To: Rory McLeod who wrote (6241 ) 2/1/2001 6:15:59 PM From: jmhollen Respond to of 6528 Here's a nifty little tidbit:areteindustries.com NEWS BRIEF (posted 02/01/01) "7GT's Language Learning Software in Beta Test" Boulder, Colorado. 7th Generation Technologies has released initial results from Beta Testing of its revolutionary Language Learning Software, Speech Teach. The software has been tested with a number of developmentally delayed children in the Denver area since November, 2000, and the initial results are very encouraging. A Denver High School, Ranum High School, has also been participating in the Beta Test. Multimedia content has been developed for over 50 different words and students interact directly with the software program in their normal learning environment. The student is supported in the learning environment by their primary caregiver. A 7GT specialist also visits with each child on a weekly basis to support the process and monitor the progress and software performance. On average, students are "mastering" just over one word per session. Mastery of a word is achieved when an object is generally recognized across its many specific variations. For example, different size, type and colored balls are all recognized as "balls." More importantly, the software's "Teaching Effectiveness," or how effectively words that are taught are mastered, is satisfying. The effectiveness is defined as the ratio of the number of words mastered to the number of words taught. The Beta Test is currently achieving a teaching effectiveness of 59%. The Beta Test is continuing into the future. The ongoing data will be used to further refine the multimedia presentations, and to optimize the teaching techniques and effectiveness. ************************************************ John :-) ps: Much better reading than the mucosal drone from our resident, nerf-noodled , buzzing knat (..and part-time Hillarygate whining instructor ..); don't you think...!?! (tee hee) .