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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

WORLD WIDE LEARN PARTNERS WITH GLOBAL SCHOOLNET FOUNDATION TO BRING WORLDWIDELEARN.COM NORTH POLE SOLO 2004 INTO CLASSROOMS

Students follow Wave Vidmar’s historic trek to North Pole with customized curriculum, interactive projects and live updates directly from the Arctic ice

CALGARY, ALBERTA—March 10, 2004—World Wide Learn, provider of the world’s largest directory of e-learning courses and online education resources, today announced it has partnered with Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN) to enable children from around the world to follow Wave Vidmar live on his expedition to the North Pole. GSN is a non-profit international network of 70,000+ online educators who engage in online project-based learning activities.

Last month, Vidmar, a lifelong adventurer and athlete, launched his WorldWideLearn.com North Pole Solo 2004 (http://www.worldwidelearn.com/northpole). His historic quest—to walk, ski and swim over 660 miles across the constantly moving Polar ice—is especially notable, given that Vidmar plans to pull off this tremendously difficult trek solo and completely unsupported. At the completion of his approximately 60-day expedition, Vidmar will become the first American ever to attempt and accomplish this extremely challenging feat, the third person ever to attain this goal, and the second person to reach the North Pole from the Russian side.

“World Wide Learn shares Wave’s commitment to personal education and broadening one’s horizons, and we are very excited to work with Global SchoolNet Foundation to provide young students with a unique opportunity to share in this unprecedented expedition,” said Angela Lovett, CEO and founder of World Wide Learn. “GSN has access to thousands of schools and teachers, making our partnership an ideal venue for telling Wave’s story in classrooms around the world – step by step and day by day.”

GSN worked closely with World Wide Learn to develop a customized curriculum revolving around Vidmar’s expedition. The curriculum (www.northpolesoloexpedition.com) is broken into several subject categories, including creativity, history, language arts, motivation & leadership, science, and social studies. Educators can register for the free curriculum, picking and choosing projects for their classroom. In addition, students have access to a range of interactive projects – writing essays, conducting and sharing research, producing captions for digital photos, and creating Web-based treasure hunts. Plus, Vidmar will provide live updates, including text and data uploads as well as digital photos, from the ice as he walks into history.

“For more than ten years, GSN has been connecting students with real-world explorers,” said Yvonne Marie Andres, executive director and co-founder of Global SchoolNet Foundation. “Wave Vidmar’s WorldWideLearn.com North Pole Solo 2004 expedition is an excellent opportunity for teachers to engage students on a very real level. We are proud to be selected by World Wide Learn to play a role in this important event.”

About Global SchoolNet Foundation

Founded in 1984, Global SchoolNet combines smart teaching ideas with web publishing, video conferencing and other online tools that bridge geographic gaps, allowing young people around the world to learn together. Global SchoolNet, headquartered in San Diego, is a growing international network of 70,000+ educators, who engage in online project-based learning activities, reaching more than a million students from 45,000 schools across 100 countries. GSN partners with schools, universities, communities, businesses and other organizations to co-develop free or low cost programs to help students become literate and responsible global citizens, and to prepare them for the workforce. Global SchoolNet is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit education organization. Visit GSN on the web at http://www.globalschoolnet.org.

About World Wide Learn

Founded in 1998, and based in Calgary, Canada, World Wide Learn offers the world’s largest independent directory of educational services, featuring informative resources as well as hundreds of e-learning courses in 249 subject categories. WorldWideLearn.com enables its users to quickly and easily locate effective e-learning courseware. The directory highlights free courses and tutorials, computer training, corporate training, post-secondary education, professional development, personal development, and continuing education. Some of World Wide Learn’s leading university partners include Baker College, Capella University, Kaplan College, University of Phoenix, University of Maryland University College, and Walden University. More information about World Wide Learn can be found on the company’s website at www.WorldWideLearn.com.

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