Dear Researcher,

I am a young entrepreneur from Germany / Switzerland. I am planing to
set up a business in the USA and for that I need to write a
businessplan. The bplan is aimed to investors as well as for internal
use. The business is about licensing and distributing an patented
educational software which is already successfully distributed in
europe and which I have invented.

I do NOT need a model as I have acquired a very good software wizard
for creating a bplan with lots of samples.

My question is divided to an Introduction about my product and 6
chapters. I need the answer until Saturday February 11. I need a very
detailed answer as the bplan will be read by critical investors.

In other answers I have seen often that the answer consits largely of
links, but I would apreciate it very much if you could actually write
down / copy the relevant numbers from the sources to your answer
directly.

Please name the sources of all numbers / facts you have included.

I?m looking forward to this cooperation and I?m curious as this is my
first time! :-)


INTRODUCTION TO ?MY PROGRAMM?
===========================

I will not name my programm for reasons of safety and annonymity. If
there is a way how I could send a link for download to your private
Email-Address I would do so so that you?d be able to take a look at
it.

My programm is an low-cost educational tool that helps the user to
commit ANY CONTENT to long-term memory and which is very very easy to
use. The usability follows the principle ?KISS? (Keep it simple
stupid) and the method on which it is based is that of the scientist
?Hermann Ebbinghaus? who more than 100 years ago layed the foundation
of long-term memorization with his experiments and the resulting
?Vergessenskurve? (german for ?forgetting curve?). See the picture in
these links:
http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/hendrik.langner/scient_background.gif
http://www.recallplus.com/images/BasicForgettingCurve.gif
If you google for ?forgetting curve? you should find some more
reference on the scientific theory I?m talking about.

The material the user wants to learn has to be typed in by himselve or
imported by him from any source. The programm itself is delivered
?empty?. The material to be learned has to be divided into items (you
could also say ?virtual index cards?) that consist of one Question and
one Answer. In case the user learns voabulary, for example, the
question would be the native-language word (the known) and the answer
would be the foreign word (the unknown).

The basic idea is that each item is inquired by the computer ( =
studied) repetetly in a certain pattern of repetition: The time
intervals between the repetition grow exponentially with every phase
until the last interval is sufficiently long to ensure that this item
has reached the users long-term memory. However, in case the user has
forgotten the answer, it goes back to the first phase where the
time-intervals are small and the ?journey to the long-term memory? for
this item begins anew.

The computer handels all the organization of the learning-process, eg.
It tells the user automatically which item is due for study on what
date. The user is ONLY concerned with regularly feeding the programm
with new input (typing in new items) and regularly starting the
study-session. EVERYTHING ELSE is automatic. In fact, I believe that?s
the single most important success-factor of my programm: That the user
has no hassle at all and still everything he learns reaches his
long-term memory eventually ? so that he will never forget it again.

The new version 2 of my programm will be browser based and platform
independent. As such it can be marketed not only to schools and
students but also to companies whose employees need to learn any
facts, definitions, terminology, vocabulary etc etc by heart. Version
2 will also support pictures, audio and video in place of text as the
Questionn or Answer.

The price for one license will lie in the range between 15 and 29 $
(it?a a multi-user-system so for private use one license means
everybody in the family can log on and use the programm, in BtoB one
license means permisson to use the programm for one employee).

If you have any other questions about the programm please let me know.


1. COMPETITION TO MY PROGRAMM 
==================================

Please find out about competing products, specifically in the areas of:
- learning vocabulary / terminology
- long-term memorization
- Internet based learning tools that are independent of content
The products don?t necessarily have to be computer-based. In Germany
for example our main competitor is the producer of
index-card-learning-systems made out of cardbox.

The competitors should include companies and individuals from the areas:
- big publishers / big software companies
- small software/ educational firms
- small hobby programmers (often offer popular shareware/freeware)

Please make a basic comparison/description of features / prices among
all competing products in the form of a table. Later I will relate
those to my own product myself.


2. SCHOOLS- / PEOPLE NUMBERS and the DYNAMICS:
====================================
# of = number of.

Please find out only nation-wide numbers.

- # of middle schools / students
- # of high schools / students
- # of private schools / students
- # of universities/colleges / students
- # of adults in education (continous ed)
- In each area: # of new students every year / expected development,
tendencies etc. for the next years.

Please find out how the population is distributed percentage-wise
among the 50 States. Ideally would be to have a percentage number for
each State.


3. SEGMENTATION OF CUSTOMERS:
=======================================
FYI (For Your Information):
Our customers can roughly be divided into the following segments:
- young students ( up to high school)
- college / university level
- adults in education
- immigrants (learning english)
- organizations (BtoB)

Please do research for immigrants and organizations as customers:

Immigrants:
- How many non-english-speaking immigrants are there every-year?
- Are their groups of immigrants which would be reachable easily as a
target-group for selling them my programm? I?m thinking of
multiplicators like providers of english-courses specially for
immigrants.
- What % of immigrants actually try hard to integrate themselves and
woudl be willing / able to spend money on learning english?

