A trivia night being held March 6 in the lobby of the Black Knight Fieldhouse will be raising funds for scholarships to be given to Farmington High School students through the Farmington Educational Foundation.

The Farmington Educational Foundation is hosting a trivia night at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the lobby of the Black Knight Fieldhouse.

Doors open at 6:20 p.m., with the trivia contest starting at 7 p.m. Teams will be made up of eight to 10 players with a fee of $10 per person. Student teams have a $5 per person fee.

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In addition to the trivia contest, the event will also feature a silent auction, games and prizes. Pizzas and popcorn will be provided. Players are welcome to bring outside snacks, but no alcohol is permitted.

To preregister a team; sponsor a round; or donate a silent auction item or door prize, contact Sally Shinn by email at sallyshinn@sbcglobal.net

All proceeds from the event will go toward scholarships for the Farmington High School Class of 2020.

The Farmington Educational Foundation is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit. Its mission is to enhance the educational opportunities for students in the Farmington R-7 School District.

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Education foundation to host trivia night - Daily Journal Online

Grover Beach residents will soon have to pay more for false alarms.

According to city data, the Grover Beach Police Department responds to about 300 false alarms every year, each taking about 30 minutes to investigate. Its about seven days and $30,000 spent every year responding to them and it takes resources away from real crime.

The hour spent investigating a false alarm is an hour not spent patrolling our city, said Matthew Bronson, Grover Beach City Manager.

False alarms happen when your security system accidentally goes off and police officers respond to your home or business and find no evidence that a crime occurred or was attempted.

It does not apply to smoke alarms or medical emergencies, but instead security systems like ring doorbells. Fees can also apply to robbery and panic button false alarms.

The city is looking to avoid wasting resources, so they are asking property owners to register their security systems with the city to avoid paying more in fines.

If you don't register your security system and have a false alarm, you'll have to pay:

If you register your system for $25 every year, the fine for false alarms is less expensive:

The city defines a "false alarm" as an Alarm Dispatch Request to the Police Department, which results in the responding officer finding no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after completing a timely investigation of the Alarm Site.

The registration will allow the police department to identify who to contact when an alarm goes off so they can bring a matter to a close faster than they can now," Bronson said.

The cities of Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo also have similar ordinances in place, with San Luis Obispo seeing about a 50% decrease in false alarms.

One Grover Beach resident said she's going to pay for the permit but worried it could be expensive for others.

It's worth it. I'm on a tight income myself and I know there are people on tight incomes but it's your safety, number one," said Linda Muoz, who has an alarm system at her Grover Beach home.

According to the city, you can waive the first false alarm fee if you take an online education course. This option is only available if your alarm is permitted.

Police said if you have a false alarm, realize it and cancel it before officers arrive, then you won't be charged.

The ordinance goes into effect April 1, 2020. Click here for more information or to register your alarm system.

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Local News Grover Beach PD increases fines for false alarms to avoid wasting resources Megan Healy - KSBY San Luis Obispo News

"Students who aren't treated as an afterthought are more likely to succeed."

A colleague said that to me the other day. Seems obvious that this should be a truism, like "you miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take" or "we need air to breathe." Yet somehow, in much of higher education, the fact that online students and online courses shouldn't be treated as an afterthought often counts as bold thinking.

Here's the rub: Online education is most successful when universities don't think of it as "online education." It works best when it's just "education" with a different distribution mechanism. Successful online education isn't supposed to "compete" with traditional education; it should merely evolve to be more efficient and, ultimately, make learning faster and more accessible.

Unfortunately, that's not always how it works -- which could explain why online education hasn't lived up to its promise. Nationally, 40 to 80 percent of students drop out of online courses. Dropping out of just one course is far from the worst outcome. Dropping out of a degree program entirely -- or, worse yet, dropping out, then restarting, then dropping out again -- can be an albatross around a student's neck for decades. The process can take years, leaving learners with significant student debt without the increased earning potential a degree provides.

We're long past the time when these results were acceptable. Online education has been around for more than two decades, so we don't need more time to experiment. Nor do students need to get more comfortable with online education. Students have been comfortable with online learning for years -- a generation of "digital natives" can learn through a screen. Increasingly, all students expect that online education will make up at least a portion of their coursework.

