Earobics Installation
Elementary School Software Company: Cognitive Concepts, 990 Grove Street, Evanston, IL 60201; Phone: 888/328-8199 (outside the U.S., call: 847/328-8099); Fax: 847/328-5881; Technical Support: support@earobics. Com; Teachers' Feedback-teacherfeedback@earobics.com; Playing Earobics: question@earobics.com; Parents' Feedback: parentfeedback@earobics. Com; Specialists' Feedback: specialist feedback@earobics.com; earobics.com/. Price: $3,000 per classroom-Earobics Step 1 Software, part of the Earobics Literacy Launch, Step 1 Classroom Package. Quantity discounts available. The software can be configured for classroom use (a few computers) or lab use and can be reused from one year to the next. Some materials are consumable and can be replaced for approximately 5 percent of the classroom package purchase each year.
How to Install Old PC Games on a New Computer. If you or your child are pining for the days of 32-bit graphics or floppy drive based DOS games, you may have run into trouble when trying to install these oldies-but-goodies on your new. Earobics Reach Teacher’s Resource Guide 1 The Earobics Reach Teacher’s Resource Guideprovides resources and suggestions on how to use the Earobics Reachreading intervention program in the classroom. The guide is intended as a reference to help teachers manage student use of the program and provide remedial instruction when necessary.
$299-Specialist/clinician version, single copy price. $59-Home version, single copy price.
Audience: Ages 4-7, grades K-1. Format: Earobics Step 1, a multimedia dual format (Macintosh and PC/ Windows) CD-ROM, is part of a package that includes Comprehensive Step 1 Teacher's Resource with Classroom Software Teacher's Guide and Classroom Connections 1.
The package also includes integrated multimedia materials and books, alphabet mats and letter sets, and much more. The complete package also has student activity books, four big books with four little books, and a tape and video. An additional CD-ROM with all four stories, an extensive classroom library of books and tapes intended to be take- homes, and two copies of Earobics Step 1 Home software are also included. System Requirements: MacintoshPower PC (603E or faster) with System 7.6.1 or higher.
PC/Windows-Pentium processor with 133 MHz or higher, Windows 95/98/ WinNT 4.0, and a 16 bit sound card and speakers. Both platforms require 32 MB RAM, 16 MB available RAM, 10 MB hard drive, a 4x CD-ROM drive or faster, and a monitor that can display 256 colors. Earobics Literacy Launch is a supplemental early literacy program that integrates both print and software media and uses Internet and home support.
Earobics Installation Guide
The program has a colorful interface, sound effects, animation, and a variety of teacher management controls. The Earobics Step 1 CD-ROM has six interactive educational games with more than 300 levels of play. Reviewer Comments: Installation: I installed this program on a newer Windows machine. Installation of the CD-ROM was easy. Installation Rating: A Content/Features: Earobics Step I (the CD-ROM reviewed here) is the core of a large program called Earobics Literacy Launch. The entire program is an effort to support early literacy programs and does so through the use of computer and Internet technology and integrated print media and includes 'school-to-home' tools that can involve parents in the process and assessment material. Earobics Literacy Launch provides both instructional and practice material.
In general, the entire program is well developed, attractive, interesting, and useful. The illustrations are great, the music and sound effects are well done, voices are pleasant and clear, and animations are fun and effective. Best of all, the entire program seems to be well-grounded in current language to print research. The activities and materials really should help children make the transition from speaking language to reading and writing it. All of this is admirably carried out in the Earobics Step 1 CD-ROM as well.
The opening screen is always the same. Teachers or other adult users set it up by adding students' names and selecting features and games to be made available or unavailable to students. Students click their names and play a round (10 auditory presentations and responses). The program keeps track of their responses and progress and modifies the games to match student progress.
Earobics does not allow for enough repetitions per exercise to build automatic responses. The only program that does that plus slows down presentations to 80 ms (we normally speak at 40 ms speed) so that a deficient auditory processing system can make fine discriminations when it is presented at a speed where the brain can actually hear and process the differences is FastForWord.
Then the computer is programmed to speed up to 65 ms, 45 ms, 35 ms, and finally at 25ms speed. If that system can be accurate at 80% at 25 ms, then it is possible for the person to actually hear when there is noise in the background or over a degraded auditory system like a PA or cell phone. Earobics does none of this. Yes, it is cheap, yes, it is a pseudo fix, no it doesn't have the research behind it that FastForWord does (hence more costly) and no it could never have the same outcomes because it doesn't actually alter the set point of the brain by urging it to go faster and be more accurate in increments of faster and faster presentations. FastForWord is the only game in town that does this, and the fix is permanent because the brain is convinced over time to establish a new way of processing never to return to the old way again. Like swimming or riding a bike, once the new set point is established for processing incoming stimuli, it automatically kicks in as soon as you open your eyes/ears in the a.m.
Once and for all, get it right, Earobics is a sorry excuse for auditory processing training, no better than Reader Rabbit, You get what you pay for, just saying it straight. My daughter is dyslexic and seriously struggling with reading. Since we're throwing money at the problem left and right, I figured what the heck. She likes the software, but isn't dying to play. It seems to be helping in some respects, but it's not a miracle cure (no, I wasn't expecting that).
Interesting thing is my 2-yr old loves the software. He likes watching, listening, and occasionally answering. Honestly, I think he might be getting more from it than her. Odd little twist there, but whatever. Anyway, if you're looking for supplementary work for reading and spelling, you might consider this.
I purchased this product for my 7 year old son who has issues with attention and following directions. The level of phonics taught in Step 1 is easy for my 7 year old but the real challenge is to stay focused on instructions while those are being given. Even though some of the games were tedious (which my son needed) and at times right down frustrating for my son, he still enjoyed playing and was willing to go back to them. The real gain for my son is that he learned he has to focus hard on tasks that are more difficult, and that it is impossible to get a job done (get points) if he did not hear instructions. He also learned to recognize when he did not hear instructions, and that in those situations he should ask for instructions to be repeated (there is a speaker button to click in order to hear instructions repeated).
We are moving on to the the Step 2 now (for 7 to 10 year old children) so he can learn new skills and keep practicing ones that he has acquired through Step 1.