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26-07-2012 17:01 It looks like Chris Cerf can finally drop the "acting" from his title as Education Commissioner. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously, 12 to 0, to approve his nomination. For more New Jersey news, visit NJ Today online at

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Cerf Likely to Be Confirmed As Education Chief - Video

Beginning this fall, Waynesburg University will offer an Online Teaching Concentration through its Master of Education (M.Ed.) Program.

The University has developed strategic curriculum to facilitate the development of the technology skills necessary for online teachers in order to better prepare students for teaching careers in the changing landscape of K-12 schools and higher education.

Todays teacher must be proficient in using the current tools of technology in order to engage students, whether they teach in an online format, hybrid or brick and mortar school, said Dr. Lawrence Kushner, Director of Graduate Programs in Education and Assistant Professor in the M.Ed. Program.

Research indicates phenomenal growth in student enrollment in both online schools and individual online courses. According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), there were an estimated 1,816,400 enrollments in distance-education courses in K-12 school districts in 2009 and 2010, almost all of which were online courses. This estimate does not include students enrolled in most full-time online schools, which included approximately 200,000 students in 2009 and 2010 and 250,000 students in 2010 and 2011. A decade ago, it was estimated that there were between 40,000 and 50,000 enrollments in K-12 online education.

The Concentration in Online Teaching can be earned as a five course stand-alone or as part of Waynesburgs general M.Ed. Program as well as the M.Ed. in Instructional Technology Program. Students wishing to pursue the 30-credit (ten courses) Master of Education can continue by completing five additional core courses. Seven additional courses are needed for the 36 credit (twelve courses) Master of Education in Instructional Technology and the Master of Education in Instructional Technology with a Specialist Certificate.

Curriculum designed for this program includes proven teaching methods for engaging students, the use of current technology and the introduction of new teaching practices, such as flipping the classroom.

The 15-credit concentration requires the completion of five specialized courses that will effectively prepare students for related and applicable careers. These courses include Contemporary Issues in Technology; Integrating Technology with Teaching and Learning; Introduction to Educational Technologies; Introduction to Multimedia; and Online Course Design and Instructional Strategies.

Students interested in the Online Teaching Concentration will be able to begin courses at Waynesburg Universitys Southpointe, Seven Fields or Monroeville campuses during the Fall I Session offered Aug. 27 through Oct. 20. The M.Ed. Program can be completed in two years or less. Courses are offered in eight-week accelerated sessions with year-round admission dates and meet one night per week, Monday through Thursday, from 6 to 10 p.m.

The purpose of the 30-credit M.Ed. Program is to afford students the opportunity to earn graduate credits toward their Instructional II Certification. Students have the ability to choose a concentration from three options that will prepare them to become master teachers and school leaders. In addition to the Online Teaching Concentration, concentrations in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership and Autism Spectrum Disorders are available.

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University offers new Online Teaching Concentration

ATLANTA, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --KMC On Demand, a leading provider of learning technologies and online education for the insurance claims industry, has developed and launched a customized online learning center to train members of the National Association of Catastrophe Adjusters (NACA).

"Ongoing education is a requirement for adjusters so they can perform to the best of their ability in the field," said Wanda Hogan, president of NACA. "This need has become more pronounced with the rapid deployment of technology and the many new adjusters entering the field. Our partnership with KMC On Demand allows us to serve NACA members with quality, accredited content at the best value."

The learning center provides access to more than 200 hours of training in adjusting topics that range from auto, property and casualty claims to workers compensation and fraud. It also offers access to the Property Technical Certification (PTC), which is a new, industry-specific certification program for property adjusters developed by KMC, a unit of Crawford & Company, in conjunction with an insurance industry advisory committee.

To promote continuing education to the NACA membership, KMC will offer its "Insurance Ethics" course for free to all members. This three-module course addresses ethical standards, examines insurance regulations and the applicability of state and federal insurance law to claims adjusting, and discusses the nature of the relationship between the insured and the insurer.

Courses in the center are approved by all states that require continuing education credits for adjusters, and KMC will apply for and track credits for those who use the learning center. Adjusters may purchase courses individually or access all courses for an annual fee.

