Early-learning students can experience select Waterford materials on free iPad app
SALT LAKE CITY & DALLAS — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 5, 2014 — Waterford Institute ( www.Waterford.org) today announced at the 2014 NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo the availability of MyBackpack, its first mobile app, which will allow more than 500,000 students in classrooms across the U.S. currently using Waterford Early Learning (WEL) software to access select WEL curriculum from the convenience of an iPad.
Waterford Institute, a nonprofit research center and the maker of Waterford Early Learning, developed MyBackpack for all WEL users as well as the general public as a free app available on the App Store.
“We are proud to make this mobile app available to teachers and students,” said Dr. Benjamin Heuston, president of Waterford Institute. “It will provide an easy and convenient mobile supplement to the early learning lessons teachers provide their students. The release is the first step in a move that will eventually make our entire WEL curriculum device independent – meaning the curriculum will be available on any computer or mobile platform.”
MyBackpack contains rich, meaningful instruction for preschool through second-grade children:
- Children aged 4 and younger can sing and read along with interactive nursery rhymes.
- PreK through second-grade students can read, listen, and sing along with 16 traditional tales books and 35 reading, math and science songs.
- Kindergarten to third-grade students and beyond can practice and drill their math skills with the game Mental Math – unlocking fun new levels of 3D animation along the way.
“MyBackpack is named for the classic Waterford Backpack, an actual backpack that has been used in classrooms for many years and filled with learning materials for students to take home for extra practice,” said Mikkel Storm, vice president of product and marketing at Waterford Institute. “In the same way, the MyBackpack app is loaded with supplemental lessons for the classroom or at home.”
MyBackpack is different from WEL as it features only selected Waterford content and creates a new user experience in a nonsequential delivery format. The app is designed for teachers to use hand-in-hand with Waterford software as an additional teaching and classroom resource or as supplemental take-home materials for students.
MyBackpack is built for iPad 2 to iPad Air 2 and all iPad mini versions (iOS 8 and up). Currently, MyBackpack is not compatible with Android devices.
About Waterford
Waterford Institute is a nonprofit research center that creates personalized cloud-based instruction through award-winning curriculum, content and assessment for children aged PreK through 2nd grade. As a nonprofit, Waterford is uniquely focused on providing accessibility, equity and excellence for our youngest learners to position them for a lifetime of learning and success. For more information, visit www.waterford.org or call 801-349-2200.
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