PALO ALTO, Calif. Andrew Ng is an associate professor of computer science at Stanford, and he has a rather charming way of explaining how the new interactive online education company that he cofounded, Coursera, hopes to revolutionize higher education by allowing students from all over the world to not only hear his lectures, but to do homework assignments, be graded, receive a certificate for completing the course and use that to get a better job or gain admission to a better school.

"I normally teach 400 students," Ng explained, but last semester he taught 100,000 in an online course on machine learning. "To reach that many students before," he said, "I would have had to teach my normal Stanford class for 250 years."

Welcome to the college education revolution. Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary. The costs of getting a college degree have been rising faster than those of health care, so the need to provide low-cost, quality higher education is more acute than ever. At the same time, in a knowledge economy, getting a higher-education degree is more vital than ever. And thanks to the spread of high-speed wireless technology, high-speed Internet, smartphones, Facebook, the cloud and tablet computers, the world has gone from connected to hyperconnected in just seven years. Finally, a generation that has grown up on these technologies is increasingly comfortable learning and interacting with professors through online platforms.

The combination of all these factors gave birth to Coursera.org, which launched on April 18, with the backing of Silicon Valley venture funds, as my colleague John Markoff first reported.

Private companies, like Phoenix, have been offering online degrees for a fee for years. And schools like MIT and Stanford have been offering lectures for free online. Coursera is the next step: Building an interactive platform that will allow the best schools in the world to not only offer a wide range of free course lectures online, but also a system of testing, grading, student-to-student help and awarding certificates of completion of a course for under $100. (Sounds like a good deal. Tuition at the real-life Stanford is more than $40,000 a year.) Coursera is starting with 40 courses online from computing to the humanities offered by professors from Stanford, Princeton, Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania.

"The universities produce and own the content, and we are the platform that hosts and streams it," explained Daphne Koller, a Stanford computer-science professor who founded Coursera with Ng after seeing tens of thousands of students following their free Stanford lectures online. "We will also be working with employers to connect students only with their consent with job opportunities that are appropriate to their newly acquired skills. So, for instance, a biomedical company looking for someone with programming and computational biology skills might ask us for students who did well in our courses on cloud computing and genomics. It is great for employers and employees and it enables someone with a less traditional education to get the credentials to open up these opportunities."

MIT, Harvard and private companies, like Udacity, are creating similar platforms. In five years this will be a huge industry.

While the lectures are in English, students have been forming study groups in their own countries to help one another. The biggest enrollments are from the United States, Britain, Russia, India and Brazil. "One Iranian student emailed to say he found a way to download the class videos and was burning them onto CDs and circulating them," Ng said last Thursday. "We just broke a million enrollments."

To make learning easier, Coursera chops up its lectures into short segments and offers online quizzes, which can be auto-graded, to cover each new idea. It operates on the honor system but is building tools to reduce cheating.

In each course, students post questions in an online forum for all to see and then vote questions and answers up and down. "So the most helpful questions bubble to the top and the bad ones get voted down," Ng said. "With 100,000 students, you can log every single question. It is a huge data mine." Also, if a student has a question about that day's lecture and it's morning in Cairo but 3 a.m. at Stanford, no problem. "There is always someone up somewhere to answer your question" after you post it, he said. The median response time is 22 minutes.

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Brace for online revolution in higher education

As school music programs dwindle under severe budget cuts, a generation of kids is growing up without music education. If they can't afford private lessons, students can always head to YouTube to learn how to play the piano, but the quality of the instruction is hit-or-miss. Now The Juilliard School, the nations most prestigious college for the performing arts, hopes to change all that by offering its world-class music courses through Connections Education, an online education provider.

The content for the classes, called Juilliard eLearning, will be developed by the schools staff and alumni. The first classeswhich will be offered this fall to K-12 students as well as adults interested in building their musical skillswill align with national music standards.

Juilliard has yet to announce details about specific classesor how much theyll costbut administrators say students will be able to learn how to sing, read music, and play an instrument through virtual music demonstrations, instructional videos, and animation from Juilliards faculty and Connections Educations teachers. Eventually, the program will also offer classes in music theory and music history.

Perhaps virtual classes can't replace the presence of full-time music teachers in every K-12 school, but if Juilliard eLearning proves to be a high qualityand reasonably pricedoption, students may yet receive the music education they deserve.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user cwwycoff1

Originally posted here:
Juilliard Brings Online Music Education to the Masses

Bonita Springs resident Linda Quinn loves doing aerobics in the water. But the cardiac workout in the shallow end of the pool is not enough for her.

So after a regular water aerobics class, she swims to the other end of the pool for deep water aerobics.

Deep water uses the muscles you dont get to use during an aerobics class, Quinn said.

Lifeguard Jesse Felger said that shallow water aerobics concentrate on increasing the heart rate, but the deep water class is all about muscle and strength.

Deep water is more about resistance and training your muscles, especially in the midsection, he said.

The class takes place in 6 feet of water. Some of the participants use flotation belts to hold them up, while others just tread water during the 45-minute class.

You cant use the ground to maneuver, Quinn said. I want more resistance so I dont use the belt. Im a water nut. I cant exercise on land.

Many of the other participants also say they can do things in the water that they cant do on land.

Regular aerobics, when you are in your 80s, is impossible, Jean Wagener said. This is something someone my age can do. I love the camaraderie.

Nancy Jamek has back problems and says the deep water class really helps her.

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Get your body moving with outdoor water aerobics at Bonita Springs pool

Its that time of year again. One month left of school means that there is one month left until summer. This also means you have about 30 days remaining to get fit for the beach, swimming pools and the bathing suits that come with them.

I excercise fairly regularly and eat well most of the time, but I dont work out every day nor can I resist the vegan cookies from Bruin Caf.

With this in mind, Im going to suggest my own mini boot camp plan for you to follow for this last month of school.

I started this during my sophomore year of high school when my friend and I declared a Health and Fitness Month to help us get in shape for summer. We used each other as support to keep one another on track with our plan and established some ground rules for the month.

The rules are simple: eat fruits and vegetables for snacks, eat cereal as a substitute for dessert and work out every day.

After we set these rules, it was time to come up with a more specific exercise plan. We decided to switch up the intensity level every week. Each week involves working out on weekdays while weekends are used to relax sore muscles (and to keep eating right, of course).

Week one and week three are the low-intensity weeks. If week one were too intense, then it would be difficult to continue on to week two without being too sore. Having a slower start to get adjusted to working out every day makes it easier to continue the pattern.

This makes week two and week four the high-intensity weeks. This is convenient because ending with a high-intensity week is a great way to finish strong and gain the confidence to have fun at the beach without worrying about being in shape.

The low-intensity weeks involve doing three days of strength conditioning and two days of cardio exercise.

This works well because that means one day of strength can be dedicated to arms, one can be dedicated to legs and one can be dedicated to core.

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Shape it up: Exercise and diet tips to get fit for the summer

BALTIMORE, MD MAY 18: Creative Cause, riden by John Cisneros, is lead off the track by Ciara McMurtrie during the morning excercise session in preparation for the 137th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 18, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

MIAMI (CBS4) The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, will be contested at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. Six colts who ran in the Kentucky Derby will return for the Preakness including the top two finishers Ill Have Another and Bodemeister. Also returning are the fourth and fifth place finishers Went the Day Well and Creative Cause as well as also-rans Daddy Nose Best and Optimizer. The remainder of the field will be made up of unproven colts and minor stakes winners that would be a shock should they come anywhere near a winners circle on Saturday.

In recent years, the Preakness has been the most predictable of the Triple Crown races with only three winners since 2000 paying more than $10 for a $2 win bet. During that same period the Kentucky Derby has had eleven win payouts over $10 and the Belmont Stakes has had nine. Another thing to consider is colts that compete in the Derby tend to win the Preakness. Since 1997, only three Preakness winners did not run in the Derby. If the trends hold, the winner of this years Preakness will be one of the six that ran in the Derby and will go off at odds of less than 4 to 1.

Here is a closer look at the eleven who will line up for the 2012 Preakness Stakes:

Bodemeister Morning Line Odds: 8-5 While Ill Have Another won the Kentucky Derby, more attention is being paid to second place finisher Bodemeister. In fact, Bodemeister was made the morning line favorite in this years Preakness. From a pace perspective, he ran one of the most impressive Kentucky Derbys in history. He set a blistering pace and only lost by a length and a half. In perusing the past performances of the field for the Preakness, there are no other colts with early speed so Bodemeister should have an easier time of it on the lead. This anticipated pace scenario makes him the one to beat when the gates open on Saturday.

Ill Have Another Morning Line Odds: 5-2 Ill Have Another, the second choice on the morning line, has been perfect in 2012 and enters the Preakness as the only one with a shot at sweeping the Triple Crown. He shipped to Pimlico soon after his Derby win and reports from the scene say he has trained brilliantly over the track. In looking at his past performances, he has the ability to press a fast pace, so watch for him to run close to pacesetter Bodemeister from the start. The question is: Will he have what it takes to make the lead if Bodemesiter is able to set a more reasonable pace in the Preakness?

