News & Press Releases

Announcing the Winners of the MAESTRO eLEARNING AWARDS!

posted by Gena Taylor on maestroelearning.com/

Jun 08

The OSCARS of the eLearning industry are prepared to announce the winners of the Maestro eLearning Awards. We had a number of highly qualified candidates making it tough to choose, but we have selected the “Maestros” of 2011 and want to recognize them for their hard work.

Read what their colleagues had to say about them and click on the titles to learn more about these eLearning gurus in their personal interviews.

Best eLearning Designer:
Tobias Jedlund, VectorLearning.com, Inc.

“Tobias is a highly talented designer and developer who specializes in blending innovative graphic and design elements with current eLearning technology to continually enhance the online education experience for the end user. Recently Tobias was selected to be part of an elite group of eLearning specialists who will speak at the 2011 Learning Solutions Conference & Expo.”

Interview: 10 Steps to Award-Winning E-Learning Design Process found on Jack Shaw’s Free Management Library.

Best eLearning Developer:
Craig Bunyea, Concurrent Technologies Corporation

“Craig is a fantastic eLearning developer! He created a New Hire Orientation online course that is very interactive and visually appealing. The course is laid out as a town and the buildings are different topics that new employees need to visit and view. The employee navigates through the town and learns many of the processes and procedures at our company. Not only did Craig develop all the flash elements of the course, but also he drew the background for the town that employees visit on their journey through the course. After entering a building, Craig also drew the main images and background images inside each building. He is talented both in 2-D design and in programming. Using Dreamweaver, he finalized the course for our company’s LMS. We get nothing but positive comments from employees, since many times, mandatory training can be just a page-turner. Additionally, Craig is very easy to work with and is open to all suggestions. He patiently teaches me design and programming concepts since I am trying to learn some of what he does. I will never have the same level of ability as Craig and realize how important he is to the CTC University team.”

Interview: Under the Hood of a Beautiful eLearning Course

Best eLearning Executive:
Steve Cooper, CEO of Camelback Education Group

“Steve Cooper is one of the most innovative CEOs dealing with elearning. He has created concepts for using Facebook as an educational platform and the leader of Camelback Education Group he continues to look toward emerging technologies and the application of these technologies in pursuit of better access for people to educational opportunities. He’s a visionary on the world of elearning and deserves to be nominated for this process.”

Interview: Life Lessons from a Respected eLearning Executive

These awards are proudly supported by Maestro eLearning, a customer service company in the business of building custom online training materials. Learn more: www.maestroelearning.com

The Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education gave approval to Chandler University this week to award certificates and undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Chandler University was created last year as a private, online university based in Chandler. The school offers certificates in areas such as digital marketing, bachelor’s degrees in construction management and technology and business administration and master’s degrees in business administration in construction management, as well as construction technology. For information, see www.Chandler-U.com

Phoenix Business Journal - by Angela Gonzales

Camelback Education Group Inc., a Phoenix-based investment and management company, has acquired EduFire, a startup that offers online video classes on a variety of subjects. Steve Cooper, founder, chairman and CEO of Camelback Education, said the Web platform will be used as a component of Camelback Education’s universities, including Piccolo International University and Chandler University, which he hopes to open later this year.

Camelback Education Group Inc., a Phoenix-based investment and management company, has acquired EduFire, a startup that offers online video classes on a variety of subjects. Steve Cooper, founder, chairman and CEO of Camelback Education, said the Web platform will be used as a component of Camelback Education’s universities, including Piccolo International University and Chandler University, which he hopes to open later this year.

Read more: Camelback Education buys EduFire - Phoenix Business Journal - http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/07/19/focus6.html

The owners of an online university are trying to create a new for-profit school in Chandler that also would offer classes online and may eventually hold classes in person.

Camelback Education Group is trying to raise money from private investors for the venture, which it is calling Chandler University. If successful, organizers will not reveal amounts of money they receive from individuals because they plan to register the private placement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The idea of online universities isn't new. Chandler University could face stiff competition from the University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University and others. Grand Canyon's online enrollment is nearly 35,000, for example.

Camelback Education Group operates Piccolo International University, which specializes in real-estate education.

Steve Cooper, Camelback's CEO and founder, said he hopes to raise several million dollars for Chandler University. He also is eying the Price Corridor in south Chandler to build a physical campus.

