Author: Cynthia Kaye

Hello fellow CEO’s … Chief Education Officers!

I am blessed with the opportunity to speak at several educational conferences around the country about augmented reality… one of my favorite topics. I know we develop our own augmented reality software for classrooms, but it is always good to see what others are doing with this cool technology in education.

Our passion is to provide educators with nuggets of information and practical tools that can be brought back to classrooms. Augmented Reality will be a huge part of this next generation. One of the leaders in the space, Magic Leap, has raised over one billion dollars in investment startup capital; demonstrates the interest and potential this technology offers. If you aren’t familiar with it, check it out.

I know we are all looking for differentiated learning experiences that engage our students. One of the products I want to share with you is called Aurasma. Aurasma is a free DIY (do it yourself) augmented reality app for your smart device. You can use it to “bring to life” anything or object in your classroom. The thing I really like is its intuitive menu system. It doesn’t take long at all to find your way around it and begin creating your own augmented reality magic.

I put a short video together to show you how easy it is to use Aurasma. In the video you will notice I make ordinary vocabulary cards come to life. You can use this wonderful little app to teach so many things… you are limited only by your imagination. Enjoy!

The wait is finally over! One of the common questions we receive after teachers fall in love with our software is “Are Letters alive and Math alive on DonorsChoose.org?” Now, we can answer with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”

Thanks to our friends at Kaplan Early Learning Company, our reading and math learning kits are now posted amongst the other great products offered through this popular funding organization. Letters alive, Math alive, and Learning alive are now available in Mac or Windows versions on the DonorsChoose.org website.

DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America create classroom project requests, and donors can give any amount to the project that inspires them. Teachers simply post their need and the product they wish to have, and donors can choose to make donations to fund the project. According to their website, over 70% of projects get funded. Periodically, Bill and Melinda Gates offer a matching program where they match any project donation.

In an effort to help teachers post their stories and projects, we have created a funding section on our site to make it as easy as possible to post your project and seek funding for our products.

As a startup technology company within the education market, it’s crucial for Alive Studios to be selective with our marketing dollars. Our mission is to provide teachers with cool technology that helps early learners become proficient in reading and math by the third grade. So, our marketing budget is targeted to areas in which we can deliver that message to as many decision makers as possible. This year, we made our second trip to an ISTE Expo as an exhibitor; and for a second consecutive year, ISTE has delivered by putting us in front of some great contacts.

The traffic seems non-stop at the shows and the attendees are always hungry for the latest technology trends in education. This, of course, is right up our ally since we are the world’s first company to develop an full-year, early education, supplemental curriculum using augmented reality technology. Our small booth size is compensated for by our 3D animated animal characters bellowing out of our sound system, which makes it tough for passers by to not be drawn into the curiosity zone.

ISTE not only provides us an excellent outlet to reach multitudes of tech-hungry prospects for our reading and math solutions, we also find ourselves meeting key B2B vendors that compliment our business. We have struck several relationships from hardware, to book publishing, to live streaming on the internet. Also, as we become more integrated into the exhibitor family, we enjoy seeing old friends and helping each other through our network of contacts.

One of our biggest attention-getters is our $795 Giveaway for a full Letters alive Kit! We hold a drawing, which is open to all attendees who enter their names. On the last day of the show, we draw quite a crowd as we announce the winner.

We are already looking forward to the ISTE Expo for 2016 and will be spending some time throughout the rest of this year nurturing the business relationships we’ve started.

Most Pre-K to 3rd grade teachers have been bitten by the sun bug and have spring fever. They are just starting or finishing their Spring Breaks and have their eyes focused on finishing the school year. Well, some of them. There are a select few who are wrapping up budgets and are seeking the latest solutions for the Fall 2015 school year. It is this forward-thinking group who will learn about us first. Some already have.

At Alive Studios, we’re a unique bunch of teachers, graphic designers, code monkeys and entrepreneurs who have built something pretty amazing. 55% of US students are not proficient in reading or math by the 3rd grade. We set out on a mission to resolve this issue. Most of the teachers we’ve interviewed state the proficiency problem is caused by not having the right materials to engage the students. The common materials that teachers utilize for teaching basic reading and math simply do not engage today’s active minds.

We believe we’ve found the silver bullet. It’s called Augmented Reality, which is a “see-it-to-believe-it” technology that provides a 3D experience without the glasses. Our team has developed full-year, supplemental curriculums for reading and math utilizing this magical technology. Our supplemental curriculums are aligned to Common Core State Standards and are the first educational curriculums in the world to utilize Augmented Reality. An independent research study proves the effectiveness of infusing Augmented Reality into the lesson plans.

