PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG.OB - News), an innovator in safe-online youth purchasing, today announced that they have entered into an agreement to provide their e-commerce service tochildrens education and entertainment media company Super Sprowtz, LLC.

Super Sprowtzs range of educational multi-media products including, plush toys, books, video games and apps will be available to purchase through their website using Virtual Piggy as a payment option which is fully compliant with the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Adding Virtual Piggy to our payment options helps our customers have a healthy balanced checkbook, said Super Sprowtz Founder and CEO Radha Agrawal. Being able to offer our young customers a way to purchase items on our site that is fully COPPA compliant is really important to us.

Virtual Piggys unique and secure payment method prompts children to enter their username and password and if their purchase matches the parameters their parents set up for them, the payment goes through without them having to enter any personal information.

We are very excited to add Super Sprowtz to our growing list of online retail partners, said Jo Webber, Virtual Piggy CEO and Founder. Weve been strategically aligning ourselves with companies that share our goal of trying to improve families quality of life through entertainment and education.

Super Sprowtz teaches kids about healthy eating, fitness and sustainability, using innovative programs and advanced methodologies to transform the eating, exercise and nutrition habits of children.

About Virtual Piggy, Inc.

Virtual Piggy, Inc. is the first e-commerce solution that enables kids to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment. The technology company delivers online security platforms designed for the Under 18 age group in the global online market, and also enables online businesses the ability to function in a manner consistent with the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar international childrens privacy laws. Virtual Piggy enables the Under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. The company is based in Philadelphia, PA and on the Web at: http://www.virtualpiggy.com

About Super Sprowtz

View original post here:
Super Sprowtz to Offer Virtual Piggy as Secure E-Commerce Solution for Online Checkout

Democrasoft, Inc. (OTC: Pinksheets: DEMO) announced two significant milestones this month for its flagship online education platform, Collaborize Classroom.

The Santa Rosa-based company reported that there have been 20,000 Collaborize Classrooms created by teachers worldwide, with 1.5 million individual lessons delivered to students via the online platform.

The platform has steadily gained popularity since its launch in January of 2011.

Collaborize Classroom has quickly become part of a worldwide effort to adapt education to the 21st century needs of students everywhere, said Richard Lang, company CEO, in a written release.

The free online platform allows teachers to have secure conversations and share materials and lesson plans through any Internet browser or Web-enabled Apple device. There are currently 2,500 lesson topics on the site.

The platform has experienced a 25 percent average growth rate since launch. Democrasoft, in its 20th year, offers a number of proprietary social media platforms for nonprofits, companies and schools.

***

California State University officials chose to bar enrollment for all but a relative handful of students in the spring 2013 semester, a move meant to stave off further tuition hikes in the financially strained system.

The number of students admitted in spring 2013 will be in the hundreds, all currently in community colleges and through the Student Transfer Agreement Reform Act, also known as Senate Bill 1440. Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park is among the handful of campuses that will accept those students, along with Cal State campuses in San Francisco, Chico, Fullerton, the East Bay, Channel Islands, Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

Having already taken a $750 million budget cut for the current fiscal year, the 23-campus CSU system said it could face another $200 million reduction for fiscal 2013 if California voters do not approve applicable tax measures on the November ballot.

Continued here:
Santa Rosa education tech firm celebrates milestone

DENVER, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Pearson today announced the details of its 13th annual Cite higher education technology conference. The four-day event brings together more than 500 leaders for a dialogue on best practices in online and blended learning.

Cite 2012 will be held April 10-13 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando. Representatives from more than 100 public and private institutions and community colleges are expected to attend.

"Technology is playing an increasingly important role in education, with more than six million students now taking at least one online course. Pearson's Cite conference is a tremendous opportunity for higher education technology leaders to both share their knowledge and innovations in instruction and learning, and to learn new ideas from their colleagues about how to improve their courses and programs," said Matt Leavy, CEO of Pearson eCollege.

"Innovative technologies continue to transform higher education. Our annual Cite conference is a forum for education leaders who are focused on delivering highly successful online programs to engage in a dialogue about innovations in learning," said Don Kilburn, Vice Chairman of Pearson Higher Education and CEO of Pearson Learning Solutions.

This year's program features 60 breakout sessions, workshops and interactive exhibits on topics such as data analytics to improve instruction and student achievement; trends in social media, eTextbooks and mobile learning; best practices for online courses and programs; and delivering effective student services.