"Students can go cow tipping and get a great education," Cooper joked about the rural and business area.

It's unclear what type of classes Chandler University would offer. That would be determined through community roundtables, he said.

"What's leading right now is sustainability, nursing/medicine, business and technology/computer science," Cooper said.

It's also not clear how much classes will cost when they begin later this year.

"One of our Number 1 priorities is to make sure we're affordable," he said.

The cost of college tuition is rising. Arizona State University, for example, will cost $8,126 in tuition and fees next year for new students. Tuition at online universities is considerably cheaper.

Cooper believes demand is strong for a four-year university in Chandler. Nearly 1million residents live in Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa combined.

Bob Barker, owner of the consulting group Barker Educational Services, said demand for online education continues to grow.

But he wondered if naming the college Chandler University will limit its ability to create name recognition in other states where Chandler is not well-known.

"The question is how will it resonate outside of Phoenix, Arizona," he said.

Christine Mackay, Chandler's economic development director, said she was impressed by Cooper and his team's vision.

"They really seem to know what they're doing," she said. "If anyone has a chance to succeed with this, I think it's them."

Phoenix Business Journal - by Angela Gonzales

The city of Chandler is reviving plans to create a university — an idea that was scrapped more than 80 years ago.

Phoenix-based Camelback Educational Group Inc. is in preliminary discussions to build a four-year university. Chandler University would start as a 2,000-square-foot campus with an online component and grow with demand, said Steve Cooper, founder of the company.

Cooper has 10 employees now and plans to have 100 at the university within the next couple of years.

He is in the process of acquiring three colleges on the East Coast and plans to transfer their accreditation status to Chandler University, in much the same way the University of Arizona used the accreditation for its medical school in Tucson to add another medical school in Phoenix.

Schools without accreditation cannot receive federal funding for student financial aid, and credits earned there will not transfer to accredited universities.

Cooper said he expects the acquisition and expansion to cost about $6 million, and he is raising money through a private placement from accredited investors. He said his attorney advised him not to provide additional details because he is registering the private placement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

He is looking at land throughout Chand ler, but has been focusing along Loop 202 in the Price Corridor and Chandler Airpark areas, said Christine Mackay, the city’s economic development director.

“He and his partners are focusing on the work force opportunities in Chandler,” she said. “We need to graduate in Arizona about double the number of bachelor’s (degrees) that are currently issued to keep up with the work force demand.”

Cooper said he chose Chandler after unsuccessfully reaching out to Mesa officials. Plus, he said, investors interested in his venture happened to live in Chandler and said they would like to see the private university in their own backyard.

This isn’t the first time Chandler residents have tried to build a university. In 1924, the Presbyterian Christian Board of Education, based in Philadelphia, approved plans to develop Chandler University. It was to rival Arizona State University, then known as Tempe Normal School. But because of a lack of funding, those plans were scrapped.

Ernest Calderon, president of the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the three state universities, said the board welcomes any public or private university startups.

“The state of Arizona faces a burgeoning student population, which we must serve if Arizona is going to have a competitive economy,” he said. “Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, our public universities have fewer dollars to serve a greater number of students. Arizona is best served by both public and private higher educational institutions helping meet our students’ needs.”

Cooper said he plans to start small, but he has big dreams for the university.

He said he hopes to close the acquisition of the three colleges back East in April, but confidentiality agreements prohibit him from identifying them. He did say they are profitable and accredited for certificates and degrees, and they receive Title IV loan money from the federal government.

Cooper said he hopes to begin offering classes by the end of the year.

He hasn’t set tuition rates yet, but he said fees will be competitive with other local universities, including ASU and Grand Canyon University. He would like to start by offering business degrees, but will meet with community members and business leaders to determine their needs.

“We’ll start with undergraduate degrees, and we will add graduate programs as well, based on the demand of the community,” he said.

Camelback Education Group also owns Piccolo International University, which Cooper bought back from Piccolo Educational Systems Inc. in November after selling it to the company in 2008 for an undisclosed amount.

He operated the online university under the name Institute of Construction Management & Technology for a year before selling it to Piccolo Educational Systems.

Laura Palmer Noone, president and CEO of Piccolo Educational Systems, declined to comment.

Chandler Education Group Inc.
Founder and CEO:
Steve Cooper
Employees: 10
HQ: Phoenix
Web: www.ceg-inc.com