Arsenal changed the game when they bought Mesut Ozil in 2013. Suddenly they were back in the modern transfer world and they announced their presence by shattering the club record on an internationally recognized superstar.

Thats some pretty cool stuff.

The problem, however, is still being taught to us on a daily basis. Because the problem lies in the formula that is required to achieve both personal success for Ozil and club success for Arsenal.

There is no denying what Mesut Ozil has. His silky smooth touch is unmatched. None can handle the ball better than him. And when it comes to brilliant, magician-like passes and creative flourishes, look no further than the German maestro.

But in case you havent been paying attention, there are some drawbacks to Ozils game, and those drawbacks all come down to one thing disappearing. There are simply games where Ozil disappears and in the infinitely disappointing game against Stoke City, that was the case.

He was the (negative) talk of the town after the match, other than Granit Xhaka of course, with renowned midfielder Steven Gerrard calling out the German for being a liability and a quitter (as quoted by the Metro).

Those are some pretty harsh words, but they really play into the unfortunate belief around Ozil, and thats that he is far more of a passenger than a driver, and I dont think that the Gunners are or have been equipped for what Ozil brings to the team.

The simple reality is that Ozil, in order to be at his absolute best, requires the absolute best around him. He needs to have superstars surrounding him in order to achieve the level of consistency that we want him to have because he simply does not have the ability to drive the team himself. We have tried. For four years we have tried, but he clearly does not have that gene.

And thats fine, not everyone does. But the Gunners do not have the supporting cast to really make Ozil pop and, until they do, this is the Ozil that we will get there some days, not on others.

There is plenty that makes Ozil special, but driving a team and being the primary force is not one of them. And I dont reckon that will change so long as this is the cast he has to work with.

Go here to read the rest:
Arsenal simply not equipped for a man like Mesut Ozil - Pain In The Arsenal

By: Express News Service | Bhopal | Published:August 19, 2017 6:02 am External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj addresses India-ASEAN Youth Summit in Bhopal on Friday. PTI photo

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said Buddhism and Ramayana connect members of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) alliance, including Muslim-dominated Indonesia, to India.

Recalling her trip to Indonesia last year, Swaraj said the country is full of motifs from Ramayana and Mahabharata. She said every major road junction depicts the famous image from Gita of Arjun bowing before Krishna, the charioteer.

Speaking at the valedictory function of Indo-ASEAN Youth Summit here, Swaraj quoted Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and said that the former Prime Minister was surprised to find Muslim sculptors making what looked like idols of Hanuman during his visit to Indonesia as the External Affairs minister.

She said Vajpayees curiosity got better of him and he asked the sculptor what he was making. But you are a Muslim, he told the sculptor, only to be told, Hamne mazhab badla hai purkhe nahi (we have changed our religion, not ancestors), she said.

She asked Indian participants of the summit to visit these countries and see how India and these countries were embracing each other.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App

Read more here:
Buddhism, Ramayana connect ASEAN to India, says Sushma Swaraj - The Indian Express

With all its morbid decadence, the richly-layered Gothic imagination and cosmic horror of Bloodborne tends to overshadow some of its more (post)modern influences. Bloodborne isnt a traditionalist, after all, but a punk: or to be more precise, a cyberpunk. It may not havesinister corporations or hackers, yet this sci-fi renegade still conjures the rebellious ghost in the machine.

Most obviously, theres the overpowering presence of that looming megalopolis Yharnam as dependent on monumental, almost brutalist architecture as any good futuristic urban sprawl. The social dynamics within Yharnam echo the politics of cyberpunk, the hegemonic power of the Healing Church pitted against the social outcasts roaming the grimy streets. Dangerous social experiments and unchecked technological advancements have led to a Victorian dystopia. There are even cyberspaces, simulated, subordinate worlds in the form of the Dreams, which can be accessed and even hacked by those who are privy to secret knowledge.

