A University Senate task force is wading into one of the hottest topics in higher ed: the question of online education.

The task force, which was established by the senate last year, will explore Columbias current online offerings and examine its options going forward. The committee met for the first time Sept. 19, a day before the University opened registration for its first two massive open online courses.

Were in the data-collecting mode. We are working on pilot programs of courses and we are seeing which other offered courses can be adapted to online learning, Assaf Zeevi, the Business Schools vice dean of research and a member of the task force, said. So far, the experience has mostly been in areas with undergraduate classes with very high appeal that can be pitched to a large audience.

Columbia will offers its first two massive open online courses through Coursera next semester, but several schools, including the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Continuing Education, the Journalism School, and Teachers College, have created their own online courses and initiatives over the years.

The task force, which is being led by Senate Executive Board Chair Sharyn OHalloran, will work to unify Columbias online education offerings.

Columbia has 20 schools. Were very decentralized, which is a good thing, since it allows individual departments and faculty to create initiatives, task force member and astronomy professor James Applegate said. However, at the same time, the senate is the only institution Columbia has for the function of town hall meetings. The task force will play that same role, only more specifically for online learning.

The committee met last week with Stanford University professor Daphne Koller, one of the founders of Coursera. Still, Sree Sreenivasana Journalism School professor who was appointed Columbias first chief digital officer in Julysaid that Coursera is just an example of what we can do.

Right now, were talking with many other vendors and platforms to see what works best for us, he said.

There has been a surge of activity in online education over the last year, with MIT and Harvard partnering to launch edX and schools ranging from Princeton to the University of Pennsylvania signing up for Coursera. But even with universities scrambling to open their courses to the world at large, University Senator Akshay Shah, SEAS 14, said the senate task force is focused on Columbia students first.

Our biggest priority is to make full-time, tuition-paying students get benefits from Columbia taking courses online, Shah, a member of the task force, said. This could open up the option of students studying abroad. If they have to fulfill requirements, they could just take exams at the global centers.

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University Senate task force exploring online education

Here at MIT Technology Review, weve been doing some research for an upcoming business report on digital education.Its an area thats been receiving a lot of interest from venture capitalists and entrepreneursthe general idea being that technology will disrupt education as we know it, and maybe create a few billion-dollar companies along the way (see The Crisis in Higher Education).

According to Dow Jones VentureSource, VCs invested $217 million in digital education companies during the first half of 2012more than they did during all of 2010. The explosion of new companies is creating a complex environment, as this map of the dozens technology companies active in K-12 schools makes clear.

So which of these startups will end up mattering? Today, the venture firm Union Square Ventures took the unusual step of blogging about its investment thesis in online education. Union Squares bottom line: the best investments will be companies that give educational content away for free.

The strategy is similar to what social media companies like Twitter have done (Union Square was an early investor in Twitter). First they build huge audiences. Later, they worry how to make money. While that makes sense to investors, its also deeply threatening to textbook makers and brick-and-mortar schools. How can they compete against free?

Venture funds usually keep their investment strategies top secret. But Union Square has become an influential VC firmsome would say the most influentialin part by stoking interesting debates that grab entrepreneurs interest (see Fred Wilson on Why the Collapse of Venture Capital is Good). Union Square says the disclosure is the first of several future discussions about its work on specific markets, industries and technologies.

To accompany its analysis of the education market, Union Square provided a reading list of news articles whose arguments it apparently found persuasive. There are also links to video lectures by the founders of several ambitious digital education startups, including Ben Nelson of the Minerva Project and Daphner Koller talking about Coursera.

In their blog post, Union Square reveals another conclusion that could console educators worried about virtual competition. It says that unless people can turn free online courses into actual academic credential, or into a career, digital education will remain aspirational and removed from the day-to-day of many people.

In other words, without a diploma to hang on your wall, free isnt worth much.

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Does Online Education Need to be Free to Succeed?

Oct. 4, 2012, noon

THE Sutherland sisters, of Thornlands, have sport aerobics in Australia stitched up since winning international division titles at the recent sports aerobics national competition in Adelaide.

Grace, 17, and Meg, 14, took out the open women's and junior women's titles at the competition in July to qualify to compete at the world sport aerobics championships being held in the Netherlands this month.

Mother Marg Sutherland said the girls took up the sport through their school, Sheldon College, several years ago and have continued with it, even though the school no longer offers it. Both are members of Cass Sport Aerobics at Coffs Harbour, where they are trained twice a school term. In between, the girls train at Good Life gym at Cleveland, with training spanning about three hours a day six days a week.

"They basically train themselves. For a 14-year-old to do this is awesome," Marg said.

Marg said the girls already had a basis in gymnastics and trampolining, so adding dance to these moves was the next step. Even so, she said she was delighted and surprised at their skills.

"It's beautiful to watch. It's definitely a spectator sport," she said.

Marg said other skills learnt through the sport included self discipline and good work ethic.

"Grace is in Year 12 at school so you need to be disciplined to do everything she does," Marg said.

