Hatching entrepreneurial success
Posted: September 15, 2012 at 1:12 am
14 September 2012 Last updated at 10:26 ET By Gillian Sharpe BBC Scotland News
In a large open plan office in a building in the Gorbals in Glasgow, small groups of people or individuals are hard at work.
There is a quiet buzz about the place. Some are on the phone, others looking at papers or their computer, some chatting.
These fledgling businesses have already made it through a selection process to join those already taking part in the Entrepreneurial Spark business start-up accelerator programme.
It is designed to help businesses get up and running successfully and, as their website puts it, "to drive entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviours".
This whole room is known as the hatchery, the businesses as chicklets, the aim to help them fly the coop.
Over the next few months, BBC Scotland will be following some of these businesses on their journey, through the highs and lows of setting up your own.
A contemporary country band might seem like a rather unusual business start-up but Paul Bain and Claire McArthur, who perform together as Raintown, are doing just that.
Both are very aware that the music business is changing.
"This is a whole new music business landscape," Paul tells me.
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Hatching entrepreneurial success
Penn State finds success on 4th down, despite skid
Posted: at 1:12 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Fourth-and-1 at midfield on the game's opening drive, and Penn State is going for it.
The previous regime might have played it safe in such a situation and punted to play for field position. Most other coaches probably would, too.
But these are Bill O'Brien's Nittany Lions now.
''So once we get really close to the 50, I'm pretty much not going to punt it,'' the coach said this week. ''I'm just going to tell you that.''
Talk about a new era at Penn State.
So many changes have engulfed the program hit by scandal and strict NCAA sanctions, and one of the biggest is the coach and his strategy. O'Brien arrived in January from the New England Patriots, where he coordinated a high-octane offense, and ever so slowly, he is trying to employ the same aggressive approach at Penn State.
The results so far have been so-so. Navy (0-1) visits Beaver Stadium on Saturday, with Penn State hoping to avoid its first season-opening three-game slide since it was 0-4 in 2001.
The offense is young or inexperienced at most of the skill positions. The execution has been sporadic in the red zone. But there's no doubt that the play-calling has been spiced up, and that's all O'Brien.
The Nittany Lions converted two fourth-and-1 plays in the opening drive last week against Virginia, leading to Kyle Carter's 8-yard touchdown reception for a 7-0 lead.
Later, linebacker Glenn Carson ran for 19 yards and a first down on a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from the Penn State 42. And backup quarterback Steven Bench ran for 15 on a fourth-and-3 from the 50 for another first down later in the second quarter.
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Penn State finds success on 4th down, despite skid
Extra: Is online education a threat to teachers? – Video
Posted: at 1:10 am
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Extra: Is online education a threat to teachers? - Video
Google and Khan Academy Launch Search for Top Online Educators
Posted: at 1:10 am
Earlier this week we told you about Google's new Course Builder open source software designed to help independent educators create their own online curriculums. Now Google is taking its commitment to online education a bit further by teaming up with Khan Academy to launch Next EDU Gurus, a search for emerging online education superstars.
What makes the Next EDU Guru program unique is that it focuses on an educator's ability to leverage video to deliver their messages to students. Over the course of the next two weeks, a panel consisting of education and video experts from Google and Khan Academy will review entrants who apply to the program. Ten winners will be flown to San Francisco to receive further training and support from YouTube and Khan Academy staff, as well as a $1,000 B&H gift card to be used for video production equipment.
A look at the program's video message offers a clear signal to would-be entrants that Next EDU Guru is looking for individuals who know how to creatively educate through entertainment and story telling rather than simply posting dry instructional videos online.
In a post announcing the program YouTube Education team member Angela Lin reinforced this focus on creativity.
"Do you set historical events to music? Doodle your geometry? Sing your Shakespeare? We're looking for content creators who create all kinds of curriculum-related videos, from grammar to geography, history to histograms. You can submit any style of video as long as its educational and family-friendlyjust bear in mind that we're looking for content creators who can take people on a journey through a topic," she wrote.
