Center for Innovative Learning Technologies and Palm Computing Honor Winners of Educational Software Contest Via Live Webcast.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000

SRI International, The Concord Consortium, Palm Computing,

Handspring, Learnlots and Puma Technology Host Award Ceremony at the

San Francisco Exploratorium for Winners of Contest to Design

Educational Software for Handheld Devices

SRI International and The Concord Consortium, founding members of the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT), along with Palm Computing announced today that the winners of a jointly sponsored contest to develop educational software applications for handheld computing devices will be honored at an awards ceremony at the Exploratorium via live Webcast on March 6. Other sponsors of the contest include Handspring, Learnlots, Puma Technology and the Exploratorium. (Webcast address: http://www.exploratorium.edu/handheld-design)

Participants from the U.S., Canada, Israel, Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic submitted original entries using the powerful Palm operating system as a foundation to develop educational software for use by K-12 students in handheld devices. Entries were submitted in the following categories: Assessment Tools, Collaboration Tools, Edutainment/Games, Science and Mathematics Applications, and 8 Years and Under.

The contest and award ceremony Webcast are part of a larger initiative by CILT to foster strategic alliances between the public and the private sectors and stimulate research for innovative, technology-enabled solutions to critical problems in K-12 learning. Contest entries addressed topics recognized by the National Science Foundation such as mathematics, science and technology education, including quantitative social science. The cost of implementing the proposed software applications was required to be as low as possible so that the broadest range of educators and students can use the applications.

"We are very excited to be working with exceptional organizations such as Palm Computing, The Concord Consortium, the Exploratorium, Handspring, Learnlots and Puma Technology to sponsor this contest, award ceremony and Webcast," said Roy Pea, director of the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. "By working together, we hope to stimulate awareness of the limitless potential for handheld devices as a valuable tool for students and educators."

Contest entries were evaluated on their educational and technical quality as well as on the quality and completeness of their documentation. An independent panel of judges appointed by CILT includes Jeff Hawkins, co-founder, chairman and chief product officer of Handspring and inventor of the Palm connected organizer; David Pogue, author of the best-selling PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide; Elliot Soloway, Professor in Computer Sciences and Education at University of Michigan; Janese Swanson, designer of the "Carmen Sandiego" game and president of GirlTech; Kristina Hooper-Woolsey, Apple Distinguished Scientist and co-author of the award-winning CD-ROM "VizAbility;" students and prominent educators.

Contest winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, which will be Webcast live from the San Francisco Exploratorium on March 6, 2000 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. (PST). Winners will be featured on the Palm Computing Website at http://www.palm.com/ and may have the opportunity to become certified as a Palm Platinum developer at no charge. Additionally, the winning software may be sold at the official Palm Computing platform Website.

     Contest prizes include:

-    Grand Prize: A Palm VII connected organizer, a Handspring Visor
     expandable handheld computer, a full Code Warrior development
     environment, a LandWare keyboard, two passes to the PalmSource
     2000 conference, one round of free Platinum Certification and a
     spotlight on the Palm Computing platform Website.

-    Second Prize: A PalmVII connected organizer, a full Code Warrior
     development environment, a LandWare keyboard and a spotlight on
     the Palm Computing platform Website.

-    Best in Each Category: A Palm V connected organizer and a full
     Code Warrior development environment.

-    Additional prizes awarded by handango.com in the form of Palm
     hardware and accessories.

Participating Organizations

CILT                                    http://www.cilt.org
SRI International                       http://www.sri.com
The Concord Consortium                  http://www.concord.org
Palm Computing                          http://www.palm.com
Exploratorium                           http://www.exploratorium.edu
Handspring                              http://www.handspring.com
Learnlots                               http://learnlots.com
Puma Technology                         http://www.pumatech.com
handango                                http://www.handango.com
LandWare                                http://www.landware.com
Dataviz                                 http://dataviz.com

About CILT

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) is a distributed center designed to serve as a national resource for stimulating research on innovative, technology-enabled solutions to critical problems in K-14 learning. CILT's approach is to foster and to conduct collaborative research and development in areas that we believe promise significant advances in learning. CILT founding institutions are SRI International, the University of California at Berkeley, Vanderbilt University and The Concord Consortium. This distributed leadership structure brings together substantial experience in foundational research on learning, technology innovation and school improvement.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's largest independent research, technology development and consulting organizations. Founded in 1946 as the Stanford Research Institute, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of global markets for more than 50 years. As part of its strategy to bring its technologies to the marketplace, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning (http://www.sri.com/policy/ctl) is a leading research and development center that advances theory and research on effective learning and teaching and applies these insights to the innovative design, use and assessment of interactive learning environments.

SRI International is a registered trademark of SRI International. Palm Computing is a registered trademark, and PalmSource, Palm VII and Palm V are trademarks of 3Com Corporation or its subsidiaries. Puma Technology is a trademark of Puma Technology, Inc. which may be registered in some jurisdictions. Handspring and Visor are trademarks of Handspring, Inc. and may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.