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Aerobics champs off to word titles

Kids yoga class at Beth Israel Medical Center (credit: CBS 2)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) A yoga program originally designed for kids dealing with developmental and behavioral issues has opened its doors to all kids in need of a little stress relief.

Beth Israel Medical Center started the kids yoga program for 4- to 13-year-olds diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and autism, but the programs director said the health effects of yoga are beneficial for all kids.

Our kids are overstimulated. The amount of screen time, television, video games, noise, Dr. Asma Sadiq of Beth Israel told CBS 2s Katie McGee. I think the focus on the breath, particularly, and the mindfulness piece of yoga is something that is very powerful.

Sadiq and the hospitals in-house yoga expert, Jillian Friedman, run the program, which meets once a week in Union Square.

The program is an-all inclusive program, Friedman told McGee.

The yoga practice really helps kids focus. It helps bring them into their bodies, Sadiq told McGee. Theyre aware of their bodies and the boundaries of their bodies, and what theyre capable of.

Im very stressed out with the new school year coming, 11-year-old Michael OBrien said during his first yoga class. I thought this would soothe my body.

The instructors focus on proper yoga poses and breathing techniques, but said the main goal is giving kids an outlet and a place to relax.

Its fun and its interactive. It also could be social, Sadiq said. But youre doing this for yourselfyou are competing with yourself and getting a sense of who you are.

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Beth Israel Medical Center Opens Yoga Class To All Kids

Students lined up throughout the studio room of Sweat and Soul Yoga and prepared for their routine class. Instead of the traditional om chant, however, Snoop Doggs tunes fill the room.

While it seems weird, whats really cool about it is that the hip-hop music is really deep, and the beats are really strong and allow people to feel good, said Lynn Begier, a yoga expert and and the founder of both Sweat and Soul Yoga and Back Bay Yoga Studio. Sometimes people dont get it because its really experiential. Then they take it. and they are like, wow, theres something really connecting and powerful to the class.

A number of Boston University students have said that this upbeat twist on yoga helps them enjoy the activity more.

I always get bored because usually [studios] put up music thats like chanting or something, and its fun to focus on something else and go back and forth or dance while youre listening to Snoop Dogg, said Rachel Franklin, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

For Begier, who first opened a yoga studio in Back Bay 11 years ago, there is nothing contradictory about yoga and hip-hop.

When my life felt funky, I started doing my normal yoga practice to this [hip-hop] music, she said. On days I felt so depressed or bored, I would practice to everything from Madonna to Britney Spears greatest hits and I would feel so transformed.

All-Ages Activity

Begier said that very few people during her college days even knew about yoga and that she has noticed an increasing trend in the activity.

Every gym has yoga now, she said. When I opened up Back Bay yoga which was my original studio, 11 years ago, we were really the only studio in Boston. Now a lot of people are doing yoga, and it is spread out and segmented, you dont have to be in the go to do yoga.

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Yoga: Stretching the body, mind and soul

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | 2:24 p.m. CDT; updated 2:55 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, October 3, 2012

COLUMBIA Robin Crouch is 7 years old and has already been practicing yoga for four years.

Her mom, Shannon Hensley, said she likes the non-competitive aspect of the practice and believes it keeps her daughter centered.

When Robin is upset, Hensley said the two of them will practice relaxation breathing techniques.

"This really calms Robin down," Hensley said.

Robin takes classes with Susan Mathis, a former early childhood educator who owns both alleyCat Yoga and Yoga to Grow.

Mathis, 44,began Yoga to Grow in 2006 to provide a way for kids to feel strong and powerful and to connect to their own bodies. Classes in the studio at 23 S. Fourth St. are arranged by age group, from infants to teens, and geared to their developmental stages.

Mathis adapted her passion for yoga to children by developing classes around songs, stories and games. She teaches them classic poses like dog and frog, as well as poses designed for children, such as rainbow (side plank for adults) and polar bear (a modified child's pose).

In each class, she incorporates play, imagination, breathing, laughter and relaxation.

"As I began to get more and more into practicing yoga myself, I had a lot of interest in seeing the benefits that the practice of yoga could have for kids," she said.

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Yoga to Grow follows national trend in offering yoga to children

For immediate release

Hindus disappointed at Church of England banning yoga for pensioners

Hindus are disheartened over a church affiliated to Church of England banning yoga in its premises.

According to reports, St. Andrew's Church and Centre, opened in 1999 in Dibden Purlieu, banned an 81 years old Christian instructor Eileen Meegan who is great-grandmother of five, from teaching yoga in the church hall, claiming that it was against the churchs religion and dangerous for the mind. doing yoga has enhanced my faith as a Christian, Meegan was quoted as saying and termed churchs action as ignorance.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, yoga was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. One could still practice ones respective faith and do yoga. Yoga would rather help one in achieving ones spiritual goals in whatever religion one believed in. It was not at odds with any faith and rather made one spiritually healthier.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged the immediate intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Douglas Williams in this matter to permit the yoga classes in St. Andrew's to bring goodwill among the communities.

Rajan Zed stated that yoga, referred as a living fossil whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, was a mental and physical discipline handed down from one guru to next, for everybody to share and benefit from. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. It was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.

