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Reader Mail (Support, Rankings, etc.)

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Reader Mail (Support, Rankings, etc.)

Before diving into our semi-annual, readers question and answer, I’d like to talk about a subject near and dear to me – acquisitions.    In the past few months, many of you probably have noticed a slight uptick in to the number of vendors who have been acquired either by another vendor in the market, or outside of the e-learning space or even a Private Equity firm.

While from a global standpoint the percentage of acquisitions is still below .1%, the pr you see, seems to indicate a massive upheaval in the M&A angle, especially in the learning system space. 

Yet one of the items that is never mentioned are the customers and employees of the vendor who has been acquired.  On the customer side, if you are the client of said “been acquired” vendor you may be asking yourself, what can I do?

I can tell you, that you will face an uphill battle if you are trying to get out of your contract (if you have one).  Some vendors will be flexible with you, and allow you to leave if you so desire, others less so.  There have been plenty of horror stories where clients are stuck in a contract with zero recourse.

From my experience, vendors do have some options

1. They could be understanding and if you want out of your contract, they let you go. After all, word of mouth is still huge even in the digital world today, especially with social media.  Is bad mouthing something a vendor wants?

2.  See if there any loopholes.  Sadly, I often find consumers who really never look at the contract and just sign on the dotted line.  It happens way more than you might think.

3.  Just go forward and hope everything turns out okay.  Now, if it is a vendor you just dislike, this is not an ideal option, but look, I hate people ringing my doorbell, and so I let my dogs do the barking, err talking.

What can you do going forward?

Let’s say you are about to sign a contract with a learning system vendor or even an e-learning vendor with another product.  To safeguard yourself, in case the vendor is acquired, here is what you should do.

  • Have them put in an opt-out clause, so that you can get out of the contract.  You request it to be 60 days notice (as in you have to give them 60 days minimum if you plan to leave)
  • Make sure the opt-out clause states that you are not penalized either financially or on some other manner and that the vendor agrees to work with the new vendor to move over your data (if this is applicable)
  • If the vendor wants their own opt-out clause, go ahead.  I had a vendor who once wanted it, I said go ahead.  They never opt-out.

There will be vendors who will tell you they will never been acquired, but how do you know? And heck, how do they know – especially the salesperson.  Most of the times, they are kept in the dark.  There are systems today looking to be buy others (privately – i.e. not being made public).  There are some on the market.  Heck, there are some I wonder if they will be around by the end of 2020.   You just don’t know and so, the philosophy that you can trust the vendor is, well, a mistake. 

Some vendors will say, there isn’t a contract per se, and you can leave at any time.  If you signed something with them – i.e. a contract, that even says you can leave at any time, it is still a contract.   And the “leave” any time is misleading.  Sure you can leave, but any money you paid, you will not get back.  If you paid up-front, sorry Charlie (a famous Tuna), no refund for you.  

Now onto your questions

Steve

My company continues to have issues with support by X (vendor name withheld). They never return phone calls or e-mails.  Worse, when I am able to connect with them, I seem to go into some loop.  We are getting frustrated and I get the feeling they just don’t care. What should we do?

Demand less Muzak on the phone. I mean, the seventies, really?  In all seriousness though, there are somethings you can do.

  • Go on LinkedIn and find out who is head of customer support/tech support/services then reach out to them.  Explain at a very high level (you only have a few sentences) that you need to contact them.  Tell them you are a customer of theirs and you are considering leaving them.  Trust me, they will connect.
  • Ask the support person who is in charge of support and you want their contact information. Be polite. If they stonewall you, find out who is the CEO of the company – doable on LinkedIn, and contact them.  Similar to head of support, threaten to leave and express displeasure.   They will connect, but if not.
  • Make it known on LinkedIn in your own posting, that you are having issues with the learning system vendor as it relates to support – now you will get other learning system vendors telling you to come over to them, but you will very likely get someone from your said vendor.  I’d add the Twitter angle to, but make sure you do “.@vendorname” – when you put the “.” in front of the “@” this means it goes to everyone who is following that vendor, which likely includes their customers.  Nothing worse then being called out and it is seen by the customer base.
  • Stay focused.  It is easy to get frustrated.  If you are at your wits end, then look to jump ship.  Look at your contract and see what you can do.
  • The number one reason, people leave learning systems is due to poor support. Vendors know this, and some have fixed it, others have not.

