eFitness: A Marketing Opportunity
Introduction
An online fitness course called eFitness has been developed for our local community college and there is an opportunity to expand this curriculum throughout the state and perhaps the country.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify, and discuss the marketing strategy for eFitness. Using current research information the researcher explored the feasibility of an eFitness course to the general public, the problems and opportunities in marketing and expanding this product.
Thesis
eFitness is an online diet and fitness course that incorporates a textbook, videos, PowerPoint, and threaded discussions. An informative lecture is included with each lesson to help instruct students about health, fitness, and the benefits of exercise. It is colorful, engaging, and interactive. It is unique in content and currently not offered elsewhere. As such marketing is key to promoting this product. I will explore the marketing of an eFitness course targeted for the community college level; the need for the product, the pricing, promotion, and distribution involved to introduce this product to the California community college system.
Review of Literature
Online courses are here and they are changing the boundaries of education. Colleges are expanding online course offerings, at a clip of 17 percent in the past year (Sloan Consortium, 2009). Meanwhile, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2010) 67 percent of Americans over the age 20 are overweight or obese. The Minnesota Heart Project (1994) reports that 57 percent of Americans exercise regularly. Something is clearly wrong. Americans want a solution to their diet and fitness needs but can’t seem to find it, often citing busy lifestyles or lack of knowledge as the reason. Online fitness at the community college level can be the answer to this solution.
Product development
eFitness was developed in part as a result of the budget crisis California community colleges are facing. In a speech at the Community College League of California Conference Dr. Jack Scott, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, pointed out that while funding has been cut eight percent, enrollments have surged. There are waiting lists and students being turned away from classes. Colleges are being forced to decrease the number of classes that are offered by approximately ten percent. The chancellor suggested using technology to improve instruction, and decrease costs. In addition, he suggested working on common assessment. Currently, each of the 110 California community colleges has 110 different assessments. Every student must be re-assessed each time he or she transfers. A similar problem exists with articulation to California State Universities (CSU) and Universities of California (UC) from California community colleges.
In developing an online eFitness course thought was given to the benefits of reaching out to the students that typically flock to community colleges: recent high school graduates, persons from low-income families, single mothers, and immigrants seeking a fresh start. In addition, it was assumed by having a standardized online program it would be easier and more cost efficient to transfer credits among other community colleges and to CSU’s and UC’s. In addition, consideration was given to encourage movement through a variety of fitness activities, in hopes that the student might become interested in a particular discipline and work towards a healthier lifestyle.
With a budget crisis, should physical education be eliminated?
There is some concern throughout the community college system that physical education classes must be cut to give priority to basic skill classes. This is a potential tragedy considering the obesity epidemic strangling our country. Nearly one in three children are overweight or obese and “one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives; many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma” (“The White House First Lady Michelle Obama Launches Let’s Move: America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids” 2010). Currently less than one third of young people in grades 9-12 do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity. Daily participation in physical education classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 28 percent in 2003 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Learning basic job skills will be of no use if the employee is unable to perform his or her duties due to health restrictions. The side effect of obesity in workers includes “higher absenteeism, health-care costs, disability claims, and risk of occupational accidents, along with reduced productivity and weight discrimination” (Dodson, 2009). Being a healthy weight is a key component to being a productive worker. Teaching students the importance of a balanced, healthy lifestyle is the key to preventing obesity related illnesses and deaths inflicting employees. As such continuing to offer physical education classes is crucial to teaching students healthy lifestyles on the path to becoming contributing members of society.
Proliferation of online courses
Online courses at the community college are available presently, however; President Obama has been considering offering free online courses, and providing “$9 billion over 10 years to help community colleges develop and improve programs related to preparing students for good jobs” (Lamb, 2009). In addition, there is also talk of the government supporting a “National Skills College” at the community college level in which free (subsidized) courses and tuition courses would be mixed so that students could earn degrees at a lower cost. This is promising in that a wide-scale program like this would draw attention to all online courses, not just the government subsidized courses. As for concerns that students might not have laptops or Internet access, the good news is that almost all public libraries and community colleges now offer computer labs for greater access of technology for students. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission has just proposed a plan to make high-speed Internet the country’s dominant communication network. Included in the plan is a proposal to help unwired Americans learn online skills (Stelter & Wortham, 2010). This will help increase the potential pool of consumers available for online courses.
