Futurekids, Inc. Partners with ePALS to bring Innovative Educational Technology Solution to the K-12 Marketplace
 
LONG BEACH, Calif. – (May 17, 2001) – Futurekids, Inc., a leading global provider of education technology solutions for K-12 schools, has partnered with ePALS Inc.™, the leader in web based school communication, and collaboration technology. Through the partnership, Futurekids will offer a Futurekids’ version of ePALS’ SchoolMail™ communication platform through its international sales and marketing channels.

The Futurekids’ communication platform will allow schools and/or districts to cost effectively deploy a secure managed communication platform that will include, filtered and monitored email, email translation engine with 64 language pairs, virus checking for email and attachments, controlled access, private chat rooms, multi lingual private discussion boards, and access to the ePALS Classroom Exchange international database of 4.4 million students for collaborative learning projects.

The Futurekids’ communication platform will enable schools and districts to easily deploy a comprehensive, communication solution, that will require little to no internal infrastructure or management. “The communication platform will be the first of several new products Futurekids will be offering as part of a comprehensive eBusiness strategy,” says Alex Kaplan, CEO of Futurekids.

“ePALS SchoolMailTM communication technology facilitates the interaction between educators and students around the world in a meaningful and constructive context," says John Irving, Co-Founder and CEO of ePALS Classroom ExchangeTM. “Futurekids’ international reach will allow for the global expansion of the eClass Network to enhance worldwide learning and collaboration.”

The product aligns with Futurekids’ mission of improving the learning process through technology. Futurekids’ international reach will allow for a rapid global deployment of the new communication platform. Schools throughout the world are embracing web-based applications to fulfill their operational needs, and Futurekids is positioned to be a leader in delivering web-based solutions to schools both domestically and internationally.
 
About Futurekids
Futurekids is the premier provider of technology teacher training solutions for schools and universities around the world. Futurekids has a 22-year record of success in technology education. Their core competency is providing technology training as it relates to teaching and learning. They have relationships and achievements with many key educational partners such as Intel, IBM and Dell.  Futurekids is privately owned with headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. For more information on Futurekids, please visit http://www.futurekids.com/.

About ePALS
ePALS Classroom Exchange, Inc.TM (www.epals.com.), a leader in safe K-12 email and collaborative classroom solutions, connects 4.4 million students and educators in 191 countries. ePALS was the first Internet site to offer monitored email with built-in instant language translation (64 pairs). The epals.com site also offers, safe moderated discussion boards, private chat rooms, and interactive educational content and resources. ePALS, is now licensing this technology, ePALS SchoolMail TM, to schools as a safe, cost effective, customizable email solution. ePALS SchoolMail TM is an ASP-based safe email solution with educator monitoring, comprehensive administrative controls and multilingual features.