Reading Horizons, a Kaysville-based provider of literacy programs, has relaunched its Science of Reading Collective (SoR Collective) community, a free resource for literacy educators and experts.
After three years of continued growth, with hundreds of monthly visitors, The SoR Collective is moving to an enhanced community platform that uses AI to connect members with shared interests and experiences. The community will continue offering free classroom resources and professional development to help all teachers and administrators effectively implement the science of reading, regardless of whether they use Reading Horizons products.
In addition to a library of resources, the community features peer collaboration and the opportunity to engage with experts in the science of reading.
“We launched the Science of Reading Collective as a free resource for literacy professionals because it supports our shared goal of eradicating illiteracy,” said Jillian Kaster, founder and moderator of the collective. “The community is open to everyone who uses — or is interested in — evidenced-based methods to teach reading. We heavily vet all the resources and have a process to ensure ongoing alignment to the latest research.”
The SoR Collective offers reading teachers free downloadable texts in print-friendly formats, games and resources for the classroom for study of high-frequency words, sound spelling walls, a glossary of SoR-aligned terms and phrases, access to professional learning books and many other aids for teaching literacy.
The collective is available for free membership at the Reading Horizons website.
Gilly’s Magic Muffins, a manufacturer of small-batch, hand-crafted horse treats, has begun producing its products in a new manufacturing operation in Salt Lake City. The treats, which are sold exclusively through independent equestrian retailers, come in five flavor options and contain horse favorites like gumdrops, peppermint balls, raw brown sugar cubes and sweetened dried banana chips. “I’ve had an extraordinary connection with horses since childhood,” said Gilly’s Magic Muffins owner Lee Rech. “Horses are perfect, magical and healing. Founding this small business is a dream come true, enabling me to further my enthusiasm for all things equestrian. When I found out that my favorite horse treat vendor was closing its commercial kitchen, my heart sank. Then I thought, ‘Why not fill the void Paddocks Cakes left with my own horse treat creation,’ and Gilly’s Magic Muffins was born.”
Awardco, a Lehi company providing employee recognition and rewards, has introduced External Recognition, a feature in its platform that allows customers, vendors, partners or any third-party to recognize employee efforts. The feature is specifically designed for front line, deskless and customer-facing employees as they interact with customers more than they do their own co-workers. Customers can recognize employees for exceptional service on the spot and the recognition shows up in the Awardco recognition feed for employees to see."Awardco is the leader in the employee recognition and rewards space in many ways, and we are thrilled to expand the power of recognition to the valued customers of every organization,” said Steve Sonnenberg, CEO of Awardco. “We’ve already seen the power of External Recognition in our own organization and it’s incredible to see how it will impact so many different industries.”
Draper-based technology workforce development company Pluralsight has launched Iris, an AI assistant that helps learners more easily discover content that’s relevant to their questions, learning objectives and goals. Available in Pluralsight Skills platform, Iris provides a personalized learning experience that encourages learner engagement, improves training outcomes and enables faster real-world application of new technical skills. “Technology is moving at a breakneck pace, making it challenging for individuals to keep skills up-to-date or know where to begin when they want to learn something new,” said Chris McClellen, chief product officer at Pluralsight. “Thanks to generative AI, we can now provide learners with an intelligent, chat-based assistant that will guide them along their personalized learning journey and accelerate the path to technical proficiency.” Iris acts as a personal guide, offering recommendations from thousands of curated paths and training courses to meet learners’ needs.
Smarty, an address data intelligence provider headquartered in Orem, has introduced US Secondary Address Data, a new address enrichment application programming interface product that seamlessly integrates into an organization’s existing mailing systems. Smarty’s Secondary Address Data product provides the exact number of units within a building, such as a business complex and apartment building, including the complete and verified secondary addresses. This functionality is crucial for any organization looking to further market research efforts, create go-to-market plans, boost marketing effectiveness, enhance customer relations and ensure regulatory compliance, the company said. “Deciding how to implement address enrichment tools into your organization can be a critical part of understanding customers, finding new customers and understanding risk,” said Berkley Charlton, Smarty vice president of product management. ”Analyzing where you are in the process and finding those missing components is the first step.”
Tourism industry veterans Adam Stoker and Colby Remund have launched a new platform specifically designed for destination marketing professionals. TourismIQ is a dedicated digital meeting place where industry experts can collaborate, share resources, discuss job openings and perform other industry-related tasks. Key features of the platform include a collaborative hub for destination marketing professionals to connect, exchange ideas, and work together on projects; a library of case studies, whitepapers, templates and best practices; access to blogs, deep-dives and posts from the leaders of the industry, including industry podcasts; and a dedicated job board for posting and finding job opportunities within the destination marketing sector. Also featured are interactive forums for engaging in discussions on a wide range of topics relevant to the industry. The platform also aims to reduce the time frame to become an expert in the tourism field.
Kaysville-based wireless solutions provider OptConnect has announced the launch of ema:USB, a smart USB modem. The ema:USB enables customers to integrate cellular connectivity into their hardware without the delays and complexities of other solutions. At the core of the ema:USB is an OptConnect smart embedded modem. With an ultra-compact design, the OptConnect ema:USB can fit into tight environments not suited to large cellular devices. “While working to make connectivity both robust and simple for customers to integrate into their solution, we continued to hear that having a plug-and-play USB option would be a game-changer for OEMs, operators and deployers looking to connect their IoT devices,” said Chris Baird, OptConnect president and CEO. “By bringing ema:USB to market, we continue to expand our plug-and-play solutions and support our diverse customer base with the products they know they can rely on.”