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Ignite! Learning Expands Global Reach to China with Launch of Yike; Yike to Develop ESL Curriculum

What's interesting here is the absence of Neil Bush's name. Always before, the fact that he founded this software company has been featured prominently. If you want to learn more about Neil Bush's company, enter Ignite! into a search from the home page.

AUSTIN, Texas

Ignite! Learning, publisher of original classroom curriculum, announced today its strategy to expand globally to support curriculum development in Asia with the formation of Ignite! Asia Holdings, Ltd., a registered, wholly owned subsidiary based in Hong Kong. IAH, Ltd. will focus on investments in educational offerings for China, Japan and Korea. Each of these important education markets will be addressed by localized business units under the IAH portfolio carrying Ignite! Learning's brand and unique instructional methodology in the products under design and development.

As one of Ignite!'s first steps in this Asian expansion initiative, "Yike" has been formed as an official representative office of Ignite! Learning based in Beijing, China. Yike, which translates as "engaged, enlightened learning," is actively working with education professionals in mainland China, including the Ministry of Education and the Peoples Education Press, to address the growing demand for standards-based ESL/ELL (English as a Second Language/English Language Learner) curriculum. Ignite! also announced today an agreement with Beijing IG Interactive Information Technology, Co., Ltd. to deliver Ignite!'s custom social studies curriculum over mobile Internet and GSM devices.

ESL is taught throughout China in both public and private lower schools, high schools, universities, colleges, private business institutes and training centers. Explosive demand for ESL instructors has created a market resulting in more than 100,000 "Foreign Experts" (FE) annually being "imported" to teach ESL at an annual cost of 10 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion).

"There is growing demand for quality ESL curriculum in China based on clear and proven standards," said Ken Leonard, president of Ignite! Learning. "We believe the market is in great need of a solution that embraces individual learning styles within the classroom for ESL teachers while ensuring curriculum continuity. While our first market entry in China will be ESL, we expect to develop and introduce our core curriculum solutions for math and science in future years."

The Ignite! Learning Social Studies COW (Curriculum On Wheels) is a classroom curriculum solution for middle school and upper elementary students. Currently used as an integral part of the daily lesson plan in more than 10,000 classrooms throughout the United States, the company expects global demand for new education tools to fuel market adoption internationally in both Asia and Europe.

The COW is aligned to state and national education standards and is preloaded with instructional media, to accompany the lesson plans, whole-class activities, and assessments. Each lesson leverages two to three media pieces that are designed to appeal to multiple learning styles. Media pieces contain animation, video, audio, images, text and music to reinforce key material while fostering critical thinking through the lesson plans and activities. The COW covers three years of math, science or social studies using songs, animation, maps, timelines, text, and interactive exercises. The portable unit also features a built-in projector and stereo speakers. The COW was developed to meet the demand from teachers for a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool that would help them engage students in a more relevant and meaningful way.

"Teachers want a simple solution for delivering compelling new curriculum to their students without the hassle of network management and computer labs," said Leonard. "However, we fully recognize that as education evolves, new standards for delivering curriculum to students will emerge."

To address this trend, Ignite! Learning has teamed with Beijing IG Interactive, a mobile multimedia distribution company, in a one-year test license to deliver Mobile Learning content on next-generation wireless data networks expected to deploy in China in 2008 and 2009.

Jianbo Sun, general manager of Beijing IG Interactive Information Technology, said, "By partnering with Ignite! Learning, we have created an opportunity to use our distribution network to provide mobile users in China, particularly teachers and students, meaningful content that many will find useful in their work and continued education. We look forward to a rewarding year as we work with Ignite! to develop and deploy new educational applications and provide an innovative and positive learning experience."

IG has existing ASP (application service provider) licenses with China Mobile, the largest wireless communication provider in mainland China. With more than 450 million cell phone owners and 140 million Internet users, China's installed base of mobile technology users is strong.

Said Leonard, "Our mission to empower teachers and bring a rich and relevant learning experience to students is a global mission. Our success in the U.S. has fortunately enabled us to expand our business around the world as we seek to energize the classroom experience and celebrate the teacher-centered approach to achieving excellence in education. In China, we are proud that IG selected our Social Studies curriculum as a trial base for delivering a first wave of content to help a growing market of millions of students begin to learn to master the nuances of basic English language all through the rich fabric of World History and Geography. Our Yike unit's Beijing-based development of ESL curriculum along with future plans for Mandarin-based Science and Math curriculum will make the potential for further collaboration with IG and China Mobile even more exciting."

About Ignite! Learning

Ignite! Learning is committed to helping teachers by creating classroom solutions that are comprehensive, motivational, and easy-to-use. The company's curriculum is rooted in current research on best practices for teaching middle and upper elementary school students. Public and private schools in more than 22 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have adopted Ignite! Learning's COW (Curriculum On Wheels) to help improve student performance in science and social studies. Ignite! plans to release a comprehensive mathematics curriculum in 2007. For more information on Ignite! Learning, visitwww.ignitelearning.com.

Ignite! (TM), Curriculum on Wheels(TM), COW(TM), Yike(TM) and the Ignite! Learning logo are trademarks of Ignite! Inc. All other trademarks herein are properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.



CONTACT: Phillips and Company
Scott Campbell, 512-423-4907
dscampbell@phillipscompany.com


— Press Release
Ignite! Curriculum on Wheels
2007-06-25


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