MACROMEDIA AND ELEMENT K LAUNCH MACROMEDIA UNIVERSITY
Leaders in Web authoring software and education team to offer online
instruction
San Francisco, California and Rochester, New York -- August 1, 2000 --
Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) and Element K, a leading provider of
corporate e-learning solutions for business and technology skills, today
announced the launch of Macromedia University
(http://macromedia.elementk.com/). This new site will serve as the premier
online training source for mastering market-leading Macromedia products.
With the launch of the new site, Macromedia now provides affordable,
convenient, and effective online e-learning solutions targeted at
professional developers of every skill level.
"Macromedia and Element K are leveraging the power of the Web to train
customers how to better use their Macromedia products," said Tom Hale,
senior vice president, product marketing at Macromedia. "These self-paced
online courses will add value to existing users by showing them time-saving
tips and tricks, and enable our new users to hit the ground running using
the leading Web authoring products on the market."
The courses are offered and priced on an annual subscription basis across
three libraries -- Basic, Complete, and Web Professional. Each course is
self-paced and includes 8-12 hours of instructional content created with
Macromedia Director 8 Shockwave Studio and delivered with the Macromedia
Shockwave Player. The Macromedia Basic library provides the foundation
necessary for developers getting familiar with Macromedia Web authoring
products. The Macromedia Complete library adds advanced level instruction,
and the Macromedia Web Professional library offers an exhaustive range of
courses on topics ranging from Java and Linux to HTML and database
programming, as well as the Macromedia product courses at all skill levels.
In addition to self-paced and instructor-led libraries of courseware,
Macromedia University will provide pre- and post-course assessment tests to
help evaluate each student's knowledge level in order to create a custom
learning path, localized courses, and online expert talks and chat
sessions. Element K will create all the course content and assessment
tests, manage the site, and provide reporting services. Macromedia will
provide subject matter experts, contribute to and review course content,
market and drive the development of the service.
"Element K uses Macromedia products to create interactive online
courseware, so it is great to be working directly with Macromedia to
deliver training on those products through this exciting new site," said
Terry Nulty, president at Element K. "Now, we will be able to use
Macromedia technologies to provide the best training to the 1.5 million
professional Web developers that already use Macromedia products."
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Macromedia University libraries can be purchased online, with annual
subscriptions ranging from $99 for basic libraries to $399 for the
professional set. Commercial, educational and government volume
subscriptions may be purchased at a discount through Macromedia resellers.
The following Basic, Complete and Web Professional courses will be
available in August: Macromedia Director 8, Dreamweaver 3, Dreamweaver
UltraDev, Flash 4, Generator 2, and Fireworks 3. Macromedia Flash 5,
Authorware 5, and FreeHand 9 classes are planned for September and October
of this year. For more information, visit http://macromedia.elementk.com/
ABOUT ELEMENT K
With more than 500 information technology and business courses designed
exclusively for the Web, Element K offers instructor-led online courses,
self-paced tutorials, a comprehensive reference library and dynamic
interaction with experts and peers. Element K hosts an online learning
environment integrated with a powerful learning management system. Its
online learning services include www.elementk.com (formerly ZDU.com),
www.training.com and www.learnitonline.com. Visit Element K's online
learning solutions at www.elementk.com.
ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its award-winning
products empower developers to provide the most engaging experience on the
Web, and enable more effective e-business. Headquartered in San Francisco,
Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 1,200 employees worldwide and is
available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.