Yharnham:

Ridley Scott'sBlade Runner:

And just like cyberpunk, the world of Bloodborne is held captive by the promise of transhumanism the idea that humankind will, one day, be able to transcend our fleshlylimitations and become something more. Whether it is Deus Ex or Bloodborne, the tool for this quasi-religious endeavour is cutting edge research and technology. In Deus Ex, that means body modification through nanotech or even merging consciousnesses with an omnipresent AI. In Bloodborne, its the Healing Church and Byrgenwerth researching into the old ones and their blood that drives this change: aiming to transform humans, in theory, into celestial beings that have entirely discarded their humanity. Not unlike in Blade Runner, the eye becomes an omnipresent symbol of self-directed evolution and the dangerous knowledge necessary to pursue it.

However, Bloodborneisa punk that refuses to slavishly follow in the tracks of those that came before. The differences are the most fascinating thing here. The futuristic vision of transhumanism, whether it is presented as a utopian promise or a dystopian threat, is seen as an evolutionary culmination or perhaps even singularity that severs the umbilical cord that connects us to our evolutionary history. The human is a product of natural processes, distant cousin of the apes. The posthuman the product of transhumanism is something different (strangely, it is our human arrogance that leads to this fallacy of teleological evolution.)

Blade Runner

Eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter

Bloodbornes idea of transhumanism is recognisable, but different. Its still a morally complex idea, both pursued by individuals and institutions while also causing societal upheaval, but its vector is in the opposite direction. The path to transcendence doesnt lead the inhabitants of Yharnam away from humankinds evolutionary history, but confronts it head-on in a retrogressive journey. The first enemies our hunter encounters are beastmen, many of them recognisably human but some, like the werewolves or Vicar Amelia, almost devoid of human characteristics. Theyre hairy and canine, clearly mammalian despite their deformities. So far, this is in keeping with stories like Robert Louis Stevensons The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or H.P. Lovecrafts tales of human degeneracy, such as Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family, in which a British nobleman burns himself alive after discovering that one of his ancestors was an ape goddess from the Congo. These stories play with our post-Darwinian revulsion at being the offspring of mere animals.

But as you progress through Bloodborne, the hunter descends deeper down the evolutionary ladder. Soon, enemies resemble snakes, insects, arachnids. Later, they become more alien still, strange variations of squids, snails, slugs (that is, molluscs) or even fungi. They have names like Celestial Emissary, or Celestial Child and are closely related to the Great Ones, some of whom, like Ebrietas or Kos, share similarities with the games mollusc-like creatures. Bloodborne displays a special fascination with mushrooms and molluscs, as well as the creatures of the ocean (especially in The Old Hunters DLC). These creatures are associated with the primordial, the early origins of life on earth, and their strange forms, both beautiful and disturbing, gives them a semblance of otherworldliness. And since they dont seem to belong to this world, perhaps they originally visited earth from unknown regions of the cosmos?

Kos

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

Celestial Child

Nudibranch, Nembrotha Kubaryana. Photo by Nick Hobgood

Nudibranch, Nembrotha Cristata. Photo by Chriswan Sungkono.

Nudibranch, Tritoniopsis Elegans. Photo by Sean Murray.

From this anthropocentric perspective, becoming like these creatures means getting closer to the miraculous origins of life, when the earth and the cosmos had yet to be disentangled. The transhumanism of Bloodborne thus turns the usual teleological view of human evolution on its head; the forces of evolution, whether natural or self-directed, will not bring humans closer to the gods, but have instead distanced them from the celestial spring of life. To fulfil their atavistic yearning to return to the lap of the cosmos, the inhabitants of Yharnam must regress to earlier evolutionary stages. The horror and tragedy of turning into wolf-like beasts, therefore, isnt just due to a revulsion to our animal ancestors or the destruction they cause, but the knowledge that those beastmen didnt regress far enough. If only they hadnt gotten lost in this evolutionary valley, they could have emerged on the other side as transcendental beings, as kin not of the earth, but the cosmos. At least, thats one way of looking at the complex picture Bloodborne paints.

