Classroom Connect and American Museum of Natural History Expand Partnership, Announce First Science Courses for Connected University.

Fishes, Spiders, Mammoths, Oh My!

ATLANTA, June 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Classroom Connect, Inc. (www.classroom.com), today announced at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), an expanded partnership with the American Museum of Natural History. Adding to its growing assortment of professional development options for K-12 teachers, Classroom Connect is bringing the expertise of AMNH scientists to Connected University learners through three "Seminars on Science" curriculum courses.

The courses, "Diversity of Fishes," "The Study of Spiders," and "Why Are There No More Woolly Mammoths?" are the first subject-specific courses available on Connected University. It also marks the first time AMNH has developed educational courses for teachers specific to an online learning program.

"Expanding our relationship with AMNH to develop CU courses that showcase the museum's expertise in science education made perfect sense," said Judith Hamilton, CEO of Classroom Connect. "We've had tremendous success utilizing the vast resources and expertise of AMNH during our Quest Interactive Expeditions over the past two years and believe these new Connected University courses will be as well-received throughout our teacher community."

"Education is central to the mission of the American Museum of Natural History," said Myles Gordon, Vice President for Education at the Museum. "Since the Museum was founded we have shared with the public the excitement of science through exhibitions and education programs. Today, our education department draws on the work of more than 200 research scientists as the basis for symposia, field trips, on-line offerings, an increasing range of outreach programs, and teacher training workshops. Classroom Connect is the perfect partner to help us share the rich resources of our institution with an even larger audience of teachers."

"The Museum has extensive experience creating professional development curricula for teachers," said Nancy Hechinger, Director of the Museum's National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology. "The Science Seminars are unique because they use the tools of distance learning to allow K-12 teachers to work with real scientists. We are particularly pleased to present the seminars through a partnership with Classroom Connect, a company that shares the Museum's educational philosophy and understands the needs of the classroom teacher."

Scott Noon, vice president for Connected University at Classroom Connect, added, "Connected University's learners will benefit greatly from these new content-rich courses. Each course is profoundly complete, giving science teachers new insights into both the topic and instruction. Science teachers of all grade levels will be challenged in new ways as a result of these courses."

Classroom Connect also announced today that AMNH will co-develop corresponding science curriculum topics for Classroom Today, an interactive Web site that provides online curriculum and activities that teachers use in the classroom as part of daily lesson plans. Using the Classroom Today/AMNH topics, any teacher who completes a "Seminars on Science" course through Connected University can immediately apply what they learned to their teaching.

Connected University is Classroom Connect's anytime, anywhere Web-delivered professional development program. It enables educators to participate in an online learning community while taking courses designed to enhance technology and teaching skills. More than 16,000 educators are registered members of CU's learning community.

About "Seminars on Science"

"Diversity of Fishes" and "The Study of Spiders" are investigation-based life science seminars for educators. Museum scientists and educators conduct these seminars, which engage learners in the inquiry processes used by biologists and systematists as they identify, study, describe and classify species.

"Why Are There No More Woolly Mammoths?" is an investigation-based life science course for educators. Museum scientists and educators conduct these courses, which engage learners in the inquiry processes used by scientists as they examine evidence, test hypotheses, and debate the possible causes of widespread extinctions at the end of the last ice age.

For more information about Connected University and the "Seminars on Science" courses developed by AMNH, visit CU on the Web at http://cu.classroom.com or call 800-638-1639.

About American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History, since its founding in 1869, has been one of the world's preeminent institutions of scientific and cultural research and education, with a commitment to engage the public in the wonder of discovery. The Museum is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Renowned for its significant special and permanent exhibitions, adult and family education programs, and fundamental scientific research, the Museum is comprised of 25 interconnected buildings, housing 42 permanent exhibition halls, a wide array of research laboratories, teaching facilities, one of the Western hemisphere's largest natural history libraries, and a collection of 32 million specimens and cultural artifacts. In February 2000, the spectacular new Frederick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space opened to the public: since then, it has been visited by over a million people.

About Classroom Connect

Classroom Connect, Inc. is a privately held Internet company that develops and markets original, Web-based curriculum products and teacher professional development programs for the K-12 education community. Its partners include some of the nation's most respected organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Library of Congress and NASA. Since the company was founded in 1994, Classroom Connect has grown to more than 130 employees in five offices nationwide, with headquarters in Brisbane, CA. For more information, visit Classroom Connect's Web site at www.classroom.com or call 650-358-1901.