Organizations:
- Which organizations / types of business / branches usually have
educational programms/departments for their employees and use
eLearning where employees have to learn things / facts / terminology
definitions by heart  or learn foreign languages?
Such organizations could be an interesting target-group for my programm.

- How many people work in such branches in the US (per branch)?

- What would be good sources to access addresses of companies of
certain branches for the purpose of acquisition / telephone marketing?


4. MARKET - $ NUMBERS / DYNAMICS:
===============================

Please give $ amounts per year  and  development of these numbers over
the last years and prediction for following years / of tendency.

- spent on eLearning in private sector by companies 
- ? divided by branches
- ?. Divided by kind of eLearning expense / products
- average $ spent by parents on study material and/or/including
educational software
- # or % of families using educational tools / software
- average family income (with / without kids / white / hispanic / black)

Please think of any other $-amounts yourself which might be relevant
for my businessplan.



5. MARKET REQUISITS / ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
===================================

Computerization in the USA
---------------------------------------
- % and number of population access to computers / Internet
- % and number of family with kids with access to computers / Internet
- Access to computers by middle/high/college school students
- Access to Internet by middle/high/college school students

Demographics
----------------------------------
Please brainstorm which demographic factors might be relevant for a
businessplan dealing with nation-wide distribution of an
online/offline low-priced educational tool such as ours. Suggest
sources with information for these factors.

Below I inserted a link to the ?demographics? article from Wikipedia
(not because I assumed you don?t know the term) but maybe it helps you
to generate some ideas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics

Economy
----------------------------------------
In a short paragraph describe, in what way the US-economy and its
expected development is supportive of starting the distribution of an
universally applicable, low-priced educational tool. Please put some
basic facts and figures in here (with source) to make this paragraph a
little specific and credible.

Technology
-------------------------------------
FYI:
Our new version 2 of my programm will be completley browser-based, programmed with 
Java and platform-independent ? it will have interface to allow it to
be integrated into any computer-system (even mobile phones) / network
/ intranet / extranet  etc etc  it runs online as a server-based
version as well as offline. As you see maximum flexibility and
adaptability based on the most modern standards.

I see myself best suited to describe why general technological
development is a factor which speaks for us and which we see as a
chance, not a threat.  Add to that, that the principle on which our
software is based is valid since more than 100 years and keeps getting
confirmed scientifically.

Still I feel it would make the whole businessplan more credible if in
some places we describe possible threats. In reality, I think the only
threat to us is competition and saturation. However I want you to
think about how technology in the next 5-10 years might become a
possible threat to our business model and constitute it.


Government
----------------------------
Please list governmental initiatives that are meant to support / advance / 
Encourage our kind of business or the general idea of eLearning /
computerization of Learning
Maybe even the subsidy of such products or the subsidy of projects in
the public (school) sector that might include the implementation of
such product as mine.

In a short statement constitute why governmant is probably no threat
to our kind of business.

Culture
--------------------------
A general factor that has to be considered in any businessplan. Please
constitute in a short paragraphe how American cultiure is supportive
for the use of computers for learning, innovation in general etc etc. 
Maybe give an example that relates to our story.



6. SOFT (NON FACTUAL / NUMERIC).
========================================

Here I?m looking for texts / small articles from well-known /
respected sources (quality more important than quantity here!!) that
describe?

a) ?general tendencies in the area of eLearning / educational tools
for students / the role of computers/internet in Learning etc etc

b) ?in a more or less scientific tone the tendency of the last years /
decade to again recognize / accept the old ?truth? that learning
certain things by heart - like important facts, terminology and
foreign-language vocabulary - is also an important part of education.

c) like in b) but about the value and importance of ?self-evaluation?
especially for children / young students.

d) specific scientific documents / sources about the way the brain
works that prove our statement that multiple repetition in a certain
pattern is the key to long-term memorization ? if possible with
graphical illustration, especially of the neurological connections
getting hardened through repetition until they are so hard that they
cant get deleted anymore (long-term memory)

THAT?S IT. Thaks a lot in advance!!!!!

Your dgor.

---

Clarification of Question by dgor-ga on 08 Feb 2006 14:53 PST

This question is locked - am I right in the assumption that it is
being worked on by a reasearcher right now? If yes, first of all
thanks for taking on my question, second of all I would like you to
know that I'm willing to give a tip of up to 50$:
a) 25$ for answering all important questions to my satisfaction
b) another 25$ for completing the answer until Saturday morning
(European time) which is your Friday night.

please also note that I have a second 200 $ question of the kind
concerning the same business: 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=443003

---

Request for Question Clarification by belindalevez-ga on 08 Feb 2006 15:03 PST

<I am currently working on the question. I have found the requested
information and am now collating it. I estimate it will take
approximately another four hours to compile the answer.

