PLAY® Technologies in Education is an emerging edTech company focused on innovation, accountability, and learning through active engagement. Our purpose is to provide education stakeholders and children with proven technology, strategies, and tools to support effective teaching that results in positive student outcomes. Please contact us if you are interested to learn more about our projects and partner with us in our pursuits.
Focused on Positive Student Outcomes
We believe positive outcomes will be the result of a quality environmental design, using effective technology, and facilitating student choice. We believe positive student outcomes occur when the environment is designed based standards, opportunities for learning through play are provided, and students have access to high-impact technology. Providing students with a high-quality environment, opportunities to make decisions about their learning experiences, and explore technology leads to essential skills necessary in a global society.
Positive Outcomes with PLAY® Technology:
- Are the result of a quality environmental design, using effective technology, and facilitating student engagement and choice.
- Occur when opportunities for learning through play are provided, and students have access to high-impact technology.
- support a high-quality environment,
- provide opportunities for children to make decisions about their learning experiences,
- Explore technology, which leads to essential skills necessary in a global society.
Positive Student Outcomes Targeted through PLAY®
- Increased engagement across subjects/disciplines
- Increased achievement
- Self-regulation in the cognitive, emotional, and social domains
- Ability to make responsible choices and education decisions
- Responsibility for learning and education
- Executive functioning & working memory
- Problem solving and higher order thinking skills
- Metacognition
- Social and emotional development
- Attention control, cognitive flexibility, and response inhibition
- Academic achievement and
- Decreased behavior challenges
- Citizenship (academic, social, and digital
- Problem solving and higher order thinking skills
- Metacognition
- Social and emotional development
- Literacy, language, and vocabulary acquisition; increased language acquisition rates of dual-language learners;
- increased coding abilities for young children and digital citizenship skills necessary to be career and college ready in a global society;
- Decreased behavior challenges
- Citizenship (academic, social, and digital)
- Long-term outcomes suggest increased: student engagement; trajectory towards success in academic achievement, behavior, and social-emotional engagement; average daily attendance rates (especially those deemed at-risk); graduation rates, support career and college readiness, and reduced incarceration rates
- Leveraging Technology
Education Stakeholder Outcomes Increased:
- Real-time student engagement data for use in teacher evaluations and accountability frameworks
- Access to Data & Checklist Trajectories to monitor success
- Increase efficacy and efficiency in classroom management; instruction and assessment design, environmental design; and ability to teach students in small groups
- Conduct authentic assessments in real-time
- Meet the needs of learners
- Differentiate Instruction
- Provide for Developmentally Appropriate Practice while ensuring accountability
Meet PLAY Technologies in Education Founder, Dr. Kimberly Regan
Dr. Regan opened an education consulting & technology development company, PLAY: Technologies in Education in 2012. The education technology development & consulting firm was established to support a patent-pending technology project she is working on. Her systems-based technology infrastructure tracks real-time student engagement data while simultaneously promoting Developmentally Appropriate Practice and accountability. The service mark PLAY®, and trademark PLAY: Promoting Learning and Accountability with Young Children/Youth® are published and awarded by the US Patent & Trademark Office.
Dr. Regan continues to work as the Chief Executive Officer (Executive Director) for SNACS and SNACS Preschool. Dr. Regan’s role and responsibilities are similar to that of a small-scale superintendent with a record of success in collaboration and innovation. Her responsibilities are prioritized in establishing a culture of achievement; building capacity of board members, educational and support professionals; establishing an effective school community and building public relations within Washoe County, Nevada, and the US. Her duties include organizational and educational program planning and leadership; business, human resources, and financial management; school community, sponsor, state, and community relations; facilities management; school safety leadership; legal, charter, and policy oversight; public policy and research leadership; and digital marketing and social media leadership.
She has her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina. She received her K-12 school administrator endorsement, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Dr. Regan has been in education for the past 20+ years where her experiences expand across educational, political, and business landscapes. She is a founding member of SNACS and has served as an administrator for the past 18+ years. The school is successfully completing the eighteenth year of operation. Since the inception in 1999, the school has increased enrollment from zero to approximately 300 students. Dr. Regan is the longest-running charter school administrator in the state of Nevada at 18+ years. She started the school because she believed in making a difference for children, especially those who might be at-risk of not graduating. Dr. Regan believes in choice in education and the small school community.
