Minister Stockdale launches Beam's acclaimed Educational Titles

The Victorian Treasurer & Minister for Multimedia, Mr. Alan Stockdale, yesterday launched Smarty Pants Publishing's critically acclaimed Languages For Kids series of primary-school level multimedia language titles at Interact '97. Smarty Pants Publishing is a division of Beam International Limited, specialising in educational multimedia title development and publishing. "The Language, the content and fun elements make the Languages for Kids series not only attractive to children - they simply won't be able to resist it", commented Minister Alan Stockdale. Languages For Kids is an award-winning series of Windows / Macintosh CD-ROM titles for primary age children, designed to make learning a second language easy and fun. Featuring hilarious animations, lots of games, sing-alongs and fun activities, the titles are designed to ensure that kids are enthralled and challenged for hours. The Languages for Kids series is one of the biggest educational multimedia projects undertaken in Australia. The $2 million, 11-title series was jointly financed by the Australian Multimedia Enterprise Limited and completed in under 12 months. Individual titles in the series have won Australian and international awards, including the 1996 ATOM Multimedia Award for Best Primary Resource, finalist in the 1997 International Digital Media Awards, and World Medal Winner at the prestigious New York Festivals Awards. The whole series is also a finalist in multiple categories at the 1997 ATOM International Multimedia Awards and the AIMIA Australian International Multimedia Awards 1997.

"This is a sure indication of this series' International appeal in the world marketplace", commented Minister Alan Stockdale. Leading educational publisher, Scholastic Australia, initiated discussions with Beam as a direct result of last year's Interact '96 exhibition in Melbourne. "We saw the prototype of Michio Teaches Japanese demonstrated at Interact, and it's snowballed from there" said Scholastic New Media's Sales & Marketing Manager, Wayne Cooper. Smarty Pants and Scholastic have since signed a multi-million dollar distribution deal for the Languages For Kids series and are discussing further co-development plans. "A lot of effort went into sourcing outstanding educational content, while making sure the programs would be something the kids would want to play again and again" commented Smarty Pants' General Manager, Rebecca Chapman. "I am confident we've achieved that, and I am personally very proud of the result". "It's very exciting indeed" continued Cooper. "With Smarty Pants' obvious creative and technical expertise and our intimate knowledge of the educational market, this partnership has incredible potential for success". The Languages For Kids series is available from Scholastic New Media (ph: 02/ 4328 3555). The titles are: Mike Teaches English, Claudine Teaches French, Pip Teaches German, Fiore Teaches Italian, Pepa Teaches Spanish, Michio Teaches Japanese, Insu Teaches Korean, Budi Teaches Indonesian, Lin Lin Teaches Mandarin, and Rivka Teaches Hebrew.

Scholastic Australia, a market leader in educational software, has operated in Australia since 1969. Scholastic Australia Pty, Ltd. Is a subsidiary of Scholastic International, Inc., the world's leading distributor and republisher of educational books, materials and software dedicated to interactive learning. Scholastic has offices in Australia, UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico and France. More information about Scholastic and its products can be found on the Internet at http://www.scholastic.com.au
Beam International Limited is the holding company for the Beam Group. It is Australia's only multimedia development company traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (and trades under the symbol BEM). More information about Beam International Ltd, Melbourne House and Beam Software can be found on the Internet at http://www.beam.com.au.
For interviews, review copies or further information, contact Kirsten Beamish at Beam Software on
Tel: +61 (03) 9866 8300 ext: 202,
Fax: +61 (03) 9866 8674
or by e-mail to kirstenb@beam.com.au
Appropriate review materials and photographs from the launch are available on request.
Press release:- Friday October 31, 1997