Seward Learning Systems Wins 2002 Summit Award Work Supports PEPNets Mission to Serve Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

This multimedia program provides teachers an effective tool for helping deaf and hard-of-hearing students make decisions about postsecondary education.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, August, 2002 -- Seward Learning Systems, Inc. received a bronze award in the 2002 Summit Creative Awards for an interactive training course developed on behalf of its client, Postsecondary Education Programs Network (PEPNet). The work was judged by a panel, which included creatives from J. Walter Thompson, MWW/Savitt, Turner Studios, Publicite Leo Burnett Ltee., Grey Advertising, Campbell Mithun, Deepend and Mfx, Inc.

The interactive training program, entitled Gates to Adventure," is aimed at deaf or hard-of-hearing students aged 14-21 years. The program is designed to help students prepare for important career and postsecondary decisions in their future. Recently, the Helen Keller Institute based in New York City, expressed interest in Gates to Adventure" as something that would benefit their audience.

"The volume of content required to provide meaningful transition information across the full range of postsecondary options (two-year and four-year colleges, proprietary schools, community based rehab and OJT) far exceeded our original estimations," says Debra Wilcox Hsu, Assistant Director, Midwest Center for Postsecondary Outreach. Presenting that large amount of information, while keeping the learning experience intriguing and engaging, became a primary challenge for the project."

Created using FLASH animation technology, students using the program enter an adventure land environment that prompts them to analyze their own abilities and interests, explore career options, survey postsecondary education and training programs, and review the process of applying to postsecondary programs.

"Decisions about what students should do in regard to postsecondary education are very dependent on who they are as individuals," explains Seward Learning Systems' Senior Instructional Designer, Nancy Hendrickson. "The logical place for them to start is in knowing themselves better. The training really enables them to see their life as a kind of adventure in which their choices are critical in determining their own future."

Seward Learning Systems, Inc. provides high-quality, ROI-based e-Learning and e-Business solutions to businesses, professional organizations, and government agencies both nationally and internationally.