I’ve seen the “we will respond in 24 hours” e-mail and that is utter baloney.  Worse, it is often comes from an e-mail address that you can not respond to, which only adds to the frustration.  Now, you could play the game of guessing, by seeing how they do their email address.  I’ve done it before, and you might get a win out of it.  But generally speaking, you might get a lose at it.

If you are concerned that they may not be opening up the e-mail, let’s say you have their email address, then subscribe to an e-mail tracker.  There are plenty out there.  The read receipt ones are worthless.  Some of the trackers will show you who else opened up that e-mail, beyond the person you sent it to.  I know it may sound squirmy, but hey, you are at the point where squirmy is the least of your concerns.

Brian

We are looking at some LMSs.  We want a system that is somewhat under the radar but one that you like or have on your map as potential.  Any recommendations?

There are always systems that I am in the “hmm, they have potential mode” and are on my radar.  In fact quite a few.  That said, here are some that you should explore, depending on your criteria. 

  • Spoke by Unboxed Technology – They have a built-in BI (business intelligence) component, which I really like.  The UI/UX is slick. Lots of very good functionality.  The gamification component includes some nice wins.  They also have a sales enablement platform too, called Hub 360.  And if you go into FindAnLMS.com, you can see schedule a demo with them, right within the system, and see price ranges, user ranges, functionality too. 
  • Bolt Learning – I think what really intrigues me about this system, is they are the first ones to use facial recognition specifically for logging into the system.  I repeat, only log-in to the system (some folks think it is for assessments, it isn’t).  Instead of the end user having to remember a user name/password, their face is solves that.  Could you log-in the old fashion way? Sure, but hey if you are using this via mobile  and concerned about security, your face is the way to go.  Unless you have stolen someone’s else face, like Cage and Travolta did in that weird movie about two decades ago.
  • CD2 Learning – They have been around for more than a decade but are really under the radar.  With a new management team in place, including a new CEO, I think they are about to turn the corner in a good way.  Not robust by any stretch, but has some nice feature sets.  Definitely on my “potential list”.  They are on Findanlms.com, too.
  • EthosCE – Another vendor who has been around for numerous years and yet, I am still surprised how many folks have never heard of them.  By far one of the best systems I have seen for the medical care industry and even healthcare. CE functionality is outstanding.  Definitely under the radar. Skip Healthstream (over-rated and average, and expensive) and check Ethos out. 

Claire

I attended ATD’s show and walked around the show floor talking to some vendors. They scanned by badge and said they would follow-up.  No one has so far.  Is this common?

Way too common.  I never understood why sales people or whomever is in that booth, scan badges and then never follow-up.  I can’t decide if it is because they are on some goal angle where they have to scan so many badges or if they are just lazy and couldn’t care a less.

I’d love to be the fly on the wall so to speak when they talk to whoever is running sales, and tells them, they got a lot of leads, but fails to mention they never contacted them.

I should note that there are some vendors who hire people to staff the booth, but who really do not work for them.  Is it lame? Absolutely.  But it does happen.

Plus, I have seen way too many salespeople who really need a crash course in how to work a booth.  Personal favorites include

  • Eating in the booth.  It is very easy to leave a sign, “back in 30 minutes” and go and eat or drink. 
  • Looking at their mobile phones.  You want do to that? Then wait until the show is over or you are on your break.  It tells me that you do not want to be there, so why should I stop by? 
  • Poor edict in your booth.  I’ve seen it all – nose picking (it is like a train wreck, you can’t turn away),  laying on a couch relaxing (as if you are at a home), reading e-mail which is visible on the monitors at your booth (it was seen at learning solutions show) and dozing off (really, get some sleep or uh, sleep on your break).

