A few days ago, I found a very interesting news: "A new online method allows children to improve attention and memory", and I would like to share it with you.
SmartickGames is the name of a new method, developed by researchers, at the University of Granada (South eastern Spain), and the company “Smartick”, to allow children to improve skills, such as attention, memory, perception and reasoning, just like their academic performance, through activities online.
The front page of SmartickGames
The researcher with the Department of Experimental Psychology, at the University of Granada, Maria Rosario Rueda, has explained that they designed the application, with a knowledge, that allows for tasks, that they know "train basic processes of attention, memory, reasoning, etc".
"The training of these basic processes produces improvements, in cognitive faculties, that are measurable, such to cognitive level as at the level of brain functioning", she stated.
Thus, on the website of SmartickGames project, you can find brain training exercises, to improve cognitive skills as attention and memory, necessary for learning math optically.
The application analyzes the performance data of children, it can identify gaps, in specific skills, and provide exercises to help improve them.
Just like that, the program allows to measure the improvement, in the mathematical competence, in terms of cognitive training performed; ie, you see what kind of problems are best done, after you have completed your session, with certain exercises.
For its part, the partner-founder of Smartick, Daniel González de Vega, has explained that the program algorithms select the type of activity and the level of difficulty, that best fits each child.
"It lets prescribe customized itineraries of cognitive training, based on the performance of mathematical exercises and, depending on the behavior and learning outcomes in training games, suggesting changes, in the curriculum of math exercises", he clarified.
The project, which will also be available for the thousands of children, learning mathematics with Smartick, has the support of the Centre for Research Mind, Brain (CIMCYC) of the UGR –leaders, in the areas of cognitive neuroscience, memory and language-- and it has been selected, by the European Commission, as one of the most innovative and disruptive European projects of the Horizon 2020 program.
The team of the Centre of Research Mind Brain at the UGR
SmartickGames activities have been designed, by a team of experts in child psychology and neuropsychology, scientifically advised, by researchers at the University of Granada.
The teacher at the UGR, Maria Rosario Rueda, has worked, for four years, at leading research groups, in the USA. And she continues to collaborate, on joint projects, with American Universities.
Rueda, along with Teresa Bajo –-assigned to the Experimentally Psychology department-- are experts, in the study of higher cognitive abilities in humans, just like the development of these skills and the development of programs to promote such skills throughout life.
Well, I think it is very positive all we can provide to help children, especially to learn Mathematics, which normally they do not like it.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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