The only apparent down side of the program is that it is currently limited to residents from English-speaking countries including the U.S., Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., and Canada (excluding residents of Quebec). Winners flown out to the three-day workshop, scheduled for Oct. 17-19, will receive a daily per diem, meals, and the possibility of being granted a Khan Academy fellowship.
Although the program will certainly give the online education movement a boost, it's also a way for Google to bolster its video advertising initiativesYouTube will only consider entrants who already have monetization enabled for at least half of all videos in their channel archive on YouTube. Those interested in trying their hand at becoming a part of online education history don't have long to prepare, the deadline for applications is Oct. 1.
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Google and Khan Academy Launch Search for Top Online Educators
Stanford's professional schools commit to online learning
Posted: at 1:10 am
By Stanford Report staff
From left, Peter DeMarzo, business, Bernd Girod, engineering, and Charles Prober, medicine.
Three of Stanford's schools engineering, medicine and business have announced appointments of associate deans to lead their respective online education initiatives. The appointments will complement the university's continuing commitment to online learning.
Bernd Girod, professor of electrical engineering and a key figure in the type of multimedia technology that has revolutionized online education, has been named to the new position of senior associate dean for online learning and professional development in the School of Engineering.
"Bernd's appointment recognizes the rapidly growing importance of online learning in engineering education," said Dean James D. Plummer, who announced Girod's appointment.
At the School of Medicine, Charles Prober, senior associate dean for medical education, will take the lead in the school's commitment to interactive education. A professor of pediatrics, microbiology and immunology, Prober is a champion of what he calls interactive education, or the classroom experience that is made possible once lectures are put on video. He also is the driving force behind Stanford Medicine Interactive Learning Initiatives, which will guide the Medical School toward a new era in medical pedagogy.
"I have yet to meet a student who doesn't think classroom education has to change," Prober said. "Pushing facts at people isn't learning. The learning is the embedding of the facts to create rich, interactive sessions." Prober and a team of education technology specialists, physicians, faculty members and students are working to adapt the existing medical curriculum to new formats and to explore partnerships with other institutions of medical learning.
At the Graduate School of Business (GSB), meanwhile, Dean Garth Saloner appointed Peter DeMarzo, senior associate dean for academic affairs, to lead the initiative there. Like his colleagues at the other schools, DeMarzo, the Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, is working with faculty to re-envision their courses with a full suite of educational technology solutions. At the Business School, these include a new Real-Time Analysis and Investment Lab (RAIL), which allows students to work with market data in real time.
For the time being, GSB online courses are aimed at enrolled students, but the school aspires to share modules of management content with a broader audience in the future, Saloner said.
"The GSB provides a personalized, transformational experience for our students," said Saloner. "Educational technology is a crucial factor in our ability to further deepen the learning that happens here on campus. It will also enable us to reach high-potential and high-achieving people around the world, many of whom would not otherwise have the opportunity to study under GSB faculty on campus."
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Stanford's professional schools commit to online learning
WeVideo Offers Deep Discounts to Education
Posted: at 1:10 am
PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Sep 14, 2012) - WeVideo (www.WeVideo.com), the world's most powerful and easy-to-use online video editing platform, today announced a new line-up of education pricing plans and discounts for its service, further underlining its leadership in the education market. WeVideo's collaborative video-editing technology has its roots in the education market in Europe and has seen rapid adoption in classrooms across the U.S. over the last year as a significant number of teachers embrace the drag-and-drop system to incorporate video in their classrooms.
"In the past year, we've seen several hundred thousand educators and students use WeVideo's online, collaborative video editing software to bring dynamic storytelling into the classroom," said Jostein Svendsen, WeVideo's CEO. "Every day we are amazed to hear about the creative ways educators are using WeVideo to enhance the learning environment."
Examples of exciting ways educators are putting WeVideo to use include:
Michael J. Curtin, Director of Curriculum and Instructional Technology at Edgemont Union Free School District, NY, said: "For a long time, we've understood that producing video is a highly engaging activity that helps students to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. In recent years, the availability of inexpensive video cameras and video-enabled cell phones has helped to make it easier for students to capture video at the front end of the process. Unfortunately, the cost and complexity of desktop video editing software have prevented many schools, including ours, from rolling it out to teachers and students on a wide scale. Additionally, storing and sharing the large files associated with video editing has made it difficult to implement and manage traditional video editing solutions on school networks. An inexpensive, web-based solution that can be accessed from school or home, supports collaborative editing, and relegates file storage to the cloud is exactly what we have been looking for."