In 2004, she opened the certified preschool program because there was a need in the North Valley’s community. This later evolved into the separate, but related partner entity, Sierra Nevada Achievers for Community Services (SNACS) Preschool. SNACS Preschool is a separate entity. SNACS Preschool is contracted with the charter school to provide kindergarten enhancement services at no cost to families to ensure SNACS students have access to a quality kindergarten program. SNACS Preschool is accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and serves children between the ages of 6 weeks until 5 years old, and provides before and after school care in kindergarten through 8th grade.
Dr. Regan was appointed by Governor Sandoval to serve on the P-20 Council, which promotes quality of care between pre-school age and through college. Dr. Regan served as the P-3 subcommittee chairperson responsible for drafting recommendations for the governor’s education plan. The subcommittee included education stakeholders from a variety of organizations and expertise in early childhood education. The draft recommendations can be found here: P-3 Subcommittee Recommendations.
The P-20 movement brings continuity in education through vertical and horizontal alignment. SNACS and SNACS Preschool partner to provide a P-8 program where students can technically attend education in the same small school community from 6 weeks old until 8th grade.
Dr. Regan serves as the President for the Nevada Association for the Education of Young Children (NevAEYC), a state non-profit organization serving nearly 500 members. NevAEYC promotes high-quality early learning for all children birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research. NevAEYC advances a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and supports all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. The organization’s vision is all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential.
In the field of education, Dr. Regan is most passionate about empowering children through play. Anyone who knows her, knows she believes in increasing student engagement through the power of play, choice, and play-based learning for all ages and in all subjects. Play provides an avenue for all children to have fun when learning in a hands-on approach. Through play, children can learn to make choices and learn to manage their time. Play also provides a voice for children who may not always have a voice. She believes everyone should have a voice and an opportunity to play. These basic premises define what Dr. Regan stands for in education.
Dr. Regan first worked as a writer in Newspaper in Education for Gannett Newspapers, a division of USA Today. She has written for Family magazine, a local Reno publication distributed to 40,000 families. She has published photographs in the NAEYC professional journal, Young Children. Dr. Regan has presented at local, state, and nation NAEYC conferences as well as at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has taught Master’s level courses for the University of Phoenix in the Early Childhood Education Department online and face to face in early childhood education, development, and leadership. She has conducted professional development activities and taught seminars related to digital learning environments, education leadership, school safety, positive behavior supports, classroom management, instructional design, 21 Century Learning, Common Core, state and national assessments, and many other education-related topics.
Her contributions in service work embody a practice of research that informs practice and policy, promoting college and career readiness, economic development and improved quality of life across the developmental levels of students and the community. Dr. Regan has participated in multiple B-3 and P-3 symposiums for the Governor and has worked with the National Governor’s Association, as a stakeholder in a community of early childhood leaders, to establish state-level priorities. She recently participated as a member of the Nevada Team at a Harvard professional day entitled “The Leading Edge of Early Childhood: Linking Science to Policy for a New Generation of Pre-K” to participate in statewide policy planning. She participate in Early Childhood Advisory Committee activities including supporting the Strong Start initiative, Silver State Strong, and contributing to public policy briefs. She collaborates with members representing agencies such as The Children’s Advocacy Alliance, the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (UNLV), Head Start, The Children’s Cabinet, and Division of Welfare and Supportive Services to establish comprehensive statewide strategic plans, policy briefs, campaign efforts, and collaborate.
Dr. Regan loves her work and spending time with her family in her quite time at home. She loves writing, photography, drawing and design, acting, singing, nature, horseback riding, and most of all spending time with her family. Dr. Regan is excited to be learning the game of golf and dreams of one day living a simple farm and ranch life with her family and return to writing.
You can follow Dr. Regan’s social media highlights by following @ki_regan or one of the organizations she works with @SNACSNevada @SNACSPreschool @NevAEYC @PLAYteched where she tweets related to education, public policy, child development issues, SNACS and SNACS Preschool and related NevAEYC issues.