Furthermore, “sixty-seven percent of colleges and universities agree that online education is the single significant development and logical long term strategy …in offering flexibility and convenience by providing learning opportunities to anyone, at anytime, and anywhere” (Shin & Lee, 2009, p.33). Private universities are also benefiting from the new focus on online learning. Recently Carnegie Mellon University was awarded $4 million dollars to build upon its’ open online courses. Key to the construction of this program is “linking different disciplines – cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction, design and computer science” (Chute, 2009) to develop the most effective courses. Online courses will continue to develop to more effectively instruct students. The eFitness course was developed utilizing skills taught through eCollege and utilizing current information regarding health and fitness.
Current online opportunity
In order to determine the best media for this course it is important to take a look at what is currently available in online learning. The main thrust of online learning is making education even more accessible to more people. Rue Education, which is the country’s largest provider of distance learning for nurses, has entered a partnership with the National Association for Practical Nurse Education & Service, Inc (NAPNES) to create online learning programs for nurses in both the theory of nursing as well as the clinical aspect of their profession. This is important in that if nurses can take these courses and perform life saving tasks it gives creditability to fitness courses being taken online. Online courses are designed for those who lack the time and financial resources for traditional campus programs and are looking for more flexible options, better suited to their lives (Dykstra, 2008). Interactive learning multi-media language programs, like Rosetta Stone, are popular ways to learn a new language for the U.S. military and NASA astronauts. In an independent study, Dr. Vesselinov showed that 55 hours of study with Rosetta Stone software would significantly improve students' Spanish language skills, equivalent to the level of one semester (84 hours) in a college course (Vesselinov, 2009). This shows that students may be able to learn information and skills in an efficient manner and sometimes in a timelier manner online.
Some colleges, like Nicolet College, are leading the pack by incorporating digital platforms with every course. This trend, called “course-casting,” allows professors to post lectures online in audio and video formats and have customized portals for research and reference materials. The former CEO of Krispy Kreme, Scott Livengood, remarked on the importance of touching on all five senses when marketing to consumers. A similar trend is necessary to lure students to become engaged in learning. Being able to guide students to appropriate websites is a huge benefit to encourage eager learners and spur more interest. Online learning’s benefit is moving old-line correspondence courses to the addition of web-based video, instant messaging, and collaboration tools. The learning experience can be individualized and become learning by doing. In addition, a social interaction tool like threaded discussions encourages a sense of community within the classroom without the fear of rebuff that sometimes occurs with actual face-to-face interaction. Mr. Reiger, the dean of Arizona State University’s Online and Extended Campus program points out that people are concerned that online learning will encourage independent, isolated students, but he states this is the wrong assumption and that learning will occur more as a community than ever as the result of online learning (Lohr, 2009). This is similar to the shift occurring in newspaper readership: readers are now zeroing in on articles of interest online, and then discussing them by adding comments. Part of the eFitness course evaluation is online discussions linked to the student’s assessment to encourage interaction. Demanding the students interact and collaborate can result in deeper understanding of the material (Desai et al., 2008, p. 331).
How does online compare?
According to the New York Times (2009) learning online may be better. A 93-page report regarding online education conducted by SRI International for the Education Department stated “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” Since most of the studies were done in colleges and adult continuing education programs, including medical and military training, this is encouraging for predicting the success of an online community college eFitness course. In Switch (2010), Chip and Dan Heath discuss the importance of engaging both the rider (logic) and the elephant (emotion) in creating successful opportunities and shaping behaviors. Online learning is able to do this successfully by using knowledge-based learning (logic) while engaging the emotions through the interactive learning of the web.
Hurdles in online learning
Schrum (2002) said that there are several important dimensions of students success in online learning: access to tools, technology experience, learning preferences, study habits and skills, goals and purposes, lifestyle factors and personal traits and characteristics. Multiple tools appeal to diverse learning styles thus making the courses more effective. Sex and age appear to be the major variables that contribute to successful online learning with men, ages 16 to 24 being the most successful at learning. In addition, the concern for good broadband Internet access is a constant force yet it appears that some students utilize computers at work, as well as at the college or public library should they lack connectivity at home. Clarity of course materials, course organization, discipline, level of feedback, and technical difficulties can be a challenge to online courses. Frequent and regular contact with the students is a must to avoid the high attrition rates common with online courses (Kaifi, Mujtaba, & Williams, 2009).