Zed pointed out that an Episcopal News Service article titled Yoga for Episcopalians a healing discipline in the past said: Yoga can teach us to improve our posture, or sharpen our focus during Mass. St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Washington (DC) has offered quality yoga instruction since 1978 emphasizing effective breathing, mastery of asanas (comfortably held postures), relaxation, positive thinking, and meditation as elements of healthy spiritual living that promote happiness and true knowledge of self. St. Davids Episcopal Church in Wayne (Pennsylvania) offered in the past A Quiet Morning of Yoga and Centering Prayer which included 30 minutes in a guided meditation for a deep, conscious rest. It also offered Yoga with Spirit vigorous yoga classes. Episcopal Church was derived from Church of England.

Rajan Zed argued that it was simply un-Christian to refuse services to a yoga instructor who was trying to help the pensioners de-stress, calm their minds and improve their flexibility through yoga. Love and compassion was the hallmark of Christian ethics. Gospel According to John 13: 34 said: Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

Zed stresses that in our shared pursuit for the truth; we can learn from one another and thus can arrive nearer to the truth. Dialogue may help us vanquish the stereotypes, prejudices, caricatures, etc., passed on to us from previous generations, Zed adds.

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Hindus disappointed at Church of England banning yoga

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Gaiam, Inc., the leading distributor of lifestyle media and fitness accessories, today announced the expansion of its Gaiam Sol Collection, Gaiam's professional quality yoga accessory line. This premium collection, developed by yogis for yogis, is crafted from responsibly sourced materials, and an eye toward mindful design and quality construction.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121003/NY85805 )

"We are thrilled to expand Gaiam's Sol Collection beyond just mats to now offer a variety of other quality yoga accessories," says Bill Sondheim, President of Gaiam. "Each of the Sol products is designed to be used in conjunction with one another to deliver all the tools necessary to enhance your yoga practice."

The Sol Collection will feature the following new products:

In addition to these new products, the Sol Collection continues to feature premium quality yoga mats that meet the technical demands of even the most advanced yoga practitioners and professionals. All made from 100% natural rubber, these mats offer slip-resistance, superior cushioning, and excellent traction. With the new line, the mats are now grouped into four separate collections, which are the English translations of their Sanskrit names reflecting the spirit and tradition of the practice they embody.

Every mat from the Sol Collection comes with the Gaiam Lifetime Mat Guarantee. Any registered Gaiam Sol mat that wears out will be replaced with the same or a comparable mat at no charge.

For more information, please visit http://www.gaiam.com/gaiamsol.

About GAIAMGaiam, Inc. (GAIA) is a leading producer and marketer of lifestyle media and fitness accessories. With a wide distribution network that consists of over 60,000 retail doors, close to 15,000 stores within stores, 5,600 media category management locations, a digital distribution platform and more than 10 million direct customers, Gaiam is dedicated to providing solutions for healthy and eco-conscious living. The company dominates the health and wellness category and releases non-theatrical programming focused on family entertainment and conscious media. For more information about Gaiam, please visit http://www.gaiam.com or call 1.800.869.3603.

Media Contact:Lauren Aboulessan Krupp Kommunications (212) 886-6710 LAboulessan@kruppnyc.com

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Gaiam Expands Gaiam Sol Yoga Accessory Line

Holistic Learning Centers makes available free life coaching products every month as incentive for as many people as possible to spread the word about their global educational campaign to achieve the critical mass necessary to Save TheHumans

Forked Rivers, NJ (PRWEB) October 03, 2012

In order to spread the word about the existence of and power behind critical mass, HLC offers a different, free life coaching product for 48 hours, from midnight on the first of each month until midnight on the second in exchange for help spreading the word.

HLC has coined this exchange the Inner Net of One Abundance Exchange. To get the free products one must agree to forward the Save TheHumans eBook to as many people as possible and like HLCs Life Coaching school on Facebook in order to remain in community on the internet so that the critical mass on the inner net can begin to take root.

The Save TheHumans pledge is: I commit to respond with ability to help remove suffering from the world. I grok that the first step to removing suffering from the world is to successful remove my own suffering first, because I can only give away what is inside of me.

HLC extends this offer to all Independent life coaches as well as to all those willing to take action to be part of the global solution.

Sabrina Rose Holistic Learning Center 888-452-0878 x 107 Email Information

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Professional Life Coaching School, Holistic Learning Centers Issues a Global Call to Action to Become Part of an ...

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS4TR6JPins

03-10-2012 08:52 As a medical student, 23 year old Bethan John knew the effects university life was having on her health and could clearly see it on her waistline. Late-night kebabs and boozy parties took her weight up to 14st 7lb and a dress size 18. But when she was offered a dream summer job at Disney World in Florida it was the incentive she needed to shed an incredible 4st. Find out how she did it and listen to her top weight loss tips in the Rosemary Conley success story video For more FREE inspirational weight loss stories, healthy recipes, diet, fitness and well being videos visit

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Bethan John - lost 4 stone with Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness - Video