But by far, the issue I see most and you identified it – is scanning and ignoring.  Vendors pay a lot of money for a trade show, at a minimum about 10,000 USD and I know of vendors who have dropped over 100K for booth.  And to think that some one is just taking up space is offensive.  Unless they are sleeping on their own couch, then it is magical, in a lazy and exhausting kind of way.  As an added bonus, they had their shoes on.  Yeah!

Allison

If you were post your rankings today, who would be in your top three?

Good question.  Right now, I have the rankings split with LMSs being one, and LXPs being the other.  Unless otherwise indicated, all can be found on Findanlms.com, where you can search by filters, contact them, send them an RFP and schedule a demo.  Yes, I hype the site, but I have focused on having the best systems in the industry there and we continue to add them weekly.  So more are coming!!!

Top Three in Rankings as of today.

LMS (In no particular order)

LXPs (In no particular order)

Two vendors in the LXP space, very new to the market, I am keeping an eye on.  Both will be on FindAnLMS by July.

Bottom Line

There you have it.  The latest on readers Q and A along with insight into the acquisition component. 

One reader did ask me how many dogs I have and their names. They said they were a pet owner and noticed that I have included a name of my dog in the past.

Voodoo, Spirit and Cali are their names.  All rescues.

And all special.

E-Learning 24/7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 green innovations from the land down under

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5 green innovations from the land down under

Sustainability is a key talking point
in modern society.

Solar take up in Australia is higher than it has ever been, renewable energy solutions are replacing coal-fired electricity stations, and electric car innovation is making the technology more affordable and accessible than ever before.

Australians are a creative bunch, which is why it’s of little surprise to learn that some of the world’s greatest sustainability inventions have come from our shores.

Here are five of our favourites:

1. Bamboo wound care

Wound care products contribute and immense amount to landfill, with huge volumes of band aids and bandages being disposed of every year. It was a market identified by Australian company Nutricare, who create, design and manufacture natural and organic alternatives.

Their products are made out of bamboo and include natural products like charcoal, aloe vera and coconut oil to encourage healing. Nutricare’s range are the only latex, paraben free, sulphate, thimerosal/ merthiolate-free wound care products on the market at present.

2. Reusable smart cups with Visa
PayWave

Frank Green Next Generation Reusable Cup (with Visa payWave)

Aussies love coffee, but despite significant efforts to encourage the use of reusable cups, around 1 billion disposable coffee cups end up in landfill each year. The latest bid to get people to stop using throw-away cups is an Australian innovation, in the form of a reusable cup with a built-in chip, so you can fill your cup and pay at the same time.

Frank Green is the Melbourne-based company behind the Next generation SmartCup with Visa payWave which allows you to pay for anything up to $50 in value. Their products are now available in 36 countries globally including the major markets of China, the United States and the United Kingdom.

3. Big brand shoes made from Australian wool

Cotton has long been used for clothing, but never considered for shoes despite being a natural, renewable and biodegradable fibre. That’s all changing thanks to Australian company The Woolmark Company (TWC). Merino wool is marketed by TWC globally, which is a win for Aussie wool farmers and producers.

Adidas was the first big brand to launch wool shoes and now rivals are following in their footsteps, with California-based Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL) following suit.

The shoes aren’t just environmentally better, but also deliver real benefits for active people. They naturally hug the foot for maximum support, the material breathes for comfort and wool has a natural moisture wicking characteristic – helping prevent odour.

4. Protection of endangered species

There are now 41,415 endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list, with 16,306 threatened with extinction. While many programs help endangered species tread water for a few more years, the list just gets longer every year.

Lord Howe Island, located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, off Port Macquarie in New South Wales, has taken its commitment to helping these animals to a new level.

The Lord Howe Island board initiated the Protecting Paradise program which includes:

  • A cap on tourist visitors
  • World-class waste management facilities that divert 86 percent of the island waste from landfill
  • Pest eradication programs and;
  • Recovery programs for endangered animals.

The latter has meant that several species have been brought back from the brink of extinction, including the Lord Howe Island Woodhen and the world’s rarest insect, the Lord Howe Island stick insect.

