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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y 9 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 THE NEW FACE OF EDU TECH FOR EARLY LEARNERS By Amanda J. Rosenburg, Director of Learning, Tiggly This past spring, 106 kindergarten stu- dents sat eagerly awaiting a surprise. Gathered in the nearby hallway were principals, teachers, technology spe- cialists and the founders and staff from the learning company Tiggly. The grownups were about to officially release the newest Learning System, Tiggly Words. As the team walked into the classroom with armfuls of colorful manipulatives, students began to squeal, cheer and clap; the energy was electric. Once the students had the tools in hand they turned to their tablets, working in pairs to share letters, dis- cuss strategies and reflect on what they were learning. The Putnam Valley kindergarteners were taking part in the largest early child- hood digital literacy play sessions on record. To see more than 100 five- and six-year-olds engaged in and excited by reading and spelling was inspiring. Since its founding, Tiggly has pio- neered an interactive learning experience that combines the most important aspects of physical play with the depth of content available from digital learning. In doing so, Tiggly offers an optimal environment for students between the ages of two and nine years old. Tiggly's Learning Platform allows children to enhance their language, creativity, literacy and math skills by combining the use of physical manipulatives with the tablets they love to use. Tiggly's Classroom Learning Systems come with manipulatives and curriculum-aligned apps, as well as stu- dent workbooks, in-class activities with teacher handbooks and Thinker Journals, all of which allow students to reflect on what they have learned. The Learning Systems available today include Tiggly Shapes, Tiggly Math and Tiggly Words. Tiggly Shapes is a set of four geometric forms designed to help children learn about fundamental geometry concepts, improve language and develop motor skills, spa- tial thinking and creativity. A study com- pleted by Lewis and Clark College found that the use of Tiggly Shapes pro- duced a significant improvement in shape recognition for three-year-olds and more divergent play for four-year-olds, compared to apps alone. Tiggly Math is inspired by the clas- sic Cuisenaire rods and includes five magnetic counting rods designed to help students develop understanding of math operations, such as addition, number line and one-to-one correspondence skills. A study by PlayCollective showed increas- es in early number skills of up to 71 per- cent for kids who played with Tiggly Math for only two weeks. Tiggly Words is specifically focused on early literacy. A set of five vowels helps stu- dents recognize phonemes, construct sounds, learn words and construct stories. Tiggly's presence in schools is growing rapidly, and now includes more than 1,000 classrooms, due in part to teachers' desires to add a tactile dimension – one that aligns with early childhood curriculum – to their stu- dents' digital learning. "We are delighted that more schools are integrating our learning tools into the classroom, a sign that our products form part of the future of play and learning," said Phyl Georgiou, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Tiggly. "We are honored to be working with so many great educators who have harnessed the unique opportunities that only Tiggly provides." Visit Tiggly at booth #952. For more infor- mation, email educators@tiggly.com. USE DIGITAL TEXTS TO ENGAGE, EMPOWER STUDENTS Recently, librarian and media specialist Nancy Hniedziejko (neh-JAY-koh) of Myers Elementary School in Pennsylvania briefly stepped away from her fourth-grade students to work with another group. When she returned, she found them full of excitement after figur- ing out how to have a virtual, text-based discussion through Accelerated Reader 360™. "My first words were, 'Wow, show me how you did that!'" says Hniedziejko. Accelerated Reader 360 includes both independent reading practice and a curat- ed collection of leveled digital articles, each with built-in skills practice activi- ties and a comprehension quiz. Hniedziejko is using the program with fourth-grade remedial and third-grade enrichment students during Core Extensions (school-wide small-group instruction). "What this program has done already, especially for remedial stu- dents, has been staggering," she says. Interacting in Digital Text an Instant Hit Most of the remedial students in Hniedziejko's class have never before held a leadership role, having long strug- gled to read books in their entirety. They immediately took to the digital Accelerated Reader 360 articles, which connect to the world around them. They are intrigued by the ability to read, cite, tag and write thoughts in the text for dis- cussion, and they especially love the power