Contact: Dawn Haley

dawn@fablevision.com

FableVision, Inc.

44 Pleasant St.

Watertown, MA 02472

617-926-1231 ext. 125

Immediate Release

Dedham Public Schools Adopt Research-based “BrainCogs” Approach to Learning, Studying and Testing

Innovative New Software from The Research Institute for Learning & Development and FableVision Provides Proven Strategies for Academic Success

 

BOSTON, MA- The Dedham Public System has recently implemented a new, research-based software program called BrainCogs®, which is designed to improve academic performance for all students. The CD-ROMs are the result of an innovative collaboration between two Massachusetts-based organizations, the Research Institute for Learning & Development and children’s educational media/technology publishing company FableVision Studios.

After a recent professional development workshop presented by FableVision’s Educational Technology Specialist Kelly Fischbach, Dedham Public Schools’ PK-5 Technology Coordinator Liz McGonagle noted, “I received a tremendous amount of positive feedback about the workshop. The teachers love BrainCogs and are raving about FableVision and the program - this is a rare occurrence I must tell you!”

Based on over a decade of research and clinical work by Dr. Lynn Meltzer, Dr. Bethany Roditi at The Research Institute for Learning and Development (Research ILD) in Lexington, Massachusetts, FableVision designed, produced and published the media-rich BrainCogs CD-ROMs. “The software allows us to scale our approach so we can reach more children, parents and educators who desperately need help – especially as they face the demands of high-stakes testing,” say Dr. Meltzer.

The BrainCogs software, which already has won two major educational awards (Media & Methods Awards Portfolio and District Administrator’s District’s Choice Award – Top 100 Products of 2002), is generating a great deal of attention across the nation. As Gigi Devanney of John Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education, points out, “I absolutely love BrainCogs.

It is truly the first really new and innovative software application I have seen in the last several years.” The software was also chosen as a featured web resource for the PBS special “Misunderstood Minds”.

FableVision and ResearchILD have also collaborated to produce a companion CD-ROM called BrainCogs2: Essay Express that provides students with strategies for successful essay writing, which has become a critical part of curricular assessment. Made possible in part by funding from a US DOE Transitions Through Technology (TTT) Grant through the Jason Foundation for Education, the new software will be commercially available spring 2003. The original BrainCogs software, released in February 2002, is available through educational technology reps and dealers throughout the U.S., Mexico, England and soon Australia, as well as through FableVision’s on-line store located at http://www.fablevision.com/shoppe.

Plans are underway for additional educator and parent workshops to help support the implementation of the BrainCogs strategy-based approach to learning, studying and testing. As FableVision’s Kelly Fischbach notes, “Children are faced with mounting pressures to succeed - we need to support students on both sides of the final school bell – in the classroom and at home.”

Details about the BrainCogs software are available at http://www.fablevision.com/braincogs.