The problem is one of political will and prioritization. Many universities view online learners as distinct, walled off from the students attending the brick-and-mortar institution. Universities serve them with different instructors, different coursework, different supports and, worst of all, different standards.

They treat them as an afterthought.

Indiana University's online programs, by contrast, were designed differently. We use the same faculty for online courses that we do for classes on campus. We use the same tactics, the same syllabus, the same pedagogy and the same coursework. Faculty hold online students to the same standards.

Yet for all of our good work, our refusal to make online learners an afterthought is just as much about altruism as it is about ensuring the future health of the university. If universities want to stay relevant to modern learners, or even just keep their doors open, they must put online education on equal footing with on-campus education. The market demands it. Learners are increasingly likely to be older than the 17- and 18-year-old freshmen we think of, with careers and responsibilities that make it impossible to go to campus full time.

Further, today's "learners" -- some might even call them "consumers" -- expect a compelling, convenient online experience. The student accustomed to taking in the world through her smartphone -- be it through social media, Netflix, or even just her email -- won't accept a knock-off digital experience for the most expensive item in her life, namely her education.

If a university is offering a subpar online education, she'll go to the next university. And who can blame her? Let's face it, we -- college administrators, faculty and staff -- would do the same; we expect our digital experiences to be frictionless, too.

Indiana University understands, then, that online education isn't some convenient but nonessential appendage; online education is the heart and lungs. For many universities, it's the only part of the institution that's growing, with the potential to overtake on-campus education in the number of students it serves.

In many ways, higher education has been behind the curve for decades. In general, we were slow to adopt online education as an instructional format. When we did finally embrace it -- after unscrupulous actors had sullied its reputation -- we took even longer to make online education effective, even as the content volume and quality of streaming services like Amazon and iTunes were growing by leaps and bounds.

The results speak for themselves. As the number of people who drop out of college hit 2 million a year and student debt surpassed $1.6 trillion in the U.S., it is past time for major universities to accept responsibility for providing better outcomes by putting online learners on equal footing with traditional learners. In fact, there's increasingly little difference between the two because they are the same person.

These students are not only the future of higher education, they are the present, as well. Treating them as an afterthought is not only wrong, it is also self-defeating. If universities won't put online students on equal footing for the sake of the students they are supposed to serve, I hope they will at least do it for their own sake.

Chris J. Foley is associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and director of the Office of Online Education.

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From the Desk: Online education is university's 'heart, lungs' - IU Newsroom

CHINA

Primary and secondary schools in many areas across China, originally scheduled to open at the end of January or the beginning of this month, also remain closed, with no specific dates for reopening. Schools have been ordered by the education ministry in Beijing to start online classes and did so from this week, despite many teachers saying they are not equipped to provide online classes.

However, with the closure of schools in 31 provinces, unprecedented because no one knows how long it will continue, fears are increasing over the preparation of this years cohort for the ferociously competitive National College Entrance Examination or gaokao as students are missing many classes.

China has not yet indicated whether the dates for the gaokao normally held in early June will be changed. The Ministry of Education will pay close attention to the development of the coronavirus epidemic situation, and promptly assess the conditions that might affect the gaokao together with the relevant departments, ministry officials said at a press conference on 13 February.

Over 10.31 million high school students sat the gaokao in 2019. This years gaokao cohort began online courses earlier than other school year groups, with some of them attending online classes from home several hours a day since early February. Entrance exams run by individual colleges and institutions scheduled for February have already been postponed. But education experts say it is likely that other special measures will be announced.

As the epicentre of the outbreak, the government recognises that central Chinas Hubei province is particularly in need of educational assistance, with the likelihood that schools and universities could be closed for longer than elsewhere.

The authorities in Hubei province have already announced that for the children of frontline medical staff in the province the relevant cities and prefectures can add 10 points to their total admission scores in the gaokao.

Fast response with online classes

According to a report by Chinese state television, the education sector reacted very fast to the shutdown announced in late January. By 2 February, some 22 online curriculum platforms opened 24,000 online courses for higher education institutions to choose from, including 1,291 national excellence courses and 401 virtual simulation experimental courses, covering 12 undergraduate programmes and 18 tertiary vocational programmes.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University launched 1,449 online courses, both live and recorded, for undergraduates and 657 for postgraduates, said Ding Kuiling, the universitys executive vice president.