In addition to the training courses, the site links to adjuster-relevant information such as social networks and blogs, state licensing requirements, career resources and job outlooks, and analytic reports on storms and earthquakes.

"The NACA learning center offers a one-stop shop that brings together relevant resources helpful to all CAT adjusters," said Douglas Dell, senior vice president of E-Learning Services for Crawford (NYSE: CRDA; CRDB), the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions. "We will continue to work with the association to promote continuing education for adjusters that will enhance standards for the industry and professional service delivery to the insured."

About KMC On Demand KMC On Demand is a unique platform that marries cutting-edge knowledge management technology with vetted and customized insurance courses and performance support information that adjusters can easily reference. KMC On Demand is part of Crawford Educational Services, a unit of Crawford & Company that is a full-service provider of classroom, online and blended educational opportunities for claims professionals.

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KMC On Demand(SM) Launches Custom Online Learning Center for NACA

Teachers, parents and other community members can now monitor the progress of statewide education through the Arizona Ready Education Report Card recently launched by Gov. Jan Brewer's office.

By using this new tool, those interested can visit http://www.arizonaready.com/content/index.html and take a look at where the state is below, meeting or exceeding its educational goals.

This online Education Report Card puts right at parents' fingertips some of the most critical information about the quality of our schools and the achievement of our students, said Brewer.

With this novel, user-friendly tool, parents and educators alike will be empowered to measure Arizona's education successes, monitor our shortcomings and, ultimately, help ensure our children are college and career-ready after graduation.

The online charts show the state's progress in pre-kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, post-secondary and workforce areas.

A review of the data indicates, while there remains much work to be done, Arizona has made improvements in vital education areas, reported state officials.

For example, data shows that Arizona eighth-grade students showed improvement on the National Assessment of Educational Programs in 2011 compared with previous years. It also shows that the amount of third-grade students meeting the state reading standards has also gradually increased.

Data can be pinpointed by the user to specific counties, years, grade levels and subject areas.

As someone deeply involved in education reform, I am very pleased to have this tool available, said Craig Barrett, chairman of the Arizona Ready Education Council. The ability to drill down into our goals and access detailed information will enable the council to make more thoughtful and deliberate recommendations that can drive meaningful change. This will prove invaluable to education in the state of Arizona.

Arizona Ready is an education reform plan developed by Brewer, the Arizona Department of Education and multiple education stakeholders in 2010 and implemented in 2011. Goals set through the plan required students, teachers and administrators to be held to a higher level of expectation. Upcoming reforms include the implementation of Arizona's Common Core Standards as well as a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.

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Online ‘report card’ monitors state education

UC Berkeley announced Tuesday that it is joining the new online education website founded by Harvard and MIT that offers free, not-for-credit courses to a worldwide audience. The addition of UC Berkeley will give edX its first expansion into a prestigious public university and a foothold on the West Coast away from its Cambridge, Mass., base, officials said.

UC Berkeley will offer two courses, one in software engineering and the other in artificial intelligence, on the edX platform in the fall. Those classes will closely follow the on-campus versions, although without the personal contact with professors and the in-depth research projects that UC students usually do, professors said. Five other courses will be offered by Harvard University and MIT in such topics as solid state chemistry and computer science.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau said the not-for-profit, non-commercial edX platform, which has an initial $60 million in funding from Harvard and MIT plus other donations, matches his school's "mission and values."

Birgeneau said he did not think joining edX would undercut the University of California system's own early steps into online education because those concentrate on for-credit courses for tuition-paying UC students, not the worldwide audience that edX seeks. The UC campus, which has been feeling the strains of the state budget woes, is not contributing any money to edX but instead will allow it to use some open source technology that UC Berkeley professors have developed and already use for parts of their courses, officials said.

Birgeneau said that UC Berkeley professors could still link their courses to Coursera, a for-profit rival to edX that was founded by two Stanford University professors. Stanford offers courses on Coursera, as do Princeton University, the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

Although it won't offer college credits, the edX website is expected to give certificates to students who complete courses and to charge for some of those certificates in the future. Birgeneau said that some California community colleges later may use UC Berkeley's edX courses as part of their regular campus classes that would give students credits to transfer to a UC.