The transcended hunter as slug-like Great One in Bloodbornes true ending

The beautiful thing about this is that it doesnt just fly in the face of transhumanism as it is usually understood, but the most problematic aspects of Lovecrafts work, too. The ugly concept of degeneracy, with all its overt racism, was an integral part of Lovecrafts fictional worlds. The ancient and unambiguously evil powers of the Great Old Ones is tied to primitives and mongrels, marginalised humans seen as genetically impure and degraded. They are easily manipulated by the old gods and worship them in the hidden and remote corners of the earth.

In Bloodborne, the blame of Yharnams ruin is dramatically shifted. The hidden corners of worship arent foreign jungles or secluded villages, but the sacred spaces of a church that is the backbone and centre of a sprawling megalopolis; the mysteries of the Great Ones are still secret knowledge, but secrets of a powerful, manipulative elite (as you would expect in the conspiracy-filled worlds of cyberpunk stories). But while this elites endeavours clearly lead to a horrific dystopia, the moral issues of this regressive transhumanism stay ambiguous throughout. The degenerate beastmen are hapless, unfortunate victims rather than villains. The experiment of transcendence through reverse evolution seems doomed to fail, but it is not at all clear whether that goal is inherently misguided. After all, the Great Ones seem amoral rather than evil (not unlike the people of Yharnam), and the hunter is no stranger to the allure these celestial beings exert through their disturbing kind of beauty. Perhaps their apparent darkness stems purely from the human minds failing to comprehend their true nature? Either way, Lovecrafts ideas of degeneracy doesnt entirely fit into Bloodbornes world.

Being kin to both the Lovecraftian as well as cyberpunk, Bloodborne, too, is a kind of mongrel. But this impurity is precisely what enables it to distinguish itself and comment meaningfully on its ancestral genres. It reshapes its influences by letting disparate ideas collide and creates something fresh from the wreckage. Its not unique in its subversion of transhumanist idealism or Lovecraftian racist tropes, but the way it combines these separate issues in a seamless if ambiguous whole is entirely original.

Bloodborne is both a cyberpunk dystopia in which the end point of self-directed evolution is not a disembodied mind, but a slug or a squid, as well as a tale of cosmic horror where that dubious degeneracy stems not from shady outsiders or social outcasts, but squarely from within organised mainstream religion and science. It shares with cyberpunk an awareness and distaste for the unequal power dynamics in a world governed by the amoral ambitions of hegemonies, but, like Lovecraft, looks backwards to our distant origins rather than to the future. And soBloodborne transcends its influences, and challenges us on new planes of existence.

The rest is here:
Bloodborne, Transhumanism and Cosmic Cyberpunk - Kotaku UK (blog)

Last week in TAC, Zoltan Istvan wrote about The Growing World of Libertarian Transhumanism linking the transhumanist movement with all of its featureslike cyborgs, human robots and designer babiesto the ideas of liberty. To say Mr. Istvan is mistaken in his assessment is an understatement. Transhumanism should be rejected by libertarians as an abomination of human evolution.

We begin with Mr. Istvans definition of transhumanism:

transhumanism is the international movement of using science and technology to radically change the human being and experience. Its primary goal is to deliver and embrace a utopian techno-optimistic worlda world that consists of biohackers, cyborgists, roboticists, life extension advocates, cryonicists, Singularitarians, and other science-devoted people.

The ultimate task, however, is nothing less than overcoming biological human death and to solve all humanitys problems. Throughout much of Mr. Istvans work on this issue, he seems to think these ideas are perfectly compatible with libertarianismself-evident evenso he doesnt care to elaborate for his befuddled readers.

While most advocates of liberty could be considered, as Matt Ridley coined it, rational optimistsmeaning that generally we are optimistic, but not dogmatic, about progressit is easy to get into a state in which everything that is produced by the market is good per se and every new technology is hailed as the next step on the path of progress. In this sense, these libertarians become what Rod Dreher has called Technological Men. For them, choice matters more than what is chosen. [The Technological Man] is not concerned with what he should desire; rather, he is preoccupied with how he can acquire or accomplish what he desires.

