Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck5VHUh8Olg

15-05-2012 18:22 Teenagers in Ohio would be able to take driver's education courses online instead of in classrooms under a proposed change being considered by lawmakers.

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Ohio Considers Letting Teens Do Driver's Ed Work Online - Video

NEW YORK and BALTIMORE, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Starting in the 2012-2013 school year, The Juilliard School and Connections Education are launching JUILLIARD eLEARNING, for K-12 students and educators everywhere. Juilliard eLearning is the world-famous conservatory's first-ever group of online courses, presenting an exciting new option for teaching music and related courses, with distribution and implementation by leading provider of online learning solutions, Connections Education, part of the global education company, Pearson.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120516/SF07944LOGO-a)

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Juilliard eLearning will be developed to the same high standards educators have come to expect of both partners. The Juilliard School (www.juilliard.edu), the nation's pre-eminent school for performing arts education, and Connections Education (www.ConnectionsEducation.com), will develop and deliver innovative online courses and resources for K-12 educators and students helping to extend Juilliardstructured learning into homes and classrooms; anywhere there is an Internet connection. Juilliard eLearning links Juilliard's acknowledged history of excellence in performing arts education and Connections Education's expertise in high-quality online learning.

The program will launch to an already-established national audience. Connections Education will offer the new arts education courses to the 40,000+ K-12 students enrolled in its national network of Connections Academy virtual public schools; it will also market the courses to educational institutions and directly to K-12 students and adult, lifelong learners.

"Providing exemplary arts education programs to youth and the community has always been central to our mission at The Juilliard School," said Joseph W. Polisi, President of The Juilliard School. "Our partnership with Connections Education will greatly enhance our ability to fulfill this mission. Juilliard eLearning will expand K-12 educators' and students' access to Juilliard performing arts educational content, delivered via the highest quality e-learning courses and materials that have become the hallmark of Connections Education over the past decade."

Educators and e-learning experts from Connections Education will collaborate with Juilliard's noted faculty, teaching artists and designated alumni to develop and manage the content of Juilliard eLearning courses.

The first courses to be offered by Juilliard eLearning in the 2012-2013 school year include Elementary, Middle and High School Music, and will be constructed around and aligned to the National Standards. In subsequent years, courses such as music theory, music history, drama history, or dance history, may expand the Juilliard eLearning offerings. Synchronous virtual music instruction courses and virtual "master classes" are also being considered.

Chief Education Officer for Connections Education, Steve Guttentag commented, "The Juilliard School is widely recognized as the quality standard bearer for performing arts education, so we're really honored to be Juilliard's partner for this initiative and to develop courses together for students in grades K-12."

Juilliard eLearning courses and learning materials will feature exclusive music, video, animations and other immersive content, plus synchronous and a-synchronous learning opportunities from both Juilliard's experts and Connections Education's certified teachers.

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The Juilliard School and Connections Education Launch Juilliard eLearning, The Conservatory's First-ever Online Courses

12/03/2011 -- Amy Sparks and daughter Samantha, 5 watch Patrick Sparks, 8 work on an online English lesson at the Sparks home Thu, Dec. 1, 2011. (Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun Staff) (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun / May 16, 2012)

9:57 a.m. EDT, May 16, 2012

Online education is a hot trend at the moment. But within that trend, there's an increasingly hotter sub-trend: online music education.

Baltimore's Connections Academy, one of the bigger players in online K-12 education in the country, today announced that it's partnering with the Juilliard School in New York City to deliver online music education to pre-college students beginning this fall.

The program is called Juilliard E-Learning.

[My observation: This is a heckuva smart move by Juilliard, to extend its brand online to youngsters in K-12. I wonder if Baltimore's Peabody Institute would consider doing something like this?]

Connections operates its own network of private virtual schools around the country, and it also runs online education programs for public school systems. (I profiled the company in December.)

Connections and Juilliard will offer the online music education courses to the 40,000-plus students in its network. But it will also market the courses directly to students and educational institutions interested in partaking in an online Juilliard education experience, the company said in a news release today.

Connections and Juilliard will develop courses at first based on the national standards in elementary, middle and high school music. And Juilliard has left open the possibility that more courses and features will be added in coming years, such as music theory, music history, drama history, or dance history. And live online music lessons and virtual "master classes" could come to the platform too.

Connections is a growing Baltimore company that was bought for $400 million last year by Pearson Plc, a British publishing conglomerate.

