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SMARTHINKING™ Forges Partnerships with Consortia in Six States to Support Students

Schools and Students Across California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey to Receive Online Academic Support

Immediate Contact:

Sheila Noon
(206) 283-3054
snoon(AT)smarthinking.com

Lea Douglin
(202) 543-5034 x 245
ldouglin(AT)smarthinking.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 9, 2001 - Beginning this fall, consortia in California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey will offer their schools and students around-the-clock tutoring and academic support services provided by SMARTHINKING, the nation's leading provider of online tutoring and academic assistance for college students.

SMARTHINKING serves more than 100 schools, the US Army and publisher Houghton Mifflin. Through the SMARTHINKING service, students may ask questions of E-structor® Certified tutors in synchronous, asynchronous and pre-scheduled online tutoring sessions. In addition, SMARTHINKING records and archives all interactions, permitting access and sorting for future review and use by the student or institution. SMARTHINKING currently offers assistance in core courses including Math, Statistics, Economics, Accounting, Grammar, Chemistry and Spanish.

"Many states have formed consortia to use the Internet to offer greater access to a greater variety of educational services and courses. Aggregating student support services in core subjects and skills across the state makes economic and educational sense for all educational consortia," says Burck Smith, CEO of SMARTHINKING.

"SMARTHINKING is helping us build the kind of innovative education today's students demand," says Daniel Rabuzzi, Interim Chief Executive Officer Kentucky Virtual University. "SMARTHINKING provides a tool that will help us ensure that any of our students can access the help and support they need, whenever they need it. All our students need is a connection to the Internet."

State-specific partnerships include:

California
SMARTHINKING will expand beyond its relationship with the California Virtual
Campus - Region 4 (38 community colleges) to include the California Virtual Campus - Region 1. California Virtual Campus - Region 1 serves 26 colleges in the Bay Area of California.

Colorado
The Community Colleges of Colorado Online (CCCO) will offer the SMARTHINKING service to students taking virtual classes. The Community Colleges of Colorado Online is comprised of the 14 colleges in the Community Colleges of Colorado, Dawson Community College and Northwest Missouri State University.

Georgia
Georgia Virtual Technical College is distributing the SMARTHINKING service among Math, English, Accounting and Economics classes to support distance and traditional classroom courses. The GVTC Consortium includes all 34 of the state's technical colleges with over 450 online courses. More than 4,770 students were enrolled in online classes during the spring quarter of 2001.

Kentucky
Using SMARTHINKING's technology, the University of Kentucky will staff an Online Writing Lab for the entire state. Distance learning students at both KYVU and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System will have access to the combination of Kentucky's online writing lab and SMARTHINKING's other academic support services. Serving more than 6,100 Kentuckians through the Spring 2001 term, Kentucky Virtual University is the Commonwealth's official virtual campus. KYVU offers nearly 50 college-credit and professional degree programs from 27 Kentucky colleges and universities and other providers.

Maryland
MarylandOnline is making SMARTHINKING tutoring services available to students taking online courses at 23 colleges and universities in the state of Maryland during the current school year. Through a grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, MarylandOnline will provide unlimited SMARTHINKING tutoring services to 5000 students in a pilot study focused on delivering online support services effectively to online students. For traditional students and other online students who do not qualify for participation in the pilot study, MarylandOnline has negotiated a collaborative contract with SMARTHINKING to provide hourly tutoring services under a blanket statewide agreement. MarylandOnline's 23 member schools provide over 60 online degrees and certificates and last year had over 77,000 online students.

New Jersey
The New Jersey Virtual Community College Consortium (NJVCCC) will provide SMARTHINKING to its students. The Consortium offers online courses from all of New Jersey's 19 community colleges.

About SMARTHINKING (www.SMARTHINKING.com)

SMARTHINKING, the leading provider of online tutoring to colleges and high schools, provides live, online, easy-access tutoring to students. SMARTHINKING works with schools, colleges, universities, textbook publishers and other institutions to help educators offer students outstanding academic support. SMARTHINKING’s custom solutions improve faculty support and raise student performance by connecting students to qualified assistance anytime, from any Internet connection. SMARTHINKING clients include schools, colleges, libraries, education companies, individuals, and anyone seeking to increase student achievement. SMARTHINKING currently works with over 500 school clients and businesses. To learn more, please visit www.smarthinking.com or call 888.430.7429 ext 224.

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