Ding said the university launched 165 courses on platforms including the massive open online course (MOOC) system for Chinese universities so that students from all over the country can watch them for free.

Peking University said that beginning this week it was offering 563 undergraduate classes with 290 of them livestreamed and 101 video classes provided online via the university's website, as well as 96 discussion classes via online group chats.

Qiu Yong, president of Tsinghua University, Beijing, said some 4,254 courses have been planned for this semester, involving 2,681 faculty members and 25,091 students, with 3,923 courses being offered online. The epidemic situation poses a challenge to us, but it is also an opportunity to comprehensively promote the digitalisation and informatisation of teaching, Qiu said.

However, many other institutions do not have the same resources as these elite universities and are struggling to provide online alternatives. Our professors do not have the equipment at home, and sometimes they do not have the skills and expertise to record lessons, said a professor at a university in Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province. Because we do not know how long the [university] closure will last, it is difficult to plan how many lessons to put online.

Courses for schools

When Chinas Ministry of Education ordered primary and secondary schools to be closed in January, it said it was to suspend school, not learning.

The ministry is now launching its national internet cloud classroom backed by 7,000 servers to ensure that the system catering to 50 million primary and middle school students at the same time does not crash. A dozen subjects will be covered including epidemic education, with 169 classes available in the first week.

The programmes will be broadcast via satellite to remoter areas with weak internet connections, the ministry said.

According to state television, the materials will be supplemented by key teachers from Beijing and other cities as needed. But far from being a full curriculum, it is a stop-gap measure. The Beijing Municipal Education Commission said in a statement this week: It is not a holiday in the traditional sense, nor does it mean that the new school semester has started online.

Shanghai authorities this week announced that all universities, primary and secondary schools in the city would launch online education from 2 March, with a unified teaching schedule for primary and secondary schools.

The online courses, recorded by more than 1,000 teachers across the city, will be broadcast on TV. Students can watch live courses and re-broadcasts on TV as well as online, but Lu Jing, director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, at a press conference on 18 February described it as relatively relaxed curricula, not intended to substitute for a normal school day.

The Shanghai authorities are also providing online resources for the most common courses for vocational school students, but specialised courses will have to be provided by the institutions themselves a tough call for many vocational institutions, which specialise in practical learning.

Universities are being asked to develop their own plans, with some resources and courses from the Ministry of Education, Lu said.

Lu acknowledged that online teaching was not a complete substitute for on-campus learning. After the reopening of schools and universities supplementary and enhanced courses will be arranged, he said.

China is making huge efforts to fight against what has become a huge education challenge. It is not easy at all to ensure over 200 million students continue their learning given the limited conditions under quarantine versus substantial economic costs, said Wang Yan, director of the Department for International Exchange, National Institute of Education Sciences.

Problems with online learning

Many teachers say they are concerned. Writing on social media, they say they do not have appropriate materials in place. Server crashes, unstable networks, endless registration on various apps and a plethora of WeChat groups have meant the online classroom is a heated topic of debate on Chinas social media platform Weibo.

Many education institutions, which have to use a third-party platform to broadcast lessons or lectures, face problems like bandwidth limitations, overcoming online surveillance and difficulty in choosing the proper equipment.

Some noted that online classes streamed live have been hit by censorship, particularly of words related to the coronavirus outbreak.

It is difficult to avoid the blocking of live lectures, said a university professor in Shanghai.

On Thursday anger was expressed on social media when Tsinghua University cancelled without notice a live-streamed open class on organisational sociology by Stanford Professor Xueguang Zhou, who had been scheduled to speak about what the coronavirus outbreak reveals about Chinas governance.

Online teaching or webcasting by major universities has been blocked from live broadcast, teachers report on social media. It is an awkward situation with the students watching and waiting, one teacher said on Weibo.

Particularly noticeable was the blocking of biology lessons, with many human organ nouns deemed internet-sensitive and blocked, including in some of the teaching content provided by the education ministry, teachers reported.

Without the large-scale online teaching during this epidemic, students and teachers would probably not have intuitively recognised that there is a problem with such words, said one social media post this week. Teaching webcasts have been banned repeatedly and our internet is sick.