Faculty members can make a difference in the learning that occurs by getting the students more involved with their learning, with the professor serving as a facilitator in the learning process, which would lead to actual learning on the part of the student. It is important to note is that for the most part the core audience of 18 to 22 year old students attending colleges are more technologically savvy than the institutes that support them and as such the product presented must be appropriately appealing. The development of eFitness has taken into account these challenges and addresses them by including links to eCollege’s help desk for technical issues, and structuring the course in a manner that maximizes student involvement and encourages interaction with the professor and fellow students. The course is organized in a simple manner to make it easy for students to understand and learn, while teaching them the discipline to continue with the course, assignments, and activities by demanding constant feedback from the students.
Costs matter to college students
The Christian Science Monitor (2009) reports that today a college education is more than twice as expensive as it was in the early 1990’s, even after adjusting for inflation. As a result many companies have developed online college courses that result in college credit from one of several colleges affiliated with the programs. These programs start as low as $99 a month and are a considerable savings to a similar course at a typical university costing $2,700. This proliferation has helped spread online learning throughout colleges and universities (Lamb, 2009). Many students are beginning to meld their learning environment, taking basic skill courses and personal interest courses (like physical fitness) at the community college or online while taking core classes at their university.
Costs vary widely depending upon the level of institution: at a California community college the cost per unit is $26, at a CSU the cost per unit is $121, and at a UC the cost per unit is $464.00. A typical physical fitness course is 1.5 to 2.0 units. Obviously a community college course offers tremendous value. The benefit of taking a course at the college level compared to the gym or working out on your own is the level of learning that takes place, not only as it relates to the fundamentals of the exercise itself, but also the student learning outcomes that are achieved including basic exercise physiology, nutrition, fundamentals of strength development and exams to evaluate student achievement.
Resolving accountability
A major key in online learning is the assessment factor; knowing that students are indeed doing the work and making progress. It is crucial to have an assessment component embedded in each instructional activity so that professors are in tune with the students, and both students and professors can assess their learning and get feedback on their progress. In order to be successful with online fitness it is crucial to make sure that the students are actually performing the work assigned. There are several options. For research purposes the Actitrainer has been used to validate activity. It measures energy expenditure, average and maximum heart rate, pace, distance, and sleep patterns. Data can be uploaded for analysis and to track progress.
At Butler Technology and Career Development School, students are given heart monitors to help access their workouts. The heart monitors transmit data to student’s wristwatches to help the students understand when to speed up or slow down their activities. This information is also transmitted from the students’ monitors to the instructor’s computer. The funding for these monitors came from a grant from Proctor & Gamble. Being able to access grants to add an equipment component to the course is a great way to network within the community, make the students more accountable, the exercise more effective, and add a technology sparkle to the course. Polar, Reebok and Nike each offer heart rate monitors with costs as low as $15. This option is currently being explored. Currently the eFitness course uses student reported heart rates and fitness data to verify activity.
Further accountability is available using webcams. One of the significant challenges facing online courses is assessing hands-on skill learning and confirming skill acquisition. Initially, webcams seem prohibitive due to equipment needed by students; however, this year several colleges allowed applicants to express themselves via video as part of the college application process. At Tuft’s University two–thirds of the videos were from “financial–aid applicants, easing concern that the video option might help the already advantaged affluent applicants” (Lewin, 2010). A California University of Pennsylvania study shows that the webcam video assessment model is a viable solution for assessing skills in the school’s online exercise science class (McGlumphy, 2008).
The competition
While there are many online courses, there are very few online fitness courses at the college level, and seemingly less that incorporate exercise as a component. Throughout the Internet there are many fitness options, with which this course would compete. It is an exciting time for fitness online. Jake Steinfeld, creator of Body by Jake and the current Chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has launched FitOrbit, an Internet service to connect consumers with personal trainers and give personal fitness training and meal planning over the Internet. The National Recreation and Parks is promoting online training programs, turning away from community programs that rely heavily on physical facilities or require additional staffing. The result is that the “internet is breaking down boundaries and expanding accessibility to training” without regard for the traditional distinctions between community colleges, recreation centers, libraries, high school and senior centers. Personal development courses and lifelong learning are the fastest growing segments in education today (National Parks & Recreation Association, 2001).