Transhumanists including Mr. Istvan are a case in point. In his TAC article he not only endorses such things as the defeat of death, but even robotic hearts, virtual reality sex, and telepathy via mind-reading headsets. Need more of his grand ideas? How about brain implants ectogenesis, artificial intelligence, exoskeleton suits, designer babies, gene editing tech? At no point he wonders if we should even strive for these technologies.

When he does acknowledge potential problems he has quick (and crazy) solutions at hand: For example, what would happen if people never die, while new ones are coming into the world in abundance? His solution to the fear of overpopulation: eugenics. It is here where we see how libertarian Mr. Istvan truly is. When his political philosophythe supposedly libertarian onecomes into conflict with his idea of transhumanism, he suddenly drops the former and argues in favor of state-controlled breeding (or, as he says, controlled breeding by non-profit organizations such as the WHO, which is, by the way, state financed). I cautiously endorse the idea of licensing parents, a process that would be little different than getting a drivers licence. Parents who pass a series of basic tests qualify and get the green light to get pregnant and raise children.

The most frustrating thing is how similar he sounds to communists and socialists in his arguments. In most articles you read by transhumanists, you can see the dream of human perfection. Mr. Istvan says so himself: Transhumanists want more guarantees than just death, consumerism, and offspring. Much More. They want to be better, smarter, strongerperhaps even perfect and immortal if science can make them that way.

Surely it is the goal of transhumanists that, in their world, the average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. You can just edit the genes of the embryo in the way that they are as intelligent as Aristotle, as poetic as Goethe, and as musically talented as Mozart. There are two problems, though: First, the world would become extremely boring, consisting only of perfect human beings who are masters at everything (which perhaps would make human cooperation superfluous). Second, that quote was famously uttered by the socialist Leon Trotsky.

As Ludwig von Mises wrote sarcastically, the socialist paradise will be the kingdom of perfection, populated by completely happy supermen. This has always been the mantra of socialists, starting with utopian thinkers like Charles Fourier, but also being embraced by the scientific ones like Marx, who derived his notion of history in which communism is the final stage of humanity from Hegel. Hegel himself believed in the man-godnot in the way that God became man through Jesus, but that man could become God one day. Intentionally or not, transhumanists sound dangerously similar to that. What they would actually create would be the New Soviet Man through bio-engineering and total environmental control as the highest social goal. In other words, you get inhuman ideological tyranny taken to a whole new level.

It should be noted that sometimes transhumanists recognize this themselvesbut if they do, their solutions only make things worse (much worse). Take Adam Zaretsky as example, who says that these new human beings shouldnt be perfect: Its important to make versions of transgenic human anatomy that are not based on idealism. But his solution is frightening: The idea is that you take a gene, say for pig noses, or ostrich anuses, or aardvark tongue, and you paste that into a human sperm, a human egg, a human zygote. A baby starts to form. And: We could let it flow into our anatomy, and these peoplewho yes, are humansshould be appreciated for who and what they are, after they are forced to be born in a really radically strange way. Its no surprise that Rod Dreher calls Mr. Zaretsky a sick monster, because he truly seems to be one when it comes to his transhumanist vision. He wants to create handicapped human beings on purpose.

If this were what libertarians think should happen, it would be sad (thankfully its mostly not). As Jeff Deist notes, it is important to remember that liberty is natural and organic and comports with human action. It doesnt require a new man. Transhumanists may say that the introduction of their idea is inevitable (in Istvans words, Whether people like it or not, transhumanism has arrived) but that is not true. And in this sense, it is time for libertarians to argue against the notion of extreme transhumanism. Yes, the market has brought it about and yes, the state shouldnt prohibit it (though giving your baby a pig nose could certainly be a violation of rights), but still, one shouldnt be relativist or even nihilist about such frightening developments. It would be a shame if the libertarian maxim of Everyone should be able to do whatever one wants to (as long as no one is hurt by it) becomes Everyone should do whatever one can do just because it is possible.