Best wishes.

Belindalevez-ga.>

---

Clarification of Question by dgor-ga on 08 Feb 2006 16:02 PST

Wow sounds great - I'm impressed with your speed. Just out of
curiosity (your name contains "linda") - are you a male or female
researcher?

If your answer is great, which I will tell you as soon as i have it, I
would be glad if you take on my second 200$ question.  That would be
efficient as you are already "inside" the subject. Maybe I should
cancel the second question as long as you are not done compiling the
first to avoid the risk of having another researcher "taking it away"
from you? please let me know.

---

Request for Question Clarification by belindalevez-ga on 08 Feb 2006 17:44 PST

<Hello, I'm a female researcher.
You can edit the other question and add to the subject "for
belindalevez-ga". This will ensure that none of the other researchers
will answer.

Best wishes
belindalevez-ga>

<Educational software facts for inclusion in a business plan.

1. Competition.

There are a number of memory training aids on the market including:

Test And Improve Your Memory (DVD Box). Tri Synergy.  $29.99. 3 modes
of play, coaching tools, scientifically based, monitor and track
progress, mind profile.

BrainX Digital Learning System. Brain X. $49.95. Quickly capture
information from any source. Automatically converts information into
questions and answers.  Organize into review and study session.
Quizzes you on the material and re-quizzes on material missed. Stores
the material.

Brain Builder 3.0. CD-Rom. Advanced Brain Technonlogies. $39.99.
Increases working memory capacity. Improves auditory and visual
sequential processing. Raises cognitive processing speed. Develops
thinking skills. Improves attention and concentration.

Train Your Memory. Scientific Brain Training. CD. $59.95. Develop a
strong foundation for working methods and memorization strategies.
Fun, stimulating, and challenging games developed by a team of
specialists in cognitive psychology and educational sciences. Over 30
hours of games on all types of memory: visual and spatial, auditory,
memory of words, of numbers, and of texts. 12 interactive games with
levels of increasing difficulty and corresponding databases. Max &
Claire are characters that help guide players, give feedback on
progress, and keep players motivated.

Brain Fitness. Scientific Brain Training. CD. $64.95. Developed by a
team of leading doctors Over 50 hours of diverse exercises Works on
all 5 cognitive functions. Improve concentration and language
abilities. Enhance mental efficiency.

Clifford Musical Memory Games. Scholastic. CD-rom $19.99. Make music
with Clifford and friends. 19 entertaining music and memory
activities. Make instruments, sing songs, dance with the dogs, and
more. Automatic help tool and parent's guide. For ages 4 to 6.

Memory Lifter. CD. $14.95. Vocabulary flashcard software.
English-Spanish. Includes free dictionaries.

Happy Neuron. Online subscription based. $12.99 per month. $99.99 per
year. Mental exercises and coaching tools.

RecallPlus. Essentials Edition - $34.95. Professional Edition -
$49.95. Expert Edition - $69.95. Makes study fun and faster. Animates
study notes. Predicts exam time needs.

Memory Works. CD-rom. $79.95. For learning of facts and figures. Uses
chunking method and sound/number method. Number cruncher tool.
------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
2.
Number of schools.
Number of public schools 2002-03.
Total ? 95,615
Middle schools ? 12,174
Secondary ? 22, 599
Private schools ? 2,585

Number of enrolments each year broken down by type of school.
Thousands 
                      Total                                  Public   
                    Private
            K-12      K-8       9-12        K-12      K-8       9-12  
K-12      K-8     9-12
2006 ? 53,435  37,422  15,992    47,452   32,915   14,537 5,983  4,527    1,422
2008 ? 53,174   37,340  15,834   47,218  32,825   14,530   5,971  4,517   1,455
2010 -  53,016   37,538  15,478   47,068   32,999   14,069   5,948   4,539 1,409

Higher education.
There are 4,236 institutions of higher education in the US.
2,516 are private colleges or universities 
1,720 of the schools are public institutions 
2,530 are four-year colleges or universities 
1,706 are two-year schools 
Source: NACS
Projected enrolments for 2005 is 16.7 million students.
Top 10 universities and numbers enrolled.
Miami-Dade College 54,926
University of Texas at Austin  52,261
Ohio State University  49,676
University of Minnesota?Twin Cities 48,677
University of Phoenix Online Campus 48,085
University of Florida 47,373
Arizona State University at Tempe 47,359
Texas A&M University 45,083
Michigan State University 44,937
City College of San Francisco 42,975
Student demographics.
86% were undergraduates 
61% of students attended four-year institutions 
43% were between the ages of 15 and 21 
32.9% were between the ages of 22 and 30 
56.6% percent were women 
59.9% of the total attended college or university full-time 
In 2003-2004 students spent an average of $704 in the college store.
11.12% is spent on computer products.
[The above figures were all reported in Almanac 2005-2006, published
by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 26, 2005.]

