Course Technology and The Connecting Link Provide Powerful Computer Training Skills to K-12 Teachers.

Business and Technology Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2002

Educational Leaders Address Growing Need for Microsoft Office 

User Specialist (MOUS) Training in Primary and Secondary Markets

Course Technology, the worldwide leader in computer education products and services and part of The Thomson Corporation (TSE:TOC), today announces it has teamed up with The Connecting Link (TCL), an education training company that provides continuing education events to K - 12 teachers, to offer one day Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certification training. Course Technology and TCL plan to hold the first workshop in March 2002, Course Technology and TCL will conduct the one-day seminars with Course Technology courseware and MOUS certified trainers that are provided by TCL. These workshops give teachers a quick, efficient way to gain a valuable certification that is rapidly becoming instrumental in the K-12 market, where demonstrating proficiency is essential and often required.

In an effort to reach over 1.5 million educators, Course Technology and TCL will offer K-12 educators an accessible training solution for much-needed computer skills that has, until now, been limited by time and resource constraints. With the current economic conditions, the trend of assessment in K-12, and the growing demand for demonstrating proficiency in public schools, these workshops provide a quick, efficient way to help teachers address these concerns; while focusing on the critical challenge of keeping up with the pace of technology. During these one-day sessions, attendees will work in a self-paced environment with the assistance of a TCL, MOUS certified instructor and a Course Technology textbook that is mapped to the MOUS exam. The workshops will also offer instructors the opportunity to take a MOUS certification exam and walk away with their certificate on the same day.

Prior to entering the program, attendees receive Course Technology's SAM(TM) 2000 Net-Ready (Skills Assessment Manager) software product, a learning and assessment tool that allows users to perform tasks in the Microsoft Office environment and prepares them for MOUS Certification. SAM records and grades real-world tasks, giving detailed feedback on any incorrectly completed tasks. This feedback enables the teacher to get an accurate understanding of what skills they need to develop before attending the workshop. Thus, they spend less time determining what they don't know and more time learning the appropriate information during the workshop to meet MOUS certification standards.

"Public school districts spend approximately $7 billion on technology per year." said Joe Dougherty, CEO of Course Technology. "However, four out of five K-12 teachers have expressed that they are not comfortable with integrating technology in their classrooms. These workshops will add value to school investments and enable teachers to learn and demonstrate their proficiency with technology quickly. This will result in more technology literate students."

In a recent study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics that reported on teachers' use of technology, it was determined that their opportunities for professional development in education technology is "often lacking," when traditional professional development activities are administered. In 1999, it was reported that 10% of teachers reported feeling "very well prepared" and 23% felt "well prepared" to use technology in the classroom.

The MOUS workshops are available nationwide. Further information is available at www.course.com/teachers.

About The Thomson Corporation and Course Technology

With revenues of approximately US $6 billion, The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com) is a leading, global provider of integrated information solutions for business, education and professional customers. Its learning businesses and brands (www.thomsonlearning.com) serve the needs of individuals, learning institutions and corporations with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. Course Technology (www.course.com) is part of Thomson Learning and the worldwide leader in computing education, offering more than 1,600 print and innovative technology-based products for business and technology training. About

The Connecting Link

The Connecting Link (TCL), founded in 1981, is an educational training company dedicated to serving teachers. TCL's mission is to provide high quality, graduate level, continuing education courses designed to help educators respond to current challenges in their profession. Taught according to adult learning principles and grounded in current educational research, TCL courses are highly experiential and interactive, allowing each educator a hands-on, practical approach to learning. TCL is managed by Argosy Education Group, Inc (AEG). (AEG) is the nation's leading provider of doctoral-level academic programs. The Argosy mission is to provide an academically-oriented, practitioner-focused education in fields that offer vast employment opportunities and strong student demand. AEG owns and operates five educational institutions. These include Argosy University, Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California, John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Georgia, The Connecting Link, and Primetech Institute. AEG also owns Argosy Professional Services (APS), a leading provider of preparatorycourses and materials for licensureexaminations.