Espresso Broadband’s support for the Government’s ‘Education Action Zones’ (commonly known as EAZs) has resulted in the company doubling its user base to more than 200 schools and becoming the UK’s number one educational resource service provider. Major new signings with EAZs in Bristol, Redcar & Cleveland, Sunderland, King’s Cross and Great Yarmouth now bring the total number of primary and secondary school pupils using Espresso’s educational material to over 50,000.
Established in 1998, Espresso’s award-winning multimedia educational resource is a fully indexed and searchable service containing more than 11Gb of data, all linked and cross-referenced to national curriculum attainment targets. The service has been designed to meet two main objectives. First, to stimulate children and teach them skills relevant to their key stage, and secondly to provide a rich resource that makes planning and researching lessons enjoyable and stress-free for teachers.
Service subscribers enjoy a wide range of high standard educational material. As of April 2001, the Espresso service offered more than 500 work sheets for teachers to print and use within the classroom, over 350 interactive multimedia activities for pupils and more than 800 topical news stories from approved websites across the globe.
Pupils also benefit from access to Espresso's use of contemporary TV programmes and news footage, which are re-dubbed for greater relevance to the national curriculum and bring current affairs from around the world - such as the Middle East peace process and the Indian pilgrimage, 'Kumbh Mela' - into the classroom. Watched back-to-back, Espresso’s 892 video clips would total over 18 hours of viewing!
“UK schools are looking for ways to innovate learning through new technologies, and as a pioneer in its field Espresso delivers a service that is unmatched by any other provider of educational material”, comments Lewis Bronze, CEO of Espresso.
“Espresso is delighted to be working with some of the most progressive educational establishments within the EAZs. These schools have pledged to raise standards in education – specifically in literacy, numeracy and ICT performance – goals which Espresso also strives to meet. We fully support the principles of EAZs to maximise every child’s potential.”
Unlike other educational content providers, Espresso avoids the frustration of download delays on the Internet and CD-ROM’s by using satellite technology to deliver its weekly information updates to schools. A satellite dish and Espresso box - costing £1875 - are required to receive and store the information but these costs may be met by the EAZ, depending on individual local commitments. For the average Primary School a subscription fee from £5 per pupil is payable yearly.
For further press information or paper versions of this release please contact:
Espresso Marketing, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
Tel: +44(0)20 8237 1200
Fax: +44(0)20 8237 1201
Email: info@espresso.co.uk
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