Most fitness websites are subscription based, similar to joining a gym or fitness club with prices ranging from $5 to $35 a month. The more expensive, generally, the more features and better graphics. Typing in “diet and fitness” to Google will result in more than 32,000,000 options. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (August 2009) found 52 percent of Americans went online for information on exercise or fitness. The consumer is ready to be offered a comprehensive fitness option online. Offering a fitness program online through a community college gives credibility to the course as well as stability. Consumers understand that by signing up for a course at the community college they can expect a certain level of expertise.
eFitness is different from the rest of the online fitness marketplace because it incorporates learning about health and wellness as well as assessing and improving fitness skills. It will build the student’s body and mind. In addition, there is a high-perceived value when students consider the price to content.
What do people want to do to get fit?
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the top ten fitness trends for 2010 mesh well with eFitness workouts. The council reports that cost-conscious workouts are important. eFitness is affordable and sets the student on a course to make their own fitness plan to incorporate movement into their lifestyle. Time efficient workouts are also mentioned, and by instructing students how to work efficiently eFitness helps students get their exercise in, achieve results, and get back to their busy lives.
Health and fitness awareness are cited as a trend, something eFitness definitely incorporates. Qualified trainers are included on the list. Since college professors specializing in health and wellness teach eFitness classes, this need is addressed. As part of building a successful brand, the consumer’s perception of quality is important so these factors are important in bringing the product to market as well. Also, included in the trends were using popular training gadgets and software “that people can access 24/7” (Sortal, 2009). This is addressed with eFitness through the use of heart rate monitors and webcams used not only for assessment by the teacher but by the student as well to make sure he or she is working in the correct training zone. Consumer Reports (2004) suggests consumers look for a realistic assessment through an online fitness program. eFitness does this by having students use the President’s Fitness Challenge for the pre- and post- fitness assessment. In addition, Consumer Reports stresses the need for current and accurate information as well as monitoring and feedback. Each of these items is offered through eFitness.
What else is hot in fitness now and how can it be incorporated online?
Consumers are constantly searching for the next fitness trend: in the past 18 months Americans have danced their way through Zumba and pole dancing, exerted themselves with CrossFit and enjoyed the Pilates trend. Online fitness is flexible and readily adapts to the trend du jour. The latest excitement to hit the market is out of New Zealand called Bodypump. It is a formula of fitness classes, ranging from low impact workouts for seniors to martial arts and street dancing. The music is topical, with the Les Mills enterprise securing rights to play top hits to carefully choreographed routines. Each routine is rigidly set and changed at 12-week intervals. Consumers state that they like knowing what to expect, whether they are at a fitness club in London or Des Moines. So popular in fact are these classes that more than six million consumers regularly attend one of the Bodypump classes offered in 75 countries (Jarvis, 2010). This is a wonderful concept in that eFitness can also have standards for students to know what to expect: keep the program fun, “sticky,” but at the same time give the students rational, knowledge based information towards a healthier lifestyle in a set program. eFitness’ base consumer is the community college student, trending toward 18 to 22 years old. As such, the course is taking the emphasis away from treating obesity to promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Still more benefits for colleges and students
Community colleges know that online courses actually create an interest in traditional classes offered on campus because they enhance the image of the school. In addition, online courses reach new groups of students with convenient, cost effective programming. Online fitness classes in particular would tend to reach out to those students that might feel self- conscious about exercising in front of others, unsure of their ability, uncomfortable about their size, or have other issues. Research has found that online discussion “encouraged introverts and students of non-western cultures, who are more reflective and tend not to respond so quickly in face-to-face discussion to express their views” (Ogunleye, 2010). In addition, in flexible learning situations, students tend to take more responsibility for their own learning than in a traditional class.
The eFitness course offers a melded course, combining many medias. There is a textbook that includes a tape measure and stopwatch to help with accurate student assessment. Audio and video are incorporated within the course to help capture student interest. In designing the course, videos of people of different sizes, ages, and cultures have been used to be as inclusive and encouraging to all as possible. The context involves the interest of the learner through course delivery. The course is available day and night, and as frequently as a student needs to reference it. This is an improvement to the traditional inflexible classroom where one must attend class at a set time and cannot refer back as easily to confirm a lesson or even repeat the concept to solidify the learning experience.
The eFitness course textbook, course, and video are all professionally produced to give credence to the product. One of the 22 immutable laws of branding, according to Al and Laura Ries, suggests being first to market plays an important role in the success of the product and generating publicity. This is part of the marketing strategy for eFitness. By using the novel aspect of the course publicity will be generated and news of the course will be spread as a way to generate healthier lifestyles and healthier students and healthier employees.
EduStream is involved with the California community colleges to expand the use of video within schools. The EduStream platform would support the eFitness videos and also make course access easy for all community colleges. In addition, within the California Community College Chancellor’s office is a contact person who can help publicize the course throughout the system. This is a big benefit in reaching out to all 110 physical education, health, and wellness departments within the system. By utilizing this system, access would be given to the deans of the physical education, health, and wellness departments. These email addresses could be used for further marketing by occasional informational email blasts about the benefit of eFitness and the success of the students taking the course.
The future
eFitness can rapidly be turned into a sub-section of the physical fitness, health and wellness department within the community college system. Students could learn any number of disciplines online ranging from Tai Chi to Pilates to Cardio kickboxing. Part of the success of the brand will be in encouraging students to continue on with their fitness goals and to learn new ways to move. People’s lives and interests change and having a variety of options to offer is a great way to keep students as “customers” of the classes as well as encourage them to tell their family, friends, and co-workers. In this manner the brand will become larger and stronger and be able to grow into more markets.
Currently about 14 percent of four year colleges have a swim test in which students must swim three to four lengths of the pool in order to graduate (Belkin, 2006). As our nation’s leaders become more concerned with obesity and its’ effect on society there is likely to be an increase in physical fitness requirements to graduate. Emory University requires students as part of their general education requirements to complete three-one hour physical education courses, one of which must be ‘Principles of Physical Fitness.’ eFitness could become the standard of online fitness college courses by addressing the need to educate students about how to eat and exercise to be healthy.
Summary and Conclusion
eFitness is well positioned within the marketplace to be successful. There are more students attending community colleges than ever before. The community college physical fitness, health, and wellness departments are constantly looking for new classes to increase interest in classes within the department. The goal of the program is to teach students more about health, and expose them to different types of exercise with the objective that they will learn healthy habits and find a way of movement that is fun. eFitness focuses on technique so the students work in a safe manner achieving maximum results. The objective of the eFitness program is to engage as many students in possible, drawing from the traditional student that visits the campus now to the student that in the past has not had the time, energy, or confidence to participate in a physical education class. In addition, community members might also consider taking this course as a way to learn about healthy habits and different forms of fitness. Currently the key market segment is the California community college system. In the long run, though, this program will be expanded nationally, and include ninth through twelfth grade options. There are a growing number of high schools across the country that have eliminated physical education from their curriculum. This course gives schools a way to offer their students fitness without the cost of facilities, equipment, and classroom time. In addition, eFitness will be expanded with more courses to cover a wide variety of disciplines to encourage a broader market share and engage users by moving them up the frequency escalator. Should users like the basic eFitness course they can then go on to eFitness Yoga or eFitness Interval Training for different types of workouts. By ensuring that all production work is done professionally, with an eye to detail, eFitness will control quality. Since eFitness is delivered online, the curriculum and course material are fixed and can be managed at a central location to keep the program on target.
The results are what matter
With the advancement of the Internet, educators have an unmatched opportunity to design and conduct effective distance learning courses filled with helpful features that promote communication and interaction (Chang & Smith, 2008). Learning, anytime, anywhere is key to fitting in fitness and a healthy lifestyle. By offering eFitness courses through the community college, professional health and wellness instructors can engage students in a dynamic and interactive way to adapt healthier habits. This product is exciting and fresh, and the price is reasonable and competitive with other fitness options. Distribution can be achieved by utilizing the network of community colleges. Promotion will come from the students’ word of mouth, course catalogs, publicity, and most importantly, through the student’s results, by tracking student outcomes and by knowing actual results. This is exciting, because much like the President’s Fitness Challenge, results can be evaluated and the course can be adjusted to ensure student success. These same results, and the number of students that can be encouraged to lead healthier lifestyles, will ultimately determine the true success of this product.
References
Belkin, Douglas. (2006, May 8). Time to sink or graduate. At MIT and other schools swim test is last barrier. The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/08/time_to_sink_or_gra...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html
Chang, S.H., & Smith, R.A. (2008). Effectiveness of personal interaction in a learner-centered paradigm distance education class based on student satisfaction. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 40, (4), pp. 407-426).
Chute, Elizabeth. (2009, December 15). Foundations give CMU $4 million for open online learning. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1921754781).
Conhaim, Wallys W. (2005, January). Fitness craze moves online: according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are five components to overall fitness. Information Today 22.1 Retrieved from General OneFile (Document ID: A127015632).
