Digital Resources: Early Learning Made Easy

Finding new tools to meet the educational needs of early childhood educators and their students can be a difficult task. With hundreds of toys, games, and software programs available for instruction, it becomes a major research project to identify the best resource for an individual child, along with a measurable outcome. Thanks to a revolutionary new education program, early learning is just about child's play.

For a free trial of the product, contact the company at: (888) 293-0272 or email Brandy Nolan at nolanb@awe-net.com.

Grade For students 2–10 years old; preschool, kindergarten, and elementary levels.

Cost Pricing is based upon purchase options available and school district or public library size. For more information, email nolanb@awe-net.com.

The Big Picture Advanced Workstations in Education, Inc. (AWE) has developed the most innovative early literacy program seen in years. Taking the concept of providing preschool and early elementary children with access to dozens of favorite educational early learning software programs and making them available within one compact system, AWE Early Literacy Station raises the bar by providing an Internet-free computer system that not only provides early learners with the ability to interact with their favorite reading, math, or music programs, but it also keeps track of individual student progress, provides statistical data of student improvement, and allows for customized programming for individual students.

Designed as a standalone system with 46 English edition or 62 Bilingual Spanish edition software programs pre-installed, the AWE Early Literacy Station provides educational content that covers seven curricular areas specifically focused for children from the toddler stage through second grade. All instructional content is aligned to national education standards and has received top ratings in professional journals.

This easy-to-use system could probably be set up by a young child (or at least a techno-savvy fifth grader). Using the plug-and-play model, librarians can simply remove the 20" flat screen with its self-contained CPU-unit from the box, plug the multi-colored keyboard and child-sized mouse (pictured below) into the CPU-screen, plug in the system, and turn it on. Users can then go about selecting from a wide range of learning programs.

Packaged as a complete program that includes a free inkjet printer and a three-year warranty (can be extended to five years), this system simply explodes with educational opportunities. There's an online overview of the AWE Early Literacy Station, as well as a complete list of the English-language programs and one for the product's bilingual offerings.

Look and Feel From the moment the AWE Early Literacy Station was out of the box and connected, it was clear that this was a system designed with the youngest learner in mind. Its colorful keyboard, tiny mouse, and generous flat screen with built-in speakers and CPU were unmistakably created for early elementary classrooms and libraries. With the various learning options on screen (represented by cartoon-like icons surrounding a center box containing the list of educational software available), it became apparent that there was plenty of educational content for nonreaders.

While the flat screen would impress kids and perhaps adults, too, it will mean even more to those students with special needs. By simply touching the screen with a finger, a pencil, or a pen, users can choose specific subject categories, such as math, science, reading, computer skills, music, or writing, to begin exploring, without having to use the keyboard or mouse.

After a subject icon has been selected, a list of the available software programs appears in the center box onscreen. Students may then choose their favorite program and begin working on targeted skills such as reading, writing, math, or keyboarding. Because the system is available in three configurations (based upon the program selected) that provide younger students with an "Internet-free" learning environment, kids aren't in danger of moving beyond the instructional content selected by the teacher or the librarian and getting lost on the open Web.

With the wide variety of educational software—Kidspiration, Britannica Encyclopedia Elementary, five Reader Rabbit programs, JumpStart Phonics, Dora's Magic Castle, several Living Books, such as Stellaluna and Green Eggs and Ham, Kid Pix Deluxe, and SpongeBob Typing, to name a few of the available programs—it's unlikely that many students will exhaust the offerings here before they reach second grade. For a complete list of hardware within each of the AWE Early Literacy Station systems, as well as other options, visit bit.ly/5EosIR.

Educators can preview some of the software programs here:

• Math Blasters 5–7 

• My Amazing Human Body 

• Stationary Studio

Those interested in learning more or sharing information with others should check out the PDF overview of the program or the online tutorial.