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Juilliard and Connections Academy partner for online learning

12/03/2011 -- Amy Sparks and daughter Samantha, 5 watch Patrick Sparks, 8 work on an online English lesson at the Sparks home Thu, Dec. 1, 2011. (Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun Staff) (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun / May 16, 2012)

9:57 a.m. EDT, May 16, 2012

Online education is a hot trend at the moment. But within that trend, there's an increasingly hotter sub-trend: online music education.

Baltimore's Connections Academy, one of the bigger players in online K-12 education in the country, today announced that it's partnering with the Juilliard School in New York City to deliver online music education to pre-college students beginning this fall.

The program is called Juilliard E-Learning.

[My observation: This is a heckuva smart move by Juilliard, to extend its brand online to youngsters in K-12. I wonder if Baltimore's Peabody Institute would consider doing something like this?]

Connections operates its own network of private virtual schools around the country, and it also runs online education programs for public school systems. (I profiled the company in December.)

Connections and Juilliard will offer the online music education courses to the 40,000-plus students in its network. But it will also market the courses directly to students and educational institutions interested in partaking in an online Juilliard education experience, the company said in a news release today.

Connections and Juilliard will develop courses at first based on the national standards in elementary, middle and high school music. And Juilliard has left open the possibility that more courses and features will be added in coming years, such as music theory, music history, drama history, or dance history. And live online music lessons and virtual "master classes" could come to the platform too.

Connections is a growing Baltimore company that was bought for $400 million last year by Pearson Plc, a British publishing conglomerate.

See original here:
Juilliard, Connections Academy partner for online learning

BEIJING, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ --China Distance Education Holdings Limited (DL) ("CDEL", or the "Company"), a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education, reported today its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2012 ended March 31, 2012.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2012 Business and Financial Highlights:

Commenting on the results, Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are very pleased to report another quarter of healthy top- and bottom-line growth, building on the momentum we have gained in recent quarters.Supported by steady enrollment growth across our core online education courses and increasing pricing power, revenue for the quarter again exceeded guidance.Our results demonstrate the robust underlying demand for high quality online training and educational services and the growing strength of our brand power in China's education market.We are also pleased to see that our recent initiatives, including our newly launched high definition courseware and mobile learning platform, are helping to drive incremental enrollment growth across our course offerings, while also supporting growth in average student payments.These new services highlight our innovative and student-focused approach which we believe will help to further strengthen our industry leading position for years to come.

"While overall market conditions and student demand remain healthy, some major Accounting Professional Qualification Examination, or 'APQE', originally scheduled for May have been delayed to October. At the same time we are still awaiting the release of the official policy on this year's CPA exams, including the exam dates, registration timeline and text books. The release of this information is already more than six weeks behind the usual schedule.Consequently, we anticipate a shift in the timing of enrollments and revenue recognition for APQE and CPA exams. Specifically, a significant portion of APQE revenue that we had expected to record in the third fiscal quarter will shift into next fiscal year, and post-exam APQE enrollment will also be delayed until next fiscal year. The delayed release of CPA exam policy for this year may also affect both the timing and the amount of revenue we may earn in the remainder of this fiscal year. While the delayed timing of these exams will impact our results, we believe that these regulatory changes are a one-time event and such changes will only affect the timing of the revenue contribution related to these exams.

"We believe that the continuing strength of our other accounting and non-accounting courses will help to partially offset the near-term impact from these delays.The continued diversification of our business in recent years and the growing momentum of our recent initiatives have helped us to develop a more robust platform with multiple sustainable revenue streams. As a result, we still expect to achieve our revenue guidance for the full year of 20-30% revenue increase year-over-year."

Ms. Ping Wei, Chief Financial Officer of CDEL, commented, "Our performance in the second quarter has again demonstrated the scalability of our business model as we registered another quarter of strong top- and bottom-line growth. Both our gross and net margin continue to expand at a healthy pace while cash flow has also continued to increase, registering a US$4.8 million increase in the second quarter.

"The delayed timing of the AQPE exams and the delayed release of CPA exam policy will result in about 15-20% of third-quarter revenue being delayed to later quarters. On a fiscal year basis, APQE alone will result in the delayed recognition of at least US$1.8 million in revenue into fiscal 2013. As most of our costs and expenses are fixed, the impact to our bottom line for the next quarter and for fiscal year 2012 will be even more significant.

"Nonetheless, as most of our other education verticals are growing at a particularly high rate, and as we continue to tightly control our costs and expenses, we remain confident that despite these unexpected delays, we will still maintain net profit growth in-line with our revenue growth in fiscal year 2012."