Finally, it comes as no surprise that transhumanists are largely, if not all, atheists (or as Mr. Istvan says: Im an atheist, therefore Im a transhumanist. This just proves what the classical liberal historian Lord Acton talked about when he said, Progress, the religion of those who have none. In the end, transhumanism is the final step to get God out of the way. It would be the continuation of what Richard Weaver wrote about in Ideas Have Consequences: Instead of seeing nature, the world and life overall as a means to get to know God, humans in the last centuries have become accustomed to seeing the world as something that is only there for humans to take and use for their own pleasures. Transhumanism would be the final step of this process: the conquest of death.

You dont have to be religious to find this abhorrent. As we have seen, it would be the end to all religion, to human cooperation overall, in all likelihood to liberty itself, and even the good-bye to humanity. It would be the starting point of the ultimate dystopia.

Kai Weiss is an International Relations student and works for the Austrian Economics Center and Hayek Institute, two libertarianthink tanks based in Vienna, Austria.

See the article here:
Transhumanism Is Not Libertarian, It's an Abomination - The American Conservative

I still remember the excitement of reading P.D. Ouspenskys Psychology of Mans Possible Evolution for the first time. It was my first spiritual book and every page was packed with insights into my psychology. Our studies must begin with our selves and not with the heavens. Ouspensky drove home the idea that in our present state we are machines, that we are a conglomeration of voices rather than a unified whole, that we react rather than do, and that we must observe our machines in order to change. According to Ouspensky:

Our aim is to become one, to have one permanent I. But in the beginning work means to become more and more divided. You must realize how far you are from being one, and only when you know all these fractions of yourself can work begin on one or some principal Is around which unity can be built. It would be wrong understanding to unify all the things you find in yourself now. The new I is something you do not know at present; it grows from something you can trust. At first, in separating false personality from you, try to divide yourself into what you can call reliable and what you find unreliable.

It is in P.D. Ouspenskys aim that his system falls short. While there is talk of becoming a unified whole, a man number 5,6, or 7, there is no evidence that even Ouspensky attained the goal. Ouspensky even said that a school must have two levels: where man number 1,2, and 3 learns to become man number 4 and where man number 4 learns to become man number 5. By that definition, his organization was not really a school, he said. I think Ouspensky is a good beginning, but not a complete system. He lays the foundation for studying our psychology and getting our lives in order, but doesnt venture into the true nature of the mind.

However, the teaching of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff was reportedly by word of mouth. I have only read the books and not studied with a school of this tradition, so I may be missing much data. Objective information on schools is scarce. Even the Gurdjieff Foundation states that there are many spurious groups and declines to provide any contact information. Remember to be wary of those demanding money. Anyone who really knew the Truth would laugh at the idea of charging for it.

GurdjieffClub.com: Links to many Fourth Way groups all over the world.

A reader commented, I enjoyed reading your reviews of the other spiritual teachers too, and particularly happy to see my P.D Ouspensky among them. When reading your thoughts on him, I was surprised to find no mention of his masterpiece, In Search of the Miraculous. Indeed, if you have not read it, I would like to state thatPsychology of Mans Possible Evolution can be considered a distillation of Gurdjieffs teaching, and In Search of the Miraculous its full exposition, running several hundred pages long.

Indeed, such is the case. In Search of the Miraculous covers the years 1915 to 1917 when Ouspensky first met Gurdjieff. It documents many conversations between the two, as well as Ouspenskys frank reactions to Gurdjieffs ideas. Another of Ouspenskys books, The Fourth Way, contains transcripts of Ouspenskys lectures and meetings after his split with Gurdjieff. All three books were published after his death in 1947.