Keynote speakers include:

For more information about Cite 2012, visit http://www.pearsoncite.com.

About Pearson

Pearson, the world's leading learning company, has global reach and market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing (NYSE: PSO - News). The company provides innovative print and digital education materials, including personalized learning programs such as MyLab/Mastering; educational services including custom publishing; and content-independent platforms including the EQUELLA digital repository and Pearson LearningStudio online learning platform.

Media contact: Susan Aspey, susan.aspey@pearson.com or (800) 745-8489

Read this article:
Pearson to Host Higher Education Technology Leaders at Cite 2012

What do Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and many seven-foot-tall professional basketball players have in common? They all do Pilates. If you have no clue what Pilates is, or need a reminder, check out my article "What Is Pilates?"

Although I'm a fan of anything that helps you live an active, healthy lifestyle, there are plenty of myths and misconceptions floating around about Pilates, kind of like with yoga. Here are the five most popular Pilates myths:

Myth 1: Pilates Is a Good Way to Lose Weight

In the article "Does Yoga Burn Calories," you learn about several studies that have shown yoga to be relatively ineffective in directly burning calories or causing significant weight loss. While Pilates has definite benefits, its strongest suit is certainly not weight loss. A 2006 study found that body weight and body fat was not significantly affected in adult females using a regular Pilates routine, and a 2004 study found that Pilates does help improve flexibility, but does not significantly affect body composition, even after six months of training. So when it comes to pure calorie burning and fat loss, running on a treadmill, riding a bike or lifting weights will be more effective than Pilates.

But because Pilates does such a good job strengthening your core, reducing risk of injury and improving your flexibility, it will help keep you from getting sidelined with an injury -- which means you can work out more consistently. You may also be more likely to exercise in other ways, since you often find yourself visiting a gym or a health club to take Pilates class.

Myth 2: Pilates Is Only for Women

Because it does a good job strengthening lower abdominal and pelvic muscles that are important for a woman's childbearing, reproductive and urinary function, or because it doesn't involve heavy steel, grunting or large amounts of weight, Pilates is often perceived as a "women's only" activity.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Firstly, Pilates was invented by a man (Joseph Pilates). Secondly, plenty of male athletes (including yours truly) use Pilates moves as a perfect complement to weight training and cardio. Want more proof? How about Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Hugh Grant and many other male athletes and celebrities? They use Pilates to maintain core strength, flexibility and function.

Myth 3: You Need Special Machines for Pilates

It's true that one type of Pilates workout requires the use of special machines -- those strange-looking contraptions with unusual names like the Reformer, the Cadillac and the Wunda chair. These collections of springs, bars, pulleys and straps can give you a productive workout, but they're not completely necessary, because there is another type of Pilates that is done on a simple mat.

View original post here:
Ben Greenfield: 5 Pilates Myths

See the original post:
Hannon Excercise #1 Piano - Video

MIAMI One week into his second tour of duty, U.S. Marines Sgt. Hugo Patrocinio was wounded by a suicide bomber who drove a dump truck stocked with 1,000 pounds of explosives into a house in Anbar, on the outskirts of Fallujah. He had been attacked before, hurt before, but this time Patrocinio was just 20 feet from the explosion.

He would eventually recover from the wounds - the shrapnel in his foot and leg, the severe concussion - but the psychological injuries lingered. His nights were soon crowded with re-runs of the bombing that injured 10 other platoon members. Often, he didn't sleep at all, tormented by searing memories of friends killed in the war. He was angry, prone to headaches and mood swings, one of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the masked casualties of war.

In the 18 months of Patrocinio's spiral, he eventually turned to yoga after learning about it during group therapy as a way to quiet the inner noise. He found the discipline, the poses, the breathing - and especially, the stillness - worked to restore what had been taken that July in 2006.

"I didn't understand yoga but I knew it was helping somehow. I was in a horrible place, a fog," says Patrocinio, 29, who was awarded a Purple Heart for his military service. "There is no magic pill that can erase your past or what you have seen but the practice helps me to cope. Now I am not afraid to go to sleep."

Patrocinio is part of a wave of returning veterans - with thousands more expected as the United States continues its military pullouts from two decade-long wars - who are embracing yoga as a calming therapy. For many, it is a companion medical treatment, to ease the symptoms of post-traumatic stress on the mind and body. For others, it is simply a way to relieve the stress of reintegrating. Some are turning to the poses and deep breathing of yoga. Others to the quiet of meditation.