This technology, coupled with our interactive, animated animals, brings a new level of excitement into classrooms. Kids cannot look away. They are enthralled immediately by the motion, challenges, colors and sounds presented in the lessons; even second language and special needs learners are seeing huge improvements.

Our Letters alive Kit has become the anchor supplemental reading program for many classrooms across the country. Now, we are introducing the Math alive Kit. It includes 45 skill-based learning games, which have 41 3D activities. There are six units full of various activities that make it a blast to learn the required math skill sets.

To learn more about our unique programs, visit our website or be sure to look for Alive Studios at these upcoming trade shows:

National Head Start Conference
Washington, DC
March 29 – April 2, 2015
Booth 437 & 536

ISTE Expo
Philadelphia, PA
June 28 – July 1, 2015
Booth 1265

SDE 2015 National Conference
Las Vegas, NV
July 6 – July 10, 2015
Booths 10 and 11, Palazzo Ballroom, Level 5

Alive Studios announces the release of Learning alive, its innovative, supplemental reading and math bundled solution for PreK to 3rd Grade. This suite of software is injected with a hefty dose of Augmented Reality, an exciting technology that provides a 3D experience without the glasses. The goal is to have kids proficient in reading and math by the end of the third grade. Currently, 55% of U.S. students are not proficient in reading and math by the end of the 3rd grade.

The company is actually the first of its kind in the world to use augmented reality in a full year, supplemental educational curriculum. They have been introducing their software solutions across the country in many of the educational conventions and expos. Within a matter of hours, they have the attention of show attendees with their brightly colored booth, trumpeting animal noises and amazing software that enables plain-looking flash cards to jump to life with animated and interactive 3D characters.

“Everywhere we go, the common theme amongst teachers is how to engage students,” states Alive Studios CEO, Cynthia Kaye. “Shortly after seeing our reading and math solutions, and how we use music, sounds, animation, interactivity and the magic of augmented reality, they realize they’ve found their solution for engaging students,” she adds.

The Learning alive Suite, which is now shipping, includes the new Letters alive v3.0, the recently released Math alive, and the interactive digital stories included in Storybooks alive. “Delivering an amazing brand experience is very important to us,” says Kaye. The PreK – 3rd Grade software solutions are infused with 26 lovable characters that draw you into their safari world, and before long, you know each of them by name.

In the midst of all the interactive fun, an independent research study shows kids are learning letter sound fluency and letter naming fluency at a faster pace than those not using the software. “After all the flashy fun of engaging young imaginations, we are primarily focused on getting kids proficient in reading and math by the 3rd grade,” says Kaye.

Our next stop on the trade show circuit was the FETC Convention in sunny Orlando, Florida. What a treat to have 60+ degree weather in January!

We selected FETC to be where we officially announced the newest addition to our educational software solutions, Math alive! On the heels of the successful, Letters alive – our supplemental reading program for PreK to 3rd Graders, comes our solution for early math learners. Like Letters alive, Math alive is infused with an amazing technology known as augmented reality. As expected, attendees who passed by our booth were stopped in their tracks; firstly, by the jungle noises accompanying our 26 animal characters, and secondly, by seeing our characters come alive and jump off the screen!

One of our booth visitors was Barbara, an LAUSD Common Core Math Specialist. She was glued to our booth and full of questions. Seeing so much potential in Math alive for her teachers, she gathered all the information possible to bring back to California.

Our faithful crew ran demos non-stop, which caused the crowd to consistently be 3-4 people deep. (We apologize if you had questions and we were not able to assist to you.) We had all kinds of magic going on and brought out all the stops; From our colorful Converse to Gerdy Giraffe roaming around the booth, we made every attempt to bring well-deserved attention to Math alive. We are on a mission to get children proficient in reading and math by the third grade, and FETC was another great stop on the crusade.

We cannot talk about the FETC Show without mentioning the two lucky winners of our Learning alive Suite! Our educational software bundle for reading and math is valued at $1,295. Jane, of Buncombe County Schools, and Debra, of Port Orange Elementary, had their names drawn from the entries and celebrated the win. Congratulations to both and we look forward to hearing how much your kids love learning with our beloved characters.

Our next stop is the Title1 Show in Salt Lake City. The crusade marches on!! Yay!!