myON

How digital gives literacy a boost

By way of the United States Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population cannot read.

That is an astonishing number.

Delving deeper into the metrics, just 29 percent of adults read at a basic level and nearly 20 percent of high school graduates cannot read.

It’s why we celebrate and encourage reading in schools and observe International Literacy Day in September. From the echos of hearing “reading is fundamental” to understanding the basic nature of being able to read street signs or contracts, reading is a basic need of life.

That’s why companies like myON are so important. A business unit of Capstone, myON “created a personalized digital literacy environment that transforms learning…and expands the classroom for teachers and students by providing unlimited access to the largest collection of more than 10,000 enhanced digital books…”

myON recently expanded its offerings by redesigning “its award-winning personalized literacy environment for PreK-12.”

The company’s new redesign also includes a new writing tool, the myON Literacy Toolkit, advancements in content recommendations based upon individual student interests, and much more.

In an effort to help improve the literacy rate, companies like myON are important to the future of education as they are on the cutting edge of technology and have their fingers on the pulse of what teachers and students need. By combining what is familiar to today’s students (digital learning options) with the fundamentals of reading, we can fight against illiteracy in ways that were not possible just a generation ago. I look forward to hearing the progress with these digital reading tools, and seeing a more literate public as a result.

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District 49 Partners with myON to Present Leaders in Literacy Summit

Colorado district to host November 5 event to highlight best practices in reading readiness 

(Peyton, CO) — On Thursday November 5, 2015, District 49 will host the Leaders in Literacy Colorado Summit. The Summit will provide educators with tools to achieve third-grade reading readiness and college and career preparedness. Leaders and teachers from around the state will also share their best practices for boosting literacy achievement.

The complimentary event, taking place at District 49’s Creekside Campus from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will include a keynote presentation, breakout sessions, and a panel discussion.

“At District 49, we believe high-performing teams are the engines of innovation and productivity, and are fully committed to the third-grade reading initiative and incorporating rigor and high expectations around literacy,” said Peter Hilts, District 49’s Chief Education Officer. “We are honored to be part of the Leaders in Literacy Summit, which brings together Colorado’s best to learn from each other and better support students in our great state.”

Jason Turner, Professional Development Director at MetaMetrics will be the event’s keynote speaker. Turner will focus on the importance of reading preparedness and reading on grade level by third grade, measuring and monitoring reading growth to differentiate instruction, using measures to ensure students are on a trajectory to college and career readiness, as well as understanding the effects of early literacy on lifelong success.

Breakout sessions will include presentations from Colorado education leaders District 49’s Peter Hilts, Colorado Literacy and Learning Center President Dr. Lynne Fitzhugh; and Alisa Dorman, the Executive Director of the Office of Literacy at the Colorado Department of Education.

myON, K-12 education’s leading provider of personalized literacy environments, will provide lunch and a short presentation on its 21st-century literacy solution.

To register for the Leaders in Literary Summit, click here.

About District 49

District 49 is the 13th largest school district in Colorado, serving nearly 20,000 students in eastern Colorado Springs and the unincorporated area of El Paso County known as Falcon. District 49 maintains a robust portfolio of 22 high performing schools to meet the unique needs and interests of every student.  Primary literacy, reading at grade level by the end of third grade, is the #1 priority for elementary students and schools. Elementary students who demonstrate mastery of basic academic content and skills are able to access higher levels of more specialized learning as they matriculate toward graduation and post-secondary success. As secondary students build on this strong foundation, they display increasingly divergent abilities and passions. So, the most important program in our secondary schools is designing individualized learning plans for every student. Through a program called 49 Pathways, we provide personal and academic advising to help every student identify and pursue meaningful learning.

About myON™

myON, a business unit of Capstone, has created a personalized digital literacy environment that transforms learning. myON expands the classroom for teachers and students by providing unlimited access a collection of more than 10,000 enhanced digital books with multimedia supports, real-time assessments, and a growing Literacy Toolkit that enhances the myON literacy ecosystem. myON empowers students and teachers with real-time, actionable data—number and type of books opened and read, time spent reading, results of regular benchmark assessments, and more—based on embedded Lexile assessments that measure student reading and writing growth. With myON, every student experiences the benefits of personalized literacy instruction to propel them to new and unlimited learning opportunities.

 

Event Contact Information:

Lisa Benko

myON

[email protected]

720-838-0982

 

Kristen Thompson

myON Account Representative

[email protected]

952-224-0517

 

Amber Whestine

District 49

[email protected]

719-494-8951

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