How It Works What makes the AWE Early Literacy Station so innovative isn't simply the vast number of educational software programs provided for early learners, but the administrative component that allows educators to monitor and guide users through the various subject-area curricula.

With the administrative tool, teachers and librarians can provide individualized sessions with specific subject software for each child. For example, a teacher can provide a student who is struggling in math with the ability to utilize only the software programs that offer specific math content at the specific level needed. When the student logs in to the Early Literacy Station, he or she will find only those tools that have been selected by the teacher to be used within that particular session. Because several software programs are available for different concepts within each subject area, the student wouldn't necessarily be limited to a single tool, but could instead choose from any of the software choices available based upon his or her ability. The individualized option also allows younger users to work comfortably within their age and ability ranges, without the frustration that might result if they attempted programs that were too difficult.

Programs can be enabled or disabled based upon specific grade levels or abilities ranging from "Toddler & Preschool" to "Kindergarten" and "Elementary." By selecting the specific ability range of the student (such as Preschool), the teacher or librarian can immediately disable certain software content for that child, along with corresponding icons on the desktop. In addition to the individualized option, the Early Literacy Station also allows librarians or computer lab teachers to select specific subject areas to be used by groups of students on different days of the week. For example, the computer lab teacher could set up a system schedule for use by the students such as, "Monday Math," "Tuesday Typing," "Wednesday Writing," and so on. Or the librarian could set up the program for Mrs. Smith's first graders to use the age-specific reading programs when they visit the library.

In addition, the system allows for timed sessions, which restrict users from spending too much time on the computer while others are waiting. By designating the amount of time for each student to use the system, each child is allowed to log in again only after another student has had the opportunity to use the program. This eliminates the need for continual adult monitoring in busy areas, such as the library.

Teachers and librarians can use a flash drive to upload photos of each student (or other images/icons they may want to represent themselves with) and add their names, grades, ability levels, and individualized instruction needs to the system. Students who are unable to read can then log in to the computer by touching their photo or special icon as it appears on the computer screen.

Educational reports, progress statistics, and other data can be gathered from the individual systems by importing the content from the Early Literacy Station to a flash drive and then exporting the information to the AWE Literacy Web site for compilation by the company based upon individual school district. For districts that choose the Internet-enabled configuration of the Early Literacy Station, this information can be accessed through the system's administrative option.

For Students and Teachers As a former K-12 school librarian, I completely understand the frustration involved in searching for missing or damaged educational software in the library or computer lab. In order to provide a large selection of programs on multiple computers in the classroom or library, the technology department had to be involved, which could mean a long time before students could access these tools. The AWE Early Literacy Station provides immediate access to the full software package, along with the individualized components, and the ability to evaluate student progress as needed.

Students as young as three years old have used the program with their parents during our trial of the Early Literacy Station at Oklahoma State, and its intuitive nature made it easy to use without any additional assistance by an adult. In fact, most of the kids began using the program without help from anyone, and several refused to leave the library when it was time to go.

The large selection of software, coupled with the ability to provide guided and individualized review of specific subject concepts, makes this program a very unique one, which could easily be used in preschool or early childhood centers, as well as elementary schools. Teachers will appreciate how easy the system is to set up and operate, while students will enjoy the hours of listening and learning, regardless of their ability to read, write, or type.

Report Card What might seem to be a simple little computer system packaged with a colorful keyboard and tiny mouse is actually a ground-breaking piece of early educational technology, which can easily meet the needs of many different learners at the all-important early literacy stages. The AWE Early Literacy Station not only meets the needs of educators working with preschool and kindergarten students, but it can also satisfy the requirements of students with special needs. Given the system's capacity for individualized instructional content, as well as the adaptive components, including a touch screen and programs for nonverbal users, the potential to adapt this product to meet the needs of several educational departments is both efficient and cost-saving.

For creating such an innovative educational program for an often overlooked group of young learners and their teachers, the AWE Early Literacy Station deserves an A+.