PARENTS and teachers are thrilled that the Government will be spending RM38.7bil to improve the quality of education.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary- general Lok Yim Pheng said not many countries could afford to invest as much as 21% of total spending in education.

The extra RM500mil to train teachers in core subjects through the Higher Order Thinking Skills approach is no small sum either, she said, adding that continuous professional development was synonymous with the quality of teachers and education.

Teachers have to grab this opportunity and see it as a means of personal development, she said, adding that NUTP had been pushing for training to be monitored.

On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razaks statement that investments in education were not producing comparable returns, Lok said: Education is a long-term investment. Whatever you spend in education will produce yields eventually.

Sarawak Teachers Union president Willian Ghani Bina said although it would take time, education was key to the nations success, describing the RM500mil to train teachers as necessary and timely.

Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said if the Government had wanted to emphasise on research and development with large allocations for research universities, then Malaysians have to prepare their children by teaching them Science and Mathematics in English.

If youre serious about going into high-tech industries, then youll need English, she said.

Proton Edar corporate sales head Roslan Mohamed said as Malaysia reached the status of developed nation, it needed to emphasise on education.

Giving RM500mil for teachers development is a good start, said the father of four.

Continued here:
Grab chance for personal development, teachers urged

CollegeWeekLive to Power Online College Admission Event as Part of Univision's Education Initiative !Educate, Es El Momento! On Thursday, October 11; Register at http://www.eselmomento.com

NEEDHAM HEIGHTS, Mass., Sept. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of Univision Communications' multi-year initiative to promote educational attainment in Hispanic America, !Educate, Es El Momento! (Educate Yourself, The Moment is Now), the leading media company has partnered with CollegeWeekLive to offer a free online college fair on Thursday, October 11, 2012. The college admissions event, which will be available at http://www.eselmomento.com, is part of Univision's Education Week and will address the higher education needs of Hispanic students and their families.

The interactive program, which runs nationwide from 12:00 noon to 10:00 pm ET, will provide free access to expert college admissions advice through streaming video presentations and live chat with college representatives. The online college fair addresses higher education topics of particular importance to Latino families -- both students and their parents, who may not have experience with the college application process and could be apprehensive about sending their children away to college.

"The goal is to create a culture of college readiness in the Hispanic community and focus specifically on what is necessary for college completion," said Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks. "The addition of a free online college fair powered by CollegeWeekLive to Univision's Education Week will help students and parents to better understand what the process is to get into college, and what steps are needed to earn a degree."

Nationally, Latinos have a 14 percent lower college graduation rate than non-Hispanic whites, and Latinos lag behind other racial groups by 25 percent when comparing the number of degrees attained. Latinos make up 16 percent of the overall population and 22 percent of the K-12 population, yet only 19 percent of Latinos in America have earned an associate degree or higher compared to 38 percent of all adults, according to a research study conducted by EdExcelencia cited in USA TODAY. Because Latinos make up one sixth of the total population, Latino educational attainment is at the heart of the future economic viability of the United States.

"The growing population of Latino students represents an enormous opportunity for colleges and universities. Higher education best contributes to a thriving democratic society when we educate students from all walks of life, including students who are the first in their families to go to college," said Fernando M. Reimers, the Ford Foundation Professor of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Program Chair for the event. "I admire the leadership provided by CollegeWeekLive and Univision in producing this rich and comprehensive program to empower Latino students and families with knowledge that will help them chart a path to college."