Went the Day Well Morning Line Odds: 6-1 While Bodemeister has received all the attention for his valiant but losing effort in the Derby, Went the Day Well also ran a tremendous race to finish fourth. In only his fifth career start, he ran into trouble early in the race and around the first turn. Jockey John Velazquez had to check twice, literally pull back on the reins, when other horses cut into his path. He was eighteen lengths from the leaders with only three beaten when they turned into the backstretch. Just a few hundred yards from the finish, he was moving as fast as any horse in the field, and ended up only two and a half lengths away from the winner in the end. He will get a better trip in the Preakness and could be in a prime position to make a winning move in the stretch.

Creative Cause Morning Line Odds: 6-1 The California-based Creative Cause is as game a race horse as any among this years 3-year-olds. He showed his class in the Derby making it to third in the deep stretch before being passed by Went the Day Well and Dullahan. He finished fifth just three lengths behind the winner. He will run well in the Preakness, as he always does, but its hard to figure him turning the tables on the three that finished in front of him in the Derby.

Teeth of the Dog Morning Line: 15-1 Teeth of the Dog is the lone entry that did not run in the Derby with a chance to fill out the bottom of trifecta and superfecta tickets. He made his graded stakes debut in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial where he finished third at odds of 53 to 1. He comes into this race as a mystery but his trainer Michael Matz has no reason to embarrass himself with an entry in the Preakness that cant run.

Daddy Nose Best Morning line: 12-1 After emerging as many racing pundits longshot pick leading up to the Kentucky Derby, he ran mid-pack throughout and finished a disappointing tenth. Should he revert to the form he flashed in winning the Sunland Derby in March, he has a chance to fill out the bottom of exotic tickets but he seems a step below the top contenders.

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Preakness Stakes: A Derby Rematch Set For Baltimore

Lee Jen Ton (left) and Tsen Chi Shen enter the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

Kor Vandy, presiding judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said Tsen Chi Shen and Lee Jen Ton had been arrested after a package containing 347 grams of the powder was intercepted in August last year.

Tsen told the court in April he had entered Cambodia a year earlier as a door and window seller, but had turned to smuggling drugs after falling into gambling-related debt.

I sent packs of drugs to Taiwan three times, and each time I received commission of $1,000, he said, adding that he sent the heroin via the Veng Tai Veng company, which was sub-sent through Cambodia Express.

Lee, however, continued to protest his innocence.

He admitted having stayed in the same Phnom Penh guesthouse as Tsen, but said he had not been aware Tsen had been packing and sending the powder to Taiwan.

Yeng Bunna, chief of the Interior Ministrys anti-drug department, said the drug powder had been discovered after Veng Thai Veng reported a suspicious package. Police arrested Lee before raiding a room at the guesthouse.

Tsen had been arrested in October, police said.

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Drug pushers get 27 years | National news | The Phnom Penh Post - Cambodia's Newspaper of Record

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) A crowded overnight bus plunged off a bridge into a river in central Vietnam, killing 34 passengers and injuring 21 others in one of the country's deadliest road accidents.

The 50-seat coach lost control and ripped through the bridge's guardrails Thursday night, diving about 18 meters (60 feet) and landing on its top, partially submerged in the Serepok River, said local official Tran Bao Que.

"When the accident happened, everyone in the bus was sleeping," survivor Nguyen Van Khanh told online news site Dan Tri. "I vaguely heard a noise like a gun fire and then people were screaming when the bus was overturned. I managed to escape through a window which was smashed opened by others."

Que said it took rescuers four hours to pull the bodies from the bus, which was traveling on a regular 350-kilometer (217-mile) route from the central highland province of Dak Lak to the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

Rescuers used axes to try to free trapped passengers. Photos showed a body hanging limply out the side of the ripped-open vehicle, which was hoisted out of the river by crane early Friday morning.

Y Bliu Arul, deputy director of the General Hospital in Dak Lak, says the bus's two drivers were among the 32 people who died at the scene. Two others died at the hospital. Of the 21 injured, 16 were in serious condition.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Vietnam has one of the world's highest traffic fatality rates, with more than 11,000 people killed each year.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Bus plunges into Vietnam river bank; 34 killed

A crowded overnight bus plunged off a bridge into a river in central Vietnam, killing 34 people and injuring 21 others in one of the country's deadliest road accidents.

The 50-seat coach lost control and ripped through the bridge's guardrails Thursday night, diving about 18 metres and landing on its top, partially submerged in the Serepok River, said local official Tran Bao Que.