Employees in education.
An estimated 8 million employees were engaged in some form of education.
Predictions for 2010.
By 2010, 50% of all college students will be adults. By 2004, 100
million Americans will take part in adult education programs.
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
Population distribution by state - percentage
Alabama   1.58
Alaska      0.22
Arizona     1.82
Arkansas   0.95
California   12.03
Colorado     1.52
Connecticut  1.21
Delaware   0.27
District of Columbia 0.20
Florida  5.68
Georgia  2.91
Hawaii  0.43
Idaho  0.46
Illinois  4.41
Indiana  2.16
Iowa  1.03
Kansas 0.95
Kentucky 1.44
Louisiana  1.58
Maine 0.45
Maryland 1.88
Massachusetts 2.26
Michigan 3.53
Minnesota 1.75
Mississippi  1.01
Missouri  1.99
Montana  0.32
Nebraska 0.61
Nevada  0.71
New Hampshire 0.44
New Jersey  2.99
New Mexico  0.65
New York  6.74
North Carolina 2.86
North Dakota  0.23
Ohio 4.03
Oklahoma 1.23
Oregon 1.22
Pennsylvania 4.36
Rhode Island 0.37
South Carolina  1.43
South Dakota 0.27
Tennessee 2.02
Texas 7.41
Utah 0.79
Vermont  0.22
Virginia 2.51
Washington  2.09
West Virginia 0.64
Wisconsin  1.91
Wyoming 0.17
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
3.
There are 14 million people in the US speak who English poorly or not
at all. Every year there are 19.8 million new immigrants enter the US.
Of these 37% have a good command of English when they enter which
means each year 12.47 million new immigrants have English learning
needs.
The vast majority of immigrants see acquiring English as a necessity
to get good jobs. According to research carried out by Public Agenda,
85% of immigrants say it is hard to get a job or do well in the US
without learning English.
Reaching immigrants.
The US has 14,280 community-based organisations teaching English. The
Center for Applied Linguistics has a database of 100 elementary and
secondary school newcomer programs in 29 states.
The Immigration Association is an organization of immigrants and for
immigrants. http://www.usaia.org/

Organisations.
Piper Jaffray and Training Magazine has identified an untapped market
for elearning in the small business market. Most elearning providers
have concentrated on the needs of larger corporations. However small
to medium-sized businesses are more likely to access learning content
from the web rather than build their own. These organisations can be
reached through organisations like the American Business Association
http://www.asbaonline.org/ and the National Small Business Association
http://www.nsba.biz/
There are 25.5 million small businesses in the US. They employ over 50
percent of the U.S. work force.
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
4. Market
According to elearning magazine, the US elearning market is worth $8 billion.
http://elearning.b2bmediaco.com/aboutus.php

According to the ASTD state of the industry report, spending per
employee on elearning was $826 in 2002. Employees are trained for an
average of 28 hours in Benchmarking Service organisations and 62 hours
in Training Investment Leaders. Employee groups receiving the largest
percentage of training expenditure were customer service (17%) and
production staff (17%).
http://www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/6EBE2E82-1D29-48A7-8A3A-357649BB6DB6/0/SOIR_2003_Executive_Summary.pdf

Corporate elearning revenues were $6 to 7 billion in 2002.
The US elearning market will level off at $1.7 billion in 2004.
Education market - Spending on consumer products and services - $13 billion.
Parents spend approximately $23 in 2000 on educational toys, books,
games, software and services.
The tutoring market is worth approximately $2.5 billion.
Language instruction is worth $1 billion.
The education share of the consumer software market is $700 million.
Parents purchase $2.5 billion of supplemental material to give their
children an edge in school.
A home schooler spends roughly $626 annually on educational products
implying a market worth $1.3 billion.

A report that may be of interest to you looks at the Worlwide
Corporate eLearning market. It is published by IDC and costs $4,500.
http://www.idc.com/research/viewtoc.jsp?containerId=CA688ELL

Median household income.
White non-Hispanic $44,400
Black $27,900
Asian and Pacific Islander $51,200
Hispanci $30,700
Source: US Census Bureau.
http://www.census.gov/population/pop-profile/1999/chap12.pdf
--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
5.
Computerisation in the USA.
82% of children not in poverty have access to computers at home.
47% of children in poverty have access to computers at home.
93% of public school instructional rooms have internet access (2003).
100% of secondary schools have internet access.
 Ratio of public school students to instructional computer with
internet access is 4.4 to 1.
48% of schools allow children access to computers outside of school hours.
Source:NCES.
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2005015/6.asp

Profile of demographic characteristics.
Source: The US Census Bureau
http://censtats.census.gov/data/US/01000.pdf

Impact of demographic shifts.
K-12 Education.
Generation Y is working its way through our K-12 institutions. They
are more diverse than ever before, and have the pressures of preparing
for a new economy in old world schools.
Postsecondary
Demographics changes create powerful opportunity here. Generation Y is
just starting into its college years, more high-school students are
heading to school than ever before, and, faced with cold economic
facts, many Gen Xers (and even Baby Boomers) are going to school in
record numbers.

