February, 2009

ReadyMinds and Founder & CEO, Randy M.Miller, Featured In "The Evolution of E-Learning." From the Classroom to the Boardroom by Kim DeCoste. ICOSA Connection & Collaboration, January/February Issue.

"E-Education - Higher Education; Who are the leaders in Online Higher Education. An organization's ability to learn and translate that learning into action is the ultimate competitive advantage. - Jack Welch, ex-CEO General Electric.
There are no distinctions made between fully online schools with no campus offerings, blended models with some on/off campus (or a choice) and the traditional brick and mortar campuses who are adding online delivery of their curriculum to keep students engaged in this way. It is not clear to me personally who will truly emerge over time as a leader in this market, however, The University of Phoenix (Apollo Group) has established itself firmly and is considered the largest private university in the world based on enrollment numbers.

Additional Collaborative e-Learning Discoveries; The Total Professional Advantage (or TPA as many liked to call it), gave students a place to converge, to share ideas, to expand upon class projects and to collaborate.
And it continues to be successful. I attribute much of that success to one key partner in the project. Colleagues from a company in New Jersey called ReadyMinds (www.readyminds.com) founded by Randy Miller were instrumental in the development of the Total Professional Advantage. With the help of dedicated colleagues, ReadyMinds had already established itself as the leader in legitimate distance career counseling. Neither the model nor the process of creating it were simple, but the idea itself was amazingly so.

Mr. Miller and his team wanted to:
1. Adopt Something You Could Believe In
2. Be "Go To" Counselors
3. Promote a Technologically savvy Professional Image
4. Incorporate Distance Counseling as a Supplement and Compliment of traditional Counseling
5.Enhance the power of the User 6.Increase Technological Utilization with Limited Discarding of Conventional Approaches

In their book - Distance Counseling: Expanding the Counselors's Reach and Impact - Mr. Miller writes "The availability of counseling in an online platform has and will continue to attract individuals who may never have considered any type of counseling or coaching in a traditional face-to-face environment. But because it is online in an environment they are comfortable in, barriers or preconceived notions...become less daunting and encourage participation." The same is often said about online learning in general.
There is some comfort for many in the anonymity of engaging online.

For a complete look at the article, please click here.

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About ReadyMinds

Founded in 1997, ReadyMinds owns and operates readyminds.com and is a privately held company that has emerged as the leading global provider of distance career counseling and training services. The ReadyMinds' distance career counseling process was initially designed with the assistance of business leaders and career-counseling experts to help individuals focus on their career planning and develop action plans to achieve their immediate career goals. In addition to the counseling of individuals, the ReadyMinds Training Division provides global training opportunities for counselors seeking to further enhance their professional development in the area of distance counseling. ReadyMinds abides by the guidelines set forth by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the NBCC Code of Ethics and the Standards for the Ethical Practice of Web Counseling. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.readyminds.com.