Growth Spurt: Learning Network creates an online reading readiness program

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, May, 2001

Pearson Education plc has begun a new early learning division led by Kathryn Costello, and more online offerings for young children will soon be appearing on Learning Network. Learning Network already includes offerings that reach into the pre-school category with learning games. Examples of Learning Network's subscription sites include Clever Island (www.cleverisland.com/promo/learningnet-work/promo.asp), and the Learning Pod (www.learningpod.com). Funbrain (www.funbrain.com), funschool.com (http://fen.funschool.com) and kaboose.com (http://familyeducation.kaboose.com) offer free games. Early Learner.net (http://learningnetwork.earlylearner.net) on the Learning Network also provides activities and assessments for children and advice for parents.

Robert Lippincott, senior vp and general manager for Learning Network for K-12, says that Learning Network anticipates stepping up offerings for the 0-5 age group over the coming months. All products mentioned in the earlier paragraph are properties of Learning Network, but it is possible that they could distribute content from other companies.

In one of their biggest media splashes, Learning Network will soon be announcing an online screening program to determine a four-year-old's reading readiness. As part of a "Get Ready to Read" program, Learning Network is developing the screener along with the The National Center for Learning Disabilities. Lippincott emphasizes that this is a screening tool, not a diagnostic tool. It is being designed by Grover J. Whitehurst, Ph.D., professor of psychology and pediatrics and chairman of the Department of Psychology at SUNY Stony Brook

Learning Network will field test the service over the summer and make it available in the back-to-school time frame. Lippincott expects the free service to garner significant attention and attract parents to the site. It will even be worked into the Between the Lions PBS television show. Learning Network will monetize the offering by suggesting appropriate activities and products, such as online subscription services and books, to help children with areas in which they are having diffculty. The screener is also expected to give Pearson Early Learning and related companies their initial push into the institutional child care market.