of choosing their own topics of interest. "Gaining a feeling of freedom and control, particularly in reading, is huge for my students," Hniedziejko says, not- ing one fourth-grader who had trans- formed from an unengaged student to a more confident, eager and successful learner, showing greater com- prehension with higher reading levels of digital nonfiction than previously with his independent reading at lower levels. That includes not just becoming more confident read- ers but also leaders, returning to their classrooms to share their excitement with their peers. Hniedziejko invited each class to the library for hands-on Accelerated Reader 360 training, and a student from the remedial class sat at each table as an ambassador while she walked through program capabilities on an interactive white board. Immediate and Deep Support for CCR Skills Hniedziejko has enthusiastically forged ahead with these training sessions. "Accelerated Reader 360 lets you cover an entire menu of skills across different subjects, from cause and effect to main idea to inferences, all while getting kids engaged through highlighting and tag- ging passages for discus- sion," Hniedziejko says. "This is very interactive, with kids attacking the text and talking about what they're reading, which goes hand in hand with compre- hension. It's not just learning through a textbook. It's authentic metacognition. "With all the pressures of Common Core and a significantly different state test, many expect scores here to go down, but I can't wait to see my kids' scores because I feel so confi- dent about them after working with Accelerated Reader 360," Hniedziejko adds. "My remedial fourth-graders are already working through a fifth-grade level with help, and my enrichment third-graders are flying through the articles so fast I can hardly keep ahead of them." Visit Renaissance Learning at booth #1235. For more information, go to www.renaissance.com. HOW TO ATTRACT MORE TALENTED PEOPLE – AND BETTER ENGAGE REMOTE WORKERS Talent is everywhere these days. All over the world, people have access to technolo- gies that are helping them become experts in many different fields. Tech hubs are found near major cities where talented and creative people congregate, also where housing prices have risen, and people are opting to live in less costly locations. However, just because a person chooses a more affordable place to live doesn't mean he or she shouldn't be afforded the same work opportunities – especially if they are well-qualified. By investing in new technol- ogy, businesses can attract, retain and bene- fit from the valuable talent that is out there. Location, Location, Location The demand for qualified people is going to continue to rise. By 2030, the economies of the developed world will require more than 70 million new employees to sustain their growth rates – including a projected 26 million in the U.S. according to the World Economic Forum. The problem is that location limits access to talent. Too often when search- ing the workforce pool, employers are limited to the talent and knowledge base within their geographical area. The tradi- tional answer to this problem has been for corporations to set up regional offices around the world, in addition to their cen- tralized headquarters, to access qualified employees. But this approach has its lim- its. The talent businesses need may still live far from those regional offices. There is a better method: have one central hub of activity where remote employees from around the world have the option to telecommute instead of de- centralizing activity across a network of regional offices. Connecting Workers Face to Face Telepresence, meanwhile, can link spaces from across the world to each other, during a set time and from set places. For a dynamic workplace, how- ever, technology has struggled to con- nect roles – such as services jobs, advanced roles that require specialty knowledge and managers – which require face-to-face interaction beyond the conference room. Through a Beam telepresence device, built by Suitable Technologies, a user can go from one space to another, participating in office conversations, attending meetings, monitoring the per- formance of employ- ees, sharing a lunch table and being avail- able for collaborative chats with colleagues passing by. The workforce of today is chang- ing. As a Deloitte study on Global Human Capital Trends notes, the Millennial generation, comfortable with technology, "want to work for organiza- tions that provide flexibility and are purpose-driven." Corporations need solutions to employing a more techni- cal, skilled labor force or they will be left behind. Through telepresence tech- nology, they can bring talent to the office, no matter where the office or the talent resides. Beam combines user-controlled mobility with telepresence for team- mates, guests, family and friends who wish to interact from afar. Beam+ is now available for $1,995.