Novell Announces Three New Education Titles For Kids

Novell Extends Education Line With Language Arts, Math, and Children's Creativity

LOS ANGELES -- May 11, 1995 -- Novell, Inc. today announced three new multimedia education titles for Windows that will focus on language arts, mathematics and children's word processing and creativity. The three titles, part of Novell's PerfectHome consumer software brand, will begin shipping in August.

The company's first language arts product for kids ages 10 and older, code-named Enchanted Manor, lets kids investigate a mysterious house stuffed with precious objects and artifacts from several periods in history and many countries of the world. The program incorporates fully orchestrated original music and a point and click navigational system for kids to make their way through rooms, along halls and several levels of the rustic house.

On their journey, kids solve spelling and grammar problems that focus on usage, parts of speech, capitalization, punctuation and sentences in order to advance to other levels in the house. Each floor of the manor uses diverse cultural, historical and artistic topics from different time periods as the backdrop for this rich multimedia title.

Novell's newest math title for kids ages 6 to 12, code-named AstroMath, takes on a planetary exploration theme and covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and percents.

The math voyage, based on the award-winning multimedia program Mental Math for DOS, begins on Earth and allows kids to travel to the other eight planets in the solar system. Each planet visited introduces a new math activity including Lunar Lander, Space Walk, Astroid Field, Land Rover, Pipeline, Satellite Link, Space Spores and Circuit Trouble.

Kids advance in rank and learn more about the solar system as they master each math objective. A space log keeps track of each students progress for each of the math objectives. The program is packed with information on the solar system and contains photo-realistic, 3-D graphics that will keep children intrigued for hours on end.

The third home education title provides kids with a unique creativity center for making stories, cards, signs, books, letters, stamps, calendars, journals and book reports. The kids' creativity center will be the first 32-bit home education product for Windows 95 from the PerfectHome product line. The program allows kids to use their creativity to combine letters, shapes, clip art, a variety of paint colors, and formats to develop graphical, eye-catching creations.

"With our new kids word processing and creativity title, we've met the challenge of packing a tremendous amount of functionality into a product that's simple enough for a four-year-old to use," said Dan Rask, product marketing director, Novell Consumer Division. "With the help of our education partner, the Waterford Institute, we've made major advances in simplicity of interface, while offering complete word processing and drawing capabilities, wonderfully animated on-screen controls, and interactive "chalkboard" activity tutorials. Tests with children and teachers show they find it easier to use than other program in its category."

After kids create anything with text, such as a letter or a book, a speech synthesis button allows them to have their text read back to them aloud. The program also includes a calendar creator and an address book for kids to keep important phone numbers of relatives, the doctor, fire department, mom and dad's work numbers, etc.

All of these multimedia programs will begin shipping in August with a suggested retail price of $49.95. Novell began shipping such award-winning products as Read with Me Deluxe and Memphis Math: Treasure of the Tombs last year. Novell will also begin shipping two other multimedia education titles in June entitled Make A Story and Read-A-Rama.

For a limited time, all of Novell's education products will include a free copy of the multimedia DOS version of Mental Math. Developed by the Waterford Institute, Mental Math is a challenging yet fun way for kids to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions and percents.

Mental Math received the 1994 Codies Award by the Software Publishers Association for the Best Elementary Education Product and in May 1995 received the Award of Distinction from Media& Methods magazine. The title has also appeared for several months in the All Star Software section of Warren Buckleitner's Children's Software Revue.

Product design teams for Novell's home education products are led by experienced teachers and include instructional designers and educators at Waterford Institute, a nonprofit software development site and private school. New programs are tested for educational value and appeal in classroom and home settings by the Waterford School's 750 children. Waterford has operated computer learning systems in more than 40 inner-city schools in New York City and elsewhere.

System Requirements, Pricing and Availability

All three of the new education titles will be available in August and will require a 486SX processor, 4MB RAM (8MB recommended), Windows 3.1 or higher, a double-speed CD-ROM drive, 256-color video display, mouse and MPC2-compatible sound card and speakers. All of Novell's home education products will have a suggested retail price of $49.95 and be available through software retailers, superstores, warehouse clubs or directly from Novell, Inc. at (800) 451-5151.

Novell's PerfectHome consumer software continues to make computers more practical and computing more pervasive with a wide range of titles in the areas of personal productivity, family entertainment and home education.