Admissions representatives from more than 120 colleges will be standing by, ready to chat live online with students and their families in English and Spanish. Online video programming, with the ability for online attendees to get live answers to their questions via chat, includes:

THURSDAY OCTOBER 11, 2012 (All Times Eastern)

12 PM, The College Essay Zaragoza Guerra, College Coach

1 PM, Hidden Gems of Financial Aid Opportunities Stella Flores, Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership, Policy & Organizations, Vanderbilt University, Ed.M., Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education, M.P. Aff, University of Texas at Austin

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Univision Delivers Free Online College Fair With More Than 120 Participating Colleges

A hundred years ago, higher education seemed on the verge of a technological revolution. The spread of a powerful new communication networkthe modern postal systemhad made it possible for universities to distribute their lessons beyond the bounds of their campuses. Anyone with a mailbox could enroll in a class. Frederick Jackson Turner, the famed University of Wisconsin historian, wrote that the "machinery" of distance learning would carry "irrigating streams of education into the arid regions" of the country. Sensing a historic opportunity to reach new students and garner new revenues, schools rushed to set up correspondence divisions. By the 1920s, postal courses had become a full-blown mania. Four times as many people were taking them as were enrolled in all the nation's colleges and universities combined.

The hopes for this early form of distance learning went well beyond broader access. Many educators believed that correspondence courses would be better than traditional on-campus instruction because assignments and assessments could be tailored specifically to each student. The University of Chicago's Home-Study Department, one of the nation's largest, told prospective enrollees that they would "receive individual personal attention," delivered "according to any personal schedule and in any place where postal service is available." The department's director claimed that correspondence study offered students an intimate "tutorial relationship" that "takes into account individual differences in learning." The education, he said, would prove superior to that delivered in "the crowded classroom of the ordinary American University."

We've been hearing strikingly similar claims today. Another powerful communication networkthe Internetis again raising hopes of a revolution in higher education. This fall, many of the country's leading universities, including MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton, are offering free classes over the Net, and more than a million people around the world have signed up to take them. These "massive open online courses," or MOOCs, are earning praise for bringing outstanding college teaching to multitudes of students who otherwise wouldn't have access to it, including those in remote places and those in the middle of their careers. The online classes are also being promoted as a way to bolster the quality and productivity of teaching in generalfor students on campus as well as off. Former U.S. secretary of education William Bennett has written that he senses "an Athens-like renaissance" in the making. Stanford president John Hennessy told the New Yorker he sees "a tsunami coming."

The excitement over MOOCs comes at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the state of college education. The average price tag for a bachelor's degree has shot up to more than $100,000. Spending four years on campus often leaves young people or their parents weighed down with big debts, a burden not only on their personal finances but on the overall economy. And many people worry that even as the cost of higher education has risen, its quality has fallen. Dropout rates are often high, particularly at public colleges, and many graduates display little evidence that college improved their critical-thinking skills. Close to 60 percent of Americans believe that the country's colleges and universities are failing to provide students with "good value for the money they and their families spend," according to a 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center. Proponents of MOOCs say the efficiency and flexibility of online instruction will offer a timely remedy.

Data from Institute of Education Sciences and Pew Research Center.

But not everyone is enthusiastic. The online classes, some educators fear, will at best prove a distraction to college administrators; at worst, they will end up diminishing the quality of on-campus education. Critics point to the earlier correspondence-course mania as a cautionary tale. Even as universities rushed to expand their home-study programs in the 1920s, investigations revealed that the quality of the instruction fell short of the levels promised and that only a tiny fraction of enrollees actually completed the courses. In a lecture at Oxford in 1928, the eminent American educator Abraham Flexner delivered a withering indictment of correspondence study, claiming that it promoted "participation" at the expense of educational rigor. By the 1930s, once-eager faculty and administrators had lost interest in teaching by mail. The craze fizzled.

Is it different this time? Has technology at last advanced to the point where the revolutionary promise of distance learning can be fulfilled? We don't yet know; the fervor surrounding MOOCs makes it easy to forget that they're still in their infancy. But even at this early juncture, the strengths and weaknesses of this radically new form of education are coming into focus.

Rise of the MOOCs

"I had no clue what I was doing," Sebastian Thrun says with a chuckle, as he recalls his decision last year to offer Stanford's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course free online. The 45-year-old robotics expert had a hunch that the class, which typically enrolls a couple of hundred undergraduates, would prove a draw on the Net. After all, he and his co-professor, Peter Norvig, were both Silicon Valley stars, holding top research posts at Google in addition to teaching at Stanford. But while Thrun imagined that enrollment might reach 10,000 students, the actual number turned out to be more than an order of magnitude higher. When the class began, in October 2011, some 160,000 people had signed up.

