Brain Parade Blog

Most Likely to Succeed Education Technology Product

Posted on May 9, 2013 by jimbrainparade

I just returned from San Francisco and the annual Ed Tech Industry Summit hosted by the SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association) where I had an opportunity to present Brain Parade and See.Touch.Learn. to the audience of 350 SIIA members.

I was part of the SIIA Education Division’s Innovation Incubator competition. Back in March over 70 education technology companies submitted applications for consideration. 10 semifinalists were chosen and invited to San Francisco where we had the opportunity to stand in front of 350 of our peers and tell them what made our product and our companies so special. The catch? We had only five minutes to do it. Each company had to fit everything they wanted to say in just five minutes. Let me tell you that is no easy task.

On Sunday we delivered our first presentations to the audience. There were some very intriguing products, interesting companies, and really smart and passionate people. We fielded questions from a panel of experts and had three minutes to answer them. Despite a technical glitch during my presentation, I felt very good about my chances. Later on that night I was notified that Brain Parade had been selected to move on to the final round of the competition with four other companies. We needed to deliver another five minute presentation on Monday, but this one had to be different.

The presentation on Monday went off flawlessly. I received some great questions from the panel I felt that I answered them well. The competition was good, but I had done my best and I felt pretty strongly about my chances. There was nothing left to do but wait until Tuesday when the winners would be selected.

On Tuesday during lunch See.Touch.Learn. was voted the Most Likely To Succeed Educational Technology Product and I accepted my award with great pride. Overall it was a great experience. I met some fantastic people, I received a lot of advice, and the next time that I have to boil everything into five minutes again in the future, I’ve got some experience to look back on. I’m looking forward to seeing what new opportunities this will bring for Brain Parade.

Read the full SIIA Press Release here

Posted in Awards and Accolades, Great Story!, Jim's Thoughts |

My eSchool News chooses See.Touch.Learn.

Posted on April 30, 2013 by jimbrainparade

Another respected publication Chooses See.Touch.Learn.® in ”10 of the best Apple and Android apps for education in 2013″ – Click for the Full Story!

Posted in Awards and Accolades, Product Review | Tagged iPad apps and Autism, Learning Tools, Special Education |

See.Touch.Learn.® v2.1 Now Available – Includes the New Brain Parade Community

Posted on April 24, 2013 by jimbrainparade

See.Touch.Learn.® v2.1 – multiple improvements and new features.

New features include:

Improved user interface - visually stunning and easier to use
Search, categorization and organization - organize your images, exercises and lessons however you choose. Find images based on their characteristics.
Radically improved lesson creation - drag and drop images directly on to your exercises – create lessons in a flash!
The Brain Parade® Community with worldwide lesson sharing - included in the Pro edition, and available via subscription for users of See.Touch.Learn. FREE, the community allows users around the world to download ready-to-use lessons created by other users. With over 350,000 See.Touch.Learn. users in 104 countries, you’ll have access to thousands of lessons developed by professionals like you. Users of the Pro edition can share lessons with their colleagues, students and their families. Users of the FREE edition of See.Touch.Learn.® have several options for subscribing to the community, from 1 week to a full year.
And more! – randomize card locations during lesson play, lock the app in a “Play mode” to prevent students from wandering, create multiple libraries of your own.

The update is available for free in itunes by clicking here

Posted in iTunes, Product Update | Tagged Autism Software, Brain Parade, iPad apps and Autism, iPad Autism Software, Special Education, special needs |

Brain Parade® Receives Accolades For Innovation

Posted on April 19, 2013 by jimbrainparade

Posted in Awards and Accolades, Press |

SIIA chooses See.Touch.Learn. for Innovation Incubator Program

Posted on April 18, 2013 by jimbrainparade

See.Touch.Learn.® chosen for SIIA Innovation Incubator Program.

The SIIA Innovation Incubator Program identifies and supports entrepreneurs in their development and distribution of innovative learning technologies. The program began in 2006 and has provided support for dozens of successful products and companies in their efforts to improve education through the use of software, digital content and related technologies.

“This year’s Innovation Incubator participants stand out as incredibly original and exciting products,” said Karen Billings, vice president for the SIIA Education Division. “It’s a tremendous value for our members to have early access to these technologies.”

