A Learning Expert Tries Betsy DeVos' Neuron-Stimulating Headset—and Is Far From Impressed | Alternet

A Learning Expert Tries Betsy DeVos' Neuron-Stimulating Headset—and Is Far From Impressed | Alternet:

A Learning Expert Tries Betsy DeVos' Neuron-Stimulating Headset—and Is Far From Impressed
DeVos has invested millions in the brain-training company NeuroCore.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has invested millions in a brain-training company called NeuroCore, which claims its neuro-feedback treatments can help relieve serious illnesses such as ADHD, anxiety, autism, depression, memory loss, migraines, sleeplessness and stress. Ulrich Boser, an education policy expert, writer on learning processes and a fellow at the Center for American Progress, visited a NeuroCore office as a prospective patient and wrote a long piece for the Washington Post. AlterNet’s Steven Rosenfeld asked him what he found.

Steven Rosenfeld: Tell us what led you to visit this business where Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a multimillion-dollar investor.

Ulrich Boser: I just wrote a book on the science of learning and one thing that I thought had not really been looked at enough is this idea—and it’s really in some ways almost even ancient—is that if you study one thing it will have spillover effects. For a long time people argued that if you learned Latin, for instance, you could be better at law, or if you studied chess, you’d be a better strategic thinker. All of this is a type of argument for brain training. The fundamental idea is the A Learning Expert Tries Betsy DeVos' Neuron-Stimulating Headset—and Is Far From Impressed | Alternet: