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EDMONTON and CALGARY, Nov. 19 /CNW/ - Sylogist Ltd., ("SYZ" - TSX Venture Exchange) an Alberta tech firm developing municipal and K-12 education software solutions has today announced their participation in a solution to a problem plaguing school divisions across the country - keeping students in school.
Piloted in January 2007, the Mentor-Connector program partnered 60 at-risk Grade 9 students from the Niagara Catholic District School Board in Ontario with 30 volunteer teacher-in-training mentors from Brock and Niagara Universities. Built on Sylogist's award-winning education portal solution - Eduport, the program is an on-line portal where students can chat with their mentors, post assignments, and ask for extra help.
Vincent Rinaldo, one of the designers of the study, will be presenting the results of the pilot at the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Conference in February 2008. "The program was originally designed with adult goals and preferences," said Rinaldo, "but the kids have shown us by their more frequent use of the chat rooms that this is what they prefer - live chat in real time."
The opportunity to participate in this project has kept students engaged and in school. Those involved in administering the study expect that results will show a correlation between increased frequency of on-line participation and increased grades, along with a decrease in student absences and suspensions.
In January 2008, another 60 students and 30 mentors will be added to the program, doubling the number of children who can benefit from this technology.
One of the features of the Mentor-Connector program is that the manual and methods are replicable in any school division that has this type of software. "Sylogist is happy to bring our technology expertise to this initiative," said Werner Biegler, President and CEO of Sylogist Ltd. "The opportunity to provide the extra help that students need, cost effectively and in a manner that appeals to them is something that we are proud to be associated with."
About Sylogist
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Sylogist provides enterprise information management and collaboration solutions to local government, education and private sector customers. Solutions are deployed through client, web-based and mobile systems. Sylogist Local Government Solutions provide an integrated suite of business applications to municipalities that serve their needs for revenue, finance and operations management capabilities. Sylogist Education Solutions provides financial, student information and collaborative web-site management systems for the K-12 market. Our industry leading collaboration web solutions enhance teacher, parent and student on-line collaboration driving improved student achievement.
The Company's stock is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SYZ. Information about Sylogist can be found at http://www.sylogist.com.
Forward-looking statements: This press release contains statements about expected or anticipated future events and financial results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, competitive and general economic factors and conditions, the uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, the occurrence of unexpected events, and Sylogist's capability to execute and implement its future plans. Actual results may differ materially from those projected by management.
Although Sylogist believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Sylogist can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Sylogist undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
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