Obama, tech firms to announce software donations to U.S. schools

[February 28, 2014]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is set to announce on Friday that private companies have donated more than $400 million worth of software and software licenses to bring more technology to classrooms.

Adobe Systems, the San Jose-based software company, will make over $300 million of software available to students for creative projects, school management and teacher training, the White House said in a statement.

In addition, Prezi, a Hungarian software firm, is providing $100 million in licenses for its Edu Pro tool for creating presentations, officials said.

The announcements are related to the president's goal of modernizing internet connections for almost all American school children, the White House said. Earlier this month, the president unveiled $750 million in donations from leading technology companies including Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp to deliver tablets, software, and wireless services to schools.

The president is due to make the announcements at what is being billed as the first-ever White House student film festival. Obama and guests will screen 16 student-produced videos that were selected from among about 2,000 entries in a competition to create short films about technology and education.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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