5. Bins for the ocean

Seabin – Picture courtesy of www.eco-business.com

With 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic dumped in the world’s ocean every day, it is little wonder that experts are predicting that there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s seas by 2050. Perth surfers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski experienced the floods of plastic in the ocean first hand every day, so they decided to do something about it.

They invented the Seabin, which can collect, and hold up to 20kg of rubbish each day before being emptied and released into the water once more.

If you’re fascinated by innovative design that protects our environment, a course in engineering and sciences could help you make a contribution. Study online, in your own time and location, and start working towards an exciting career – one that gets you out of bed in the morning.

An Editor’s Yearbook Tells a Tale of Race in New York’s Elite Public Schools

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An Editor’s Yearbook Tells a Tale of Race in New York’s Elite Public Schools

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

Movies about American high schools usually portray a micro-society ruled by football players, the wildly popular kings of the hallways. The cheerleaders are blond, pretty-but-bubbly ditzes; the “all-American” look is usually Anglo-Saxon, with Asian, black and Hispanic students far outnumbered by white ones. The smart kids are portrayed as “nerds” and social outcasts.

I could never relate.

Because I’m a proud graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, where a racially diverse cast of New York’s brainiest were educated in an environment without a real football team (just a football “club” sporting homemade jerseys); the girls of the (mostly black) cheerleading team were likely to be enrolled in AP biology courses; and classmates cheered for Westinghouse prize winners instead of stuffing them in lockers.

Image
CreditThe Bronx High School of Science

Growing up in New York City often feels like having membership in a unique club. When I first started as the deputy editor on the Metro desk in November 2018, working with the education reporter, Eliza Shapiro, we immediately talked about the schools we’d attended, since we both were raised in New York.

But I hadn’t thought much about the current makeup of my alma mater.

I soon discovered that Bronx Science — like the other New York City specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech — has lost a significant number of black and Hispanic students over the years. It is now very different from the school I once knew.

There are currently nine specialized public high schools in New York City, designed to educate academically and artistically gifted students. The only way to get in is to take an exam — the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) — unless you’re applying to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, in which case you must audition or submit a portfolio.

When I was a student at Bronx Science, the school’s ethnic makeup was 43 percent white, 34 percent Asian, 14 percent black and 9 percent Hispanic. I attended several New York City schools before landing at Science — from run-of-the-mill public elementary schools to toney private institutions — and Bronx Science was where I felt the most comfortable. The fact that the student body was 23 percent black and Hispanic meant that as a young black woman I never felt out of place. I was never the only black student in a classroom, I never had to field questions about my hair, or about why I was there. I didn’t have that awful feeling of all eyes on me whenever the lesson was about slavery or civil rights.

I remember the parties. For smarty-pants kids, we loved to party. In addition to the regular school dances — for Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Winter, Spring and whatever else — there were also energetic and incredibly fun dance parties thrown by the West Indian Society; the Hispanic student club, Unidad; and the Black Organization for Student Strength (B.O.S.S.). Plus, despite specializing in science, there was plenty of arts and culture for those of us who leaned that way: I wrote for Dynamo, the literary magazine, took photography classes and performed in musical theater productions.

Make no mistake, it was a place where people were vocal about and proud of their heritage. Students hailed from all over, places like Albania, Greece, Korea, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Nigeria, and geographically closer locations like Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, the West Village and Washington Heights.

Truly, in my eyes, the school’s diversity was its strength. It seemed to be a place where a teenager — whether they were black, white, Cuban by way of Trinidad, Puerto Rican, Ukranian Jewish, Filipino or Thai — could find a tribe.

Nerds could meet other nerds; punk music fans could meet other punk music fans. If you liked cards, there was always a posse of people playing spades in the cafeteria. If you were into George Michael and Depeche Mode, you could come sit by me.

The fact that many of us left our neighborhoods and traveled to the school from all parts of the city — for some, it took two hours and several subways — itself fostered strong bonds, a kind of commuting camaraderie, a “we’re in this together” alliance that wasn’t easily broken.

Editing articles about specialized schools with Eliza produced two jaw-dropping moments for me.

