The Science of Learning

We compiled our top four webinars of the last year based on your interests!  Approximately 25,000 people registered for these four webinars throughout the last year.  Interest in these webinars came in from all over the world!   Make the most of your summer by watching these webinars on topics such as autism, dyslexia, learning and the brain and the NEW Fast ForWord. See below for our “Best of Webinars”.  Which ones are your favorites?  Let us know by commenting below! # 4 Introducing the New Fast ForWord Curious about the new Fast ForWord and what it can do for you? Join us as we discuss the new features and enhancements of our dynamic language and reading intervention program. During this session you'll see how we're making Fast ForWord more engaging, more motivating, and easier to implement. You'll also get an exclusive look at upcoming exercises enhancements before they are released! View Webinar #3 2017 Dyslexia Research and Remediation October is Dyslexia Awareness Month! Join us to learn about the latest research on the processing weaknesses and early indicators in dyslexia. Most importantly, find out how to use this information to help your students. Hear and see how the Fast ForWord program can help your students/children with dyslexia. View Webinar #2 Teaching with the Brain in Mind Join us for a webinar with Dr. Eric Jensen and learn specific, practical evidence-based strategies you can use in the classroom right away. Discover how the brain works, how teaching changes the brain, and what it takes for students to acquire complex learning and achieve their best. Jensen will be providing new information from his newest best-sellers, Poor Students, Rich Teaching. You won't want to miss this session, so register today and be inspired by one of our all-time most impactful presenters. Yes, you […]

Wondering if your child is showing signs of ADHD, is having normal, age-appropriate attention and behavior struggles, or is dealing with another attention issue altogether? Curious about how your child’s diagnosed ADHD may develop over the years? You’re not alone. Children of all ages struggle with attention, impulse control, and energy levels at times, and the signs and symptoms of ADHD change as a child grows. Check out our infographic on how ADHD may look through the years for more insight. Check out the infographic at: www.fastforwordhome.com/single-post/2018/05/30/ADHD-Symptoms-by-Age-Infographic. READ FULL ARTICLE

For children under the age of 18, ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When a child is struggling with forgetfulness, fidgeting, careless mistakes, and sleep problems, ADHD is often the diagnosis, but there are many medical conditions that also cause these symptoms. When symptoms overlap, it can be a confusing time. An online search for symptoms like distractibility, impulsivity, poor attention, and more can return results for ADHD, auditory processing disorder, autism, and so much more.  It’s imperative you work with a trusted specialist to get a comprehensive evaluation when working towards a diagnosis for your child. Some children may have more than one condition, while others may be misdiagnosed. The intervention therapies differ drastically depending on a diagnosis, so understanding exactly what your child is facing is key to getting the right care in place. Read the rest of the article at http://www.fastforwordhome.com/single-post/when-symptoms-overlap.   READ FULL ARTICLE

Hyperactivity, lack of attention, and/or impulsivity are commonly associated with ADHD in kids, but there are many other causes of those symptoms. It’s important to look at the full picture, which means having a solid understanding of what ADHD really looks like and what other issues could be causing a child’s attention problems. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.” Read the rest of the article at www.fastforwordhome.com/it-s-not-always-adhd.   READ FULL ARTICLE

For everyone at Scientific Learning, developing the New Fast ForWord has been an opportunity to step back and reflect on what we are doing well and where we can improve. Every day we see Fast ForWord users making dramatic gains in language, reading, and learning skills. However, we also see students who struggle with a particular exercise or skill. To better understand where improvements were needed, we spoke with many educators about their implementation struggles, strategies, and successes. What came out of these conversations is an intervention program that is better, faster, and smarter! Better Learning Impact To provide an even better learning impact, we looked at each exercise individually, taking a deep dive into data from hundreds of thousands of exercise sessions. Our analyses revealed who gets stuck, where the sticking points are, and what design factors are helping or hindering student progress. Specific design changes were based on these findings. For example, we learned that many students got stuck at the very beginning of Sky Gym. To address that, the entire introduction was revamped with new instructions, different stimuli and progression rules, and automated interventions for those students who continue to struggle. Faster Student Progression & Improved Student Motivators We looked across all exercises, evaluating the exercise mechanics and user interface. We identified a number of new features and improvements that will help students progress more quickly,  while making their progress more visible and rewarding. The Autoplay feature allows students to take trials more quickly, by serving a series of trials after one click of the Go button. If a student gets all trials in an Autoplay series correct, the next series will be one longer. The Current Streak and Highest Streak signs, in conjunction with Autoplay, provide game-like rewards for getting consecutive correct trials, reinforcing the behavior […]

