Special Education Students Beat the Odds With Technology

A pilot program at the Silverthorn Collegiate Institute in West Toronto, Ontario, used technology learning tools to improve special education students' performance.

Mount Knowledge Holdings Inc., an educational software development and training company, conducted the pilot using its Knowledge Generator, which combines "visualization memory techniques" and a learning methodology called Syntality. Numerous special needs students used these learning tools to determine their impact on the student's ability to rapidly learn up to 1,000 new vocabulary words — not only definition, but also use of the words in meaningful conversation and writing.

The highest ranking student in the pilot mastered more than 1,000 new words and was eager to show onlookers how the program helped empower him to learn. Another student who learned more than 500 words said his lack of vocabulary made him unable to write essays or anything else, for that matter. "Since this program works the way my brain works, I now have no fear of essays," the student said, "because I now have a way to learn the words I used to struggle with."

Silverthron's faculty and administration were elated with the results. "I am amazed at the extremely high level of concentration and the rapid learning that was achieved by our special needs students," said Principal Ron Ellis.