The first was when I found out that of 895 freshman spots at Stuyvesant this year, only seven would go to black students.

The second was when I opened the 1975 Stuyvesant yearbook and saw more than 40 students in the photograph of U.N.I.K.U.K.U., the black student union, which was described as Stuyvesant’s “most active ethnic group.”

In contrast, in the 2018 Stuyvesant yearbook, the Black Students League and Aspira, the Hispanic student group, were photographed together, and there were a total of 12 people pictured. Stuyvesant has gone from being 10 percent black to being under 1 percent black.

An incredible shift, in what feels like a very short amount of time. What happened? It’s been satisfying to follow Eliza as she has delved into that question, exploring all the factors behind the transformation.

As Eliza was searching for yearbooks from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and early aughts, at the beginning of her reporting for the latest piece, I told her I’d given mine away in college. Then last month I reached out on Facebook and asked if any of my former classmates had the 1990 Bronx Science yearbook handy. In no time at all, an old friend — one I hadn’t seen in decades — messaged me and, within days, hand-delivered a copy to the office. The unbreakable bond remains.

Follow the @ReaderCenter on Twitter for more coverage highlighting your perspectives and experiences and for insight into how we work.

Did I Need to Know What Gender My Nonbinary Interviewees Were Assigned at Birth? Maybe Not

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Did I Need to Know What Gender My Nonbinary Interviewees Were Assigned at Birth? Maybe Not

Lisa Reff, a Maryland lawyer who had urged her state representative to sponsor the “Gender X” legislation, said she had struggled with her teenager’s request until another parent told her it was standard for the verb to match the pronoun.

“‘I was saying ‘they is,’” Ms. Reff explained. “Saying ‘they are’ is so much easier.”

Ms. Reff, who said she disliked wearing skirts and dresses as a child, also voiced a confusion I heard from several other women who grew up as 1970s- and 1980s-era feminism was vowing to smash gender-role stereotypes. “My question was, how is this different from being a tomboy?” she said.

One scientist with whom I spoke felt ambivalent about the new convention at professional conferences that attendees write their pronouns on name tags. After decades of fighting for women in the field to be seen as scientists first, she noted, they are now literally being labeled by gender.

But Jamie Grace Alexander, a nonbinary college student who helped to craft testimony on the Maryland bill, told me there was value in having “a name for what I am” rather than trying to expand deeply ingrained conceptions of “male” and “female.’’

“I could subvert their expectations when I come into the room,’’ they said, “but why can’t I subvert their expectations with my identity itself?”

The degree to which expectations of appearance, abilities and behavior are still attached to the binary genders, many informed me, tends to become more evident in light of identities that combine, reject, partially embrace or alternate between them. Parents became aware of how often they are asked the gender of their children as a kind of small talk. Students became aware of how frequently teachers address them as “ladies and gentlemen.” The Facebook group Ah Yes, the Two Genders specializes in documenting gender-reveal party cakes, bathroom signs and other reflections of this penchant for the binary-gender classification.

Dr. Jason Rafferty, the author of the American Association of Pediatrics’ first policy statement on the care of gender-nonconforming children, which was issued last fall, said most of the bullying in middle and high school is based on gender.

Who Are the ‘Characters’ That Make Your Town Interesting?

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Who Are the ‘Characters’ That Make Your Town Interesting?

Note: This is our last Student Opinion question of the 2018-19 school year.

Who are the people in your school or town that make your area interesting? What makes them stand out? What role do they play in your community?

In “‘I’m Weird, but I Get Results’: Have You Met This Wizard on the Subway?” Mary Pilon writes about one such character who acts as the “warlock of Brooklyn,” casting “spells” and offering wise words to New York City residents:

In New York, a city where anyone can be anything, Devin Person is a self-proclaimed professional wizard.

On a Sunday afternoon in his Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenpoint, Mr. Person — looking more Merlin than Harry Potter, with his plush robe and scraggly white beard — led about three dozen people in meditation.

He encouraged them to “sample the flavors and energy of each cloud formation as if you were walking around Costco’s different free sample stations,” to float “like Michael Phelps diving into the pool” and to wear a smile “like the sun on the Raisin Bran box.”