Scientists are deep in the trenches discovering the factors involved in developing autism and how to effectively "retrain" the brain through intensive interventions.       Director of Neuroscience Education and Adjunct Associate Professor at Northwestern University, Martha S. Burns, Ph.D., recently presented a webinar that provides the very latest information about the brain’s role in autism and how to intervene for favorable results. The FACTS: 1. Autism is Highly Heritable This means that autism is frequently, but not always, passed down from one generation to another. Because of the complexity of the human genome (DNA set), gene mutations can also be responsible for a child developing autism even if autism does not run in his or her family.  2. Autism is Not Caused by IQ Deficiency Two-thirds of those diagnosed with autism possess average or above-average intellectual ability. 3. Genes Overlap We see a genetic correlation of autism with other disordered traits such as depression and ADHD. 4. Brain Connectivity Problems Precede Autism Autism does not create brain connectivity problems. Instead, autism stems from an underdeveloped cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for relaying and interpreting messages. There may be other causes as well, such as protein synthesis issues or core brain area dysfunction. For example, a dysfunctional hypothalamus, which regulates sleep, may play a role in the development of autism. 5. There is Still Much to Learn About How and Why Autism Develops Since every child’s DNA is unique and complex, the causes of autism are difficult to pinpoint. The INTERVENTION: 1. The Earlier the Diagnosis, the Better Autism Spectrum Disorder begins to develop in utero. Auditory scans performed on infants show that auditory brain stem response is slower in those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We may be able to use this information to start early, intensive intervention, which benefits children […]

Fast ForWord® has been named a finalist for two Cool Tool Awards in The EdTech Awards 2018. Fast ForWord was recognized for the second year in a row as a finalist in the special needs solution category, and it was chosen as a finalist in the language learning solution category as well. Now in its eighth year, the EdTech Awards recognize outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere. The U.S.-based program is one of the largest and most competitive recognition programs in all of education technology, and finalists are selected from thousands of entries. “Struggling readers’ brains don’t process sounds and words as quickly as typical learners, and English language learners’ (ELLs) brains are not prepared to process the sounds of English. The Fast ForWord program is designed to directly target these root causes of difficulty. It’s a different approach and that’s precisely why it’s so effective with so many students, including struggling readers, students with disabilities, and ELLs,” said Jeffrey D. Thomas, co-chief executive officer of Scientific Learning. “We’re honored to receive this national recognition for the Fast ForWord program and its unique approach to helping students get the help they need to catch up, once and for all.”  Fast ForWord was developed by neuroscientists and uses a unique three-step approach to deliver fast gains to struggling students. First, it prepares the brain for reading by improving the foundational language and cognitive skills that are often weak in these students. Second, it provides personalized, intensive practice on a variety of language and reading skills — more than any other approach or intervention. Third, it uses speech verification technology to support and listen to students as they read aloud, like a guided reading coach. Once these areas are addressed, students’ language, reading, and […]

Reading aloud is something usually associated with children or unsophisticated readers, a remedial technique to be phased out as soon as people learn to read silently. But a growing body of research suggests that reading out loud may actually have significant cognitive benefits — even for experienced readers. The recent study, conducted by researchers Colin Macleod and Noah Forrin at the University of Waterloo and published in the journal Memory, found that reading words aloud made them easier to remember compared to reading them silently. However, this doesn’t mean you should replace your entire library with audiobooks just yet. The study used four different experimental conditions to isolate exactly which elements were responsible for improved memory retention. The subject group of 95 students were asked to either read silently, read aloud, listen to recordings of other people reading, or listen to a recording of themselves reading. Memory retention was strongest when reading aloud directly, suggesting that the impact came not just from hearing the words, but also speaking them. This is because verbally pronouncing a word creates a memorable experience — a phenomenon the researchers call the “production effect”. The active cognitive process of encoding the word into speech also helps to encode it into long-term memory. Additionally, when it came to words heard through recordings, students were better able to remember those recorded in their own voice than those pronounced by someone else. According to the authors, this suggests that hearing one’s own voice provides a distinct stimulus of self-recognition, which also helps make the content memorable. These findings build on previous research demonstrating that the production effect’s memory boost relies on distinctiveness. In an earlier 2010 study by Macleod et al., this was shown to disappear when all the words in the study list were read aloud, as […]