Corporate Training
Continual training and retraining will be essential to prolonging the
workplace longevity of the Baby Boomers, and to ensure that
Generations X and Y are as productive as possible to support the
lengthy retirement of the Boomers as well as provide for their own
retirements.

Consumer
Parents and, increasingly, grandparents, with money to spend will make
educating children a high priority. Their desire to provide them with
every edge in the new economy will benefit consumer-oriented education
products.
Source: Merrill Lynch.
http://www.learnframe.com/aboutelearning/page10.asp

-----------------------------------------
Economy
Industry study
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/Four%20Stages%20of%20e-Learning%20Industry%20Study.pdf

Economy
The US economy is evolving into to a knowledge-based economy. The last
four decades has seen the economy change from production to
service-based. To succeed in this environment requires people to
continually educate themselves. Businesses need highly qualified
employees to succeed in today?s competitive environment. Advances in
technology are being exploited to train employees in a faster, more
efficient and cost effective manner.

The U.S. faces a number of challenges. It is lagging behind
educational levels of other industrial nations. There are low literacy
levels in the work force ? 40% of workers are at the two lowest levels
of government literacy scales. Globalization is leading to greater
competition.

The demographics of students is changing. The fastest growing group
attending higher education is working, part-time students aged over
25. Source: Learnframe.
http://www.learnframe.com/aboutelearning/page19.asp

Government initiatives

Official elearning site of the federal government.
The US government has provided a one stop site for high quality
e-learning products, information and services. The government has
appointed three service providers FasTrac, GoLearn and National
Technical Information Service (NTIS).
http://www.usalearning.gov/USALearning/


SCORM in a tea cup.
SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model. It is a
product of the US Government's initiative in Advanced Distributed
Learning (ADL). SCORM conformance aims to guarantee interoperability
between online management systems (more about these later), and
e-learning courseware. Source: Training Foundation.
http://www.trainingfoundation.com/articles/default.asp?PageID=945#What%20is%20SCORM?

Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL)
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness (OUSD P&R) was tasked with leading a collaborative effort to
harness the power of information technologies to modernize structured
learning.  Through the sponsorship of the OUSD P&R, the creation of
the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative was formed as a
developer and implementer of learning technologies across the
Department of Defense. 
ADL employs a structured, adaptive, collaborative effort between the
public and private sectors to develop the standards, tools and
learning content for the learning environment of the future.  The
vision of the ADL Initiative is to provide access to the
highest-quality learning and performance aiding that can be tailored
to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, anytime and
anywhere.

http://www.adlnet.org/aboutadl/index.cfm

-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
Culture
A survey carried out SRI Consulting found that U.S. and Canadian
respondents had the highest opinion of their elearning efforts.
Two-thirds (62%) rated their program as good or excellent. Source: SRI
Consulting.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2003/may2003/qualitysurvey.htm

-----------------------------------------------
6. Articles.
eLearning is a catch-all term that covers a wide range of
instructional material that can be delivered on a CD-ROM or DVD, over
a local area network (LAN), or on the Internet. It includes
Computer-Based Training (CBT), Web-Based Training (WBT), Electronic
Performance Support Systems (EPSS), distance or online learning and
online tutorials. The major advantage to students is its easy access.
There are some typical elements and a standard approach to developing
or authoring eLearning material. Source: What is eLearning? Kurt
Kurtus.

http://www.school-for-champions.com/elearning/whatis.htm

A study carried out by Ebbinghaus showed that repetition over time enhances memory.

A well known psychologist and researcher, Ebbinghaus, has reported
that each additional recitation (after you really know the material)
engraves the mental trace deeper and deeper, thus establishing a base
for long-term retention.
http://brain.web-us.com/memory/memory_and_related_learning_prin.htm

Scientists believe that the strengthening of synapses between neurons
in response to experience ultimately gives rise to networks of neurons
that govern complex brain functions like learning and memory.
Moreover, communication within these networks forms the basis of
thinking and self-awareness that we call cognition.
http://www.cshl.edu/public/releases/svoboda112900.html

Description of how the brain and memory works.
Several factors determine how quickly we forget material: 1), how well
we encoded the material in the first place, 2) how deeply we processed
it, and 3) how often it was rehearsed.  These findings add credence to
the idea that for the optimum retention of material it needs to be
elaborately rehearsed, and practiced in a distributive manner rather
than in massed practice. Contains a diagram of the Ebbinghaus
Forgetting Curve. Source: Del Mar College.
http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/Faculty/Weir/chapter2_6.htm

