Technologies, Products, and Services
education, for-profit companies are design-
In 1992 Lewis Perelman, author of School's
ing and applying new technologies to facili-
Out and former director of Project Learning
tate learning, measure student progress, offer
2001 for the Hudson Institute, hypothesized
expanded learning opportunities over the
about how technology could transform the
Internet, and train and assist teachers. The
U.S. educational system:
following overview provides a sampling of
the types of technological research, products,
A technology revolution is sweeping
and services that for-profit companies have
through the U.S. and world
developed to improve education.
economies that is totally transforming
Perhaps more than any other for-profit
the social role of learning and teach-
education company, Scientific Learning
ing. This learning revolution already
allows us to glimpse the potential for edupre-
has made "the classroom teacher" as
neurs to bring about revolutionary change in
obsolete as the blacksmith shop. In its
education. Scientific Learning has developed
aftermath, most of what now passes
educational software based on 25 years of
for education "reform" will appear as
brain research. The software, dubbed "glasses
useful to economic security in the
for the ears" and marketed under the name
While the govern-
1990s as the Maginot Line was to mil-
Fast ForWord, has been shown to dramati-
ment system
itary security in the 1940s.54
cally improve the language and reading skills
of children aged 4 through 13, particularly
invests next to
Perelman's hypothesis seems correct: new
children who have difficulties reading and
nothing in
technologies, if applied correctly, could signifi-
processing speech. Scientific Learning
research and
cantly enhance, facilitate, and even revolutionize
reports, "On average, children with language
education. However, developing technologies
and reading problems make language gains
development for
and programs that will facilitate or change the
of 1.5 to 2 years after 4 to 8 weeks of Fast
education, for-
ForWord training."5 6 Scientific Learning
learning process requires a significant investment
in research and development. The Panel on
describes the process they have developed as
profit companies
Technology under the President's Committee of
"computer-controlled, repetitive training
are designing and
Advisors on Science and Technology noted that
exercises that automatically adapt to each
applying new
the lack of investment in research is a serious
user's performance to modify the manner in
which the brain processes language."5 7
problem facing the U.S. educational system:
technologies to
The benefits of Scientific Learning's pro-
facilitate learn-
Funding levels for educational
grams were confirmed in a recent study in
ing.
research, however, have thus far been
the Philadelphia public school system.
alarmingly low. By way of illustra-
Twenty-three students who risked academic
tion, whereas some 23 percent of all
failure received between 4 and 10 weeks of
U.S. expenditures for prescription
training. Before the training, the students
and non-prescription medications
tested well below average; after using
were applied toward pharmaceutical
Scientific Learning's programs, 70 percent of
research in 1995, less than 0.1 per-
the students had moved into the average
cent of our nation's expenditures for
range. Moreover, the average student gained
three and a half years of language skills.58
elementary and secondary education
in the same year were invested to
(See Appendix, Table A.3.)
determine which educational tech-
The potential for products that isolate
niques actually work, and to find
brain processes has captured the interest of
ways to improve them.5 5
the media and researchers. Articles on the
ramifications of Scientific Learning's find-
ings and products have appeared in Time and
While the government system invests next
Newsweek. Newsweek's article focused on the
to nothing in research and development for
9