Anant Agarwal, president of edX, said that he was delighted UC Berkeley was joining and that he hoped to announce more partner schools in the near future.

"UC Berkeley is an extraordinary public institution known not only for its academic excellence but also for its innovativeness. With this collaboration, edX is now positioned to improve education more rapidly both online and on-campus worldwide," Agarwal, an MIT computer science expert, said in a statement.

larry.gordon@latimes.com

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UC Berkeley to offer free online classes through edX

UC Berkeley announced Tuesday that it is joining the new online education platform founded by Harvard and MIT that offers free but not-for-credit courses to a worldwide audience. The addition of UC Berkeley will give the edX online effort its first expansion into a prestigious public university and a foothold on the West Coast away from its Cambridge, Mass. base, officials said.

UC Berkeley will offer two courses, one in software engineering and the other in artificial intelligence, on the edX site in the fall. Those classes will closely follow the on-campus versions although without the personal contact with professors and the in-depth research projects UC students usually do, professors said. An additional five courses will be offered by Harvard and MIT in such topics as solid-state chemistry and computer science.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau said the nonprofit, noncommercial edX platform, which has an initial $60 million in funding from Harvard and MIT plus other donations, matches his schools mission and values.

Birgeneau said that UC Berkeley professors could still link their courses to Coursera, a for-profit rival to edX that was founded by two Stanford professors. Stanford University offers courses on Coursera, as do Princeton, the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

Though it wont offer college credits, the edX website is expected to give certificates to people who complete courses and to charge for some of those certificates in the future. Birgeneau said that some California community colleges later may use UC Berkeleys edX courses as part of their regular campus classes that would earn students credits to transfer to a UC.

Anant Agarwal, president of edX, said he was delighted that UC Berkeley was joining and said he hoped to announce more partner schools in the near future. UC Berkeley is an extraordinary public institution known not only for its academic excellence but also for its innovativeness. With this collaboration, edX is now positioned to improve education more rapidly both online and on-campus worldwide, Agarwal, an MIT computer science expert, said in a statement.

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UC Berkeley joins online education platform of Harvard and MIT

A recent study shows similar outcomes between traditional learning and interactive online learning.

Critics of online learning claim that students are exposed to an inferior education when compared to traditional in-class instruction, but a recent study from Ithaka S+R, a strategic consulting and research nonprofit, questions this notion.

The report, "Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from Randomized Trials," notes that students who utilize interactive online learningor hybrid learningproduce equivalent, or better, results than students participating in face-to-face education.

[See why some college professors fear the growth of online education.]

Monitoring 605 college students taking the same introductory statistics course at six public universitiesincluding the University at AlbanySUNY, SUNY Institute of TechnologyUtica/Rome, the University of MarylandBaltimore County, Towson University, CUNYBaruch College, and CUNYCity Collegeduring fall 2011, researchers split the students into two groups. One group completed the course in a traditional format, while the second group completed an online component complemented with an hour of in-class instruction each week.

Students were asked to complete a series of tests before and after the course, and researchers found that "hybrid-format students did perform slightly better than traditional format students" on outcomes including final exam scores and overall course pass rates, according to the report.

[Learn why blending online and in-class instruction may be most effective.]

The report's authors note that while the students who participated in the hybrid group performed marginally better than students in the traditional group overall, the differences in learning outcomes are not "statistically significant" between the two groups. And although the researchers were able to successfully randomize students in both groups, based on factors including age, gender, ethnicity, academic background, and family income, they could not control for differences in teacher quality.

Students learn more from active discussions than from traditional lectures, and they need instructors who can engage them in the material, notes Diane Johnson, assistant director of faculty services at the Center for Online Learning at Florida's St. Leo University, who has spent more than 12 years teaching online, traditional, and hybrid courses.

"Teacher quality is still a very important part of success in an online course, but so, too, is the course design," Johnson says. "Despite the delivery mechanism of the class, faculty members need to show students they care and that they aren't just a number. The ones that do this will help students to learn."