For the Full Press release, click here.

Posted in Awards and Accolades, Events | Tagged Autism Software, Learning Tools, See.Touch.Learn., Special Education |

appoLearning Ranks See.Touch.Learn. Pro in Top 5

Posted on April 17, 2013 by jimbrainparade

See.Touch.Learn.® Pro ranked among top Early Childhood Classroom Skills apps by appoLearning.

appoLearning lists “The best educational iPad apps, handpicked by experts”.

According to Tech Crunch, for each education app category, “five apps are shown, each rated on a scale out of 100. These are meant to represent the five best applications within that particular category, as chosen by an educational expert whose bio appears on the site, detailing their experience. This section also includes an explanation about why these apps and the skills they teach are important, also written by the educator.”

See.Touch.Learn.® Pro is ranked in the Early Childhood Classroom Skills category.

Click here to see the appolearning Early Childhood Classroom Skills Category.

Posted in Product Review, Recommended Sites | Tagged Autism Software, iPad apps and Autism, iPad Autism Software, See.Touch.Learn., Special Education, special needs |

Celebrate World Autism Awareness day with Brain Parade!

Posted on April 1, 2013 by jimbrainparade

BrainParade_EmailBanner3

April 2nd is Autism Awareness day and it kicks of Autism Awareness Month. Around the world people will be taking part in activities to raise awareness about Autism. Autism Speaks™ is also kicking off their annual “Light it up Blue” campaign to raise awareness.

Brain Parade is celebrating

April 1st thru 7th 15th! only

See.Touch.Learn. Pro

Reduced Now Only $29.99!

Be sure to download the Light it up Blue library in See.Touch.Learn.®. and we’ll donate $1 to Autism Speaks for each copy purchased.

If you like See.Touch.Learn., please tell others about us by sharing this email and posting about us on Facebook.

-Jim McClafferty, Founder

Posted in Events | Tagged Autism, Autism Speaks, See.Touch.Learn. |

Apps for Homeschooling Reader’s Choice 2012

Posted on February 20, 2013 by jimbrainparade

We are delighted to receive the 2012 Reader’s Choice designation by Apps for Homeschooling. The 2012 Reader’s Choice selections were made by a tally of votes by the Apps for Homeschooling community. See.Touch.Learn.® Pro was a clear favorite of the voters, and “Highly recommended by our community of homeschooling moms.”

Click here to see the 2012 Reader’s Choice selections.

Posted in Product Review | Tagged Brain Parade, See.Touch.Learn., Special Education |

Our iPad mini Winner – Cindy Devine

Posted on January 14, 2013 by jimbrainparade

Congratulations to Cindy Devine, winner of the iPad mini contest in the Brain Parade® Community!

Cindy with her new iPad mini.

The Brain Parade® Community (accessible from See.Touch.Learn.® Pro) is a place where See.Touch.Learn. Pro users can share lessons and libraries with eachother. Since its launch in November, over 400 new lessons and libraries have been shared! Cindy is one of those who has shared some great stuff with others. She wrote us a quick note that I would like to share with you.

Jim, here is my picture with your wonderful iPad mini. I have used it at work this week. The smaller size is great for portability! It fits in my purse. See.Touch.Learn.Pro is my go-to app with my Speech Therapy clients. Your libraries are fantastic and I can make lessons easily using your photos, or take pictures with the iPad and make my own card library. (The cats in the picture on the iPad are mine: Wally and Charlie.) I have made lessons to cover a variety of receptive and expressive goals. My clients think they are playing when actually we are working on specific goals to help them better understand the world around them and express themselves appropriately. I like that See.Touch.Learn.Pro is so customizable. I have had to turn off the Incorrect Answer Sound because some of the children liked it and started answering incorrectly just so they could hear it. I no longer have to use my low-tech paper photo flash cards because your photo libraries cover everything I use. I did have to take a picture of one of my children’s baby teeth, though, because I needed one tooth for my irregular plurals lesson. I am honored to have won the iPad mini. Thank you so much! See.Touch.Learn.Pro is a product I believe in. It has simplified my work and my clients enjoy it. What could be better than that?

Thank you Cindy!