As a modern “wizard,” Mr. Person, 33, holds group sessions, like the recent meditation and Wizarding Hour in Greenpoint. He speaks to companies. He officiates weddings. He reads tarot and performs hypnosis. He hosts a podcast. He once planned an “edible enhanced” walkabout in Central Park.

He will also show up if someone wants to “have fun hanging out with a wizard.”

The article continues:

“Wizards are people helpers,” he said. “They are who the hero encounters on their journey, and they’re able to give the hero a bit of advice, maybe a magical artifact, some sort of assistance that helps the hero get over their obstacle and on their journey.”

Mr. Person had long been interested in the occult and spirituality when, in 2014, he decided to “hatch an egg” of something to pursue alongside his day job at the website creator Squarespace, now as an associate product manager.

So, after making his way through an exhaustive list of new-age books, Mr. Person started holding “occult consulting” sessions with friends and friends of friends, eventually expanding to dozens and dozens of clients. He described his transformation as “reaching out through time and space and across the dimensional barrier to make contact with the most wizardly possibility of myself.”

That meant, he said, functioning as a mentor and listener. (The word “wizard” comes from the Middle English “wys,” or “wise.”)

Mr. Person posted on Facebook that he was offering coaching services. Not long after, a childhood friend from Indiana reached out.

The friend, Sahil Bhatia, said he was “in a deep depression and crisis of faith.” The two men discussed strategies like “set five goals per day” that Mr. Bhatia could use to feel fulfilled.

“The lower pressure and informal nature of it was much different,” Mr. Bhatia said. “That was really helpful to me.”

Mr. Person stresses that he is not a therapist and that he generally offers just one session to participants, which he frames as, “This is the moment in your life where you encounter a wizard, and this has the potential to change a lot and we’re going to talk about it.”

He added, “I’m weird, but I get results.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

— What do you think about Mr. Person’s role as a “professional wizard”? If you encountered him on the street, what advice, spell or other help would you ask for?

— Would you ever like to take on such a role in your town? If so, what persona would you inhabit? What would your costume look like? What kinds of services, help or advice would you offer?

— Who are the “characters” that make your town interesting? Why do you find them so intriguing?

— Do you think every place needs “people helpers” like Mr. Person? Why or why not?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Learning With: ‘A Star Is Made: 12 Performers Show What It Takes to Light Up the Stage in New York City’

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Learning With: ‘A Star Is Made: 12 Performers Show What It Takes to Light Up the Stage in New York City’

Note to teachers: This is our last Article of the Day for the 2018-19 school year. Also, the video featuring Princess Nokia includes some curse words. Please be sure to preview it before showing it to students to make sure it is appropriate for your class.

Before reading the article:

Nearly 40 years ago, Frank Sinatra sang, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere / It’s up to you, New York, New York.” And more recently Alicia Keys sang, “Concrete jungle where dreams are made of / There’s nothing you can’t do / Now you’re in New York.”

Have you ever had dreams of making it big as a performer?

In today’s article, The New York Times Magazine celebrates 12 performers — ages 13 to 72, including a gospel singer and a sword swallower — trying to make it in New York City.

First, scroll through the article and watch each video clip showcasing the 12 performers.

What do you notice about the performers profiled in the article? What do you imagine are the pleasures and rewards for their types of performances? What do you imagine are the challenges?

Now, choose ONE of the 12 profiles in “A Star Is Made: 12 Performers Show What It Takes to Light Up the Stage in New York City.” Read the article, watch the accompanying video and answer the following questions:

1. Why did you select the article and performer you did? What did you find interesting about the person or type of performance?

2. Why did your performer choose that specific type of performance? What first drew her or him to it?

3. What are the benefits (financial, emotional, creative) for this kind of performance? What are the challenges?

4. How did your chosen performer learn and master the craft? What support — from family, friends, teachers, coaches and mentors — has the performer received while pursuing a creative life?

5. What sacrifices has the performer made for art?

6. What does a life in performance mean to your chosen performer? What has been that performer’s greatest achievement or success?

