A couple of local teens are learning the value of public service and personal development through a program offered by the federal government.

Caleb Vissier and Dallas Ernst are two of the teens who have gotten involved in the Congressional Award program who say the experience is a rewarding one.

Sherry Ernst was appointed to spearhead the program by Vicky Hartzler for the local district and said she wants to see more names from Missouri on the gold award list. In order to make that happen Ernst is asking schools, civic organizations and individual families to encourage youths between the ages of 13 and a half and 24 years-old to sign up.

The Congressional Award recognizes youth who finish certain amounts of hours in voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition/exploration at several different levels.

According to the program brochure, voluntary public service is providing service to others and the greater community at large. For example, Dallas Ernst spent the last year tutoring band students in music as part of his voluntary public service, while Caleb will be volunteering at a special needs camp towards the end of the summer.

Personal development is the time program participants spend developing their personal interests, social interests or employment skills. As part of his personal development time, Caleb Vissier said he volunteers his time with Backyard Bible Club, a Vacation Bible School type of experience that is held in people's backyards. Saxophone

The physical fitness portion of the program encourages youth to improve their quality of life through fitness activities. To fulfill the fitness requirements, Caleb trained to do a Volkslauf and Dallas has been setting goals to achieve while playing baseball.

In the area of expedition/exploration the program asks youth to undertake an outdoor, wilderness, or venture experience that is either historical, cultural, or environmental. Dallas said he was planning a kayaking trip on Lake Taneycomo for some of his hours in this area.

Sherry Ernst said she would like to point out that the boys are doing things they enjoy and getting rewarded for some things they would be doing anyway. Youth involved in things like 4H, Scouts, Sports, part-time jobs and leadership programs are already fulfilling a large part of the requirements for the Congressional Award.

Originally posted here:
Local teens work toward Congressional Award

Cal Tech and Penn also invest $3.7 million in Coursera, bringing the company's total funding to $22 million.

capl@washjeff.edu

Stanford University computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng believe that the future of education is in free, online classes--and at least 16 universities seem to agree.

Koller and Ng's online education platform, Coursera--founded in fall 2011--has signed on a dozen new university partners in its goal to democratize education. The list of universities that have pledged to offer free courses on Coursera now includes educational powerhouses California Institute of Technology, Duke University, Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, UC San Francisco, University of Edinburgh (in Scotland), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Toronto, University of Virginia, and University of Washington. The 12 new schools join existing members Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, and University of Pennsylvania.

In addition, CalTech and Penn invested $3.7 million in the company, bringing the company's round A financing to $22 million. Other investors are venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

In less than a year, Coursera says, more than 680,000 students from 190 countries have enrolled in 1.55 million courses. To date, Coursera has offered 43 courses--although the number of course offerings will likely increase significantly with the new schools now active on the platform.

The company does not yet have any revenue, Ng says. He says Coursera is exploring job placement partnerships with firms that are hiring as a potential way to monetize the company.

Another potential revenue opportunity, says Ng, will open up if universities that offer classes on Coursera start charging students for certificates of completion. Currently, Coursera classes are taught by university professors and cover the same course material as their classroom versions, but don't offer any accreditation or certification.

John McDermott is a business and culture reporter whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Playboy and on AOL.com. He recently moved from Chicago to Brooklyn, New York, to work for Inc.com.@J_M_McDermott

Continued here:
Education Start-up Adds 12 New University Partners

The University of Illinois will offer seven free online classes this fall through an online education company founded by two Stanford University professors, the company announced Tuesday.

The Urbana-Champaign campus will join Princeton, Stanford, the University of Michigan and other schools that have already partnered with Coursera to offer online classes.

Chancellor Phyllis Wise said Illinois is the only land-grant university on the list, which gives it expertise that other schools lack. A faculty committee helped consider the legal and academic issues involved in the agreement, Wise said.

"It also serves our land-grant mission, to share knowledge with people who can't come to campus," Wise said.

The fall courses will include organic chemistry and microeconomics. They won't count toward a degree.

Coursera courses are free, but universities may get some revenue from charging students $30 to $80 for a certificate showing they completed a course, said company co-founder Andrew Ng. The university also could reap revenue by selling the names of high-achieving students who agree to share that information with would-be employers, Ng said.

The Coursera agreement isn't the university's first foray into online education.

In 2008, the university launched its Global Campus virtual university with a bachelor's degree-completion program for registered nurses and graduate programs in education. The school scrapped the initiative after disappointing enrollment.

Nicholas Burbules, a U of I education professor who worked on the faculty group reviewing the issues associated with the Coursera agreement, said some questions remain unanswered, including whether faculty will develop the classes as part of their regular teaching duties.

Coursera has 680,000 students from 190 countries and more than 1.55 million course enrollments, according to Daphne Koller, a co-founder of the company.

Go here to read the rest:
U of Illinois to offer 7 free online courses

Scientists Create Menu For Mars Trip Planned in 2030s Scientists Create Menu For Mars Trip Planned in 2030s

Updated: Tuesday, July 17 2012 12:57 PM EDT2012-07-17 16:57:22 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, July 17 2012 12:42 PM EDT2012-07-17 16:42:34 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, July 17 2012 5:17 PM EDT2012-07-17 21:17:13 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, July 17 2012 4:38 PM EDT2012-07-17 20:38:03 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - About a month after its president briefly was fired in part for her perceived hesitation to embrace online education, the University of Virginia plans to offer free courses online to the masses. Online platform Coursera said Tuesday that U.Va. is among 12 institutions that plan to offer online courses for free under its Internet-based learning system. U.Va. said the agreement had been in the works for several months. President Teresa Sullivan said in a statement that the online classes will expand the Charlottesville school's role in global education while reinforcing its core mission of teaching, research and public service. Online higher-ed delivery was among topics that arose during Sullivan's ouster and subsequent reinstatement. Coursera's first four partner institutions were Princeton, University of Michigan, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

See the article here:
UVA To Offer Free Online Courses

The leadership crisis that rent the University of Virginia last month arose partly out of fear that other elite schools were moving into the vanguard of a coming digital revolution, and that U-Va. stood to be left behind.

That argument, advanced by the leader of the university governing board, turned out to be based on a faulty premise. Almost no one on campus knew at the time the breadth of the collective investment that U-Va. was already making in online education.

On Tuesday, the investment will yield a major payoff. The university is joining a prestigious online consortium led by two Stanford University professors. With one stroke, the Virginia public flagship heads toward the front of a potentially transformative movement to online learning on a global scale.

The universitys participation in Coursera, an initiative to offer free online courses to the masses, answers a criticism that loomed large in the recent power struggle in Charlottesville that began with the abrupt resignation of President Teresa Sullivan and ended with her reinstatement.

U-Va. Rector Helen Dragas, who leads the governing Board of Visitors, thought university leaders had ignored the Internet at their peril, like the music industry and media companies before them. In the months preceding her attempt to oust Sullivan, Dragas had read various articles about a coming online tsunami that would upend higher education, e-mailing one to a board colleague under the heading why we cant afford to wait.

As it turns out, university leaders werent waiting.

Officials from U-Va.s Darden School of Business first contacted Coursera in April, after learning that the Silicon Valley start-up had attracted venture capital and was expanding from Stanford to other top-tier universities, according to Milton Adams, the universitys vice provost for academic programs. A Darden delegation visited Coursera in early June, a few days before Sullivan resigned.

In the ensuing debate, Dragas singled out an apparent lack of online vision at U-Va., which, she reasoned, seemed to have no centralized approach for online education.

That critique gave new urgency to the Coursera partnership. Last week, university officials contacted Daphne Koller, co-founder of the initiative, and negotiations accelerated. U-Va. signed a contract over the weekend. Its participation will require no financial investment from U-Va., except for staff time, and yield no revenue for the university.

Founded in fall 2011, Coursera offers a platform for partner universities to experiment with a vast global audience. Students earn no college credit and the universities make no money. But many in higher education see future potential for both. More than 680,000 students from 190 countries have taken Coursera classes.

View original post here:
U-Va. takes major step in online education

By Stanford Report staff

Responding to a university-wide call for proposals last month, more than 40 individual faculty and small teams outlined plans for innovation in online learning, and around half from the schools of Humanities and Sciences, Education, Medicine and Engineering will receive full or partial funding.

The proposals for the coming academic year cover a wide range of topics including gender in science, solar cells, head and neck anatomy, public health and organizational analysis. The faculty will use the grants not only to experiment with new models of teaching but also to conduct research to determine what works best for them.

"These exciting proposals from across the university show that many members of the faculty are interested in trying new teaching methods and using technology to improve their classes," said John Mitchell, the Mary and Gordon Crary Family Professor in the School of Engineering and President John Hennessy's special assistant for educational technology. "It's been a grassroots phenomenon, which really reflects Stanford's tradition of innovation and creativity."

Those leading the online education initiative on campus stress that the multiple proposals emanating from the faculty, and the varied technological solutions being put forward to accommodate them, show how broad and multifaceted online education can be.

"The level of interest from the faculty has been building steadily," Mitchell said. "There is nothing top-down about this. In line with Stanford's longtime experience in experimentation, there is something of a start-up mood all across campus. And many faculty members really want to get their message out to potential students around the world."

University leaders also emphasize that though enormous technological and social transformations may revolutionize the higher education model that has been in place for centuries, the quality of a Stanford education and Stanford's ultimate mission will remain unchanged. The point is to improve learning on campus and expand access to a Stanford education beyond the Farm, they say.

Clearly there is widespread interest among the faculty in developing either entirely new courses or supplementing existing courses with online content. Most of the seed-grant applicants aim for a blended experience; they want to experiment with flipped classrooms where lectures are delivered online by adding videos and cool tools but personal contact is retained and augmented by working on problems together. They are not necessarily interested, at least not yet, in the massive open online courses (MOOCs) that have garnered so much publicity.

"Stanford can leverage the social aspect of these courses," Mitchell said. "Students really know how to use social networking platforms to spread new ideas and think collectively, so bringing this dimension into learning, and combining it with face-to-face interaction, can generate a lot of excitement."

Mitchell also leads the Presidential Advisory Committee on Technology in Higher Education, a body convened in February to provide guidance to the university. In particular, it is examining policy issues, content production and content delivery. Its report will be issued later this summer.

Excerpt from:
Stanford faculty is embracing online teaching opportunities

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Vantage Media joined key industry authorities at the first White House Online Summit on Education held June 19. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan opened the summit with a briefing, speaking to a range of higher education topics from K-12 to post-secondary education. The summit also provided a forum to hear feedback and to discuss how to optimize collaboration with the White House and online media.

A leader in online education marketing, Vantage Media's participation reinforces Vantage Media's definitive industry expertise and heightens its ability to better utilize proprietary media and content to guide aspiring students to research and make informed decisions about their higher education goals.

"Higher education is in a state of constant change. The way students attend class, and the reasons they go to school, are far different today than they were just a few years ago," said Cappy Pratt, Vantage Media's Senior Director, Education, who participated in the summit. "The ability to dialogue with the policy makers who are shaping the direction of education is critical to ensuring long term value is created for students, schools and the greater public," said Pratt. "We were honored to be invited and look forward to continuing to contribute to this important topic."

About Vantage Media

Vantage Media delivers qualified customers to leading brands in the Insurance, Education, and Home verticals on a pay-for performance basis. Driven by, and accountable to client ROI, Vantage Media focuses on quality online media to find customers where and when they are buying. In 2011 Vantage Media merged with BrokersWeb (www.brokersweb.com), the No. 1 fastest growing company in the Insurance Industry on the Inc. 500. For more information, please visit http://www.vantagemedia.com.

Originally posted here:
Vantage Media Participates in First White House Online Summit on Education

Coursera now offers roughly 100 free online courses from 16 colleges and universities.

Coursera, the online education service that offers courses from top-ranked universities such as Princeton University and Stanford University at no cost to the user, is adding to its list of schools and courses.

The education provider will be adding 12 universities and about 55 courses to bring its overall total to 16 schools offering approximately 100 free online classes.

[See other options for free online education programs.]

Among some of the new courses of note are more basic science offerings, which may attract students who fit the "younger educational bracket," notes Daphne Koller, a Coursera cofounder.

"The population that we've had previously on the platform has been a little bit more of the continuing education student, or [people] who already have a degree," Koller says. "A lot of our new courses are appealing also to people who are basically entering college students."

The 12 schools that will be joining Coursera, effective today, are Georgia Tech, Duke University, University of Washington, California Institute of Technology, Rice University, Johns Hopkins University, University of CaliforniaSan Francisco, University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign, University of Virginia, Scotland's University of Edinburgh, University of Toronto, and Switzerland's cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne(EPFL).

[Explore the best colleges and universities in the world.]

While Coursera has seen enrollments from 190 countries, the course offerings from Edinburgh, Toronto, and EPFL mark the first additions to the platform from international universities.

"Currently a lot of our content is in fact subtitled in different languages but this only takes you so far because students who really don't speak any English still struggle," Koller says. "To really reach the population that is the least educated in those countries to be able to offer content that is taught organically in a foreign language really expands our ability to teach the people who need it the most."

Read more:
More Universities Join Free Online Education Provider

Yoga Bites appears every four weeks.

Yogis say that we are only as young as our spine is supple, and theres a lot of truth to that.

I need not tell you about the rigors of life and the toll they take on your body, especially the spine. Yogis practice poses that decompress and lubricate the spine to create and maintain elasticity and durability, which is the pathway to a more youthful and energetic body.

A common warm-up and cool-down move in yoga practice is Cats Breath. This simple flowing sequence, or vinyasa, consists of two complimentary poses alternating fluidly back and forth.

Dont be fooled by the simplicity of this power-packed vinyasa; it brings heaps of treats to the party. The two poses that make up this flow are Cow (Bitilasana) and Cat (Marjariasana).

Lets begin on hands and knees, stacking shoulders over wrists and knees under hips with a neutral spine. If this hurts your knees, place a folded blanket, mat or towel under them. Spread your fingers and palms. Broaden the soles of your feet. You might like to smile.

Let the breath be the invitation to move. Inhale as you curl your heart and tail to the sky, dropping the belly toward the earth, like a contented purring cat. On the exhale curl the tail down and allow the spine to respond naturally to this wave as it ripples all the way up the spine.

Press whats down, down more, and feel the corresponding lift that creates at center as you draw your navel in toward the spine and round your back high like a Halloween cat. Allow all of your worldly concerns to exit right out the top of your head, down into the earth to be transmuted. Continue this spinal dance letting the breath lead. Move slowly and gently as you follow your breaths natural rhythms.

When arching in Cow keep the energy in your shoulders looping back and down, encouraging the shoulder blades to integrate fully onto your back ribs, which then lifts your heart and opens your chest from behind.

Press down into your fingertips while drawing energy up through the center of your palms, up into your shoulders, keeping the head of the arm bones engaged in their sockets. Hug muscle to bone. Practice this for three to five minutes a day this week, and observe the effects of this healing tonic for your three treasures, your body, mind and spirit.

See original here:
Yoga Bites: Cow and Cat: 2 poses can help to keep spine supple

VOL. 127 | NO. 138 | Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Booksellers at Laurelwood will host a life-coaching workshop with Cynthia Schulz Tuesday, July 17, at 6 p.m. at the bookstore, 387 Perkins Road Extended. Schulzs presentation is titled Failure is Never Final. Visit thebooksellersatlaurelwood.com.

Talk Shoppe will meet Wednesday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Hutchison School, 1740 Ridgeway Ave. Certified public accountant Jimmy Luke of Titan CPA will present New Tax Tips for Real Estate Investors. Cost is free. Visit talkshoppe.biz or call Jo Garner at 482-0354.

Sales & Marketing Society of the Mid-South will meet Wednesday, July 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Holiday Inn University of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich will speak. Cost for nonmembers is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Visit sms-midsouth.org.

Dixon Gallery and Gardens will host a Munch and Learn lecture Wednesday, July 18, from noon to 1 p.m. at Dixon, 4339 Park Ave. Cost is free with regular gallery admission.

Books for Kids will open its second Memphis library for at-risk children Wednesday, July 18, at 2 p.m. at the library, 2635 Spottswood Ave. Visit booksforkids.org.

Memphis Botanic Garden will hold Farmers Market at the Garden Wednesday, July 18, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 750 Cherry Road. Visit memphisbotanicgarden.com.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC will hold a breakfast briefing on Workplace Bullying Thursday, July 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Baker Donelson, 165 Madison Ave., suite 2000. Whitney Harmon and Joann Coston-Holloway will speak. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Cost is free. Email rsvp@bakerdonelson.com.

Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club and Littler Mendelson PC will present Is Your Handbook Legal? as part of its HR Lunch Bytes series Thursday, July 19, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Littler, 3725 Champion Hills Drive, suite 3000. The series is geared toward human resources executives and business owners. Cost is free. Email rsvp.lpbc@lpinsurance.com.

The Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division board of commissioners will meet Thursday, July 19, at 1:30 p.m. at the MLGW administration building, 220 S. Main St. Visit mlgw.com for an agenda.

Read the original here:
Events