Ebbinhaus Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. Hermann
Ebbinghaus (1885).
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Ebbinghaus/

A description of learning with a diagram of the brain.
http://www.learnplus.com/guides/learning-sys-memo.html

Learning Theories
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005704/content_lt.php3


Increased retention and application to the job averages an increase of
25 percent over traditional methods, according to an independent study
by J.D. Fletcher (Multimedia Review, Spring 1991, pp.33-42).
http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art1_3.htm
Advantages of elearning.
http://www.dso.iastate.edu/asc/academic/elearner/advantage.html
Evaluation report ? elearning pilot.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/peis/Reports/OPPDE/Eval_Rpt_Elearn.htm


References:

1.
Memory products sold on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002IP4LU/qid=1139393940/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8__i2_xgl65/104-2790562-1851156?v=glance&s=software&n=541966

Happy Neuron
http://www.happyneuron.com/gbhappyneuron/abonnement/boutique_happyneuron.asp

RecallPlus.com
http://www.recallplus.com/ImproveMemory.asp

Memory Works
http://www.memoryzine.com/memoryworks.html

2.
Enrolments to 2013. Source: NCES
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/tables/table_01.asp
2.2% of the entire student population are home schooled (2003). Source: NCES.
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/

Total student numbers
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/pubs/npefs03/table_5.asp?popup=1

Enrolments to 2010. Source: NCES.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000071.pdf


Secondary school enrolment will reach 16.2 million in 2009. Source: NCES
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/bbecho99/part3.html

Population by state. Source: US Census Bureau.
http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/articles/people/a_popchange.html

There are 4,236 institutions of higher education in the US.
2,516 are private colleges or universities 
1,720 of the schools are public institutions 
2,530 are four-year colleges or universities 
1,706 are two-year schools 
Source: NACS
Miami-Dade College 54,926
University of Texas at Austin  52,261
Ohio State University  49,676
University of Minnesota?Twin Cities 48,677
University of Phoenix Online Campus 48,085
University of Florida 47,373
Arizona State University at Tempe 47,359
Texas A&M University 45,083
Michigan State University 44,937
City College of San Francisco 42,975
Student demographics.
86% were undergraduates 
61% of students attended four-year institutions 
43% were between the ages of 15 and 21 
32.9% were between the ages of 22 and 30 
56.6% percent were women 
59.9% of the total attended college or university full-time 
In 2003-2004 students spent an average of $704 in the college store.
[The above figures were all reported in Almanac 2005-2006, published
by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 26, 2005.]

Number of public schools 2002-03.
Total ? 95,615
Middle schools ? 12,174
Secondary ? 22, 599
Source: NACS
http://www.nacs.org/public/research/higher_ed_retail.asp

Private schools
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/ps/97459001.asp

University enrolments
In Autumn 1995 about 73 million people, out of a total population of
263 million, were engaged in some form of education either as
employees (8 million) or pupils/students (65 million).
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/a5_078.htm

Source : NCES
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_092.asp

By 2010, 50% of all college students will be adults. By 2004, 100
million Americans will take part in adult education programs. Source:
The University is Dead! Long Live the University! James L. Morrison
Editor, The Technology.
http://horizon.unc.edu/projects/seminars/futurizing/The%20University%20is%20Dead.asp

----------------------------------------------
3.
14 million people in the US speak English poorly or not at all. 19.8
million immigrants enter the US each year.
Source: 1990 census
http://indian-river.fl.us/living/services/als/noneng.html

90% of immigrants come from non-English speaking countries.
http://www.cal.org/topics/immigrnt.html

37% of immigrants have a good command of English when they come to the US.
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=119

The US has 14,280 community-based organisations teaching English.
Source. The US Department of Corrections estimate that 50% of its
prisoners have limited English Proficiency.
 http://www.ellis.com/company/ir/marketinfo.php

The Center for Applied Linguistics has a database of 100 elementary
and secondary school newcomer programs in 29 states.
http://www.cal.org/newcomerdb/index.jsp

Small businesses
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/business/small/

-----------------------------------------
4. 
Corporate elearning revenues were $6 to 7 billion in 2002.
The US elearning market will level off at $1.7 billion in 2004.
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/marketplace.htm


Education market - Spending on consumer products and services - $13 billion.
Parents spend approximately $23 in 2000 on educational toys, books,
games, software and services.
The tutoring market is worth approximately $2.5 billion.
Language instruction is worth $1 billion.
The education share of the consumer software market is $700 million.
Parents purchase $2.5 billion of supplemental material to give their
children an edge in school.
A home schooler spends roughly $626 annually implying a market worth $1.3 billion.
Online training ? small businesses.
Source: Learnframe
http://www.learnframe.com/aboutelearning/elearningfacts.pdf


<Search strategy:>

<improve memory software>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2005-17%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=improve+memory+software+>

<respondents elearning>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=respondents+elearning>

<advantages computers elearning>
<://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-17,GGLD:en&q=advantages+computers+elearning>


<Hope this helps.>

---

Request for Answer Clarification by dgor-ga on 09 Feb 2006 02:38 PST

First of all thanks a lot I'm very happy with your answer, you saved me days.