The experience changed Thrun's life. Declaring "I can't teach at Stanford again," he announced in January that he was joining two other roboticists to launch an ambitious educational startup called Udacity. The venture, which bills itself as a "21st-century university," is paying professors from such schools as Rutgers and the University of Virginia to give open courses on the Net, using the technology originally developed for the AI class. Most of the 14 classes Udacity offers fall into the domains of computer science and mathematics, and Thrun says it will concentrate on such fields for now. But his ambitions are hardly narrow: he sees the traditional university degree as an outdated artifact and believes Udacity will provide a new form of lifelong education better suited to the modern labor market.

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The Crisis in Higher Education

CollegeWeekLive to Power Online College Admission Event as Part of Univision's Education Initiative !Educate, Es El Momento! On Thursday, October 11; Register at http://www.eselmomento.com

NEEDHAM HEIGHTS, Mass., Sept. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Please note, the agenda for the event has been revised. The updated release follows:

As part of Univision Communications' multi-year initiative to promote educational attainment in Hispanic America, !Educate, Es El Momento! (Educate Yourself, The Moment is Now), the leading media company has partnered with CollegeWeekLivea to offer a free online college fair on Thursday, October 11, 2012. The college admissions event, which will be available at http://www.eselmomento.com, is part of Univision's Education Week and will address the higher education needs of Hispanic students and their families.

The interactive program, which runs nationwide from 12:00 noon to 10:00 pm ET, will provide free access to expert college admissions advice through streaming video presentations and live chat with college representatives. The online college fair addresses higher education topics of particular importance to Latino families -- both students and their parents, who may not have experience with the college application process and could be apprehensive about sending their children away to college.

"The goal is to create a culture of college readiness in the Hispanic community and focus specifically on what is necessary for college completion," said Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks. "The addition of a free online college fair powered by CollegeWeekLive to Univision's Education Week will help students and parents to better understand what the process is to get into college, and what steps are needed to earn a degree."

Nationally, Latinos have a 14 percent lower college graduation rate than non-Hispanic whites, and Latinos lag behind other racial groups by 25 percent when comparing the number of degrees attained. Latinos make up 16 percent of the overall population and 22 percent of the K-12 population, yet only 19 percent of Latinos in America have earned an associate degree or higher compared to 38 percent of all adults, according to a research study conducted by EdExcelencia cited in USA TODAY. Because Latinos make up one sixth of the total population, Latino educational attainment is at the heart of the future economic viability of the United States.

"The growing population of Latino students represents an enormous opportunity for colleges and universities. Higher education best contributes to a thriving democratic society when we educate students from all walks of life, including students who are the first in their families to go to college," said Fernando M. Reimers, the Ford Foundation Professor of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Program Chair for the event. "I admire the leadership provided by CollegeWeekLive and Univision in producing this rich and comprehensive program to empower Latino students and families with knowledge that will help them chart a path to college."

Admissions representatives from more than 120 colleges will be standing by, ready to chat live online with students and their families in English and Spanish. Online video programming, with the ability for online attendees to get live answers to their questions via chat, includes:

THURSDAY OCTOBER 11, 2012 (All Times Eastern)

12 PM, Welcome Address Fernando Reimers, Program Chair, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

The rest is here:
UPDATE -- Univision Delivers Free Online College Fair With More Than 120 Participating Colleges

DALLAS, Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The ComputED Gazette announced today that five Cambium Learning Group online programs, ExploreLearning Gizmos, ExploreLearning Reflex, VmathLive, Ticket to Read and firefly, were named winners in its 17th Annual 2012 Education Software Review Awards (EDDIES).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100129/CLGROUPLOGO)

The EDDIES target content-rich and innovative programs and websites that augment classroom curriculum and improve the productivity of teachers. Winning products provide teachers and parents alike with technology that fosters educational excellence and are chosen from titles submitted by publishers worldwide.

