Cambium Learning Technologies

Company: Cambium Learning Technologies, Natick, MA
Company Description: Cambium Learning is an education company that provides research-based, culturally responsive and proven instructional materials, services and technology to help educators raise the achievement level of those pre K through grade 12 students underserved by existing instructional materials.
Nomination Category: New Product Awards & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Computer Software - New Version

Nomination Title: Kurzweil Educational Systems' Kurzweil 3000™

Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Total 491 words used.

For over 30 years, Kurzweil Educational Systems has designed and published
assistive technology for students with learning disabilities ranging from Pre-K
to adult.

Reading difficulties occur for a variety of reasons. Students with learning
disabilities, students who have the cognitive ability but not the reading
ability to learn from grade-level content, and second language learners are
among the many student populations that benefit from the use of Kurzweil 3000.
For these students, Kurzweil 3000 can be life changing.

Kurzweil 3000 is a comprehensive reading, writing and learning software solution
for any struggling reader in grades 3 through college and adults. Kurzweil 3000
is research based and enables students to learn from the same content as their
peers as the product provides access to virtually any text or curriculum,
including print, electronic, and web-based documents. Students learn from grade
appropriate content, develop valuable study skills, and become independent learners.

Adults with learning disabilities use Kurzweil 3000 in college, in the
workplace, and at home.
See http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/Dave_McCrossens_Story.pdf,
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/Dave%20Burns%20Profile%20Sheet.pdf,and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFA6lcMPDuY.

Using a variety of natural sounding voices, Kurzweil 3000 reads text aloud to
students from digital and print formats. The student follows along as the text
is highlighted and spoken. Dictionaries, bilingual support, word lists, a
thesaurus, and Google Translate™ are provided to enhance the reading experience.
The rate of speed at which the words are read can be adjusted for each user.

Instructors reinforce students’ literacy skills through Kurzweil 3000’s study
skills tools such as highlighting, sticky notes, voice notes, and bubble notes.
Instructors can also create multiple question and response formats, such as
true/false and multiple choice, to facilitate test taking. In addition, Kurzweil
3000 has numerous research-based writing tools to support the student at every
stage of the writing process, from brainstorming to publishing.

Unlike other programs that work only with preformatted material, Kurzweil 3000
allows teachers and students the freedom to work with content from any publisher
across content areas. You can work with virtually any kind of document in
Kurzweil 3000: image documents that you scan into Kurzweil 3000, documents that
you open from another application or open using the KESI Virtual Printer, and
text documents. The following file formats are supported: Kurzweil 3000 (.KES)
text and image, Text File (.TXT), Rich Text Format (.RTF), Microsoft Word files
(.DOC), Microsoft Office 2007 (.DOCX), Image Files (.TIF, .BMP, .JPG), Portable
Document Format (.PDF), DAISY (.OPF), and NIMAS (.OPF).

Kurzweil 3000 Version 1 started shipping in 1996. Kurzweil 3000 was updated to
Version 12 in 2010 and has since been recognized by winning several CODIE and
BESSIE Awards. Complete information about Kurzweil 3000 can be found at
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/default.html. Details about Version 12 are
available at
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/Kurzweil%203000%20Version%2012%20Flyer.pdf.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Total 60 words used.

Originally known as the Kurzweil Reading Machine and built out of a desire to
help people with visual impairments, the product evolved into Kurzweil 3000.
Now owned by Cambium Learning Technologies, Kurzweil 3000’s development team has
never lost sight of the product’s focus to help people who struggle with the
printed word open up a world of knowledge.

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Cambium Learning Technologies