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History
In 1994, President Bill Clinton’s passed the America’s Schools Act (IASA) bill which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and made major reforms that included more funding for technologies to be implemented in education.
Lightspan, at the time, was small San Diego company focused on providing eLearning products and services to school. Wanting to benefit from the money from this new reform, Lightspan started to work on a curriculum for K-6 students. In January 1996, they released Lightspan Achieve Now curriculum for use on Windows-based personal computers. The curriculum consisted of a set of CD-Rom learning games that kids could bring home from school to perform exercises. The problem is that most kids didn’t have a computer at home, especially in some school deserving lower-income households . Lightspan then decided to use a device much more present in homes of the students : a PlayStation.
In fall 1996, Lightspan released their first curriculum (Lightspan Achieve Now) for the Sony PlayStation.
Release
Release under the name Lightspan Adventure, the different curriculum would include a box containing the different games, school manuals and a PlayStation. Depending on the option, the kit could cost between $6,500 and $12,000. In the next few years, the government would inject more than 50 million dollars for technologies in school. Lightspan Adventure manage to grow substantially during these years, going from being present in 230 schools in 1997 to 4,000 schools in 2002.
With more than 115 titles released in North America, Lighspan was the most prolific developer for PS1 in this region.
Demise
As the PS1 disc were also compatible with the PS2, Lightspan didn’t update their curriculums when the new technologies (such as the PS2) started to emerge. With time, the Lightspan Adventure curriculums started to feel old and were less and less used within schools. In 2003, the company was sold to Plato Learning Inc., with its franchises, Mars Moose, K9.5, KazMania, and The Three Decoders being acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment. In 2004, NT Animation (now NicThic Productions) and Plato Learning formed a joint venture called Lightspan Entertainment.
Curriculums
The full list of curriculums is not yet known, but I will update this list each time I find a new one.
- Lightspan Achieve Now (K-8 students);
- Plato Learning
Games
The Lightspan Adventure series contain at least 79 different discs. Since not a lot of information exists, it’s possible that other discs may exist. The discs are divided in various series which have anywhere between 1 to 10 discs each. The number at the end of the titles (x) represents the number in the series which is on the disc. Some series don’t have any number on their discs. The discs were sold either as part of a bundle (in a cardboard box which each disc in an individual sleeve) or individually in a sleeve with a picture on it.
- 16 Tales
- 16 Tales (1)
- 16 Tales (2)
- 16 Tales (3)
- 16 Tales (4)
- Calamity
- Calamity – The Natural World (1)
- Calamity – People and Traditions(2)
- Calamity – Around the World (3)
- Cali’s Geo Tools
- Cosmic Cookoff
- Cosmic Cookoff – Language Arts
- Cosmic Cookoff – Mathematics
- Creative Voyage
- Creative Isle
- Creative Camp
- Creative Journey (1)
- Every Child Can Succeed
- Every Child Can Succeed (1)
- Every Child Can Succeed (2)
- Every Child Can Succeed (3)
- Every Child Can Succeed (4)
- Every Child Can Succeed (5)
- Faire Games
- Faire Games – Language Arts
- Faire Games – Mathematics
- Head to Toe
- Head to Toe (1)
- Head to Toe (2)
- Head to Toe (3)
- Head to Toe (4)
- K9.5
- K9.5 – Live in Airedale (1)
- K9.5 – We Are the Dogs (2)
- K9.5 – Webtunes (3)
- K9.5 – The Tail-Wag Tour (4)
- K9.5: The Hollywood Premiere (5)
- KazMania
- KazMania – Trail of Gems (1)
- KazMania – Chaos in KazMaria (2)
- Liquid Books
- Liquid Books – Lety’s Favorite Stories (1)
- Liquid Books – Amrita’s Trees – Cerdito and the Coyotte (2)
- Liquid Books – Far-Fetched Frontier Tales (3)
- Liquid Books – The Adventures of Adelita and Bo (4)
- Liquid Books – Pop-out Prose (5)
- Liquid Books – The Wandering Path (6)
- Mars Moose
- Mars Moose – Walkabount 1 – The Natural History Museum
- Mars Moose – Walkabount 2 – The Skaespeare Festival
- Mars Moose – Walkabount 3 – World Sport s Day
- Mars Moose – Cosmic Quest 1 – City Sights
- Mars Moose – Cosmic Quest 2 – Fairy Tale Island
- Mars Moose – Cosmic Quest 3 – Race Through France
- Mars Moose – Stay & Play 1 – In the Clubhouse (1)
- Mars Moose – Stay & Play 2 – In Mars’ Bedroom (2)
- Mars Moose – Stay & Play 3 – In the Lonnies Classroom (3)
- Math Gallery
- Math Gallery – Collection 1 (1)
- Math Gallery – Collection 2 (2)
- Math on the Move!
