|
To understand what
Audiblox is it is necessary to know (1.) its point of departure and
(2.) the learning principles on which it is based.
Its point of departure is
that there is nothing that any human being knows, or can do, that he
has not learned. This of course excludes natural body functions, such
as breathing, as well as the reflexes, for example the involuntary closing
of the eye when an object approaches it. But apart from that a human being
knows nothing, or cannot do anything, that he has not learned. This
implies that there is not necessarily anything wrong with a person who
cannot do something. He does not necessarily suffer from a learning disability.
He may simply not have learned it yet — and any person can learn almost
anything, provided that he is taught according to viable learning
principles.
There are three viable —
and universal — learning principles on which Audiblox is based:
(1.)
Learning is
a stratified process
The first learning
principle is that human learning does not take place on a single level,
but is a stratified process. This is accepted all over the world as a
didactic principle. The way in which school systems throughout the whole
world are organized and structured is an acknowledgement of this. One
cannot send a child to university first. He must start in the first class
and then progress year after year to the higher levels of education.
Unless he has mastered a sufficient amount of the knowledge to form a firm
enough base on which to build the knowledge of the following year, he will
not make progress in the next class.
Another simple and
practical example is the fact that one has to learn to count before it
becomes possible to learn to add and subtract. Suppose one tried to teach
a child who has not yet learned to count, to add and subtract. This would
be quite impossible, and no amount of effort would ever succeed in
teaching the child addition and subtraction. This shows that counting is a
skill that must be mastered before it becomes possible to learn to do
calculations.
This means that there is
a sequence that is to be observed in teaching. Certain things have to be
taught first, before it becomes possible to teach other things.
The main objective of the
Audiblox program is to practice and
automate the skills that underlie reading, spelling, writing,
mathematics and the learning of subject matter.
(2.) A “pyramid of
repetition” has to be constructed
The importance of
repetition in the learning situation cannot be denied. There is not a
single person on this earth who learned to speak a language, learned to
swim, skate, play golf, or drive a car, without repetition. In the same
way, neither the skills foundational to reading, nor reading itself, can
be learned without repetition.
In recent years,
neuroscientists have discovered that repetition is important in the
“wiring” of a person’s brain, i.e. the forming of connections or synapses
between the brain cells. Without these connections, the brain cells are as
useless as batteries standing in a row next to a flashlight. Only when the
batteries and flashlight are connected, can they make a shining light.
Mere repetition, however,
is not the end of the story. A “pyramid of repetition” has to be
constructed. This means that a learner must start by repeating a limited
amount of material many times over and over. Gradually, less and less
repetition will be necessary to master new skills and new knowledge.
Without building this “pyramid of repetition” first, later learning
will always be time consuming and prone to failure.
Audiblox
practices and automates the
foundational skills of reading, spelling, writing and mathematics by
systematically creating a “pyramid of repetition.”
(3.) Opportunities for
application
The third principle is
that there must be opportunities for application. While a person is
learning to master the skills that form the basis of reading and
mathematics, he should already be given opportunities to apply these
skills. This greatly speeds up the process of
automation.
An important point is
that these three principles should be looked upon as a whole and should
not be viewed in isolation. |
