Press Room
LearningStation and Kan-ed Multi-year Agreement Supports Kansas Schools, Libraries and Hospitals
Charlotte, N.C. – July 10, 2007 – LearningStation and Kan-ed, the state-wide network in Kansas, have extended their successful partnership with a five-year agreement. Through the agreement, all Kan-ed members, including more than 1,500 public and private K-12 schools, have access to the Empowered Desktop by Kan-ed, an instructional web portal developed by LearningStation that provides members with safe, personalized access to a host of teaching and learning applications and resources.
“Kan-ed and the state’s legislative leadership are leveraging technology to make a difference for their citizens by giving valuable resources, data and time to librarians, teachers, students and families,” said Jim Kirchner, CEO of LearningStation. “We’re excited to continue our partnership with Kan-ed and are thrilled to be a part of such an innovative initiative.”
The portal saw over 1,000% growth in utilization over the past year. Applications like LS Test Builder and the Education Backpack are being used by more than 385,000 Kansans. The Education Backpack provides safe, secure file storage and sharing capabilities. LS Test Builder supports formative assessment, delivering a large database of standards-aligned practice test questions through a powerful, intuitive test delivery interface. netTrekker d.i.(R), an award-winning educational search engine, delivers more than 180,000 websites, all reviewed, rated and approved by educators. Additional utilities and applications support administrators, teachers and students, while state-wide cooperative purchase and deployment capabilities save Kansas schools additional money.
Brad Williams, executive director of Kan-ed, said, “Partnering with LearningStation on an enterprise-level license of the Empowered Desktop helps us meet our goal of delivering quality online content and services and helps our members meet their goals for effective, innovative instruction and assessment. We are thrilled to expand our partnership with LearningStation based on the overwhelming approval of our constituents across the state.”
Some new applications further support schools’ objectives for teaching and learning: Financial Foundations for Kids, developed by the Kansas Council on Economic Education, provides economics and personal finance courseware for K-8 students; HomeworkKansas, made available by the State Library of Kansas, provides Kansas students with online access to tutors outside of school hours.
About LearningStation
LearningStation (www.learningstation.com), a leading provider of customized portal solutions, focuses on helping schools authentically engage students in learning through innovative applications and web-based learning tools. LearningStation has been honored as a 2005 and 2006 SIIA Codie Award finalist, a 2003 Media & Methods Magazine Awards Portfolio recipient, and a recipient of the EdNET 2002 Pioneer Award for significant contributions to the growth of education technology.
About Kan-ed
Recognizing that every Kansan should have access to the global digital revolution in information technology, Kan-ed provides the tools to influence and expand the roles of education and health care in communities throughout the state. By connecting schools, libraries and hospitals to a private high-speed network, Kan-ed is creating an education/health-care coalition to vastly increase Kansans’ access to information, institutions and each other. Through aggregate purchasing, Kan-ed is able to negotiate rates for databases and services that will shape a marketplace where entities large and small can exchange resources. For more information, contact Brad Williams, Kan-ed executive director, at 785-296-0843 or bwilliams@ksbor.org.