UF Lastinger Center / Kibeam™ Wand Reading System Pilot
We’re excited to announce that the UF Lastinger Center for Learning’s New Worlds Reading Initiative will send 50,000 first and second graders a free Kibeam™ Wand this year!
The Kibeam™ Wand Reading System, developed by inventor of the LeapFrog LeapPad Jim Marggraff, offers exciting games and activities based on the stories in paper books, opening up new possibilities to support the growth of both young readers’ budding skills and love of reading.
This effort expands the initial 2023 research study carried out by the UF Lastinger Center for Learning and California-based educational technology start-up Kibeam™ Learning Inc. New Worlds Reading families who receive a wand this year will be invited to participate in a large-scale research project exploring how kids use the Kibeam™ Wand to engage with the Scholastic book titles included in the New Worlds Reading.
Waiting for your wand and want to learn more?
Start prepping on the Pilot Participant Info page!
Do you have your wand ready?
Let’s get started on the Kibeam™ 1-2-3 page!
What is the Kibeam™ Wand?
The screen-free, AI-powered Kibeam™ Wand is a small, handheld reading device that adds interactive, story-based games and activities to paper books and brings them to life like never before. Designed to spark curiosity and foster play while building reading skills, the wand reads words and sentences aloud while bringing fun character voices, sound effects, music and movement to the reading experience.
Learn more about the Kibeam™ Wand | Watch: Kibeam™ Wand Reading System Sneak Peek
What is the New Worlds Reading Initiative?
New Worlds Reading is Florida’s free at-home program that helps eligible VPK – 5th graders strengthen literacy skills and spark a lifelong love of reading. Enrolled children receive 9 free books that they choose each school year through fifth grade, along with reading activities and resources families can use to help build kids’ reading skills. Books and materials are available in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and braille. New Worlds Reading is administered by the UF Lastinger Center for Learning. Book titles are selected in partnership with the Florida Department of Education and Scholastic. Learn more at newworldsreading.com.
UF Lastinger Center & Kibeam™ Wand Pilot Study
Families who receive the Kibeam™ Wand may volunteer to join a formal research study to learn more about how kids engage with reading when using tech like the Kibeam™ Wand.
Content to support engagement with selected Scholastic books will be loaded on to participating families’ Kibeam™ Wands and timed with their monthly New Worlds Reading deliveries after the pilot start date. Families and children will be encouraged to use it as part of their reading experience and data will be collected in a variety of areas including literacy, content development, interactivity, device design and engagement.
Through the data collected from these experiences, we hope to better understand the relationship between books, reader, technology and interactive content. With better insights into that relationship, we can design programs, products and projects that can effectively address challenges with literacy and reading engagement.
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