Fathom Expands Professional Development Learning Center With Courses From Premier Corporate Training Companies

In a major initiative that answers the job training

needs of individuals and small businesses, Fathom, the premier online learning

company, will provide hundreds of new online courses from four of the leading

global corporate training companies: SmartForce, Zoologic, The Kaplan Colleges

and PrimeLearning. Applying its stringent best- in- class standards and practices

to the career development field, Fathom will offer content from these companies

that is traditionally available to employees of large corporations. Fathom adds

these courses to its pre-existing offerings at its Professional Development

Learning Center (www.fathom.com/profdev),

while still providing consumers with the chance to explore the vast academic

and culturally oriented material for which the site is known.

Recognizing that its users must continually develop new skills in order to

stay vital within today’s workplace, Fathom’s enhanced Professional Development

Learning Center offers consumers more courses in such topics as marketing, budgeting,

project management, finance and accounting. Consistent with Fathom’s quality

guarantee, each course has been carefully screened according to a process developed

for Fathom by the Media Evaluation Group at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Courses must pass quality and usability criteria in order to be made available

on the Fathom site.

"As online learning offers convenience and flexibility to meet the career

advancement needs of working adults, The Kaplan Colleges is thrilled to partner

with Fathom’s Professional Development Learning Center to continue our efforts

in providing high-quality, targeted educational opportunities to the American

workforce," stated Robert Greenberg, General Manager, The Kaplan Colleges.

"We are pleased to connect these high-quality course providers with a

growing audience of individuals seeking training online," said Anne Rollow,

Vice President for Strategic Alliances at Fathom. "Fathom can now match

a user’s individual needs with the best offerings in online training and supplement

it with a wealth of information from some of the world’s top academic and cultural

institutions. At the same time, Fathom provides these companies with the opportunity

to reach new audiences such as the small business professional, the individual

seeking training beyond their workplace resources, and the job seeker in transition."

Requests for enrollment will be handled securely through the Fathom Web site

and visitors will have access to 24 x 7 customer support. Most online courses

offered by Fathom’s course providers have open enrollment, meaning there are

no prerequisites for registration and the courses are available at any time.

In addition, visitors to Fathom’s professional development area can enroll in

semester-length online business courses for credit from top universities such

as the University of Washington and University of California Extension through

OnlineLearning.net, as well as partake of the many free seminars and business

topic entries on the site.

"We’re pleased to be a part of Fathom’s Professional Development Learning

Center," stated Devin Lynch , VP of North American Channel Sales for SmartForce

. ""Now, more than ever before, we know that individuals are seeking

ways to remain competitive professionally. Working with Fathom can help us to

make available to individuals and small businesses similarly powerful learning

solutions as those we traditionally provide to our large corporate customer

base."

"We are very pleased to be entering into this partnership with Fathom,"

said Zoologic Vice President of Alliances & Marketing Bob Millar. "Our

sophisticated online financial courses are already used by many of the world’s

leading financial institutions. Now we have the opportunity to provide certification

and skill-building in finance to individuals and members of prestigious financial

associations who wish to enrich themselves outside of the corporate environment."

"PrimeLearning.com is delighted to offer its library of premier class

business skills training to Fathom’s client base", said Neil MacDonald,

Vice President for Business Development at PrimeLearning.com. "PrimeLearning.com

has consistently aligned with the world’s leading business expertise, and through

our relationship with Fathom we can bring best-of-breed corporate eLearning

to a library that already includes some of the world’s leading academic providers."

About SmartForce

SmartForce, the world’s largest e-Learning company, provides integrated enterprise

e-Learning solutions. SmartForce e-Learning is available as a fully hosted Internet

environment through an Internet rental model. With more than 2,500 major corporate

customers, SmartForce e-Learning solutions bring the power of the Internet to

the critical training business process. SmartForce e-Learning is also used by

leading companies worldwide to provide the infrastructure to support their e-Learning

initiatives. The company, which has more than 1,500 employees worldwide, has

corporate headquarters at 900 Chesapeake Drive, Redwood City, Calif., 94063.

Phone: 650.817.5900. Fax: 650.817.5061. Web site: www.smartforce.com.

About Zoologic

Zoologic is the leading provider of web-based financial courseware, just-in-time

financial reference tools, and fully blended learning solutions for finance

professionals. The firm serves over 400 investment firms, banks, corporations,

governmental agencies, and universities in more than 45 countries. Zoologic’s

learning resources include 60 long courses, over 5,000 learning objects, and

more than 20 multi-course, mix-and-match curriculums. These learning resources

span complex topics such as fixed income, capital markets, risk management,

derivatives, accounting and portfolio management. The company’s proven pedagogical

approach employs a powerful mix of interactivity, instructor-led training, and

animation to demystify complex finance topics without oversimplifying them.

The company also offers a wide range of services designed to assist clients

with the expertise required for implementing and successfully operating an end-to-end

e-learning program. Zoologic was founded in 1993 under Bankers Trust, and is

now a privately owned company with major investments by Conning Capital Partners,

Deutsche Bank, Green Capital Partners, Irwin Ventures, Nomura Holding America

Inc., and Northaven Partners. The company is headquartered in New York City.

For more information, visit www.zoologic.com

About The Kaplan Colleges

The Kaplan Colleges (www.kaplancollege.edu),

a premier provider of online educational programs, consists of three separately

accredited and authorized institutions. Kaplan College offers regionally accredited

online bachelor, associate and certificate programs in business and IT, an online

Certificate in Financial Planning, as well as traditional classroom-based programs

in business and IT through its Davenport, Iowa Campus. Concord Law School is

the nation’s first entirely online law school, and the second-largest part-time

law school in the country, based on the size of the first-year entering class,

and offers J.D., Executive J.D., and LL.M. degrees to over 800 students, including

working professionals, family caretakers and others whose circumstances prevent

them from attending a fixed-facility law school; and College for Professional

Studies offers online bachelor’s, diploma and specialized associate degrees

in paralegal studies and criminal justice and diploma and certificate programs

in legal nurse consulting. The Kaplan Colleges is part of the higher education

division of Kaplan, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company

(NYSE: WPO).

About PrimeLearning

PrimeLearning.comTM is one of the fastest-growing corporate eLearning solutions

providers, with comprehensive business skills training delivered exclusively

over the Internet. Curricula include areas such as: project management, communications,

diversity awareness and management, negotiation, customer care, call center

skills, marketing, sales, team building and personal effectiveness. PrimeLearning.com

has partnered with world-renowned experts such as American Management Association,

Call Center School, Gower Publishing Ltd., John Wiley & Sons Publications,

Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, KCI, and Xerox Corporation to provide content with proven

bottom-line results.

About Fathom

Fathom (www.fathom.com) is the leading source for online professional development

and lifelong learning. Fathom brings together lectures, interviews, articles,

and exhibits by faculty and experts from some of the world’s leading universities,

libraries, museums, and disseminators of research. Online courses and seminars

representing the best in online education are available through Fathom, as well

as books and other products. Unique reference content spans all disciplines

and fields of study. Fathom’s member institutions include Columbia University,

London School of Economics and Political Science, Cambridge University Press,

The British Library, The New York Public Library, The University of Chicago,

the University of Michigan, American Film Institute (AFI), RAND, Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institution, Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum (UK),

and The Natural History Museum (UK).