the Splats can be easily cleaned. They discuss how teachers are altering their environments to allow for safe, social play, and the support that Unruly provides the teachers. Covid opened up a new market for Splats to be used for music education. And it’s not slowing their planned March Madness competition. Finally, Mike and Bryanne discuss Unruly’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. For further information: Communities of Practice How to Find Bryanne: unrulysplats.com Twitter: @unruly_studios How to Find Mike: Twitter: @TrendingInEd email: [email protected] If you like what you’re hearing, follow us at TrendinginEducation.com and wherever you get your podcasts.