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AV2 Contest Winners


Held in the form of a QR-based contest, attendees scanned a button with the squiggly code on it, which downloaded instructions to their smartphones telling them to go to the Califone booth where they picked up their just-won AV2.

The much anticipated AV2, viewed first as a digital upgrade from the CardMaster, is the first mobile device developed for use in schools that is capable of playing Adobe Flash files. The interactivity offered by the program is what the most popular computer games are programmed using and is seen by (educational) publishers as the most promising for testing to gauge learning. Long trusted by speech pathologists and ESL teachers, using the CardMaster is done by sliding a letter envelope-sized card with a magnetic tape affixed to it through the machine, which plays a recorded word or phrase that’s modeled for the student to repeat. The AV2 similarly plays a set of instructions and the student records their response, except now in the digital form of an .avi file, automatically named by the AV2 to match the lesson for easy tracking. When the teacher uploads the student’s results into their computer, the resulting files can be readily stored or emailed to parents and other stakeholders, or reviewed with the student. Accompanying each AV2 that’s sold on a limited-time basis, each will have 7 of the most popular card reader programs pre-installed at no extra cost.

Shown left is the QR code that was worn on buttons during ISTE.

Beyond the language learning potential of the AV2, others are excited by the device’s video-making capabilities and storage for music and text. The handheld device can output to a connected tv or computer while also restricting the volume output on its headphone plug to a maximum 85dB volume for hearing safety. The safe-listening feature has come from the company’s longstanding collaboration with the American Speech & Hearing Association and its “Listen To Your Buds” campaign, which educates students and parents about how to use personal audio technology safely to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.



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