PCS Edventures! Announces Systemic Institute Success

BOISE, ID--(Marketwire - October 22, 2009) - PCS Edventures! (OTCBB: PCSV) today announced the successful commencement of the second year of the Idaho SySTEMic Solution, a U.S. Department of Education-funded initiative to advance STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) achievement, enthusiasm and confidence among elementary-age and middle school learners and their teachers. PCS Edventures! provides learning labs and materials, teacher education workshops and consulting services for the initiative, which is led by Boise State University, the recipient of the U.S. Department of Education award.

SySTEMic is being implemented and evaluated in seven schools in the Meridian Joint School District, the largest district in Idaho. It is the overarching vision of the Idaho SySTEMic Solution to encourage participating elementary school students to progress to middle school and high school levels with greater interest and abilities in STEM, to provide an inquiry learning educational model that will be transferable throughout Idaho and other states, and to equip teachers to foster STEM interest and literacy. SySTEMic provides a model of hands-on, project-based learning through the use of the PCS BrickLab.

"Through project-based experiential learning, children solve problems, think creatively and critically, become comfortable with math and science, and are more engaged and motivated to learn," stated Louis Nadelson, an assistant professor of curriculum, instruction and foundational studies at Boise State University and a co-principal investigator on SySTEMic.

The first two years of the Idaho SySTEMic Solution are focused on teachers, with the goal of supporting their STEM content knowledge, instructional practices, awareness of engineering and overall confidence in teaching STEM concepts. Teachers attend a three-day Idaho SySTEMic Summer Institute, then implement hands-on lessons in their elementary classrooms throughout the school year, with support from Boise State and PCS staff. Last year, 38 teachers participated, and this year an additional 37 have joined the project.

"This professional development model has proven highly successful, and we continue to expand and use it both domestically and internationally," noted Jim Schmidt, Ed.D., PCS' Director of Professional Development. "The model emphasizes continuous feedback and reinforcement of concepts, beginning with an intensive physical workshop that is supported by online learning modules, site-based mentors, and regional master mentors."

Professor Nadelson is studying the program's effectiveness along with Boise State's SySTEMic Solution's research team, which includes principal investigator Janet Callahan, associate dean of engineering; Pat Pyke, director of engineering education research; and Anne Hay, SySTEMic Solution project coordinator. At the close of the first year, the project had assembled considerable quantities of data that are still being analyzed. The team presented its first set of data, on the Summer Institute, at the 2009 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. To summarize, pre- and post-institute analyses revealed statistically significant teacher increases in confidence to teach STEM curriculum, improvements in engineering attitudes, and increases in STEM teaching efficacy during the course of the three-day workshop. The team attributes these accomplishments to the content and context of the Summer Institute, and it is currently analyzing the data on school-year implementation.

The success of the Idaho SySTEMic Solution has also drawn support from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which funded 20 classrooms for a similar project in rural Idaho schools. PCS held a BrickLab workshop for these teachers in October 2009.

"I was extremely impressed with the BrickLab workshop," observed Anne Seifert, STEM Coordinator for Education Programs, Idaho National Laboratory. "On behalf of the INL Education programs, we want to commend you for efforts in supporting STEM education here in Idaho. Congratulations on your great work in supporting teachers as they prepare and educate students for the future. Please accept our best wishes and we look forward to your continued partnership!"

For an expanded version of this press release with additional details, visit the PCS corporate news site at http://www.pcsedu.com/news.

Notes: The Idaho SySTEMic Solution projects were funded in fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2009 by awards from the U.S. Department of Education fund for the Improvement of Education. Boise State University was awarded $191,593 in fiscal year 2008, which represented 100% of the SySTEMic project's total costs, and $190,000 in fiscal year 2009, representing 98% of the SySTEMic project's total costs.

The BrickLab workshop sponsored by Idaho National Laboratory is a separate program and not part of the U.S. Department of Education award.

About Boise State University

Boise State is an emerging metropolitan research university of distinction and the largest university in Idaho, with nearly 19,000 students. The campus is home to 11 Idaho Professors of the Year since 1990. The colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, and Social Sciences and Public Affairs offer more than 200 academic programs.

About the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

The Idaho National Laboratory is the U.S. Department of Energy's leading center for nuclear energy research and development, where more than 4,000 researchers and support staff, representing national and international governments, universities and industry, partner to deliver energy and national security solutions and expand the frontiers of science and technology.

About PCS Edventures!

PCS Edventures! is the recognized leader in the design, development and delivery of educational learning labs bundled with related technologies and programs to the K-12 market worldwide. The PCS suite of products ranges from hands-on learning labs in technology-rich topics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to services rich in imagination, innovation, and creativity. PCS programs operate in over 6,000 sites in all 50 United States as well as in 17 countries Internationally. Additional information is at http://www.edventures.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations or forecasts of future events, can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, and are subject to various business risks and known and unknown uncertainties, a number of which are beyond the control of management. Therefore, actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information respecting factors that could materially affect the Company and its operations are contained in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2009 and Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2009 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact Information: Contact Information: Financial Contact: Janelle Conaway 1.800.429.3110 X 101 Investor Contact: Anthony A. Maher 1.800.429.3110 X 102 Web Site: www.edventures.com