"When the accident happened, everyone in the bus was sleeping," survivor Nguyen Van Khanh told news website Dan Tri. "I vaguely heard a noise like gunfire and then people were screaming when the bus was overturned. ... I managed to escape through a window that was smashed opened by others."

Survivor Trinh Van Mui, 34, said he was dozing on the back seat holding his 3-year-old daughter on their way to visit his father in a nearby province.

"I just heard a big boom and was knocked unconscious. I later found out that I was in the hospital with pain over all my body," he told The Associated Press by telephone from the hospital, saying he remembered nothing else from the crash. "We were very lucky to survive."

He suffered only minor cuts and bruises, but his daughter was transferred to a hospital in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City with internal injuries and broken limbs.

Que said it took rescuers four hours to pull the bodies from the bus, which was traveling on a regular 350-kilometer route from the central highland province of Dak Lak to Ho Chi Minh City.

Rescuers used axes to try to free trapped passengers. Photos showed a body hanging limply out the side of the ripped-open vehicle, which was hoisted out of the river by crane early Friday morning.

Y Bliu Arul, deputy director of the General Hospital in Dak Lak, said the bus' two drivers were among the 32 people who died at the scene. Two others died at the hospital. Of the 21 injured, 16 were in serious condition.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Vietnam has one of the world's highest traffic fatality rates, with more than 11,000 people killed each year.

Excerpt from:
Vietnam bus crash kills 34

Faced with the highest army suicide rates in at least 30 years, U.S. military officials are examining ways to help treat psychologically wounded soldiers. A study published in the March issue of the journal Injury Prevention found the number of U.S. military suicides rose by 80 percent from 2004 to 2008. The increased risk of suicide is linked to combat service in Iraq and Afghanistan and mental health problems like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may occur after exposure to a traumatic event such as military combat, violence or a natural calamity. Research reports that yoga practice can help relieve PTSD symptoms like psychological distress, anxiety and sadness. According to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research, approximately 18.5 percent of returning soldiers from Iraq or Afghanistan have PTSD.

Now the U.S. military is turning to yoga to help manage combat stress and decrease the risk of PTSD and suicide.

Yoga Reduces Combat Stress

A small 2012 study published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy found yoga reduced symptoms of combat stress and PTSD. The study was conducted among U.S. active duty military personnel deployed in Iraq.

U.S. researchers administered nine sessions of the "Yoga Warrior method" to 35 U.S. air force and army personnel for three weeks, and this group was compared to another group of 35 personnel who did not receive any therapy. Tests assessing emotional responses and daily journals were obtained from the participants.

The Yoga Warrior method, developed by yoga and occupational therapists, includes hatha yoga and sensory-based occupational therapy techniques.

The researchers found the yoga group had significantly greater improvement in mental health and quality of life than the control group. Furthermore, the yoga participants reported sleep improvement, increased feelings of calm, and reduced anger.

"The results support using sensory-enhanced hatha yoga for proactive combat stress management," the study authors conclude.

Yoga Nidra Helps Soldiers

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Elaine Gavalas: Yoga Stress Relief for Soldiers

Photo by Matt Stensland

Patty Zimmer leads a Yogatta Dance class during Yoga Day 2011 at Bud Werner Memorial Library. This years Yoga Day celebration takes place Sunday with donation-based sample classes all day and a raffle.

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Steamboat Springs Yoga Day in Steamboat began as a local version of a nationwide celebration. Now a springtime, daylong fundraiser, it has taken on a life of its own in the Steamboat community.

The fourth annual Yoga Day, set for Sunday, will celebrate yoga and community with a sampling of 45-minute classes from local instructors. But yoga also is about service, or Seva in Sanskrit.

This years Yoga Day will donate all proceeds from donations and raffle tickets to the Yampa Valley Sustainability Councils Sustainable Schools Program.

Its a great way for us to give back to the community, said Alli Brook, a local yoga instructor and co-owner of the Yoga Center of Steamboat. And to really come together with a lot of different businesses and individuals all to benefit a local nonprofit.

Brook said Yoga Day organizers were impressed with the programs far-reaching impact and successes of the Sustainable Schools Program.

The programs accomplishments introducing reusable school lunch trays, making school events zero waste and promoting reusable water bottles also align with yogic principles, Brook said.

Its the idea that our lives can be very multifaceted but yet sustainable, Brook said. What you put out into the world youre going to get back. Steamboat is such a great community, and were so fortunate to have so many people and organizations that have that collective collaborative spirit.

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Yoga Day in Steamboat to benefit Sustainable Schools Program