Here my questions to your answer:

General note: If possible, for the next question, put all links
directly underneath the information in the answer instead of below in
the references. That will save me some copy & pasting. thanks

Please explain: What is K-12 / K-8 / 9-12 ?
I assume: K-12 is high school (9th-12th grade)
K-8 is middle-school (from grade ??? to grade 8)
9-12 is what?? Elemantary school would start earlier than age 9. I'm confused.

I need more information about absolut student numbers as of now
(instead of yearly enrolement), broken down to the 3 school types. The
concrete question:
How many high-school students are there right now (public/private)?
How many middle-school students are there right now (public/private)?

Question: Do the 14,280 community-based organisations you talked about
have some sort of Umbrella organization over which to reach them? If
not, what kind of organizations are they? Do they all have the same
name? Where / How can I reach them or get their address? I need some
sort of clue of how I can efficiently approach a large number of them,
as - you will understand - I can?t do research for every single one of
the 14,280.

You talked about the importance of small-business and their relatively
underdeveloped elearning endowment.
Please provide information, as orginially requested, in what kind of
branches / types of businesses you would most probably find a need for
?learning by heart? of Facts (like prices, article-numbers, product
attributes etc.) / terminology / definitions or foreign language
vocabulary.

What would be good sources to access addresses of companies for the
purpose of telephone- / email marketing?

You wrote:
"According to the ASTD state of the industry report, spending per
employee on elearning was $826 in 2002"
Question: Is this the nation-wide average for all companies / all branches ??

You wrote:
"Employees are trained for an average of 28 hours in Benchmarking
Service organisations and 62 hours in Training Investment Leaders."
Do I understand correctly
a)that 28 hours is the general average for companies in the USA while
62 hours is the average for companies who are leading in
employee-training? This kind of general information would be useful to
me.
Or did you mean
b) that 28 hours is the average specifically for employees that work
for a Benchmarking Service Company? If that?s the case, then I don?t
understand what kind of companies are ?Training Investment Leaders??
In case b) it seems to me you would have compared apples and bananas.

You wrote:
"Corporate elearning revenues were $6 to 7 billion in 2002.
The US elearning market will level off at $1.7 billion in 2004."
Question: Is ?corporate elearning revenue? the amount corporations
spent on elearning or is it the amount corporations that provide
elearning solutions made selling their products?
6bil in 2002 and 1,7bil in 2002 ? does that mean the market went down
by 2/3 in just 2 years? Or are you comparing different numbers?

for chapter 6:

Can you please, as originally requested, find an article that talks
specifically about recent tendency to again recognize the importance
of plain learning by heart of certain things? Same about
self-evaluation of kids (kids judging their own performance) which
seems to be an issue that gets more and more important in schools /
curriculums. Both things are an important part of our concept and it
would be great to have some kind of AUTHORATATIVE sources to have that
confirmed. Again, it's the reputation of the sources which plays an
importrant role here.

As soon as we have finished this I will place my second question again
with the comment "for  belindalevez-ga". Do you also work on the
weekend? Do you know that there is an belgian author of books on
"winnig at poker games" with the name "Belinda Levez" ?? :-)

---

Clarification of Answer by belindalevez-ga on 09 Feb 2006 12:20 PST

<Number of middle level students 2006 - 18,545,000. Source: NCES.
http://www.nmsa.org/Research/ResearchSummaries/Summary3/tabid/254/Default.aspx

There will be an estimated 54.6 million school students in 2006.
Source: US Department of education.
Private school students comprise 11.1% of the school population.Based
on the figures for middle level students this gives an estimated
2,058,000 private middle school students.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ServPrivate/part1.html

There are 15.1 million secondary school pupils.
Source:US Department of Education.
http://distance-educator.com/dnews/Article4761.phtml

-------------------------------
Contacting immigrants.
This feature discusses a study that will contact 1,000 immigrant
organizations.  The organisations have been identified from an
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) database of registered 501(c)3
organizations.
It may be possible to contact the universities with a view to
acquiring a copy of their list.