Here is the only video footage Im aware of that shows G.I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspenskys teacher:

See original here:
P.D. Ouspensky: We are machines - SpiritualTeachers.org

Web Delivery of the Continuing Education Regulatory Element Program

FINRA has transitioned the delivery of the Continuing Education (CE) Regulatory Element to an online format called the CE Online Program. The CE Online Program provides participants with the flexibility to satisfy their CE Regulatory Element requirement from a home or office computeranytime, anywhere.

Note: As of July 1, 2016, all Continuing Education (CE) Regulatory Element programs are no longer available at Pearson VUE or Prometric testing centers. For additional details, review Information Notice 5/16/16. Participants now need to satisfy their CE requirement exclusively via the CE Online Program, unless a disability that falls within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prevents them from doing so (review FINRA's CE Online Delivery Accommodation page for more information).

Participants completea computer-based session consisting of four modules, and must demonstrate proficiency in order to satisfy the CE requirement.

The formats of the S106, S201 and S901 programsincluding rollovers and resourceshave not changed.

The S101 Program has been restructured to include a personalized module that allows the participant to select one of six different topics (Institutional Sales, Trading, Operations, Retail Sales, Investment Banking and Research) that most closely resembles their job function. AnInformation Notice has been published for the S101 Personalization Program along with a related content outline.

Read more:
Continuing Education (CE) Online | FINRA.org

International Summit Series: Transforming Online Education | Scientific Computing World

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EVENT

18 August 2017

07 September 2017 to 08 September 2017

Attendees will examine the present and future of online education, including some of the ways in which technology can be used to provide an effective and engaging online STEM learning experience that benefits both students and educators. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to network with educators from around the world, discover how online learning solutions are being implemented, and learn about new tools that are being developed to further enhance e-learning opportunities. The summits will feature up-to-date information on Maplesoft products, presentations from users and developers, and training sessions on how to most effectively utilise these online education solutions.

The summits will feature speakers from institutions throughout Europe, including the University of Birmingham, the University of Manchester, the University of Turin, Chalmers University and Gothenburg University in Sweden, the Vienna University of Technology and Delft University in the Netherlands. These institutions have used Maplesofts solutions to revamp the way teachers administer courses and materials and will share their experiences.

The rest is here:
International Summit Series: Transforming Online Education - Scientific Computing World

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Online courses are lowering quality of higher education Pittsburgh Post-Gazette With colleges and universities starting up at the end of August, perhaps one should pause to consider the quality of contemporary education. Where once halls were filled with academic banter, today they are often barren places. Studies reveal online ...

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Online courses are lowering quality of higher education - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) and ITT Educational Services (NYSE:ESI) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

China Online Education Group has a beta of -1.54, meaning that its share price is 254% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ITT Educational Services has a beta of 1.96, meaning that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

ITT Educational Services has higher revenue, but lower earnings than China Online Education Group. China Online Education Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ITT Educational Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

Profitability

This table compares China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.1% of China Online Education Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ITT Educational Services beats China Online Education Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group is engaged in providing online English language education services to students in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC). The Company operates an online education platform that provides online tutoring programs to students through the Internet. Its platform analyzes teachers teaching aptitudes, feedback and rating from students, as well as background, and recommends suitable teachers to students according to their respective characteristics and learning objectives. The Company develops and tailors its curriculum to its interactive lesson format. The Company offers various courses, which include Classic English and Classic English Junior that are focused on the development of English communication skills. The Company also offers various specialty courses that are focused at situation-based English education and test preparation needs, such as Business English and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking.

About ITT Educational Services

ITT Educational Services, Inc. is a provider of postsecondary degree programs in the United States. The Company offers master, bachelor and associate degree programs to over 45,000 students, and short-term information technology and business learning solutions for career advancers and other professionals. It has approximately 138 campus locations in over 40 states. It offers online programs to students in all over 50 states. It designs its education programs, after consultation with employers and other constituents, to allow graduates prepare for careers in different fields involving their areas of study. It provides career-oriented education programs under the ITT Technical Institute name and the Daniel Webster College (DWC) name. The ITT Technical Institutes offers over 50 education programs in various fields of study across business, drafting and design, electronics technology, criminal justice, information technology (IT), and Breckinridge School of nursing and health sciences.

