Alliance

Pearson PLC
29 June 2000


AMERICA ONLINE AND PEARSON LAUNCH EDUCATION ALLIANCE

* Pearson's Learning Network To Be A Premier Supplier of Educational Content 
and Online Learning Tools to Several AOL Brands

* Agreement Will Provide Users of Several AOL Brands with Educational 
Opportunities from K-12 to Adult Education

LONDON, UK and DULLES, VA, June 29, 2000 -- America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL),
the world's leading interactive services company, and Pearson plc, the
international media company, today announced a broad strategic alliance under
which Pearson's online Learning Network will provide educational content and
online learning tools to users of several America Online, Inc. brands. 
Under the three-year agreement, Pearson's Learning Network will be an anchor
tenant on the main screen of AOL's Research and Learn Channel, providing
educational content for all stages of a person's life, from pre-school to
adult learning, including ongoing education and professional training. In
addition, the Learning Network's educational resources and tools will be
promoted widely through AOL Workplace, AOL Families, and other areas of the
AOL service, as well as through learning-related areas of AOL.COM, Netscape
Netcenter and CompuServe. The Learning Network primarily draws on content,
tools and distribution channels from Pearson businesses and includes other
leading print and Internet education companies and consumer publishers.  
Learning Network content will be available to users of these AOL brands
through a co-branded site consisting of four broad learning categories: School
(K-12); Higher Education; Corporate/Professional Development; and
non-academic, consumer-based learning.  Each category will offer focused
learning information, ranging from class support tools and resources to help
parents be involved in their children's education, to corporate-specific
business education and management development. 

In related news, Pearson today announced the acquisition of FamilyEducation
Network (FEN), an online K-12 network for parents, teachers, and students. 
The Boston, Massachusetts-based FEN is currently an education content provider
on the AOL service, offering a broad array of resources to enable parents to
be involved in their children's development. AOL will continue to be a
minority shareholder in FEN.

Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Pearson, said: 'The Internet
personalizes learning to individual needs in a way that has never been
possible before. I am delighted to bring our industry-leading education
content and global resources to the users of AOL's brands. Together, we can
offer an unmatched environment for anyone looking to learn.'
Bob Pittman, President and Chief Operating Officer, America Online, said: 'We
are deeply committed to improving education by leveraging all the online
medium has to offer. Together with Pearson, we can present educational
opportunities for people at every stage of their lives, from the pre-school
student whose parents are looking to help, to the professional who wants to
expand his or her career choices.'

About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the
world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and
e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: America Online, with more
than 23 million members, and CompuServe, with more than 2.7 million members,
the company's two worldwide Internet services; several leading Internet brands
including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape
Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; the Netscape Netcenter and Communicator
browsers; AOL Moviefone, the nation's number one movie listing guide and
ticketing service; and Spinner.com and NullSoft's Winamp, leaders in Internet
music. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the company
develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end and enterprise solutions for
companies operating in the Net Economy. 

About Pearson plc
Pearson plc is an international media company. Its major business operations
are: The Financial Times group, which has an international network of business
and financial newspapers and online services which are read by millions of
business executives and investors every day; Pearson Education, the world's
leading education business, which helps teachers teach and students learn at
every stage and in every part of the world; The Penguin Group, which is one of
the pre-eminent names in consumer publishing, with an unrivalled range of
fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers and classic titles; Recoletos, one of the
top media companies in Spain; and Pearson Television, which is merging with
CLT-Ufa to create Europe's leading integrated broadcasting and communications
group.

Contact:
America Online, Inc.            David Theis              + 1 703-265-1491

Pearson plc                     John Fallon              [phone]