A medical nursing teacher complained that she was giving a lecture on QQ, an instant messaging platform that includes microblogging and voice chat, and was blocked within a few seconds as pornographic because it included words related to human physiology.

Private courses

Many private educational companies have been offering free online resources. But parents say it is difficult to find the right course. Some are too simple, some are too difficult, and some lack interaction, said one Shanghai parent with a daughter studying for the gaokao. She said courses were not available on a single platform and she had to install several apps to access them. It is hard to manage the courses, she said and added that some websites crashed after a few seconds or minutes.

On the first day of a free live course streamed this month by Zuoyebang a platform where students can seek answers to homework problems, and which has over 400 million users its server crashed when five million users came online at the same time.

Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental, an online education group, said in a WeChat social media post that Chinas online system is not ready for a sudden transformation to online learning, and added that many teachers lack online teaching experience while parents and students were also unprepared.

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Online classes try to fill education gap during epidemic - University World News

Labs test artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other innovations that could improve learning and lower costs for Generation Z and beyond.

This article is part of our latest Learning special report. Were focusing on Generation Z, which is facing challenges from changing curriculums and new technology to financial aid gaps and homelessness.

MANCHESTER, N.H. Cruising to class in her driverless car, a student crams from notes projected on the inside of the windshield while she gestures with her hands to shape a 3-D holographic model of her architecture project.

It looks like science fiction, an impression reinforced by the fact that it is being demonstrated in virtual reality in an ultramodern space with overstuffed pillows for seats. But this scenario is based on technology already in development.

The setting is the Sandbox ColLABorative, the innovation arm of Southern New Hampshire University, on the fifth floor of a downtown building with panoramic views of the sprawling red brick mills that date from this citys 19th-century industrial heyday.

It is one of a small but growing number of places where experts are testing new ideas that will shape the future of a college education, using everything from blockchain networks to computer simulations to artificial intelligence, or A.I.

Theirs is not a future of falling enrollment, financial challenges and closing campuses. Its a brighter world in which students subscribe to rather than enroll in college, learn languages in virtual reality foreign streetscapes with avatars for conversation partners, have their questions answered day or night by A.I. teaching assistants and control their own digital transcripts that record every life achievement.

The possibilities for advances such as these are vast. The structure of higher education as it is still largely practiced in America is as old as those Manchester mills, based on a calendar that dates from a time when students had to go home to help with the harvest, and divided into academic disciplines on physical campuses for 18- to 24-year-olds.

Universities may be at the cutting edge of research into almost every other field, said Gordon Jones, founding dean of the Boise State University College of Innovation and Design. But when it comes to reconsidering the structure of their own, he said, theyve been very risk-averse.

Now, however, squeezed by the demands of employers and students especially the up and coming Generation Z and the need to attract new customers, some schools, such as Boise State and Southern New Hampshire University, are starting labs to come up with improvements to help people learn more effectively, match their skills with jobs and lower their costs.

One of these would transform the way students pay for higher education. Instead of enrolling, for example, they might subscribe to college; for a monthly fee, they could take whatever courses they want, when they want, with long-term access to advising and career help.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the places mulling a subscription model, said Richard DeMillo, director of its Center for 21st Century Universities. It would include access to a worldwide network of mentors and advisers and whatever someone needs to do to improve their professional situation or acquire a new skill or get feedback on how things are going.

Boise State is already piloting this concept. Its Passport to Education costs $425 a month for six credit hours or $525 for nine in either of two online bachelors degree programs. Thats 30 percent cheaper than the in-state, in-person tuition.

Paying by the month encourages students to move faster through their educations, and most are projected to graduate in 18 months, Mr. Jones said. The subscription model has attracted 47 students so far, he said, with another 94 in the application process.

However they pay for it, future students could find other drastic changes in the way their educations are delivered.

Georgia Tech has been experimenting with a virtual teaching assistant named Jill Watson, built on the Jeopardy-winning IBM Watson supercomputer platform. This A.I. answers questions in a discussion forum alongside human teaching assistants; students often cant distinguish among them, their professor says. More Jill Watsons could help students get over hurdles they encounter in large or online courses. The university is working next on developing virtual tutors, which it says could be viable in two to five years.

S.N.H.U., in a collaboration with the education company Pearson, is testing A.I. grading. Barnes & Noble Education already has an A.I. writing tool called bartleby write, named for the clerk in the Herman Melville short story, that corrects grammar, punctuation and spelling, searches for plagiarism and helps create citations.