Understanding that budgets are tight and school districts are watching every penny, WeVideo is introducing a free offering that will get teachers and students creating and exporting up to 15 minutes of videos per month and comes with 5 GB of storage. If more usage is needed, WeVideo has introduced heavily discounted subscriptions of its Plus version which offers 60 minutes of 720p HD video exports per month and 10 GB of storage, for $19.99 per year (regular price is $49.99 per year); and its Ultra version which offers 120 minutes of 720p HD video exports per month and 20 GB of storage at $29.99 per year (regular price is $99.99 per year). The price drops even further for volume licenses for a class, school or district.
"Today's students have grown up with technology, and video remains the most engaging medium for them," said Svendsen. "We want to enable them to use their skills in the classroom by removing any price barriers that are limiting schools from access to collaborative video editing."
WeVideo is also available on Google ChromeBooks as part of a partnership between Google and select software providers, and is included in the Google Back to School Collection available on theGoogle Chrome Web Store.
More information on WeVideo is available at http://www.wevideo.com. For volume license pricing inquiries, please contactsales@wevideo.com.
About WeVideo Based in Palo Alto, CA, WeVideo eliminates the cost and complexity of online video creation with powerful, easy to use web-based tools. Founded in 2011, WeVideo is built upon market-proven technology that originated in Scandinavia. The company raised $19.2M in a series A funding round in April 2012. WeVideo is available in any browser or as an integrated video editor within YouTube and Google Drive. To learn more, please visit http://www.wevideo.com.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
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WeVideo Offers Deep Discounts to Education
N.J. lawmakers study up on online education
Posted: at 1:10 am
New Jersey legislators got a crash course in online education this week, from virtual schools to "blended" ones, and how far other states and countries have gone with the technology.
The committee held the special session Wednesday to discuss the various models, as the Christie administration has moved ahead in approving charter schools employing the technology in levels not seen before in the state.
Two charter schools have been approved that would be entirely online, with students taking class from home or other remote locations. They have been postponed a year.
Two other "blended" schools, which opened this fall in Newark, have students come to a school every day and work with teachers both face-to-face and online.
The arrival of the new schools has sparked considerable debate among education and community advocates, with the state's dominant teachers union legally challenging the administration on the schools already approved.
This caught the legislators' attention once again and prompted the joint committee's plans for four hearings to explore the subject further.
The next hearing is scheduled on Nov. 28 to hear from the state's major education organizations. Two more will be held next year.
On Wednesday, legislators invited three national advocates who brought perspective, pointing out that New Jersey is in the clear minority in not providing programs dedicated to the online technologies.
Thirty states have some form of virtual or blended programs, including Florida, Michigan, and Alabama.
Advocates pointed to the benefits for at least some students, saying it provides access and opportunity for those who struggle to find it in traditional schools.
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Yoga studio may head to downtown Batavia
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 6:17 am
BATAVIA Aldermen hope a proposed yoga studio will add to the revitalization of downtown Batavia.
The City Councils Community Development Committee on Tuesday recommended approval of a $25,000 downtown improvement grant for Kay Eck of Wheaton, who wants to open a yoga studio in the building at 5 and 7 N. River St. The full City Council is set to vote on the recommendation at its meeting Monday.
Eck wants to renovate a 2,500-square-foot space into a retail area and yoga studio. The project is expected to cost $121,251.
The City Council in 2009 established the downtown improvement grant program, which provides building owners with up to 50 percent of actual improvement costs.
The project also includes a coffee/tea bar. Eck said she eventually wants to open a full cafe. She also will sell yoga clothing and activewear.
Seventh Ward Alderman Dave Brown, chairman of the Community Development Committee, sees the yoga studio as generating interest in the downtown and bringing people to the area.
