Cogito Learning Media and the Charles A. Dana Center Partner To Develop in E-Learning Services for Advanced Placement.

Business Editors, Education Writers

SAN FRANCISCO and AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2000

Cogito Learning Media, Inc., and the Charles A. Dana Center of The University of Texas have joined forces to develop and produce a series of comprehensive web-based Advanced Placement resources for students and teachers. The online learning services, ThinkFive.com(TM), will provide rich interactive content, pedagogical support, an array of assessment tools, and a supportive community--all designed to enhance student performance and ensure successful experience in Advanced Placement(R) courses and examinations sponsored by the College Board. In addition, it will provide teachers of AP courses--the most rigorous in the high-school curriculum--tools and resources to manage their demanding courseloads. The first services launched, beginning in Fall 2000, will be in calculus, statistics, biology, and chemistry.

A major goal of the partnership between the Charles A. Dana Center and Cogito Learning Media is to help schools to build the capacity to successfully offer Advanced Placement(R) courses, courses which are increasingly important to admission at major colleges and universities. The services are designed to support, not to replace, the teacher. ThinkFive.com's state-of-the-art services can be used in schools and homes with a wide range of technological capacities. In addition, certain services will be available through media other than the Internet to accommodate interested users with limited access. Unlike other online offerings for AP, ThinkFive services are intended to strengthen the student-teacher relationship, whether interaction takes place in the classroom, in the school computer lab, or in distance learning environments.

The AP services are being prepared in collaboration with leading AP teachers, educators, and instructional designers throughout the United States, under the direction of the staff of the Dana Center and Cogito Learning Media's professionals in multimedia and online education.

In addition to high-quality content, teachers will have access to a comprehensive teaching support environment that offers them a customized class website, syllabus, assignments, and research-based problem sets and provides other practical tools such as email, threaded group discussions, and training seminars in advanced topics.

ThinkFive.com, will offer course-based services free for one semester or more to schools that choose to participate in a University of Texas research program designed to improve the online learning experience of students and educators.

"Cogito is thrilled to join with the Charles A. Dana Center in a partnership that supports the growth of AP through use in schools and homes throughout the country," said Linda Chaput, President and CEO of Cogito Learning Media. "We believe that many more students can succeed in rigorous courses with access to the right tools and instructional resources, and our goal is to make superb content and services available at a reasonable cost to all learners and educators."

"We at The Dana Center and The University of Texas System thought long and hard about how to craft a successful partnership with a commercial company. We were deeply impressed with the quality of Cogito's online offerings and with their commitment to excellence," said Philip Uri Treisman, the director of the Dana Center, a longtime advisor to the College Board, and a MacArthur Award winning educator. "Our partnership will support the expansion of Advanced Placement courses throughout the country and will contribute to our mission of providing equitable access to the best learning experience for all students and educators. In addition, the partnership will provide an endowment for educational research about best outcomes in online learning."

About Cogito Learning Media

Cogito Learning Media, Inc. has pioneered as a leading provider of top quality, e-learning curriculum-based content for higher education and distance learning since 1996. The company works with leading academic authorities and with emerging technologies to create accessible, cutting-edge scientific and technical content in must-know subjects. Cogito's products and services in biology, health, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, business and economics have now been used in more than 1000 colleges and universities and several hundred high schools. The company's technology-based learning services are widely recognized for their effective use of high-quality animation, interactivity, and creative self-assessment tools. For more information, please visit www.cogitomedia.com.

About the Charles A. Dana Center

The Charles A. Dana Center is a research unit of The University of Texas committed to raising academic standards and to improving student achievement in Texas and throughout the nation. (The Center works to develop and further policies that promote equitable access to high-quality instruction for all students.) Major Center initiatives address mathematics and science education; educational policy, law, and finance; and the improvement and redesign of school systems through more than forty interrelated projects. The Center conducts an active research program and also maintains partnerships with a growing number of nonprofit and for-profit organizations concerned with strengthening American education.

The Center has a significant presence in over 500 Texas schools and in a growing number of Texas communities. More than 100 faculty from Texas institutions of higher education and several thousand Texas educators and community leaders are active participants in its statewide initiatives, and its networks have grown to include individuals and organizations working on issues of equity and excellence in education at a national level.

Taken separately, the Dana Center's projects are powerful engines for improving education and practice in their targeted domains. But one of the Dana Center's special strengths is its conviction that by working together--sharing ideas and expertise, testing innovations, and disseminating new ideas--projects achieve a total effect greater than that of any single project working alone.