|
Background
Click to install the Online Learning Safety Net
The Online Learning Safety Net, OLSN for short (pronounced Olsen), provides on-demand support and guidance for learning to read and understand words.
OLSN is free and can be used with most English language websites (many millions), including these and other top education and reference sites:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
OLSN is available as a Google Chrome browser extension that adds OLSN to virtually every page on the internet. OLSN can also be easily embedded in other websites. OLSN is built into this and other websites.
With OLSN, clicking or touching a word immediately results in a popup box that contains two kinds of help: 
1 – Help With Reading Words:
When a selected word first appears in the OLSN popup it is displayed with font/letterface variations called pronunciation cues (PQs). PQs reduce the letter-sound-spelling confusion that makes recognizing unfamiliar words so difficult. Letter-by-letter, these visual cues tell readers which of each letter’s possible sounds it is actually making in the word they are trying to read. Try it. Click this word: immediately. When it appears in the popup, notice how its letters look. While the word is still in the popup, click it again and watch and listen as it is sounded out and normally pronounced.
2 – Help With Understanding Words: When a word is recognized, but its meaning is not understood, clicking or touching the WordExplore 
button in the popup box will open the word in OLSN’s Word Reference Panel. To demonstrate, click on this: word then click the WordExplore button in the popup.
The Word Reference Panel includes tabs for definitions, synonyms, word roots, translations, and “WordScope” (a tool for learning about how the letters in the word participate in the sound of the word).
Click here to learn more about Using OLSN