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Santa Ana School District's Wilson Elementary School Wins Award for 'Best Use of Hardware as a Learning Tool' Using AlphaSmart Computer Companions Scholastic Administrator Magazine Names Wilson Elementary School One of Four District Picks Award Winners LOS GATOS, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AlphaSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALSM), a leading provider of technology solutions for education, today announced that Wilson Elementary School, a public school in the Santa Ana (California) Unified School District, has been named a District Picks Award winner by Scholastic Administrator(TM) Magazine. The school, which provides all third and fourth grade students with an AlphaSmart computer companion for use at home and in the classroom, was named "Best Use of Hardware as a Learning Tool." Created by Scholastic Administrator, a leading professional magazine for school and district technology officers and administrators, the District Picks Awards recognize best practices in the integration of educational technology to support classroom instruction and drive student achievement. This year more than 125 entries were evaluated in four separate categories from districts across the U.S. "We want to congratulate Principal Robert Anguiano and his staff at Wilson Elementary School for putting a technology program in place that schools throughout the U.S. can emulate," said Manish Kothari, president of AlphaSmart. "Giving students access to computer companions for use across the curriculum and throughout their day has vastly improved keyboarding skills and technology literacy among students. More importantly, by letting students take the device home, they were able to successfully extend learning beyond the school day and into the home environment." The computer companion program, School to Home Technology Connection, was initiated at Wilson Elementary School in the 2002-2003 school year in response to new district goals that required schools to improve the technology literacy of its students. With limited funds for new PCs, software and teacher training, Principal Anguiano turned to affordable, rugged AlphaSmart 3000 devices which were simple to operate and maintain, and cost roughly one-fifth that of a laptop computer. In its first year, 180 fourth graders, mostly English-as-a-second language (ESL) students, were given technology tools. Last year, the program expanded to include third grade students as well. Principal Anguiano's goals were clear from the start. The first goal was to build keyboarding skills so students could more easily transfer their thoughts into written English in the future. The second goal was for students to achieve a level of technology proficiency that would enable them to teach each other, thereby learning through the process of sharing their knowledge. The third goal, developing a school-family connection using technology was very important, because parental involvement is key to student success. "In the Wilson School community, English is not the dominant language in many homes, and access to computer technology is very limited. The School to Home Technology Connection not only provides students with the opportunity to develop proficient keyboarding skills, but also promotes second language acquisition," said Principal Anguiano. "We found that AlphaSmart computer companions actually reduce students' anxiety toward technology and allow them to readily record their thoughts. In addition to the increased frequency of quality writing, students are motivated and becoming more confident in their writing ability." District Pick Awards will be featured in the June issue of Scholastic Administrator, and Wilson Elementary School will be formally recognized during an awards ceremony on June 28 at the National Educational Computing Conference in Philadelphia, PA. In addition to "Best Use of Hardware as a Learning Tool", awards also included: "Best Use of Administrative Software", "Best Use of Hardware at a School or District Level", and "Best Use of Curriculum Software". Use of Scholastic brand technology products was not eligible for consideration. About Scholastic Administrator Scholastic Administrator is the leading professional resource for today's results-driven school leaders, reaching 260,000 school technology officers, superintendents, principals, school board presidents, curriculum directors and technology coordinators. By providing insights into effective technology and leadership strategies through real-world examples and facilitating a dialogue among administrators, the magazine serves as a clearinghouse of concise and practical ideas, smart leadership strategies, and proven technology solutions. More information is available on http://www.scholastic.com/administrator. About AlphaSmart AlphaSmart, Inc. is a provider of affordable, portable personal learning solutions for the K-12 classroom. Its portable computer companion products are used by students to enhance writing, keyboarding and comprehension, and have been adopted by more than 8,500 school districts in the United States and other countries. Based in Los Gatos, California, the company was founded in 1992 by former Apple Computer engineers. DATASOURCE: AlphaSmart, Inc. CONTACT: Carleen LeVasseur of AlphaSmart Public Relations, +1-408-264-6767, or Web site: http://www.alphasmart.com/

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