"Through yoga or tai chi or some other discipline, the vet can create a space of calm. And that is a place that the brain can return to when faced with a trigger," said David Frankel, executive director of Connected Warriors, a nonprofit offering free weekly yoga sessions to veterans and their families in South Florida. "More than anything, the vet returning from a trauma needs a sense of peace."

Faced with a growing national health crisis, military officials and the medical community are exploring other methods to help treat psychologically wounded soldiers. Between 11 and 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense conducted a narrow feasibility study at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center on the effectiveness of Yoga Nidra, an ancient meditative practice, on soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD symptoms. After eight weeks, all the participants' symptoms were reduced. Buoyed by the results, research was expanded to several VA hospitals and centers, including the Miami VA where a study of meditation was conducted on veterans. The local study has been completed but not yet published. The program used in the study, eventually renamed Integrative Restoration or iRest, was added to the weekly treatment for soldiers at dozens of centers across the nation.

"The program provides them body relaxation and breathing exercises that are tools for managing the emotions, the memories, the cognitive thoughts that come with war," said Richard Miller, a clinical psychologist who served as a consultant and advisor to the DOD study. "It helps to build a deep inner resource that they can call back on for stability."

At the Red Pearl Yoga studio in Fort Lauderdale, veterans - including Patrocinio - who served in wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan spend an hour on Thursdays lying on green yoga mats staring towards the ceiling. The walls are deep red, and the air is warm and still, the afternoon sun shielded by bamboo blinds.

See the rest here:
For veterans suffering from PTSD, yoga and meditation bring peace of mind

By ALLISON BORGELT

Staff writer

The first time Janet Kolesar-Lis took a yoga class, it bored her.

"I didn't appreciate it. I didn't understand. I wasn't ready for it," said the former Jazzercise and aerobics instructor.

But now, after continuing her education in yoga, then teaching yoga and pilates for between 16 and 18 years, she not only gets it -- she enjoys it.

"I love my yoga. It's such an important part of my life," she said. "I don't want to teach anything else."

A yoga and pilates instructor at Owens Community College, Marathon Petroleum, Anytime Fitness and The Gym by Jamie, Kolesar-Lis has received the highest designation given to yoga teachers by the Yoga Alliance.

She is one of 49 yoga instructors and one of 23 hatha yoga instructors in Ohio to receive the Yoga Alliance's Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 500 (E-RYT 500) designation, she said.

Hatha yoga is "a system of physical exercises for the control and perfection of the body that constitutes one of the four chief Hindu disciplines," according to merriam-webster.com.

It is the most-practiced type of yoga, Kolesar-Lis said.

Link:
Yoga instructor stretches herself among several jobs

Edgewater, New Jersey (PRWEB) March 26, 2012

In any sport, there are good athletes and great athletes. This book is about improving athletic ability for sports. Want to excel and improve in sports? Need better endurance, focus, strength, or speed? If so, "The Shaolin Athlete" is the answer.

The "Shaolin Athlete" details the training methods Sifu Romain used to help Amani Toomer become the all-time leading pass receiver for the New York football Giants.

"The Shaolin Athlete" is not just for the serious athlete. "The Shaolin Athlete / Kung Fu Conditioning" program is the complete fitness and health program for everyone. Whether professional athlete, weekend warrior, or simply someone who wants to get in better shape and lose weight. The Kung Fu Conditioning exercises taught in "The Shaolin Athlete" target the body, mind, and spirit.

World Champion Master Karl Romain has been studying and training in Kung Fu for over 30 years. His clientele includes several well known athletes and celebrities. Additionally, Sifu Romain is asked to be an expert in many Kung Fu and workout seminars and lectures. He coordinates many off-site programs for various schools, municipalities, and major corporations. He has made frequent personal celebrity appearances on the Dr. Oz Show and other television shows.

Dr. Steve Kinnard earned a black sash and served as an assistant instructor in Sifu Karl Romains Academy. He also practices Tai Chi Chuan. Sifu Karl Romain and Dr. Kinnard developed a Kung Fu leadership program for at-risk youth, entitled, The Cross and the Warrior. Dr. Kinnard is a teacher and evangelist with the New York City Church of Christ. He is an Adjunct Professor of Bible and Theology at Lincoln Christian University. He is the author of over ten books.

