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Lauer Learning Celebrates Four Years of Creating Multimedia Educational Tools for Children

Company Products Cover Range of Topics from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - to Southern Culture - to the Recently Launched "Pass It On..." Initiative

Roswell, GA – February 1, 2009 –– Founder and CEO Andrea Lauer Rice is delighted to announce that Lauer Learning, Inc. is celebrating its fourth anniversary of providing multimedia learning tools to children of all ages. The company taps into the natural eagerness of kids to learn through play and through the use of new technology.

Founded in 2005 just outside of Atlanta, Lauer Learning’s mission is two-fold: 1) teach children about foreign languages, culture and historic events through the creation of innovative multimedia products, and 2) use multimedia learning tools to help strengthen ethnicities in danger of disappearing in the United States. The idea to create the company came naturally to Lauer Rice since she was able to merge her passions for, and experience with, technology, education and cultural preservation.

“When I realized that so many ethnic populations were beginning to lose interest in or knowledge of their ancestry because of a variety of societal factors, I was determined to find a way to help reverse this trend,” said Lauer Rice. “I saw the effect of this first hand in the Hungarian American community. Young children were losing interest in their heritage and their parents and grandparents had all but given up. It was clear to me that we needed to find a way to reach and teach the younger generations about their heritage.”

A Company’s Early Focus

With this in mind, Lauer Rice initially focused on her own Hungarian heritage and the Hungarian American Community. She created several products about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and planned for their release around the 50th anniversary, celebrated in 2006. These products included: FF56! a historically accurate educational computer game about the Revolution; Hungarian Freedom Fighters, a graphic novel; and “56 Stories,” a coffee table book collection of personal testimonials from the Revolution.

This work has earned Lauer Rice a number of awards, among them the ‘Gold Medal of Merit’ by the World Federation of Hungarian Veterans (MHBK) and the ‘Arpad Academy Gold Medal’ from the Hungarian Association. In addition, FF56! was recognized by industry leaders as a standout among independent games and was chosen as part of the Indiecade showcase at the 2008 E3 show.

“Of course, it is a real honor when our work is recognized, but the true motivation comes from helping people learn about something new, passing a love of one’s heritage onto the next generation, helping kids connect with their roots and embrace their family history,” said Lauer Rice.

The Company Evolution

Lauer Rice’s professional experience in the e-learning industry and her work in the educational gaming market was the “genesis” for developing Lauer Learning. She spent time in Central and Eastern Europe as a journalist, teacher and business executive, which furthered her understanding of the powerful potential of e-learning.

According to Lauer Rice, the combination of her professional and personal experiences while in Hungary drove her understanding of how technology-based educational tools could create learning opportunities for specific and sometimes underserved populations.

“I saw first hand the advantages of innovative multimedia tools when working in Hungary. With the advent of the Internet, small companies in Hungary had a chance to compete on a level playing field with much larger and more experienced companies from the United States.” she said. “Several years later while I was working in Learning Services at IBM, I saw how e-learning could bring amazing educational opportunities to people who otherwise would not have access to these resources. It was inspiring.”

Additional Applications: “Pass It On…”

“When I first started the company it became immediately evident that the work would be transferable. Over and over again I realized that other cultures, ethnicities and groups were dealing with similar struggles,” she said. “So I widened the scope and mission of the company and created the “Pass It On…” initiative.”

According to Lauer Rice the journey has been thrilling. “Our work is applicable to other cultural and societal groups who are experiencing a gradual dilution of their roots,” she said. ”In fact, our next project will focus entirely on the culture and history of the South.”

This new Southern Culture project, with a working title of “Grits, Faith and Front Porch Swings,” will consist of a book targeting 6-12 year-olds, a community website, an online game and a Facebook application. The products will be available in the summer of 2009.

As for the future of Lauer Learning, Lauer Rice says that the “Pass It On…” concept “describes everything we have done to date and everything we plan to do in the future. At the heart of our mission is to find ways to expose kids of all ages to language, culture and history and through this to pass on the complexities of our ethnic backgrounds from generation to generation, so they are preserved and protected.”

“We will also continue to explore new and different ways to use media for the next generation. Education in our country is in trouble,” she said. “Kids at all levels of the learning spectrum need to be more effectively and consistently engaged. I believe that using non-traditional multimedia resources and alternative teaching methods can help strengthen the way we reach and teach our children. Lauer Learning intends to be at the forefront of this charge.”