At Arizona State University, A.I. is being used to watch for signs that A.S.U. Online students might be struggling, and to alert their academic advisers.

If we could catch early signals, we could go to them much earlier and say, Hey youre still in the window to pass, said Donna Kidwell, chief technology officer of the universitys digital teaching and learning lab, EdPlus.

Another harbinger of things to come sits on a hillside near the Hudson River in upstate New York, where an immersion lab with 15-foot walls and a 360-degree projection system transports Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute language students to China, virtually.

The students learn Mandarin Chinese by conversing with A.I. avatars that can recognize not only what they say but their gestures and expressions, all against a computer-generated backdrop of Chinese street markets, restaurants and other scenes.

Julian Wong, a mechanical engineering major in the first group of students to go through the program, thought it would be cheesy. In fact, he said, Its definitely more engaging, because youre actively involved with whats going on.

Students in the immersion lab mastered Mandarin about twice as fast as their counterparts in conventional classrooms, said Shirley Ann Jackson, the president of Rensselaer.

Dr. Jackson, a physicist, was not surprised. The students enrolling in college now grew up in a digital environment, she said. Why not use that to actually engage them?

Slightly less sophisticated simulations are being used in schools of education, where trainee teachers practice coping with simulated schoolchildren. Engineering students at the University of Michigan use an augmented-reality track to test autonomous vehicles in simulated traffic.

The way these kinds of learning get documented is also about to change. A race is underway to create a lifelong transcript.

Most academic transcripts omit work or military histories, internships, apprenticeships and other relevant experience. And course names such as Biology 301 or Business 102 reveal little about what students have actually learned.

The learner, the learning provider and the employer all are speaking different languages that dont interconnect, said Michelle Weise, chief innovation officer at the Strada Institute for the Future of Work.

A proposed solution: the interoperable learning record, or I.L.R. (proof that, even in the future, higher education will be rife with acronyms and jargon).

The I.L.R. would list the specific skills that people have learned customer service, say, or project management as opposed to which courses they passed and majors they declared. And it would include other life experiences they accumulated.

This digital trail would remain in the learners control to share with prospective employers and make it easier for a student to transfer academic credits earned at one institution to another.

American universities, colleges and work force training programs are now awarding at least 738,428 unique credentials, according to a September analysis by a nonprofit organization called Credential Engine, which has taken on the task of translating these into a standardized registry of skills.

Unlike transcripts, I.L.R.s could work in two directions. Not only could prospective employees use them to look for jobs requiring the skills they have; employers could comb through them to find prospective hires with the skills they need.

Were trying to live inside this whole preindustrial design and figure out how we interface with technology to take it further, said Ms. Kidwell of Arizona State. Everybody is wrangling with trying to figure out which of these experiments are really going to work.

This story was produced in collaboration with The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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How Technology Is Changing the Future of Higher Education - The New York Times

Much of China is currently in lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. In urban centers, streets are empty and many businesses remain closed. Subways and buses are shuttered or running on limited service. The most visibly functioning public places are supermarkets, but even those lack their usual hustle and bustle. Schools are also closed but that doesnt mean learning has stopped.

During this period, educators are doing what they do best: making use of the time and resources available. Public schools across China have been ordered by the Ministry of Education to suspend the spring semester, but, as they put it,tngk b tngxu stop classes but dont stop learning.

This has had an interesting consequence: The Chinese education system, which has been notoriously riddled with inequality, has seen a convergence of access to learning resources for all of the countrys students. For the past two decades, wealthier, urban students have enjoyed the lions share of resources in the form of better-funded public schools and access to a highly competitive industry of private prep centers. Today, fissures between urban and rural students, between rich and poor, have suddenly narrowed as Chinas 260 millionstudents take their studies online.

The 300-plus high school students I teach in Shaanxi Province, for instance, are taking full days (7:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.) of classes online. This includes indoor exercises for physical education and even the daily eye massage exercisesthat students do in the Chinese public school system. For me, in addition to college counseling, I also teach ACT Writing to about 100 students (now online). Teaching online has proved difficult for some, especially foreign teachers who were required to suddenly master multiple software platforms entirely in Chinese, but most have gotten the hang of it.

