Here s one example of one such product that helps a child learn spelling, the Turbo Twist Speller. It contains more than 400 words typically found on 2nd through 6th grade spelling tests, including all the rules of spelling. It will play word games with the child in a fun, musical way. It quickly assesses what a child knows and delivers spelling words that are challenging to that child's level of knowledge. And if the family has access to the Internet, and the school uses a standard spelling curriculum, the product can be connected to the home PC and that curriculum will automatically be downloaded for the child each week.
Parents can also manually input any special words.
And finally, the Web site will evaluate how the child is doing and give the parent a report on the child s progress. This is just one example of what can be done today, and it will get better in the future. We see a huge need, a rapidly growing market, an opportunity to have a good business while we help kids learn, and the chance to help solve a societal problem. We believe 2000 is going to be a very good year for all educational product companies. In the future, we will see many more advances in learning thanks to increases in chip memory and cost reductions, artificial intelligence s ability to help assess a child s knowledge, the expanding capabilities of the Internet, and the creativity of educators and designers.