Tag Archive for: APPS

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

LAUSD educators to use the award-winning interactive program to help students with social learning challenges

Encinitas, Calif. – Sept. 9, 2013 – The Social Express, a web-based program for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, and other social learning challenges, has been selected by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support social and emotional learning in classrooms across the district.  With more than 650,000 K-12 students in nearly 1,000 facilities district-wide, LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation.

Incorporating cognitive behavioral research and evidence-based social learning practices, the lessons in The Social Express use “Hollywood quality” animation to model the social skills integral to relationship building as well as career and life success.   The animated webisodes target 14 different skills and multi-tiered user levels, and are supported by quizzes, worksheets, and offline activities.  In addition, students have access to a private social network, The Clubhouse, which serves as an extension of the lessons where students can practice their skills and make friends in a safe environment.

“The Social Express offers a comprehensive curriculum and guide containing the very foundations of social and emotional skills that we are required to teach,” said Amy Nguyen, special education specialist for LAUSD.  “It is easy for teachers to use, and fun for the students.”

Through a robust student management system called “Central Station,” The Social Express allows teachers and professionals to manage individual student and group use of the program, track usage and progress, run reports, and even export data for IEP reporting compliance.  Activities in The Social Express adhere to the California State Board of Education Content Standards and the Common Core State Standards.

“Research shows quite clearly that children with social learning challenges have a much harder time succeeding at school and in the workplace.  Despite this, the unfortunate reality is that far too few schools provide support in this area,” said Marc Zimmerman, founder and CEO of The Social Express.   “We applaud LAUSD officials for acknowledging the need to provide social skills instruction to its challenged learners and helping them develop the skills necessary for life-long success.”

About The Social Express

Launched in 2011, The Social Express is an interactive program that supports social and emotional learning for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), ADHD, and other social learning challenges.  Available to schools, professionals, and parents, the award-winning online program teaches users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life.

For more information visit http://www.TheSocialExpress.com

Media contact:

Leslie Eicher, APR

314-965-1776

Leslie@EicherCommunications.com

 

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Apptudes.com Review of The Social Express

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Thank you to Hillary Brumer for writing a great review.

The Social Express Teaches Special Needs Children Valuable Social Skills – Win Mac Copy From Developer

The Social Express, (iPad only. Mac and PC versions available) by Brighten Learning, Inc.  is an educational app that is designed to teach children with Autism, Aspergers Syndrome, and ADHD social skills. While the app is geared for certain populations, it does have practical application for children up to Middle School.

There are many apps in the App Store that teach emotions. The Social Express is not like any of these apps. In fact, it blows the competition out of the water.

Learning something one is not good at is hard. Imagine spending all day being forced to work on that one thing. The Social Express makes working on skills that are difficult for many children with Autism – social skills – easily understood. By employing concepts in Social Thinking, self-regulation, and problem solving skills in a video modeling way of teaching.

The app is well-designed. I was immediately blown away by the beautiful graphics. The UI  was not cumbersome during testing. The app is a simple bus that takes the main characters, Zack, Emma, and their dog Sunny into town.  From there, various social scenarios are played out. The child selects the appropriate answer. By using specific language, video modeling, and error-free learning that allows children to think, The Social Express  has it all.

The Social Express is a rather large download, so make sure to have enough space to use it. Printable materials are also available, however unless an iPad user has access to a wireless printer, they are not of much use. It would be nice to see printables sent to an annotation app or PDF form for ease of customizing for learners.

Our children are asking to be taught in a different way than we were taught. Many debates have been waged over the use of technology to teach specific skills. However, regardless of one’s viewpoint, we can agree that using apps such as The Social Express only help to make children’s learning success in a way that makes sense for them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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48 Countries in less then 30 days!

We are proud to announce that The Social Express has been downloaded in 48 countries in less then 30 days! We are so excited to begin hearing success stories around the globe!

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ASHA Convention 2011!

An Unknown blogger gave us a nice review with other apps which were seen at the ASHA convention.

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