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Study: Online Learning Outcomes Similar to Classroom Results

7/24/20123:35 AM

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The university has developed strategic curriculum to facilitate the development of the technology skills necessary for online teachers in order to better prepare students for teaching careers in the changing landscape of K-12 schools and higher education.

Todays teacher must be proficient in using the current tools of technology in order to engage students, whether they teach in an online format, hybrid or brick and mortar school, said Dr. Lawrence Kushner, director of graduate programs in education and assistant professor in the M.Ed. Program.

Research indicates phenomenal growth in student enrollment in both online schools and individual online courses. According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), there were an estimated 1,816,400 enrollments in distance-education courses in K-12 school districts in 2009 and 2010, almost all of which were online courses. This estimate does not include students enrolled in most full-time online schools, which included approximately 200,000 students in 2009 and 2010 and 250,000 students in 2010 and 2011. A decade ago, it was estimated that there were between 40,000 and 50,000 enrollments in K-12 online education.

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Curriculum designed for this program includes proven teaching methods for engaging students, the use of current technology and the introduction of new teaching practices, such as flipping the classroom.

The 15-credit concentration requires the completion of five specialized courses that will effectively prepare students for related and applicable careers.

These courses include contemporary issues in technology; integrating technology with teaching and learning; introduction to educational technologies; introduction to multimedia; and online course design and instructional strategies.

Students interested in the Online Teaching Concentration will be able to begin courses at the universitys Southpointe, Seven Fields or Monroeville campuses during the fall I session offered Aug. 27 through Oct. 20. The M.Ed. program can be completed in two years or less. Courses are offered in eight-week accelerated sessions with year-round admission dates and meet one night per week, from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

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University to offer online teaching focus

Ranking list of 114 best online college masters degrees for educators

BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Which universities offer the best online learning deals for educators?

GetEducated.com, a research firm that publishes online university ranking and rating lists, analyzed costs at 129 regionally accredited education schools to come up with an authentic data-driven list of the 114 best buys in online degrees for professionals in education careers.

According to the data collected by Get Educated, Lamar University (TX) ranks as the #1 best school in the USA for affordable online degrees. The cost of an online education masters at Lamar, a public university, is only $6,450. Thats more than $10,000 less than the $16,731 average cost for an online education degree. The University of Wyoming (WY) offers the least expensive online learning graduate degrees for both in-state and out-of-state educators at about $7,000 per degree.

Educators concerned about college affordability can access GetEducateds Best Buy ranking list of the 114 most affordable online education degrees. Online degrees surveyed include masters in education, teaching, instructional technology, educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, and special education.

Educators can review, rate and compare online degreesby cost, reputation, and student reviews by using the free consumer comparison tools at GetEducated.com.

About: Founded in 1989, GetEducated.com publishes reviews and rankings of the best online colleges in America for college affordability, reputation, and online student ratings.

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Online Learning Rankings Help Educators Find Affordable Online College Degrees

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Capella Education Company (CPLA), a provider of online post-secondary education, primarily through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, today announced financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2012.

Leading business indicators are strengthening, said Kevin Gilligan, chairman and chief executive officer. While the market environment remains challenging, we have improved our execution as we continue to gain experience in our new marketing and learner success strategies, continued Gilligan. Capella has a reputation for quality online academic programs, a track record of regulatory compliance and demonstrated career outcomes for our graduates. This is a strong foundation as we build Capella for long-term sustainable growth.

For the three months ended June 30, 2012:

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2012:

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of June 30, 2012, the Company had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $123.7 million, compared to $127.0 million at Dec. 31, 2011, and no debt for the same periods.

Cash flow from operations for the six months ended June 30, 2012 was $35.6 million compared to $45.0 million in the same period a year ago.

Share Repurchase

The Company repurchased approximately 700,000 shares of Capella stock for total consideration of $25.5 million during the six-month period ended June 30, 2012.In the second quarter 2012, the Company repurchased approximately 390,000 shares of Capella stock for total consideration of $12.5 million. The remaining authorization as of the end of the second quarter was $34.2 million.

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Capella Education Company Reports Second Quarter 2012 Results