Source:CSUP
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/csup/newsroom/announcements/item.php?id=5

The Catholic church also operates lots of charities that work with immigrants. 
http://www.catholiccharitiesdov.org/ContactUs/OfficeLocations/Default.htm

-----------------------------
Business directories would be a good source to locate small
businesses. Many small businesses now have website and register with
online directories.
Businesses that have Sales staff will require their employees to have
a good memory to recall product details.
A diverse  range of business employ sales staff including
manufacturers of business equipment and industrial equipment, consumer
products.
Customer service staff, Insurance brokers, mortgage brokers and
financial advisors all need to recall product details and to
manipulate figures.

Waiters and waitresses need a good memory to avoid confusing
customers? orders and to recall faces, names, and preferences of
frequent patrons. These workers also should be comfortable using
computers to place orders and generate customers? bills. Some may need
to be quick at arithmetic so they can total bills manually. Knowledge
of a foreign language is helpful to communicate with a diverse
clientele and staff.
Source: BLS
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos162.htm

Real estate brokers need a good memory.
http://0-www.bls.gov.library.lanecc.edu/oco/ocos120.htm

Telemarketers need to recall product details.
http://www.career.edu.my/path/desc.asp?career_id=14

-----------------------------
The benchmarking participants are those registered with the company
who have agreed to divulge details of their spending on elearning.
The top ten benchmarking participants are classified as training
investment leaders. So that higher figure is what the top 10 percent
are spending on elearning.

There are conflicting figures for the elearning market. The elearning
revenue figures are from different sources. The $1.7 billion figure
comes from Cardinal Advisors of Boston.
Screen Digest puts the figure at $5 billion in 2004. A study by
Outsell put the 2001 elearning market at $6.3 billion and says that it
declined 10% compared to 2000.
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/marketplace.htm


----------------------------

Self-evaluation.

My long term experience is that when pupils mark or, even better,
evaluate, work for themselves it benefits both teacher and child. It
gives the teacher time for more detailed analysis of children?s
progress or problems, or for generally more useful preparation for
future lessons in other subjects. Also, marking at the time, or
immediately after finishing, is known to be beneficial to learning,
but many teachers find this too difficult to do in class, so mark
after work.

The children themselves found that it was useful for them in a whole
variety of ways, including the speed at which their work was
self-marked, and corrected, if required.

Self-assessment and self-evaluation helped children to become better
learners, being more aware of themselves and their ways of working,
all of which are known to produce better thinkers. In addition,
self-assessment enhanced motivation for many, and thereby,
self-esteem.

Research now shows that working out all ?corrections? in Maths can be
counterproductive (Haigh, 1997). This confirms my own experience that
a little give-and-take is extremely valuable in motivating children.
When children are given responsibility for their own learning,
correction or evaluation, they feel respected.

Source: University of Glasgow.
http://www.scre.ac.uk/spotlight/spotlight87.html


Learning by heart/rote

Match your learning strategy to the type of material 
Learning by rote is good for remembering lists, items in order,
formulae and vocabulary. To learn by rote try repetition, rhymes,
melodies and peg words. Mnemonics are also useful and you can make up
your own to suit the material. For example:

Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit (for the notes of the treble stave) 
ROY G BIV (for the colours of the rainbow) 
My Very Elderly Mother Just Saw Uncle Ned's Parrot (for the planets in
order from the sun)
Source: University of Melbourne.
http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/llsu/resources/exams/exams4.html 

Yes I work at the weekend.

My professional experience includes writing many books and articles on
a wide range of subjects including gambling, Belgium, travel and art.




<Hope this helps.>

Great Answer with great detail!! Thanks a lot, you contributed greatly
to my businesplan!! Now let's go to Part 2! :-)
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=443767

<The American education system is divided into elementary and
secondary education. K8 is ages 5 to 13. 9-12 is ages 14 to 17.
Elementary and secondary together is K12. Regarding your request for
middle school numbers - it is possible to give student numbers by age.
What are the ages of the students that you need figures for?>

Hi, I need number of students of age beginning at 10 and everything above.
Will you also do my other clarification-requests?
thanks a lot.

<Hello,
I'm currently working on the clarifications. I will post them later this evening.>

Hi belindalevez
before I assign to you Part2 of the question I wanted to ask you
whether you have been an American resident for a long time - if not I
would prefere having an American researcher answer my second question,
preferably someone with kids in school or experience in the
educational sector of the USA. The second question is about PTAs and
Schooldistricts and how to approach techers etc. etc.
This has nothing todo about how happy I was with your first answer!
dgor

Thanks for the tip.
Have you re-posted the second question as it is currently not showing
in the questions needing an answer section?

no, that's because I waited for your answer of my last comment: Are
you a resident of America and / or have first-hand experience with the
American school-system? This would be of great help for answering
question-2. If not, I would rather have an American resident answer my
second question.

<I'm not an American resident but there are lots of excellent google
researchers who are US residents who I am sure will be able to relate
their first hand experiences.

Best wishes 

belindalevez-ga>

thanks for understanding! I didn't think of that aspect before when I
promised you the second question!