"We are thrilled that The ComputED Gazette chose five online programs from our Cambium Learning family of companies," says Ron Klausner, chief executive officer of Cambium Learning Group. "Recognition from our industry peers proves that as a company we are continuing in our mission through our online programs, to enable educators to unlock every child's potential through learning, no matter where their journey begins."

For more information, visit http://www.cambiumlearning.com.

About Cambium Learning Group, Inc.Cambium Learning Group (ABCD) is the leading educational company focused primarily on serving the needs of at-risk and special student populations. The company is comprised of three business units: Voyager Learning provides comprehensive print and online intervention solutions, professional development, and school turnaround offerings and includes Lincoln National Academy, Class.com, and Voyager Education Services; Sopris Learning is known for supplemental solutions, including assessment, supplemental intervention, positive behavior supports and professional development; and Cambium Learning Technologies develops instructional and assistive technology and represents IntelliTools, Kurzweil Educational Systems, Learning AZ, and ExploreLearning. Cambium Learning Group is committed to providing evidence-based support and expert professional services to empower educators and raise the achievement levels of all students. Learn more at http://www.cambiumlearning.com.

Media Contact:Shannan Overbeck Cambium Learning Group, Inc. 214.932.9476 shannan.overbeck@cambiumlearning.com

Investor Contact:Chris Cleveland Cambium Learning Group, Inc. 214.932.9474 chris.cleveland@cambiumlearning.com

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Five Cambium Learning Group Online Programs Honored with 2012 Education Software Review Awards (EDDIES)

MAUI, Hawaii, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Spa Grande and lululemon athletica Maui invites the community and visitors to Maui's first annual free beach yoga day on Sunday, September 30 at 6:30 pm to celebrate National Yoga Month, an observance designated by the Department of Health & Human Services to educate the public about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire a healthy lifestyle.

Spa Grande's goal is for guests to unite wellness, beauty and nature and partnering with lululemon athletica to celebrate National Yoga Month was a way to further promotes health and wellness to both visitors and locals. "We wanted to create an event that promoted community and outdoor fitness while taking advantage of our beautiful, island home," said Sharon Ogawa, director of Spa Grande. "No matter what your fitness level is, yoga is the ideal exercise routine because it works the entire body through simple movements and proper breathing."

The beach yoga event starts with a class of Hatha yoga at sunset. Hatha a low-impact type of yoga focused on breathing, ideal for enthusiasts who are new to yoga, or are recuperating. The class will be followed by a 10 minute meditation led by lululemon athletica Maui Showroom Manager, Chelsea Dimin.

The Hatha yoga class will be led under the guidance of Nancy Lawrence. Lawrence is a lululemon ambassador and has been the lead fitness and yoga instructor at Spa Grande for 20 years. Fellow lululemon yoga ambassadors Amber Lee, Jennifer Lauer and Brenna Miles will also be present to guide participants. The meditation that leads attendees through a ten year future vision of their ideal life will be led by lululemon manager, Chelsea Dimin.

The event is free to the public and participants must sign-in at 6:30 pm at the Grand Wailea and must be at least six-years of age. Towels will be provided or participants may bring their own yoga mats if preferred. The class is open to all fitness levels.

Raffles will be available at the event for attendees to participate in, with prizes including a lululemon yoga mat, and a nutrition and personal training session at Spa Grande. A lululemon gym bag is also up for grabs to the person who brings the most people with them.

"Sometimes, the way to a healthier and fit lifestyle starts with the support of family and friends," said Chelsea Dimin, lululemon manager. "To promote the idea of community and empowerment, we will be giving a lululemon yoga bag to the person who brings the most people to participate at the event."

