NYSTROM Herff Jones Education Division Introduces New Collaboration, Sharing, and Presentation Capabilities for StrataLogica™

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nystrom, the leading publisher of hands-on social studies products for K-12, didn’t waste any time enhancing their new breakthrough ed-tech offering, StrataLogica™. Released in September 2009 in partnership with Roundarch, a leader in digital design and technology, StrataLogica is a Web-based product that delivers all Nystrom wall maps and globes in a 3-D environment using the Google Earth™ API. StrataLogica also includes Nystrom e-book atlases, charts, and outline maps.

“It’s been amazing to see how students immerse themselves in learning and collaborate with their classmates when using StrataLogica. We’re changing the way our kids are learning about their world.”

Staying true to StrataLogica’s emphasis on 21^st Century Learning, Nystrom has made it possible for teacher and student to instantly share content created in the three-dimensional space of StrataLogica. The open sharing and collaboration platform enables educators to deploy unique project assignments to individual students or segmented work groups with a few simple clicks. Students can use a variety of Nystrom age-appropriate reference and history maps with the easy-to-use interactive tools that include placemarks, icons, text labels, symbols, and a digital marker to complete assignments and receive immediate feedback.

For example, a student asked to circle the capitals of Canadian provinces can do so using a digital marker on a globe view of a Nystrom map. Upon completion, the student can save the view in StrataLogica and then share it with the teacher who will be able to make corrections, provide comments, and return it as quickly as it was received. Because StrataLogica is Web-based, teachers will be able to assign, assess, and return assignments and projects both inside and outside of the classroom.

“Part of our design process was to observe teachers and students using StrataLogica and extract from them what enhancements would most benefit the learning experience,” said Scott Judy, Roundarch’s director of User Experience. “It’s been amazing to see how students immerse themselves in learning and collaborate with their classmates when using StrataLogica. We’re changing the way our kids are learning about their world.”

In addition to readily sharing content, users can now create interactive presentations with StrataLogica. Students and teachers have the ability to create a presentation that moves through different locations, customizing each view using the robust toolset in the application. When finished, they can play it back and watch as it dynamically zooms in and out of each location with placemarks, symbols, text, thematic overlays, 3-D terrain, and much more. For instance, students can illustrate their understanding of momentous battles in World War II by locating the sites on the 3-D globe view and marking them with a place mark—which allows the user to embed videos and photos—along with a description of the battle in a text box. They are then able to customize how the finished presentation will run, either automatically or by manually clicking through it.

“As we traveled around talking to educators about their experiences with StrataLogica and the demands of a 21^st Century Learning environment, we listened to their suggestions about how we could make this great product even more powerful. We’re thrilled with how quickly we were able to add these features to enhance the educational value of StrataLogica. We’re excited about the overwhelming reaction to this fantastic product, and our primary goal is to continue making it better and better,” says Don Rescigno, director of marketing at Nystrom.

StrataLogica is priced on a per-classroom basis with a five-year license agreement for each purchase. All updates to maps, globes, e-book atlases, and charts are included with a classroom license. Learn more and sign up for a free trial at www.stratalogica.com.

About Nystrom

NYSTROM Herff Jones Education Division is the leading publisher of hands-on social studies products for K-12, including maps, globes, atlases, hands-on programs, and technology components. Nystrom products are proven effective and have been adopted by districts and schools around the country. To learn more about Nystrom, please visit www.nystromnet.com

About Herff Jones

Herff Jones works closely with customers to create a climate of achievement through graduation products, class rings and jewelry, yearbooks, photography, educational publishing and motivation and recognition tools. The company provides guidance, support and high quality products to elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities, church organizations, professional and collegiate sports teams, and corporations. Founded nearly 100 years ago in Indianapolis, Indiana, Herff Jones is an employee-owned organization focused on building long-term relationships through a nationwide network of trusted, expert sales representatives. Additional information is available at herffjones.com.

About Roundarch

Roundarch designs and implements digital experiences for the world’s largest organizations. Roundarch delivers web sites, rich web applications, mobile applications, social media applications, digital marketing campaigns and more for clients such as Avis, A&E, Hershey’s and the US Air Force. Roundarch’s unique blend of breakthrough user experience design and enterprise-class technology implementation is perfectly suited for the most complex problems in the digital space. Roundarch has offices in Boston, Chicago and New York. For more information visit www.roundarch.com and the company’s blog at http://impost.roundarch.com/.

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