- Math on the Move! Addition/Subtraction – Intermediate (1)
- Math on the Move! Multiplication/Division – Intermediate(2)
- Math on the Move! Addition/Subtraction – Advanced (1)
- Math on the Move! Multiplication/Division – Advanced (2)
- Mona & Moki
- Mona & Moki – Drive Me Wild! (1)
- Mona & Moki – Drive Me Wilder! (2)
- P.K.’s Place
- P.K.’s Place – Party on the Patio! (1)
- P.K.’s Place – Hoopo at Sea!(2)
- P.K.’s Place – Carlos at the Races! (3)
- P.K.’s Place – Daphne and the Seventh Wonder! (4)
- P.K.S Math Studio (1)
- Road Writer (1)
- Science is Elementary
- Science is Elementary (1)
- Science is Elementary (2)
- Science is Elementary (3)
- Story Lane Theater
- Story Lane Theater (1)
- Story Lane Theater (2)
- Story Lane Theater (3)
- Story Lane Theater (4)
- Story Lane Theater (5)
- str.at.e.s.
- str.at.e.s. Match-A-Batch (1)
- str.at.e.s. Matchamania! Adventure (2)
- str.at.e.s.Title This! Title That! (3)
- str.at.e.s. Titlerama! Adventure (4)
- str.at.e.s. Parallel Lives! Adventure (5)
- str.at.e.s. Analogy-ology! Adventure (6)
- str.at.e.s. Riddle Roundup! Adventure (7)
- str.at.e.s. Riddle Wrangler! Adventure (8)
- The Quaddle Family Mysteries
- The Quaddle Family Mysteries – The Case of the Scarce Scarab – Parlor Lobby/Kitchen (1)
- The Quaddle Family Mysteries – The Case of the Scarce Scarab – Parlor Garden (2)
- The Quaddle Family Mysteries – The Case of the Scarce Scarab – Parlor Family/Room (3)
- The Secret of Googol
- The Secret of Googol – Eggs All Around – Egg Trek/Balloon Picnic (7)
- The Secret of Googol – Googl Gulch – General Store/Math Arcade (8)
- The Secret of Googol – Rshaping Googol – The Submarine (1a)
- The Secret of Googol – Rshaping Googol – The Tower (1b)
- The Secret of Googol – Rshaping Googol – Castle (2a)
- The Secret of Googol – Rshaping Googol – Under the Ocean (2b)
- The Secret of Googol – The Googol Counting Fair – Midways (3)
- The Secret of Googol – The Googol Counting Fair – Corral/Fun House (4)
- The Secret of Googol – Googolfest – Party Isle/Toy Isle (5)
- The Secret of Googol – Googolfest – Arcade Isle/Moon Feast Isle (6)
- Timeless Jade Trade (1)
- Timeless Math
- Timeless Math – Maya, Search and Rescue Adventure (1)
- Timeless Math – Maya, Observatory Adventure (2)
- Timeless Math – Maya, King Jaguar’s Village Adventure (3)
- Timeless Math – Lunar Base Adventure (4)
- Timeless Math – Space Flight Rescue (5)
- Timeless Math – Brainswarm (6)
- Timeless Math – Rover Recovery (7)
- The Three Decoders
- The Three Decoders – Riddle of the Ring (1)
- The Three Decoders – Key to the Carousel (2)
- Unknown Variable
- Unknown Variable 1: Masque Manor
- Unknown Variable 2: Raven’s Ridge
- Write Away
- Write Away (1)
- Write Away (2)
- Write Away (3)
- Write Away (4)
- Write Away (5)
- Write Away (6)
- Write Away (7)
- Write Away (8)
- Write Away (9)
- Write Away (10)