There are problems, of course. At the top of my list aretechnical issues, which can be, quite frankly, a pain in the ass. Slow internet and poor audio/visual equipment means questions need to be repeated before they can be answered. Other challenges include getting students to not leave their devices: I try to require all students to answer questions during the online session at least this way, I can distinguish which students are participating and which are not. With only basic conferencing software, it is nearly impossible to efficiently check understanding and force accountability on so many students typically 30 to 70 per class at the high school level. It is too easy for students to hide in the comparative anonymity.

As education has moved from schools into homes, parents have also been affected. Most obvious is that the responsibility for disciplining misbehavior has shifted from teachers onto parents. As a result, many parents are struggling because they never had to manage their childrens schoolwork beyond missed homework assignments. Now they must ensure punctuality and participation, making sure their children arent distracted by computer games, simultaneously completing homework for other classes, or streaming the Avengers film series.Many parents have struggled to adapt to their new role as full-time teachers assistant.

But at least all households across China are facing the same challenges. Online teaching has been a great equalizer for millions of students. With the rise of online learning in the wake of the coronavirus, the quality of education now depends less on teacher quality, teaching equipment, or other school resources. All learning is happening in students homes, and only their homes.

In Shaanxi, under the stop classes but dont stop learninginitiative, national curriculum classes are being recorded by expert teachers across all grade levels, which are broadcast on TV free for everyone. Technically, for the first time ever, all students rich and poor, urban and rural have equal access to classes with the most experienced and best-trained teachers.

Most of all, learning now depends almost exclusively on the students and their families. If a student works hard or is well-managed by their parents, that student can more or less maintain the same achievement as with offline teaching. However, if a student does not participate, they will quickly fall behind, more quickly now than ever before.

So are we actually closer to educational equality in China? On the one hand, the impact of socioeconomic and regional factors that once greatly influenced a students education have been temporarily lessened. But has COVID-19 truly democratized education in China? Of course not. Internet access, family demographics, student learning styles, and other factors are still affecting the quality of education.

Still, if schools remain closed even next month,education bureaus may be forced to think longer term about incorporating online learning into their curriculums. Theres a chance, then, that the benefits from a more democratized and equal education system might continue even after this coronavirus epidemic passes. In the meantime, a big step in online education has brought us a small step closer to educational equality.

Special thanks to Jin Zhou for assistance and research for this article.

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Educational equality in China: How online learning during coronavirus has changed the status quo - SupChina

HOBOKEN, N.J., Feb. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wiley Education Services,a division of Wiley (NYSE: JWA) (NYSE: JWB)and a leading global provider of technology-enabled education solutions andAslanian Market Research, a division of EducationDynamics, today announced new insights directly from online learners to help pinpoint why they chose to study online, factors that contribute to their success, and whether they are satisfied with their enrollment decision. Results reveal that 88 percent of students are satisfied with their decision to enroll in an online program that Wiley supports. The findings also offer original data to refine best practices and establish benchmarks for further research into learner satisfaction.

Wiley Education Services

The new report, "Student Perspectives on Online Programs: A Survey of Learners Supported by Wiley Education Services," analyzed nearly 3,000 responses from a survey of online learners enrolled in 19 of Wiley partner universities and colleges, and found that almost 90 percent are satisfied with their decision to enroll in their current online education program. Additionally, 91 percent of respondents believe that online programs challenge them to do well.

"Our goal at Wiley Education Services is to partner with schools to produce best-in-class educational opportunities, including impactful online programs, ultimately creating life-long learners," said David Capranos, director of market strategy and research at Wiley Education Services. "While we are pleased to see respondents are satisfied with our collective programs, learning continues to rapidly change. Wiley is taking the findings in our new report 'Student Perspectives on Online Learning' to enhance our partner schools' offerings and continue to evolve online education programs to meet the demands of learners."

Significant findings of the report include:

"We are delighted to have partnered with Wiley Education Services in this groundbreaking study of online student satisfaction with their choice of program," said Jane Sadd Smalec, senior consultant, Aslanian Market Research. "Having hard data directly from their students about what they value about their online learning experience is critical for continuous improvement and success of an institution's online programs."