Receive News & Ratings for China Online Education Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Online Education Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

See the rest here:
China Online Education Group (COE) & ITT Educational Services (ESI) Critical Survey - TrueBlueTribune

As a small-business owner, you should always be looking for an edge on your competition: the latest tech tools, the best talent, the most effective marketing strategies, etc. Yet, you might be overlooking one of the oldest and most profound methods of improving your business: Education.

Many leaders are returning to school to earn business degrees, which increase their knowledge and prepare them for more advanced challenges, like owning a business. However, because succeeding in business and attending full-time courses on a university campus often dont mix, most leaders have turned to the web for formal instruction. This is perhaps the best strategy for gaining education and experience at the same time - but unless you have a solid strategy, you might not be getting the most from your online program.

First, Research

For so long, online programs were mocked because they failed to provide adequate education. Rather, they were essentially degree mills where so-called students could just pay for the credentials they wanted. Today, thats no longer the case. Nearly all respectable universities offer online programs, and plenty of fully digital schools promise quality education. Still, a few education scams do exist, so it is vital that you only consider an online MBA accredited by established agencies. Accrediting agencies look for standards in educational programs to ensure students receive valuable information and skills. Most schools will list their accreditations clearly on their websites, but you can contact regional accreditation associations for more information.

Some online programs are hybrids, requiring some classroom time in addition to the online component. Further, while most courses are asynchronous, meaning you can listen to lectures and complete assignments around your schedule, some courses are synchronous, where students and instructors are online and available at set times, and lectures are broadcast live over the internet. So, determine the course format that best works around your work schedule and research programs that cater most to your requirements.

Another important consideration is how much different programs cost. Universities that offer both online and on-campus courses are likely to charge the same tuition to both online and traditional students, meaning costs might be high. Meanwhile, primarily online schools are likely to offer lower tuition and fees because their expenses, such as classroom and building upkeep, are dramatically less.

Finally, before you commit to one program, you should learn about available student resources. In business school, student services are nearly as impactful on your future as the courses you take and the information you gain. Vast and active alumni networks, capable and effectual career centers, and more will connect you with peers and professionals that can aid your business now and in the future. If a programs student affairs are not highly rated, you might be wise to consider a different program.

Second, Thrive

While researching and applying to online schools is an achievement, you cant relax just yet. Now its time to turn your focus toward studying. For many online students, the most difficult challenge is learning to self-motivate. On-campus courses are easier to remain focused on, since you must physically attend classes and meet your professors face-to-face. But online courses, especially asynchronous classes, require you to be more independent and stay on top of your workload with less outside management. You must regulate your own participation or else waste time and money while you fail to procure a business education.

The key to self-motivating for online education is to evaluate and set proper priorities. While your business might be most important, your education should be a close second. Your responsibilities to friends and family will need to take a temporary backseat. By setting your online program as a high priority, you will be more likely to complete education-related goals before less-important tasks, ensuring you put most of your energy toward business success.

Finally, to thrive in online education, you must have adequate technology. Before your program begins, you should have a relatively fast computer and uninterrupted access to the internet. Additionally, you should acquire any software required by specific courses, such as QuickBooks for accounting or Hootsuite for marketing. You might want to practice with such tech before courses begin so you will have some familiarity with necessary tech tools.

Third, Succeed

Once you complete your online program, your educational experience isnt over. From the time you start learning to the rest of your days as a business leader, you should apply the knowledge and skills you gain from business school to improve your business. This is the most important step in maximizing online education: Application. It may seem obvious, but this is the step most unsuccessful leaders neglect. Lessons learned are not necessarily lessons used; to maximize your online education, you must be careful not to jump to business decisions and instead review real-world situations as you did example cases in school. Initially, you will make many business mistakes - but you should be able to learn from those, too. If you apply what you learn, you will achieve success.

Go here to read the rest:
How to Maximize Online Education for Business Success - TechDay News (blog)