About Spa GrandeSpa Grande is the largest spa in the Hawaiian Islands with 40 treatment rooms and the unique Terme Wailea Hydrotherapy that includes a Roman Tub, saunas, cascading waterfalls, Swiss Jet Showers, a Japanese Furo, and five Hawaiian sea salt baths exclusive to Spa Grande. Spa Grande's Fitness Center offers top-of-the-line Precor training equipment, daily yoga, pilates and cycling classes to its guests. Spa Grande is voted "Top Hotel Spa in Hawaii" by Travel + Leisure's 2012 World's Best Award. For more information, visit http://www.spagrande.com or call 800.772.1933.

About lululemon athletica Mauilululemon athletica is an athletic apparel company that creates components for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives. They make technical athletic apparel for yoga, running, dancing, and most other sweaty pursuits. Leading community fitness events is one of the many ways lululemon athletica Maui increases the health and wellness on the island. lululemon selects ambassadors that embody the lululemon lifestyle and are passionate about the community. For more information visit http://www.lululemon.com.

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First Annual Maui Beach Yoga Day

As a yoga enthusiast, I find it intriguing that there are so many forms of this excellent exercise to participate in. Additionally, as a former gymnast, I appreciate the fact that antigravity yoga and slackline yoga (slackasana) are available. If you don't know what slackline yoga is or want to know more, read on to find out.

What is slackline yoga?

Slackline yoga, also called slacklining, is a great way to improve your balance and muscle tone because you are performing asanas on a thin line (tubula webbing) that is slightly in the air. Many poses are performed in slackline yoga, including the following:

Lotus Pose (Padmasana)

Since the lotus pose is done sitting down, it is a great way to get use to performing slackline yoga. In addition, lotus gives both the ankles and knees a wonderful stretch.

Eagle Pose (Garudasana)

The eagle pose is a great way to increase your balance and concentration, so just imagine how beneficial it is performing it on the tubula webbing. If you want to provide your entire legs and hips with a superior stretch, eagle pose will also accomplish that.

Chair Pose (Utkatasana)

The chair pose is considered a beginner pose when done on the ground, but when done on that thin tubula webbing you can be sure it won't be as easy in the beginning. Additionally, the chair pose is a great way to tone the gluteus maximus (buttock muscles).

Slackline yoga in action

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Improve Balance with Slackline Yoga

Keyon Dooling could have continued playing in the NBA.

A wave of surprise hit the league last week when the Boston Celtics announced they had waived Dooling and he would be retiring from the game. Why? Why would a passionate player who loves basketball -- and, just as importantly, the Celtics organization and his teammates -- hang it all up when he had the opportunity to play on a squad he believes will win it all this season?

Sometimes the biggest factors in an athletes life have nothing to do with the sport he or she plays. In this case, Doolings decision to leave the NBA didnt have much to do with basketball at all.

* * * * Laughter bounced off the beige walls of the Dooling household as his loved ones filled the rooms with warmth and happiness. On this particular late September evening, Dooling, his wife Natosha, daughters Deneal (11), Gabrielle (9) and Jordan (5), son Keyon Jr. (2), cousin Kevin (17), brother Cedric Johnson, and godbrother Harry Turner had gathered together. These were the people Dooling had left every few days for a road series. These were the people who had shared his attention with the demanding NBA schedule.

The average career is 4 1/2 years and I tripled that, almost, Dooling told CSNNE.com as he settled into a brown leather chair at the marble high top table in his dining room, his usual three-piece suit traded for a tailored, buttondown shirt and jeans. The grind of the NBA just has taken its toll on me, on my body. More so than that, my family . . . Ive missed birthdays, school conferences, dropping my kids off, school plays, school dances. Ive missed just being daddy so much.

"I have enough. I have all the resources I need, Im a blessed man. Im not limping away; I was able to walk away.

Dooling, the 10th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, contemplated retirement five years ago. Then a member of the Orlando Magic, he underwent tests that revealed a degenerative hip. But at the time he was only 27, too young to stop. Besides, no one wanted him to.

