Since its initial introduction, BrainWare SAFARI has become the world’s most researched cognitive training tool delivered online. Now, with the official launch of BrainWare SAFARI Version 3.0, the innovative cognitive training tool that helps clients address their brain fitness and improve cognitive capacity is delivered faster, safer and with new graphics to engage users while strengthening cognitive skills to enhance performance in school, the workplace and life.
Cognitive development occurs at the outer edges of our competence. If a task is too far above our current state of development, we will become frustrated and may not persist. If tasks are too easy, we become bored. The optimal level of challenge is sometimes called the Zone of Proximal Development. BrainWare SAFARI was designed with the methodical sequencing needed for “smart practice” (intense and rewarding repetition). This means that the exercises in the program avoid the kind of predictable progression that would cause the brain to lose interest and engage with less intensity.
In addition, with BrainWare SAFARI, effective cognitive training takes a multi-disciplinary approach. Integrating the best practices from clinical and educational psychology, auditory and vision developmental therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, neurology, and others builds a foundation for the right kind of cognitive training. Combining the best information from all these areas of expertise is the cornerstone of effective cognitive training, and distinguishes BrainWare SAFARI from other approaches to cognitive skills training.
According to Tom Hughes, Principal at Maple Crest STEM Middle School, “When you start watching kids engage in BrainWare SAFARI and see the skills that are being taught, as an educator, I just don’t know how to teach those. We just assumed that they learned those along the way, the same way we assumed they learned responsibility along the way, but they didn’t. I did absolutely everything I could to get more kids on the program, making the gains that we saw and that we continue to see.”
Over the months that BrainWare SAFARI 3.0 has been in use in schools and homes, the program has continued to deliver the same kinds of gains in cognitive skills, translating to academic gains, greater self-confidence and behavioral improvements.
According to Betsy Hill, President of BrainWare Learning Company, “use of cognitive skills training has been gaining consistent steam, and many independent schools, districts and private schools have experienced remarkable gains in their academic results, using the original BrainWare SAFARI and now with 3.0. Schools appreciate the gains they see in students’ ability to self-regulate, to think critically and with multiple perspectives. They also appreciate the ease of implementation from the point of view of technology that BrainWare SAFARI 3.0 offers.”
Gamified, but designed according to specific neuroscience principles
There is often confusion about the difference between cognitive training and brain games. The world is full of games, puzzles, software and other activities that involve mental processes. But most are intended for entertainment rather than meaningful impact on an individual’s learning capacity. For a cognitive training program to have significant impact, it needs to be designed according to specific neuroscience principles. By significant impact, we mean that it happens rapidly, is long-lasting and translates (generalizes) to academic work and everyday life.
“Today, it is easy to believe that we are mired in schools of struggle, but BrainWare SAFARI provides us with an opportunity to build classrooms of hope,” says BrainWare CEO Roger Stark. “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge. Fortunately, the educational landscape is maturing, and more and more schools are getting in tune to the fact that the Science of Learning can play a critical role in the learning and teaching process. Today, we have choices. Today, we have hope, and if we want different outcomes for our children, we can have those outcomes. But we have to make different choices.”
Where to find BrainWare SAFARI 3.0
BrainWari SAFARI develops 43 cognitive skills that are necessary for learning, including the foundational cognitive skills that our brains use to take in, store, understand, categorize and retrieve information. Foundational cognitive skills include attention, visual and auditory processing, processing speed and many others. BrainWare SAFARI also works on core executive functions — such as working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility — as well as higher order executive functions such as planning, critical thinking, reasoning and logic.
