Online “Learning Programs” – Do they work?

A mom from Arizona recently asked about a program she saw on the Internet to help her son be a better learner. He hates handwriting. It frustrates him. This program promises to retrain her son’s brain by using handwriting along with listening to music, so that his emotional systems are calmer and he can focus and write with less frustration.On the surface, the program sounds good, and seems like it would deliver on its promise. BUT, the scientist in me isn’t buying it, for now.

Here’s what I do to be a better consumer of treatments and promises of better living that we are all barraged with daily. Be your own scientist. Think like a scientist. It’s empowering to be a critical thinker!

1. Watch for labels like “Grounded In Science”. Grounded in science isn’t science. It’s maybe the  start of a scientific inquiry. All new treatments and ideas, no matter how good they sound, need to go the distance. They have to run their scientific course so to speak. That means they need to go through controlled, thoughtful, multiple studies. Researchers have a tough task. They set out to prove themselves wrong in hopes of showing that a pill or a clinical technique has some merit, up and beyond beyond all the other possible reasons it seems to work. Only then do they know it is worth using. This takes lots of time, years in fact.
2. Watch for testimonials (instead of real studies). Testimonials are always positive. Those are hand-selected and intended to promote the product. They are designed to make you feel good and emotional. When emotional we’re thinking more with our hearts (emotional and irrational) and not our minds (logical).
3. It’s worth a try… if a program is not very expensive or time-consuming, and you don’t consider it to the exclusion of all other known/tested programs. In the case of this mom from Arizona, she could sit with her son to do writing exercises (calligraphy is fun) while playing calming classical music in the background. New age music and instrumental is often better as lyrics tend to distract. If her son seems to enjoy it, if he gets calmer and seems to focus longer, that will likely help him at school (and homework) where he has to be more attentive and use handwriting.

---