I [thought about retirement] as soon as I found out [about the hip issue], Dooling explained. But I played ball for everybody else, for my family, and I still loved to play. I was still willing to go through that grind. Ive taken medicine, Ive gotten shots, Ive done a lot of things to be able to go out on that court. But I couldnt let my family down. They love to see me play ball.

Doolings career was never about himself. Thats not the way he lives his life. The needs of others have always come first, whether it's a close family member, a teammate, or a distant friend of someone he knows.

His willingness to help those around him made him one of the most accessible players in the NBA. From All-Stars like Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo to players like Trevor Ariza, Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson, Dooling -- the first vice-president of the NBA Players Association -- has spent personal time with countless athletes around the league, listening to their stories, offering advice, and providing a shoulder to lean on and a place to turn.

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CSN: Dooling tired of lonely' life, retires from NBA

A Phoebus football player has been suspended and another was taken to the hospital following a fight during practice Tuesday afternoon, which ultimately led to the removal either temporary or permanent of head coach Stan Sexton.

Sgt. Jason Price, a Hampton police spokesman, said what began as a verbal altercation became physical when "(an) 18-year-old assaulted (a) 16-year-old by punching him one time in the upper torso." Price explained that "upper torso" means above the waist and can include the head.

Price said the 16-year-old was taken to the hospital by a parent with non-life threatening injuries. No charges had been filed as of Thursday, but Price said the incident is still under investigation.

Price was unable to identify the 18-year-old because he has not been charged.

Ann Stephens-Cherry, executive director of public relations with Hampton City Schools, confirmed that a Phoebus football player has been suspended for the next two games "at this point." She would not identify the suspended player.

Jeremy Blunt, who on Wednesday was announced as the Phantoms' acting head coach, also would not reveal the name of the suspended player. He said the players have done their best to move on going into Friday night's game against Bethel.

"Losing a coach and teammates, that's always difficult," Blunt said. "But once they were able to verbalize things that they felt and put it all on the table, the kids refocused their attention on playing football. That was huge to me.

"There are no worries on this end. And more important, there are no worries for the kids. You would see if it they were worried, but they've rallied around each other. Everybody is confident in their jobs and abilities. That was reassuring to me and to the other coaches as well."

Blunt will retain his responsibilities as defensive coordinator. Filling in for Sexton on calling the offensive plays will be assistants Jamar Joel and Carl Winkler.

Phoebus' administration has put the players off-limits for interviews this week.

Continue reading here:
Coaching shake-up at Phoebus was preceded by fight in practice

Melbourne, Victoria (PRWEB) September 28, 2012

Ergomotion, an Australian business that specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of quality ergonomic furniture, features prominently in an article in the September 2012 issue of Australian monthly health and fitness magazine Mens Fitness. The article, Stand and Deliver, highlights ways in which office workers can combat the hazards of sedentary work routines.

The article examines height-adjustable desks (http://www.ergomotion.com.au/height-adjustable-desks.html) as a remedy for back pain caused by working in an environment which requires workers to remain seated for prolonged periods. It includes a review of Ergomotions Motiondesk2-DL11 electric-height adjustable desk by a Mens Fitness writer.

The Motiondesk2 , which can be personalised to each individuals standing and sitting heights, earned high praise. The writer noted that he experienced reduced back and neck discomfort within two weeks of switching to the desk and deemed the Motiondesk2 the best work tool {he has} ever used.

The article further explores the link between back pain, injuries and prolonged periods of sitting amongst Australias workforce and cites notable Australian and North American medical sources that detail significant health benefits of adding periods of standing to a typical workday. These health benefits include increased metabolic rate and longer expected lifespans.

About Ergomotion: Ergomotion is an Australian company that specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of superior quality ergonomic furniture for commercial and residential markets around the world. Ergomotions range of ergonomic office furniture includes aims to fit the environment of the office to the employee, improving productivity, health and safety and decreasing absenteeism and injuries.

For more information, please contact: Guy Topolansky Managing Director Ergomotion Ph: +61 3 9579 1454 Email: sales(at)ergomotion.com(dot)au

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Ergomotion Featured in National Magazine