7. Look at the photos that accompany the text. What story do they tell about the particular craft and what it takes to be successful at it?

Finally, tell us more about what you think:

— What was most memorable, surprising or inspiring about the performers profiled in the article? Does any quote, photo or moment in a video stand out? What questions remain about your performer or his or her chosen craft?

— While some of the performers have had extensive artistic education, many have received little or no formal training and are pursuing nontraditional and emerging fields in performance. What life lessons can we learn from the people featured in the article?

— How do you express yourself creatively? Do your school, peers and family support creative expression and careers in performance? Which type of performance among the 12 featured in the article would you like to explore?

— Do you think artists are born or made? How much of one’s success is based on natural talent? Or can hard work and perseverance lead you to become a great performer? What do you think it takes to make it big?

— Would you consider a life or career in performance? Why or why not? Are you more likely to follow your own creative dreams after reading the article? Do you think you will ever have what it takes to make it on a big stage in New York City?

The Winners of Our Sixth Annual Student Editorial Contest: Teenagers Tell Us What Matters Most to Them

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The Winners of Our Sixth Annual Student Editorial Contest: Teenagers Tell Us What Matters Most to Them

“Escaping the Corset in the World’s Beauty Capital” by Jiwon Na

“A Case for Boredom” by Matthew Ngaw

“Returning to Its Roots: Why the Republican Party Must Embrace Conservation” by Colby Porter

“American Colleges Need Greater Diversity … of Thought” by William Rosenberger

“Untraining Our Bias” by Beau Seate

“Journalists: Their Death Is Our Death” by Isabella Simon

“Informed Skepticism” by Niels Vanderloo

“Food Waste for Thought” by Brooke Wager

“The World Is Changing but English Class Is Not” by Isabella Zeff

“Hundreds of ‘Friends’ Yet We’re Still Lonely” by Lily Zhang

_________

Plus: 50 more great editorials that made it to round 3. (PDF)

___________

Judges

From the New York Times Opinion section: Binyamin Appelbaum, Tamsyn Burgmann, Jenee Desmond-Harris, Mara Gay, Stéphanie Giry, Lauren Kelley, Alex Kingsbury, Phoebe Lett, Sue Mermelstein, Charlie Warzel, Alicia Wittmeyer

From The Learning Network: Amanda Christy Brown, Shannon Doyne, Jeremy Engle, Caroline Crosson Gilpin, Michael Gonchar, Annissa Hambouz, Natalie Proulx, Katherine Schulten

Educator-judges from schools and organizations around the country: Erica Ayisi, Adee Braun, Judith Christ, Catherine Conley, Tracy Evans, Nico Gendron, Nadia Murray Goodman, Thomas Houston, Jeremy Hyler, Shira Katz, Willow Lawson, Jeanna McGonegal-Doung, Keith Meatto, James Menter, Sharon Murchie, Edward Osterman, Rene Panozzo, Anna Pendleton, Elliott Rebhun, Jennifer Rittner, Melissa Slater, Brett Vogelsinger, Stephanie Yemm

_________

Students: We hope you’ll also join us for our 10th Annual Summer Reading Contest, any week or every week from June 14 to Aug. 23.

How can healthcare professionals improve the lives of women with PCOS?

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How can healthcare professionals improve the lives of women with PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common hormonal condition affecting women in their childbearing years. It increases the risk of diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, and endometrial cancer. PCOS is a common cause of infertility and it causes symptoms that can be very difficult to deal with, such as acne and hair growth in body areas like the face. Affected women also have a high risk of suffering from depression and anxiety, and weight gain and obesity are common. Between 8-13% of women have PCOS and in indigenous women in Australia, it’s up to 21%.

In addition to the unwanted symptoms, women find it hard to get a clear diagnosis, effective management of their condition, and high-quality information. In fact, too many women are told by doctors that they will be overweight and possibly childless for the rest of their lives, causing extreme distress.

How can this situation be improved? Professor Helena Teede, a treating endocrinologist and Director of Monash Centre for Health Research Implementation (MCHRI), realised the significance and severity of the problem and has resolved to fix it.