Hopefully, they will help out other businesses on the street, like The Rhino Room, Brown said of the downtown restaurant. It will bring people to the downtown. Thats why I am in favor of it.
Eck said she wants to tap into the growing interest in yoga. Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke said he thought a yoga studio will be a good fit for the downtown.
I appreciate the applicant for wanting to come into this community and make an investment, Schielke said.
First Ward Alderman Michael OBrien noted Eck is coming in with the proposal before the streetscape improvements on North River Street are complete. The street is set to reopen to pedestrians and cars Oct. 19.
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Yoga studio may head to downtown Batavia
Yoga classes survive at Flagstaff High
Posted: at 6:17 am
Jennie Pearl calls out instructions to her 17 high school yoga students, "... plank pose, inhale, cobra, exhale, down dog ..."
The students are going through the "sun salutation," a series of yoga poses. In their T-shirts, tights and sweats, students stretched out parallel to the ground, then looked up.
Pearl watches their movements as she calls out poses, occasionally asking them to reach further.
This was the beginning of one of two Flagstaff High School's yoga classes.
Pearl's FHS yoga classes were set to be cut from this school year's class schedule. When Sinagua was still a high school, all three high schools had yoga classes. Last year, Pearl had 120 students in her FHS classes, with a waiting list.
The cuts were for budgetary reasons, said FHS Principal Tony Cullen. In order to keep her classes going, Pearl, with help from the community, started fundraising.
They raised $6,000 -- enough to hold two classes.
"I don't know if this has been done before," Pearl said. "Hopefully, this inspires people: If it doesn't go your way, what can you do?"
GONG MEDITATIONS
Community members told Pearl they wished they had yoga in high school when they were growing up. That was part of the reason fundraising was successful.
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Yoga classes survive at Flagstaff High
New Book Reveals Utilizing Wisdom of Ancient Practices Improves Professional Performance
Posted: September 13, 2012 at 10:15 pm
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Performance coach Erin Owen; who has consulted with and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and private individuals from more than 10 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia; has released her first book: Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize: The Conscious Entrepreneur's Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Time and Energy.
Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize shares the Eastern-inspired performance techniques Owen uses with private clients, all aimed at helping self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs achieve more by doing less. The wisdom of ancient practices such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yoga, Reiki, Ayurveda, and Buddhism informs her work and helps her clients eliminate sources of stress and reenergize their personal and professional lives.
By applying the principles of Yin and Yang to our Western lives, Owen shows how to:
With an MBA and over a decade as a leadership and organizational consultant, Owen works with professionals to align their thoughts and action with a greater sense of purpose, ease, and confidence. "Working harder is not the answer," she notes. "The professionals I work with are spending extraordinary amounts of time and the energy, expecting to be rewarded with better results, but they're getting diminishing returns. That burning-the-candle-at-both-ends mentality is old school. You end up overworked and undernourished, wondering where the excitement disappeared to."
Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize guides the reader through seven techniques ranging from quick meditation and yoga-based exercises to nutrition and time management. Her simple, flexible, portable, and free approaches, with an emphasis on becoming a "single-tasker," are supported by additional materials, including guided audio meditations, recipes, and organizational principles on her website (www.yourperformancebreakthrough.com).
"The new way of working," explains Owen, "is to be really clear about the life you want to live, take care of yourself first and then and only then build your business around that. In this way, you'll actually see much greater productivity and performance in your business and be able to reach your goals of making an incredible impact on the world, not to mention living a life that makes it all worth it."
About Erin Owen
Erin Owen, MBA, has been coaching professionals to achieve greater personal performance since 2003. With a background in Chinese Studies, holistic health (including alternative nutrition), Reiki, Mind/Body/Spirit Medicine, Comparative Eastern Religions and Philosophy,Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, Ayurveda, and Yoga, her unique expertise is in applying the wisdom of ancient Eastern practices to the Western idea of performance.
Media contact:
Erin Owen Email: info@yourperformancebreakthrough.com Telephone: 215-771-8968 Website: http://www.yourperformancebreakthrough.com
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New Book Reveals Utilizing Wisdom of Ancient Practices Improves Professional Performance