Fiscal Second Quarter 2012 Unaudited Financial Results

Net Revenues. Total net revenues from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 were US$12.3 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 36.7% from US$9.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

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China Distance Education Holdings Limited Reports Second Quarter 2012 Results

Education Online Services Corporation Announces Upcoming Launch of an Online RN to BSN Degree for Southern University, School of Nursing in Baton Rouge

Education Online Services and Southern Universitys School of Nursing announce the launch of online RN to BSN degree

The Baccalaureate program at Southern University School of Nursing is approved by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). National licensure exam pass rates for SUSON graduates have been above the national average for ten of the last twelve years. The School of Nursing was recently named Nursing School of the Year for the second time in three years by the Louisiana Nurses Association and Louisiana Nursing Foundation.

Offering our RN to BSN degree online is the perfect resolution for the growing number of people who have inquired about our program but, because of their schedules, found it difficult to get to the campus, said SUBR Chancellor James L. Llorens. We are excited about the easy accessibility we can now provide and what it will mean to the careers of so many nurses.

With the Institute of Medicine calling for at least 80% of the nursing population to hold a BSN degree by 2020, the announcement of this degree comes at a very good time stated Ezell Brown, Chairman of Education Online Services Corporation. Last year, one of the top reasons why nursing schools did not accept qualified students into BSN programs was due to limited classroom space. Launching the BSN degree program online will not only enable Southern University of Baton Rouge to increase their student enrollments, but it will help them extend their student reach beyond their geographical boundaries, Brown continued.

The BSN program encompasses the fundamentals taught in associate degree and diploma programs plus a more in-depth study of the physical and social sciences, nursing research, public and community health, nurse management and the humanities. In addition, it prepares nurses to actively participate in assessing and developing patient care plans, educating patients on caring for their own health, prepares the new nurse for a broader scope of practice and provides a better understanding of issues that affect patients and influence health care delivery.

The American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) released data revealing that BSN credentialed graduates were much more likely to receive job offers upon graduation or soon after than graduates from other fields. Specifically speaking, according to a national survey of deans and directors from nursing schools across the United States, revealed that 65% of new BSN graduates had job offers at the time of graduation, which is substantially higher (24.4%) than the national average across all professions.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is the largest occupation in the field of health care with approximately 2.6 million people holding nursing jobs. Salaries for nurses can be dependent upon job location, but are mostly based on level of education according to PayScale.com. Nurses who hold BSN credential tend to earn approximately $6,000 more annually than RNs.

Applications are currently being accepted for the June 4, 2012, class start; however, students may enter any semester (fall, spring, or summer). Criteria for admission to the school of nursing includes a cumulative GPA of 2.6 or higher with a minimum grade of C for all prerequisites, must pass the university writing proficiency exam, and provide evidence of a current active unencumbered state board of nursing license. Federal financial aid is also available to those who qualify. For a complete list of admission requirements and further information on financial aid, please visit Southern University Online at http://www.GoToSouthernUniversityOnline.com/RNBSN or call Southern University School of Nursing at 866-895-8019.

About Education Online Services Corporation (EOServe Corp) Education Online Services Corporation was founded by a select team of academic and marketing professional who recognized the opportunity to assist colleges and universities in underserved communities with the development of full-service online degree programs. With the primary focus on graduating students, Education Online Services Corporation works closely with the admissions, financial aid, and academic departments of each institution to help them market and increase enrollment by expanding their on-campus degree programs to online degree programs. For more information please got to http://www.EducationOnlineServices.com

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Education Online Services Corporation Announces Upcoming Launch of an Online RN to BSN Degree for Southern University ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Teenagers in Ohio would be able to take driver's education courses online instead of in classrooms under a proposed change being considered by lawmakers.

Teens younger than 18 currently are required to have 24 hours in the classroom and eight hours behind the wheel with instructors. Republican Sen. Tom Patton of Strongsville tells The Dayton Daily News allowing online courses in place of classroom work would offer families a cheaper, more flexible alternative to traditional driver's education.

Driving schools opposed to the change say it would hurt their business and allow teens to do the online work with little oversight, creating more opportunity for cheating.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association says 15 of the 26 states that require teen driver education allow online training.

___

Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com

2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Ohio lawmakers consider online driver's education

NORWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Mercer, a leading global provider of benefits administration, announced today that it has launched My Retirement Workshop, (www.myretirementworkshop.com) an online retirement planning and education campaign for employees whose 401(k) plans it administers. Thematically styled after todays many popular home improvement programs, the innovative website provides interactive tools and hands-on instruction to help investors fix up their retirement plans.