While satisfaction levels are high, there are ways to enhance efforts to recruit, engage, support and instruct online learners. Three key recommendations that hinge on creating a learner-centered approach in all aspects of the journey include:

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For more information and the full report, please visit: https://edservices.wiley.com/student-perspectives-on-online-programs

About WileyWiley drives the world forward with research and education. Through publishing, platforms and services, we help students, researchers, universities and corporations to achieve their goals in an ever-changing world. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to all of our stakeholders. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.

About Wiley Education ServicesWiley Education Services, a division of Wiley, is a leading, global provider of technology-enabled education solutions to meet the evolving needs of universities, corporations and ultimately, learners. We partner with more than 60 institutions across the U.S., Europe and Australia, and support over 800-degree programs. Our best-in-class services and market insights are driven by our deep commitment and expertiseproven to elevate enrollment, retention and completion rates. For more information visit edservices.wiley.com.

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About Aslanian Market ResearchAslanian Market Research (AMR) is EducationDynamics' market research division and a part of the Enrollment Management Services group. AMR works with dozens of colleges and universities each year to ensure that their on-ground and online programs meet the demands and preferences of today's adult, post-traditional and online students. AMR team members have conducted market analyses for nearly 300 colleges and universities in 44 states from Maine to Oregon and Minnesota to Texas, as well as internationally.

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Wiley Education Services Report Finds A Majority Of Its Students Are Satisfied With Learning Online - Yahoo Finance

KEARNEY Brandi Mayer celebrated the start of a new semester in a place a world away from the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus.

Dressed in U.S. Army fatigues, the 28-year-old aviation operations specialist posed for a back-to-school photo at a military base in the Middle East, where shes currently stationed with the Minnesota National Guards 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade.

Mayer and nearly 700 other soldiers from the St. Paul-based unit deployed in September as part of Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve. Their job is to provide helicopter, unmanned aerial system and fixed-wing support for U.S. and coalition forces, including reconnaissance, transportation and medical evacuation, while partnering with active-duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers from several other states.

When Mayer isnt organizing air mission requests, shes focusing on her studies as a graduate student pursuing a masters degree in Spanish education.

A Spanish teacher and girls basketball coach at Fillmore Central High School in her native Minnesota, Mayer enrolled in UNKs online Master of Arts in Education program last summer. Shes currently taking her second and third classes while stationed overseas.

Mayer has served in the Army National Guard for nearly five years, and this is her first deployment. The 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade is scheduled to return home this fall.

Why did you enlist in the Army National Guard?

I enlisted after completing my bachelors degree to realize a dream Ive had since I was about 14 years old. It wasnt until this time in my life that I was able to make that dream become a reality. My goals in terms of what I want to accomplish within the National Guard have changed since my enlistment, but it has been an experience I wouldnt have gotten anywhere else.

As a teacher, why is it important to pursue a masters degree?

I decided to pursue a masters degree in Spanish education to better my ability within the Spanish language, as well as to better my ability to educate the students in my classroom. My students mean so much to me, and I want to be the best teacher they could possibly have. I am also very self-driven to be the best I can be at everything I do, and this is one way I am able to better myself.

How did you learn about UNKs online masters program?

I found the UNK program while doing online research into graduate-level programs. I was specifically looking for a program that

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Stationed in the Middle East, UNK student pursuing master's degree through online program - Kearney Hub

February 18, 2020 Fort Lauderdale, FL & Los Angeles, CA Through a new partnership between InStride, the premier global provider of strategic enterprise education, and Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), the worlds first accredited online school district, companies can now offer their employees the opportunity to pursue their high school diplomas and matriculate into postsecondary programs.

By re-engaging working adults into the educational system, companies can better prepare their employees to advance in their fields, adapt to the changing nature of work and boost their career trajectories.

We are excited to be part of InStrides academic network, said Dr. Howard Liebman, SHCOE District Superintendent. Corporations can now provide their employees with the full range of educational programs, creating a pathway for those without a high school education to pursue postsecondary education.

SHCOE enables students to earn their high school diplomas while gaining real-world career skills. The companys unique online curriculum and student engagement model is designed to foster high success rates among adult learners who have been out of the educational system for many years. A highly structured curriculum, along with access to one-on-one academic coaching ensures that learners keep up with their coursework and stay motivated. In addition to completing academic requirements, learners also earn an entry-level workforce certificate in fields such as Food/Restaurant Services, Retail Customer Service, Office Management, and Hospitality and Leisure.

