CUPERTINO, Calif., March 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curriki, the leading K-12 global community for creating, sharing, and finding open learning resources, today announced that it has reached the 6.5 million user milestone, which has helped to spur a 137% growth in membership over the past year. In addition, IDG's Computerworld Honors Program today named Curriki as a 2012 Laureate. This annual award program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change.
Over the past few months, new members have been joining at the rate of nearly 500 new members per day, adding to the 6.5 million unique users from 192 countries who visit the Curriki site each year. Curriki is an inspiring community offering a place to collaborate, to create, to learn, and to connect with other educators and learners.
"The high cost of textbooks and the current uproar over the pricing of e-books on proprietary readers is driving more and more people to Curriki every day," said Scott McNealy, Curriki co-founder and chairman of Wayin. "We're taking high-quality curricula and making it open and free – and unlike others, we're giving people a choice since our content runs on any device with a browser."
Curriki was selected from a pool of more than 500 nominations to be named a Computerworld 2012 Honors Laureate. "We are honored to be recognized by Computerworld as a visionary and technology innovator," said Kim Jones, Curriki CEO. "Curriki is everything that textbooks aren't: self-paced, on demand, and web-enabled. Curriki gives teachers free and open digital educational technologies that enable personalized learning experiences for students, so they can learn at their own pace and have instant access to the latest information. This is why Curriki is fast becoming the vibrant and thriving social network for educators around the world."
"There's no question technology plays a vital role in driving business forward. It ensures an organization's ability to compete, innovate, communicate and to thrive," said John Amato, vice president/publisher of Computerworld. "What the Computerworld Honors Laureates so clearly demonstrate is technology's role in moving society forward. Computerworld acknowledges and applauds the outstanding work being done by individuals and organizations who have successfully used technology to improve the quality of our lives and that of future generations. Computerworld is proud to name the 2012 class of Laureates and celebrate their initiatives benefiting society through the innovative use of IT."
Curriki was also named as one of the Top 50 Innovative Education Startups for 2012 by Onlineschools.com and is recognized by Great NonProfits.
"What makes [Curriki] remarkable is how well it is organized, the rating system to guide educators on their search for curricula, and the interactivity included in every lesson plan provided," said Leslie G. Perry, a U.S.-based educator and blogger.
Many schools in the U.S. already take advantage of Curriki, but institutions and individuals outside the U.S. are a fast-growing community. "I am principal of a primary division at an international school in India," per Sarah C., a teacher working in India. "I have shared Curriki with my faculty so they can turn to it to help make their lessons more interesting, more interactive, more currently topical… Curriki is a most wonderful tool to help teachers who don't have access to professional development, who have been trained with provincial resources, to open their world, and the world of their students. I love Curriki."
Please visit Curriki.org and check out our FREE resources and weigh in ("Wayin") about your thoughts on education using our new Wayin interactive "polling" tool that brings interactivity and real-time learning to the classroom.
About Curriki
A non-profit organization, Curriki is the leading K-12 global community for teachers, students and parents to create, share, and find open learning resources that improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. With more than 250,000 members and 46,000+ learning assets, Curriki reaches more than 6+ million users worldwide. Join today www.curriki.org
The Curriki logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12017
About the Computerworld Honors Program
Founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988, The Computerworld Honors Program is governed by the not-for-profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. Computerworld Honors is the longest running global program to honor individuals and organizations that use information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. Additional information about the program and a Global Archive of past Laureate case studies and oral histories of Leadership Award recipients can be found at the Computerworld Honors website http://events.computerworld.com/Honors2012.