Waterford and PubCoder: Innovating Early Education with Multimedia and Multilingual Digital Books

Waterford.org is a US early education nonprofit that provides research-backed PreK through 2nd grade reading, math, and science programs that children can use wherever they learn. Waterford.org’s tailored programs help children reach critical milestones by 3rd grade, laying the foundation for future success for every child.

Starting in 2023, Waterford.org committed to a multi-year project to update its vast catalog of proven, effective digital learning content, which included 327 digital activity books, about 4.000 pages. For these books, Waterford.org partnered with PubCoder to refresh the content as well as improve the reading experience.

The partnership between PubCoder and Waterford began in 2023, marking the start of an exciting collaboration. Together, we worked on defining functional requirements for the project and created various test content to ensure the product met high standards.

To streamline the process, we managed everything through shared workflow files, enabling seamless collaboration between the development teams. All the content produced underwent 2 different review processes to ensure consistency and quality both technically and from a content point of view.

Once finalized, Waterford took charge of publishing the books on their proprietary platform, bringing the project to fruition and making the content accessible to their users. This partnership exemplifies the power of collaboration and meticulous planning in delivering high-quality educational resources.

The partnership resulted in:

• Each digital activity book featuring a new title page with audio that sets purpose and tone, and aids reading comprehension.

• Learners having access to a variety of supports that build word recognition, including:

  • Word pronunciations
  • Definitions, images, and related words for key vocabulary
  • “Inspector Detective” think-alouds to engage critical thinking
  • Rebus images, a feature to toggle between visual and textual representations

Thanks to PubCoder, Waterford.org was able to complete this comprehensive refresh of the 327 digital activity books, elevating the quality of the reading resources with an accessible, multi-sensory experience that will ensure positive early learning engagement with PreK through 2nd-grade students for the foundation of a lifetime of growth and success.