NCTI -

National Center for Technology Innovation
Advancing Technology Innovations for All Students

2007 Technology in the Works Award Winners

 

NCTI awarded two subcontracts of $15,000 each, matched by the collaborative team, for short-term quasi- experimental evaluation studies of K-12 instructional and/or assistive technology in 2007. The following information describes the abstracts for the award winners.

Video Games: Enhancing Attention with NASA-developed Neurofeedback Technology Abstract

Vendor. Dominic Greco, President, CyberLearning Technologies, LLC.
Researcher. Judith Pokorni, Senior Research Scientist, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

CyberLearning Technology, LLC has developed a new and improved form of EEG Neurofeedback for home and school use. This exciting technology integrates results from the clinical neurofeedback literature with technology created at NASA for simulation training of pilots. Our SmartBrain System substitutes video games for the pilot simulators providing an engaging, immersive, and fun neurofeedback training experience that is especially appealing to adolescents with attentional problems. Playing video games can improve attention skills!! So parents could tell their kids “Go play your video games before your homework!

The technology acquires a real-time brain activity signal and transmits the signal to a receiver wired into a Sony PlayStation game controller. The SmartBox neurofeedback device is programmed for increasing the ratio of BETA brainwaves (used during focused, analytical processing mental states) to THETA and ALPHA brainwaves (used during daydreaming, tuned out, drowsy mental state). The signal output of these brainwaves provides three forms of feedback, visual, auditory and tactile, corresponding to changes in brain activity. For example, when the brain is outside the range of focus, the digital buttons on the game controller will work less efficiently, resulting, in a race car game, in reduced speed of the car. Auditory feedback occurs through a speaker system; tactile feedback results from a vibrator motor in the game controller. Since the goal of the game is to advance and win the race, the player is motivated to produce a brain wave state that is reflective of improved processing and attention. A protocol of thirty 30-minute sessions been shown to increase an individual’s attention.

CyberLearning Technology, LLC, in collaboration with researcher Dr. Judith Pokorni of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), designed the proposed study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SmartBrain System with adolescent students diagnosed with learning disabilities and attentional problems. The net result will be to increase their overall attention, thereby enhancing their performance at school, home and at work. This same technology is also useful for increasing attention in the general population, not just those with diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder.

The proposed research will test the effectiveness of the technology with a group of 5 students diagnosed with learning disabilities. An additional 5 students will serve as a comparison group. The 5 intervention students will use the SmartBrain Home System during 30 minute sessions 5 days a week for a total of 30 sessions. An assessor, blind to group membership, will administer a battery of tests pre- and post intervention to the 10 participants to assess variables of attention and its impact on reading comprehension. The concentration of intervention participants will be measured using a BETA/ALPHA+ THETA ratio from beginning of intervention to end. Additionally, qualitative data will be gathered from participants and their families via focus groups and surveys.

 

 

Social Simentor™: An E-learning Assistive Technology Abstract


Vendor. Lucy Baney, President and CEO, Access Technologies Group.
Research Team. Leslie Walker Hirsch, Social Development and Sexuality Consultant for individuals with cognitive disabilities; Christine M. Casey, Educational Consultant and Strategic Planner. 

See the case study and final report based on the experience of the research team.

Of the 30 million people with disabilities in the US, aged 21-64, just a little more than half are employed. Research shows that a significant barrier is their lack of social skills, beginning with exclusion from mainstream classes in school, continuing throughout adulthood, impacting relationships, employment, and integration into the community. Researchers recommend role-play and repetition as the method for acquisition of these social skills. Social Simentor™ provides a unique e-learning product offering interactive scenarios and feedback in a penalty-free, non-judgmental environment. Based on the already patented, unique Simentor® e-learning tool developed by Access Technologies Group, Inc. to teach business interpersonal skills to adults, Social Simentor™ offers instruction and practice to individuals with disabilities that need training in social and interpersonal skills. The inventor of Simentor® and President of Access Technologies Group, Inc., Lucy Baney proposes to work with a national expert in social development of individuals with disabilities to test the transference of skills following use of Social Simentor™. This interactive application teaches key social conventions, including appropriate verbal responses, reacting to body language and facial expression in a wide array of frequently occurring situations.

The commercial application of Social Simentor™ is significant as it can meet the learning needs of a wide range of individuals who suffer as a result of inappropriate social skills, and accomplish this without requiring continual direct adult facilitation. The proposed prototype is an interactive application that employs social interactions to teach key social conventions, including appropriate responses, reacting to body language and facial expressions, along with the ability to ask for help in order to facilitate functioning in mainstream society. This proposed collaborative research study will be conducted by two researchers, Leslie Walker Hirsch and Dr. Christine Casey at a residential special education facility. High School Students will use Social Simentor™ to practice interview skills. A live interview experience will then be developed using local business leaders. These individuals will interview the students who have successfully completed their digital studies using Social Simentor™. Students will be rated by the interviewers. A second group of students without the Social Simentor™ experience will also participate in the live interviews. It is anticipated that the group of students with Social Simentor™ experience will score higher on the live interview experience, as a result of their immersive e-learning experience. This study is critical for future development of Social Simentor™. Potential investors have requested proof of transference of e-learning to a real life situation. This study of the application of Social Simentor™ is significant to society as it can address a range of individuals suffering from inappropriate social skills without direct adult facilitation and in an efficient, cost effective manner.

This field testing research, conducted as a result of NCTI support, will assist the researchers and vendor in obtaining additional funding in order to extend the scenarios and product functionality, preparing it for commercialization and potential markets of schools, special education facilities, vocational training programs, as well as universal applications with non-disabled populations who demonstrate poor social skills.