InStrides corporate partners, particularly those who may have a large population of workers without high school diplomas, can now provide a new pathway for their employees to advance. This opportunity is also important to workers who are interested in boosting their earning potential.

Access to a high school diploma opens up a world of possibilities, ranging from greater career opportunities to university degrees, said Vivek Sharma, CEO of InStride. We are thrilled to be partnering with Smart Horizons, an industry leader recognized for its innovative approach and high student success rates.

The addition of SHCOE to InStrides curated academic network complements its higher education offerings, including bachelors degrees, masters degrees and continuing education courses. These global academic institutions are known for providing high-quality instruction that addresses the needs of todays top employers and fits into the lifestyles of busy working adults.

ABOUT INSTRIDE

As the premier global provider of Strategic Enterprise Education (SEE), InStride enables employers to provide career-boosting degrees to their employees, through leading global academic institutions across the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Australia. InStride helps organizations achieve transformative business and social impact by unlocking the power of education, through advanced technology-enabled experiences for learners and corporate partners alike. For more information, please visit http://www.instride.com or follow InStride on Twitter and LinkedIn.

ABOUTSMART HORIZONS CAREER ONLINE EDUCATIONFounded in 2009, Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) is the worlds first private accredited online school district. SHCOE offers 100% online high school diploma programs designed to re-engage adults and older youth back into the educational system and prepare them for the workplace or postsecondary education. The high school program includes a vocational certificate in career pathways such as Home Care Professional, Child Care, Office Management, Certified Protection Officer, Food and Hospitality, Homeland Security, Commercial Driving, Retail Customer Service, Hospitality and Leisure, and General Career Preparation. For more information, visit shcoe.org.

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Smart Horizons Career Online Education Partners with InStride to Help Working Adults Earn Their HS Diplomas in Advance of Pursuing College Degrees -...

JADE Learning offers online CE for Rhode Island electricians

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (PRWEB) February 19, 2020

JADE Learning, a nationally trusted electrical continuing education provider, is now approved by the Rhode Island Board of Examiners for Electricians to provide electrical continuing education (CE) online. JADE Learning is the first continuing education provider to be approved for online courses making it easier for Rhode Island electricians to renew their electrical license with JADE Learning. Prior to JADE Learnings online courses, Rhode Island electricians could only complete their CE requirements in a classroom setting.

JADE Learning's online electrical CE courses are taught by experienced instructors who are NEC experts with decades of experience. JADE Learning offers online electrical CE training in 40 states nationwide. JADE Learning is committed to assisting electricians in completing the CE hours required to renew their electrical licenses on-time by providing state approved content and expedited reporting of CE hours to the Rhode Island board of Examiners for Electricians.

Rhode Island electrical licenses expire every two years and the exact date is dependent on the licensees birthdate. Licensees are required to complete a total of 15 hours of continuing education. JADE Learning provides electricians with a 15-Hour Code Update course that covers the 2017 NEC. This course also covers Rhode Island amendments to the 2017 NEC and current laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to Rhode Island electricians in Title 5.

JADE Learnings online courses offer busy electricians the opportunity to complete their hours on their own time without having to commit an entire weekend for an in-person class, said Amy Bonilla, VP of JADE Learning. We are excited to be the first approved provider of online electrical continuing education in Rhode Island. Weve attended several board meetings and worked with the state for a number of years to get online courses accepted by the state.

Upcoming Board Meetings:

The Rhode Island Board of Examiners for Electricians holds one meeting a month to address issues and topics in the industry. The meetings are held at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training located at 1511 Pontiac Avenue, Building 70, 2nd Floor, Cranston, RI 02920. Meetings begin at 9:30 AM.

February 19, 2020

March 18, 2020

April 22, 2020

May 20, 2020

Electrical Continuing Education

Online electrical CE courses are available any time at jadelearning.com

JADE Learning is an approved provider by the Rhode Island Board of Examiners for Electricians and the very first approved provider of online electrical continuing education in the state. Register for courses and contact JADE Learning about continuing education at jadelearning.com or call 1-800-443-5233.

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Online Continuing Education Now Approved by the Rhode Island Board of Examiners for Electricians - PR Web