Read this article:
The Shaolin Athlete: Kung Fu Conditioning for Sports, Fitness, and Health -Featuring Former New York Football Giants ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland City Councilmen Joe Cimperman and Matt Zone say they fully support a plan to create housing on Lorain Avenue to support homeless men who are fighting addiction.

The Cleveland Housing Network has an option to purchase the property, a closed-down Hollywood Video store, and has submitted an application to the Ohio Housing Finance Authority for funding for the project.

"It's just smart housing, smart public policy," said Zone.

"But you have certain people who say Ohio City has been the dumping ground of too much social service agencies serving vulnerable populations," he said. "This gets right to the root of NIMBYism. [NIMBY is an acronym for Not In My Backyard.] People want to talk out of both sides of their mouth."

The project is termed "permanent supportive housing," but not everyone is supportive of the idea.

Architect David Ellison, a former Green Party candidate for Cuyahoga County executive and an Ohio City resident, sees shady intent in a secretive deal that smacks of "machine" politics. Upset that the members of the Ohio City Development Corp.'s board voted to support the project in a meeting opponents weren't invited to attend, he posted their names and personal information on an Ohio City Yahoo board.

The information was public record, but Cimperman said Ellison crossed the line, and so the councilman wrote a letter to the board to alert them and sent an email to police saying, "I have grown more concerned by the tenor and underlying tone of violence on this Web site."

He said later that such information can be dangerous: "If you run for office, you're public. I get that. But, really? Did you have to put someone is pregnant or not? When their terms are up? That's intimidation."

Zone added: "When you profile people, when you put where they live, that is dangerous."

Ellison said that's nonsense: "As a body ostensibly voting on behalf of the community, we have the right to know who the board members are, where they live, how they voted and what was said in the proceeding. A hidden vote by individuals who themselves are hidden is not something that should be happening in this community or this country."

Excerpt from:
Ohio City homeless housing plan stirs heated debate: Michael K. McIntryre's Tipoff

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

CompassLearning officially unveiled Impact Teacher Academy Online today at the 2012 ASCD Annual Convention and Exhibit Show in Philadelphia, PA. The online expansion of Compass Learning Impact Teacher Academy provides educators with regularly scheduled, streaming, online sessions that allow for interaction with faculty and staff of the Academy as well as anytime, anywhere online access to video instruction and on-demand instructional sessions. The Impact Teacher Academy is an engaging blend of workshops, leadership planning and instructional coaching designed to share new ideas and classroom-proven approaches that empower teachers to help every child reach his or her potential.

Impact Teacher Academy focuses on professional development opportunities related to the successful implementation and use of Compass Learnings K12 personalized learning software and solutions in the classroom. The ultimate goal of the Academy is to build teacher capacity and student success.

The new online offering enhances traditional Impact Teacher Academy blended, on-site and virtual implementations customized to the needs of individual schools and districts with a professional-learning environment that can help new teachers get up to speed more quickly and expand the capacity of experienced teachers, while saving time and money. With Impact Teacher Academy, teachers have more time to focus on student achievement.

Were excited to offer a new, dedicated, online offering for our customers, said Quannah Hopper, vice president, CompassLearning Impact Teacher Academy. Providing professional-development opportunities that can help teachers spend classroom time fulfilling their aspirations and helping students achieve academic success and personal growth is the ultimate goal of our program.

For more information on Impact Teacher Academy, visit booth number 1218 at ASCD or online at: http://www.compasslearning.com/why-compass-learning/professional-development.php

About CompassLearning

Compass Learning provides educational software that empowers teachers to unlock every students potential for academic success and personal growth. The companys comprehensive K12 solutions create personalized learning programs that engage students and inspire them to learn. Teachers and administrators can more efficiently and effectively manage and measure progress, freeing time to focus on individual students needs. Both of the companys software solutions, CompassLearning Odyssey and the Renzulli Learning System, deliver academic rigor based on more than 40 years of research into how students learn. The solutions also are aligned with state and Common Core standards to support classroom and district accountability. With headquarters in Austin, Texas, Compass Learning serves nearly 6,000 schools across the United States.

Follow this link:
Introduction of Live Online Professional Development Offering Expands CompassLearning Impact Teacher Academy