For information from Generation YES:
Sylvia Martinez, Generation YES
(310) 944-3655
[email protected]

EdNET 2003 Industry Awards Winners Named
Generation YES named Rookie of the Year

Denver, CO, September 16, 2003 � The Heller Reports today announced the EdNET Industry Awards winners at the annual EdNET Industry Awards banquet held at the Dallas Hotel InterContinental. These companies were chosen because of the positive impact they have had on the educational technology and telecommunications industries. The awards are coordinated each year by The Heller Reports, a QED Company.

Both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations were given awards in two categories � HERO Award and Pioneer Award. One fledgling company with great promise to succeed was chosen in the Rookie of the Year category. Companies were chosen following a rigorous judging process by experts in the educational technology and telecommunications fields. Only one company in each category is chosen each year.

�To me, and to our judges, choosing the EdNET winners is an extremely difficult process. We strive to award companies and non-profit organizations that have truly changed the face of our industry for the better and who have helped to evolve the education of our youth so that they can better compete on a global level,� said Rita Oates, EdNET Awards coordinator. �By providing the latest technology innovations and combining them with tools schools can use, these companies have made great strides in advancing the ways in which students learn and the ways in which administrators run schools today.�

The winners are as follows:

• Rookie of the Year: Generation YES
• HERO Award � For Profit: IntelliTools
• HERO Award � Non Profit: Global SchoolNet
• Pioneer � For Profit: PLATO Learning
• Pioneer � Non Profit: JASON Foundation

The awards categories are as follows: Rookie of the Year - This award honors a small or start-up organization deemed by judges to have created a new product category in education technology and the greatest promise to become a significant player in the technology industry. HERO Award - This award is given to organizations having made the most significant positive impact on education through educational technology and telecommunications. Pioneer Award - This award honors organizations contributing most significantly to the growth of the markets for educational technology and telecommunications.

Rookie winner, Sylvia Martinez, Senior Vice President of Generation YES, said, �The idea that students can have a real impact on school improvement through technology is at its infancy and we are proud to be at the forefront of this new market.� The awards, given annually since 1993, have been deemed the proving ground for new start-up companies and the Pioneer and HERO winners, the models of quality educational technology business practices to be matched by others.

Deb deVries, Director of Sales Programs for PLATO Learning, said, �We are thrilled to be recognized with this award. It is especially relevant in light of our 40th birthday this year.�

On winning, IntelliTools Co-founder and CEO, Arjan Khalsa said, �For a mission driven company like ours to receive this kind of acknowledgement from our peers gives us yet more energy for servicing teachers and students.�

Mark Stevens, Vice President, Marketing, for the JASON Foundation, said, �This validates our mission to inspire students and teachers in science and math.�

The EdNET annual conference brings together hundreds of executives from a wide range of companies focused on educational technology and telecommunications, along with influential educators.

Co-sponsors of the annual awards program hosted by The Heller Reports, a QED company, are Texas Instruments and Words & Numbers.

Individuals familiar with the educational technology and telecommunications industry nominate both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations for the awards. Each year EdNET gathers a panel of education industry experts who subject each nomination to a rigorous judging process.

Additional EdNET 2003 program news is available at https://hellerreports.com/conferences/ednet2003/awards.aspx
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