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Britannica.com News Releases

BritannicaSchool.com Debuts at National Educational Computing Conference

New Product Helps Students and Educators Harness Power of the Internet

ATLANTA, Tuesday, June 27, 2000 - Britannica Education, a division of Britannica.com Inc., today debuted BritannicaSchool.com, a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use online research and learning product for students, educators and parents.

BritannicaSchool.com is designed to incorporate the power of technology into learning and teaching. It provides valuable online study guides on more than 200 curriculum topics, easy-to-use templates and tutorials designed to help students organize assignments and conduct research, and a Britannica.com editor-selected Internet directory that guides educators, students and parents to age-appropriate and educationally relevant Web sites. Initially targeted at grades 9-12, BritannicaSchool will be expanded in 2001 to serve grades K-12.

"BritannicaSchool's goal is to transform the way children learn and teachers teach," said Cooma Chelliah, senior vice president of education for Britannica.com Inc. "Britannica has been the world's leading reference brand for more than two centuries and a player in the education market for more than 50 years. Britannica.com is now a leader in the digital revolution, and BritannicaSchool.com is designed to harness the power of the Internet and today's technological advancements to bring students, educators and parents the quality, trustworthy content and resources for which Britannica is known."

Slated to officially launch Monday, Sept. 18, 2000, BritannicaSchool.com is being previewed this week at NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) 2000, the country's oldest and most comprehensive technology and education event. The conference is being held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

BritannicaSchool.com enters the educational market just as the Internet is beginning to profoundly affect education and learning. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 95% of K-12 schools in the United States now have some form of Internet connection, up from 35% in 1994. The educational technology market is expected to reach $8.8 billion in the 2001-2002 school year, according to Technology and Learning magazine, and the fastest growing and largest segment is telecommunications services, which includes Internet-based online services such as BritannicaSchool.com.

"More and more students and teachers are turning to the Web when they need to complete assignments, do research and communicate with their peers," said Louise Rice, vice president and publisher of Britannica.com's Education Division. "Given our long reputation for delivering trustworthy, engaging educational content, and our more-recent commitment to bring Britannica content to the world via the Internet, BritannicaSchool is a natural for us."

The trait that distinguishes BritannicaSchool.com is its ability to deliver to students and educators a comprehensive response to their queries that draws information from numerous high-quality sources and curriculum standards, including:

  • The complete Encyclopaedia Britannica;
  • Encyclopedia Britannica Intermediate, specifically designed for grades 5 and higher;
  • Merriam-Webster's Collegiate and Intermediate Dictionary and Thesaurus;
  • Britannica Image and Map Banks;
  • Study Guides developed in compliance with national and state education standards, covering more than 200 topics in math, English and science;
  • A Web Directory indexing more than 10,000 sites selected by Britannica's editors for their quality and age-appropriate content;
  • World news updated and archived daily with additional teachers' notes and suggested related educational activities;
  • Britannica/Big6 Tools developed in partnership with The Big6™, education's most widely known and used process for teaching problem solving and technology skills. Britannica/Big6 tools consist of templates and a workspace designed to help students and teachers collect, catalogue and annotate research, and aid teachers in creating lesson plans and presentations;
  • Moderated discussion and online events to allow educators to share ideas, tips and feedback.
BritannicaSchool.com will be available to schools at a cost of $4 per student per year. Families with children in schools that do not provide BritannicaSchool.com to their students can subscribe for $9.95 a month or $100 annually. An online tour of BritannicaSchool.com and registration information is available at http://www.britannicaschool.com.

About Britannica Education

Britannica Education, a division of Britannica.com Inc., advances the Britannica tradition of reliability and innovation by developing products and services for today's students and educators. Headquartered in San Francisco, Britannica.com Education's goal is to be a premier provider of online educational content, community and research for students, educators and parents. Britannica.com Education's online learning tools are designed to help users turn information into knowledge, guide students in organizing their research and direct students and educators to the best sources of learning on the Internet.

About Britannica.com Inc.

Britannica.com Inc. produces Britannica.com, a powerful free Web site featuring some of the highest quality content on the Internet; BritannicaSchool.com, a subscription online learning and research product for students, educators and parents; Britannica Online, a subscription-based, advertising-free reference and research service; and the award-winning multimedia Britannica CD-ROMs and DVDs. Britannica.com's products give users timely and reliable information along an impressive range of topics through original content and features developed by the company's editorial and educational teams, content from the world's most respected encyclopedia and leading reference sources, articles from scores of top magazines and newspapers, and Web sites selected for their quality. Headquartered in Chicago, the company also operates offices in San Francisco, New York, La Jolla, Calif., London, Sydney, Melbourne, Australia, and New Delhi.



 
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