Firstly, she talked to women with PCOS and asked them what was important to them (a radical idea, even today). She then invited experts and researchers from around the world, over a three-year period, to assist in the creation of the world-first International Evidence-Based Guideline for the Assessment and Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). We have the evidence and now we need to change the practice.

Addressing this need, Monash University has developed an evidence-based and engaging course Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: An Evidence-based Approach, which has been accredited by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Using authentic case studies and the Guideline, the course draws practitioners together from around the world to learn, discuss, and ultimately become change agents in delivering best practice in the assessment and management of PCOS.

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Learning,
Healthcare

#ThrillYourMind

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#ThrillYourMind

It’s late at night. You’re burning the midnight oil. You’ve devoted hours of focus to a programming challenge, project, or problem set.  And just when you’re about to stop for the night, it arrives.

The discovery. The breakthrough. That moment when the lightbulb goes off.

This season, we’re celebrating the learning breakthroughs that #ThrillYourMind. The global community on Coursera is driven to never stop learning, and we want to recognize the joy and excitement that drives that passion.

Over the last 7 years, we’ve heard from learners in every part of the world. We know that you complete courses during your commute to work, your lunch breaks, and late at night after the kids go to sleep. Thank you. We’re grateful for your dedication!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll feature your favorites from our catalog of 3,500+ courses.  We’ll showcase courses that teach the newest cutting-edge skills, as well as some hidden gems that you might not know about.

Into dinosaurs? Greek and Roman mythology? Wine tasting? We’ve got all that, with more to come.

Help us celebrate. Jump onto your favorite social network — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn — and use #ThrillYourMind to share your favorite A-ha moments.

Here are some more ways to celebrate with us:

  • Share about your learning. Love to take notes? Whether you use pen and paper or tools like the new highlights and notes feature, show us what you’re learning! Tag your post with @Coursera and #ThrillYourMind.
  • Share your success! Take a photo with your printed certificate and tag your post with @Coursera and #ThrillYourMind for a chance to be featured.

 

Did I Need to Know What Gender My Nonbinary Interviewees Were Assigned at Birth? Maybe Not.

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Did I Need to Know What Gender My Nonbinary Interviewees Were Assigned at Birth? Maybe Not.

Lisa Reff, a Maryland lawyer who had urged her state representative to sponsor the “Gender X” legislation, said she had struggled with her teenager’s request until another parent told her it was standard for the verb to match the pronoun.

“‘I was saying ‘they is,’” Ms. Reff explained. “Saying ‘they are’ is so much easier.”

Ms. Reff, who said she disliked wearing skirts and dresses as a child, also voiced a confusion I heard from several other women who grew up as 1970s- and 1980s-era feminism was vowing to smash gender-role stereotypes. “My question was, how is this different from being a tomboy?” she said.

One scientist with whom I spoke felt ambivalent about the new convention at professional conferences that attendees write their pronouns on name tags. After decades of fighting for women in the field to be seen as scientists first, she noted, they are now literally being labeled by gender.

But Jamie Grace Alexander, a nonbinary college student who helped to craft testimony on the Maryland bill, told me there was value in having “a name for what I am” rather than trying to expand deeply ingrained conceptions of “male” and “female.’’

“I could subvert their expectations when I come into the room,’’ they said, “but why can’t I subvert their expectations with my identity itself?”

The degree to which expectations of appearance, abilities and behavior are still attached to the binary genders, many informed me, tends to become more evident in light of identities that combine, reject, partially embrace or alternate between them. Parents became aware of how often they are asked the gender of their children as a kind of small talk. Students became aware of how frequently teachers address them as “ladies and gentlemen.” The Facebook group Ah Yes, the Two Genders specializes in documenting gender-reveal party cakes, bathroom signs and other reflections of this penchant for the binary-gender classification.

Dr. Jason Rafferty, the author of the American Association of Pediatrics’ first policy statement on the care of gender-nonconforming children, which was issued last fall, said most of the bullying in middle and high school is based on gender.

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