A Meeting in Memphis

A few of us here from SimBioLand recently attended the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) annual conference in Memphis, Tennessee - a meeting that we’ve been regulars at for a few years now.

As is the case with our attendance at all the national conferences we go to, NABT is a great opportunity for us to touch bases with those of you working the ‘front lines’ of the classroom, see a few familiar faces who have been using our software for a while, put faces to a some familiar names, and spread the word about what we’re doing to help improve biology teaching. A few of us at SimBiotic still try to keep our hand in by teaching the occasional class here and there, but meeting with and talking to instructors who’re dealing with students and teaching on a daily basis is invaluable. It’s always very useful to us to hear about what instructors are looking for in terms of software tools, how students respond to our software, and recent thinking regarding pedagogical issues.

This year in Memphis we met with a wide range of instructors from high schools, community colleges, and universities. Quite a number of folk who we’d not seen before were interested in simulation and virtual lab tools to enhance and augment their lectures and wet labs. Within the current financial climate, schools want to help reduce student expenses and are looking for inexpensive lab materials and software packages to include both in class and as part of distance learning programs. From what people were saying to us at NABT, our programs and labs appear to be an attractive option in that regard which is good news.

We also received positive feedback for the new SimBio Virtual Labs (SVL) package and, in particular, the revamped Isle Royale and Keystone Predator labs. The new, snazzier, more realistic graphics, the online library features, and the optional extension exercises are apparently getting a good response from students. Several existing EcoBeaker users had not seen these new labs before, so the conference was a good opportunity to show them the new materials and to give them a taster of what’s to come when we migrate other labs into the SVL package.

As SimBiotic Software is expanding a little, this year’s NABT meeting was a chance for a couple of new permanent SimBionts to get their first taste of life in the Exhibitor Hall. John and Melissa were the two new faces in the SimBioBooth in Memphis. John has been authoring EcoBeaker labs in a consultancy role for a number of years and has recently come on board at SimBiotic full time. He’ll be involved in the development of new labs and advising our customers and potential customers from an author perspective. Melissa is our new Production Queen in charge of processing orders, customer support, and the like - i.e. all the important, tangible stuff that keeps the company ticking over. All of us look forward to seeing those of you that will be attending NABT in Denver next year!