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Hi-tech solutions for the classroom available through Knowledge Focus

By Knowledge Focus
Johannesburg, 30 Oct 2006

Knowledge Focus (Pty) Ltd, local provider of information asset management solutions, is proud to announce the immediate availability of Anystream Apreso Classroom products for the South African higher education market.

Apreso Classroom, part of Anystream`s globally distributed range of digital solutions designed to create and sustain e-learning, automates the many complex tasks required to capture, encode, manage and publish online versions of lectures.

It is used by the world`s leading universities to produce online versions of the classroom experience for anytime, anywhere student review.

The system produces lectures in multiple bandwidth versions, and also supports podcasting.

Apreso Classroom`s automation removes the need for professors to learn complex systems or change the way they teach. The system works by automatically capturing and synchronising the professor`s voice and image with digital content being projected in the classroom, and posting an interactive, Web-based version of the lecture (complete with navigation thumbnails) to university Web sites or course management systems for student playback.

Designed specifically for higher education, Apreso Classroom`s enterprise architecture integrates easily with campus-wide information systems and is affordable enough to be incorporated into the curriculum of institutions with limited budgets.

Apreso Classroom is ideally positioned to add value to complex or information-dense subjects (math, science, health, medicine, business, law) or for large student-to-teacher ratio classes.

The solution has already been implemented with success in a number of academic institutions in the US. These include Gallaudet University, a leading institution for deaf and hard of hearing students based in Washington DC, as well as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Gallaudet University`s student body now has the ability to instantly review lectures on demand. The technology has gone a long way to support sign language adoption and improve learning outcomes.

According to the university`s e-learning manager Earl Parks, the Apreso Classroom has been positively received by both students and faculty as a means to improve comprehension, and enhance the digital learning experience.

Law students at the University of Arkansas are gaining advantage over students at other law schools in that they now have the ability to replay and experience any lectures missed. The system offers access to any lecture at any stage and has already provided much needed support during examinations.

"Students can review the content anytime, anywhere, to help insure that their understanding, and therefore performance, in school increases. It is also excellent for institutions with space limitations or distance students. Apreso Classroom helps broaden the reach of your educational initiatives and improve your students` learning outcomes," explains Gordon Milton, Multimedia Product Manager at Knowledge Focus.

"Apreso Classroom`s automation, scheduling component, and affordability have made it the solution chosen by top universities to revolutionise the student learning experience. We are very excited about the benefits and advantages this globally-acclaimed solution can offer the local market. Tertiary level education is fundamentally important and plays a critical role in preparing the future socio-economic backbone of the country. It is necessary for decision-makers to incorporate reliable, effective technology sooner rather than later. This solution adds a new dimension to distance education and e-learning," adds Piet Dempsey, MD of Knowledge Focus.

For more information, please contact Knowledge Focus at 012 347 5910 or visit www.kfocus.co.za or www.apreso.com.

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Anystream

Anystream is an essential element of the new media broadcast strategies of some of the world`s largest media companies, including Time Warner, Viacom and News Corp. Anystream is the leader in providing easy-to-use, cost-effective solutions that maximise the value of video content. The company`s automated, mission-critical solutions tightly integrate with legacy production systems to extract video and enhance it with metadata for indexing, searching, deploying, advertising and distributing it through any system, to any device. Anystream has received numerous honours including the Frost and Sullivan Market Leadership Award, Presentations Magazine`s Standing Ovation Award, PC Magazine`s Technical Excellence Awards finalist, COMDEX Best of Show awards finalist, Entrepreneur Magazine`s "Hot 100" list and Deloitte and Touche`s "Fast 50". www.anystream.com

Knowledge Focus

Knowledge Focus was formed in August 2000 after a management buy-out (MBO) of Excalibur Technologies Africa from Grintek Electronics. The company markets a range of products to help customers manage their information assets. Knowledge Focus is managed by Piet Dempsey and Graham Melvill-Smith, who both have extensive experience in the field of digital asset management.

The company supports and serves organisations that have a need to retrieve information (knowledge) with accuracy and speed. Knowledge Focus concentrates on the knowledge retrieval and knowledge preservation markets with special attention to the delivery of information (knowledge) for the competitive intelligence and strategic marketing intelligence markets, and is a master reseller for a number of exciting technologies that enable these business functionalities. Through these technologies, including Convera products, the company is able to assist companies in storing and retrieving data from the following internal and external sources: general office documents, intranets, groupware applications, ERP systems, existing document management systems, the Internet, relational databases, digital images, video and paper-based documents. The company`s head office is in Pretoria, South Africa and some of its clients include Eskom, GCIS, Government, Kumba Resources, M-Net Supersport, Stellenbosch University and Technikon SA.