Lansing, MI, Draper UT, May 8, 2001 -- Michigan Virtual University (MVU), a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to online education and training, and Learnframe, the leading developer of e-Learning infrastructure technologies and KnowledgE-Commerce™ solutions, today announced their partnership to support the statewide Information Technology Training Initiative in Michigan.

The Initiative, announced by Michigan Governor John Engler in March, will make available more than 700 courses free through Michigan Virtual University to as many as 850,000 students, educators and school staff. The program, to be made available through Michigan Virtual University, complements a program in which every state K-12 teacher can receive a free computer and Internet access, and a broader range of professional development opportunities. A second phase of the Initiative will make the courses available free to employees of Michigan’s smallest businesses. The program is the nation’s broadest information technology program of its kind and more than doubles the size of the Michigan Virtual University course catalog.

MVU has selected Learnframe as the underlying infrastructure for the Information Technology Training Initiative. Learnframe’s Pinnacle and Learning Center products solve a prevalent problem in the e-Learning industry, which is the inability to openly connect to any type of courseware. Their open architecture integrates easily with whatever courseware a company wants to use. This is important to MVU as it is striving to reach a multitude of businesses and corporations with an extensive variety of training needs. 

“Michigan Virtual University’s programs appeal to educational institutions as well as the business sector,” said Mike Memott Sr., CEO and Chairman of Learnframe. “They have a notable range of impressive goals to preserve and catalyze Michigan’s economy and increase their level of global competitiveness through e-Learning. Learnframe is happy to partner with MVU in providing e-Learning infrastructure technologies to these ends.”

“It was clear to us that Learnframe had both the technology and expertise to manage a complex system that will serve up courses seamlessly to our end users,” said David Spencer, president of MVU. “We also have an eye on the future when MVU’s growth may require even more advanced systems, and are satisfied that Learnframe can efficiently provide integrated ‘next-step’ services.”

About Michigan Virtual University
Michigan Virtual University (MVU) is a private, non-profit corporation established in 1998 by Governor John Engler and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (formerly the Michigan Jobs Commission) to provide online learning opportunities to Michigan's citizens. MVU does not grant degrees or certificates or teach courses, but acts as a broker of programs made available by Michigan's public and private colleges, universities, and commercial training providers. MVU is the parent organization of the Michigan Virtual Automotive and Manufacturing College and the Michigan Virtual High School. For more information, visit www.mivu.org.

About Learnframe
Learnframe is the leading provider of KnowledgE-Commerce™ solutions, e-learning infrastructure technologies and services for large and small enterprises, government agencies, learning providers and Internet businesses around the world. Our premiere product Nebo, a Universal Platform™ and Learning Hub, is easily tailored to your business processes with our patent-pending KYSO Technology™. The combination of Pinnacle, Learnframe’s learning management system and e-Learning infrastructure, and the Learnframe Learning Center, an e-commerce front end, defines KnowledgE-Commerce™ — the point where e-Learning and e-commerce unite. Learnframe also provides Web-based content delivery, hosting and re-branding services and one of the largest online libraries of CBT, WBT, text, audio and video courses on the market. Learnframe customers include Compaq, Compucom, Rockwell Collins, Supervalu and others. For more information, please contact Kimberly Stilson at kstilson@learnframe.com, or call 800.738.9800. Visit www.learnframe.com for product and company details.