My Retirement Workshop addresses key findings from the 2011 Mercer Workplace Survey, which revealed that employees are feeling more personally accountable for their own retirement. In fact, despite having a broadly negative economic outlook, more employees than in past years reported stepping up their retirement planning activity, including increasing their 401(k) contributions and reallocating their portfolios.

Typically, weve found that a pessimistic economic outlook among 401(k) participants leads them to ignore and often retreat from retirement planning, said Dave Tolve, Retirement Business Leader for Mercers US Outsourcing business. With our most recent survey results, however, we saw the opposite employees seemed to be more motivated to make positive changes and take on more personal responsibility for their future financial security. My Retirement Workshop was designed to respond to this shift in attitude with helpful, action-oriented content that will give participants the tools to continuously improve their chances of a successful retirement.

My Retirement Workshop consists of four main features: a brief self-assessment tool that provides personalized feedback and a recommended action plan; a selection of hands-on projects that address common retirement planning challenges; a toolbox of helpful calculators, worksheets and widgets; and an opportunity to learn from the pros by watching videos, listening to podcasts and/or reading articles. Visitors to the site can also interact with peers through discussion boards, quick polls and share the site through various social media websites. The My Retirement Workshop online education campaign was launched in early May and will be a year-long campaign, with new content and features to be introduced in the fall.

Participants can access My Retirement Workshop through their plans website. A public version of the site is also available at http://www.myretirementworkshop.com, where mobile device users also can access a mobile-optimized variation of the site for easy viewing.

Mercers US Outsourcing business administers the defined contribution retirement programs for 1.3 million participants.

About Mercer

Mercer is a global leader in human resource consulting and related services. The firm works with clients to solve their most complex human capital issues by designing and helping manage health, retirement and other benefits. Mercers 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC - News), a global team of professional services companies offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and human capital. With 52,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $10 billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company of Marsh, a global leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy Carpenter, a global leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a global leader in management consulting. For more information, visit http://www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @MercerInsights.

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Mercer Launches “My Retirement Workshop” Online Education Program

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill which would have made broad changes to the state's online education system, officials say.

Senate Bill 1259 would have made it easier for junior and high school students to take online courses from a "master list" of courses approved by the state. Any online class currently offered would be automatically added to the list, but starting in 2019, courses would need to be submitted to the state for approval, The Arizona Republic reported.

The bill also would have required supervision for final exams to prevent cheating.

Brewer expressed concerns that it might be inappropriate for the state "or an entity on behalf of the state approving online courses or curriculum," in a letter accompanying her veto Monday.

In response to a provision would have provided schools with more state funding per student if the student mastered a subject, Brewer said: "I strongly support moving forward toward funding outcomes; however [the Arizona Department of Education] may not be able to implement the systems properly, at least as the bill is drafted."

Online K-12 education is becoming more popular across the country, with the number of students in Arizona online schools reaching nearly 37,000 in the 2010-2011 school year, almost tripling over the last six years, The Arizona Republic reported.

As online education becomes more widespread, so have concerns regarding the quality of the classes. In an investigative series, The Republic found there to be relatively lax oversight and ample opportunities for cheating.

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Ariz. Gov. Brewer Vetoes Online Education Bill

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for students to take classes online. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

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PHOENIX, May 15 (UPI) -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill which would have made broad changes to the state's online education system, officials say.

Senate Bill 1259 would have made it easier for junior and high school students to take online courses from a "master list" of courses approved by the state. Any online class currently offered would be automatically added to the list, but starting in 2019, courses would need to be submitted to the state for approval, The Arizona Republic reported.

The bill also would have required supervision for final exams to prevent cheating.

Brewer expressed concerns that it might be inappropriate for the state "or an entity on behalf of the state approving online courses or curriculum," in a letter accompanying her veto Monday.

In response to a provision would have provided schools with more state funding per student if the student mastered a subject, Brewer said: "I strongly support moving forward toward funding outcomes; however [the Arizona Department of Education] may not be able to implement the systems properly, at least as the bill is drafted."

Online K-12 education is becoming more popular across the country, with the number of students in Arizona online schools reaching nearly 37,000 in the 2010-2011 school year, almost tripling over the last six years, The Arizona Republic reported.

As online education becomes more widespread, so have concerns regarding the quality of the classes. In an investigative series, The Republic found there to be relatively lax oversight and ample opportunities for cheating.

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Arizona Gov. Brewer vetoes online education bill