Desai M., Hart, J., & Richards, I. (2008). E-learning: Paradigm shift in education. Education, 129(2), pp. 327-334.
Diet and fitness support, online (2004). Consumer Reports on Health, 16(10), 8-9. Retrieved from Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition database.
Dobson, S. (2009, June). Obesity can’t be ignored at work: Experts. Canadian HR Reporter, 22 (11), 3. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1747964121).
Ebbing, Linda. (2007, May 5). School offers online fitness; Transmitter monitors heart rate, length of activity to track progress. Middletown Journal. Middletown, Ohio. Retrieved from Proquest Central database. (Document ID: 15029655921).
“FitOrbit Brings One-to-One Personal Fitness Training Online.” Entertainment Close–up. (2009, June 24). Retrieved from General OneFile. (Document ID: A202670503).
Goodman Farr, Jeanne. (2005, May 17). Save time, money with online learning. Deseret News. pg. A.10. Retrieved from Proquest Central database. (Document ID: 840688111).
Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2010). Switch. how to change when change is hard. New York, New York: Broadway Books. pp. 7-24.
Jarvis, Alie-Azania. (2010, February 3). The world’s workout. The Independent. London (UK). pg. 2. Retrieved from Proquest Central database. (Document ID: 1953196251).
Kaifi, B.A., Mujtaba B.G., & Williams A.A, (2009, October). Online College Education For Computer-Savvy Students: A Study of Perceptions and Needs. Journal of College Teaching & Learning. 6. (6), pp 1-15. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1912219221).
Lamb, Gregory M. (2009, October 16). The future of college may be virtual. The Christian Science Monitor. p. 25. Retrieved from Proquest Central database. (Document ID: 1880664561).
Lewin, Tamar. (2010, February 23). Tufts Turns to YouTube To Size Up Applicants. New York Times. p. A14.
Lohr, Steve. (2009, August 24). Learning Online May Be Better. The New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). p. B7. Retrieved from Proquest Central database. (Document ID: 1843008511).
Marketing and Licensing Agreements: Rue Education Collaborates with NAPNES: New Distance Learning Program Helps Nurse Aides Become LPNs. (2008, April). Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, 3716. Retrieved from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 145915202).
McGlumphy, Barry Eugene. (2008). Exploring the utilization of webcam videos to assess exercise training and fitness assessment skills of students in an online graduate exercise science course: A case study. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-05162008-100558/unrestrict...
National Center for Education Statistics, a website which reports on the findings of the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. Retrieved March 3,2010 from http://nces.ed.gov.
National Park and Recreation Association. (2001, October). “Adult enrichment: education moves online. National Programs: Fitness and Active Lifestyles. “Parks & Recreation October 2001: 84” Retrieved from General OneFile http://proxy.ussa.edu:2053/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&typ...
Ogunleye, Ayodele (2010, January). Evaluating An Online Learning Programme from Students’ Perspectives. Journal of College Teaching & Learning- January 2010. pp. 79-89. Retrieved from AB/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1963789631).
Ries, A., & Ries, L. (1998). The 22 immutable laws of branding: how to build a product or service into a world-class brand. New York, New York: Harper Collins.
Rosetta Stone, a company devoted to language acquisition. Can be accessed via the web site http://www.rosettastone.com/
Schrum, L. (1998). Online education: A study of emerging pedagogy, Adult learning and the Internet. Gahoon (eds); Hershey, PA, Idea Groups Publishing, pp. 91-106.
Shin, M. & Lee, Y. (2009). Changing the landscape of teacher education via online teaching and learning. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 83 (9), pp. 32-33.
Sloan Consortium, an institution dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from http://www.sloan-c.org/index.
Sortal, Nick. (2009, December 28). Drop the dumbbells: how we’ll get fit in the New Year. Virginian-Pilot. p. E3. Retrieved from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1929613601).
Stelter, B. & Wortham, J. (2010, March 13). Effort to Widen U.S. Internet Access Sets Up Batter. The New York Times. p. A1.
The White House First Lady Michelle Obama Launches Let’s Move: America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids (2010) Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/first-lady-michelle-obama-lau....
Togran, Carol. (2009, August 2). Americans Jump Online for Exercise Information. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from http://www.caroltorgan.com/online-exercise-information/
Vesselinov, Ph.D., Roumen. (2009, January). Measuring the Effectiveness of Rosetta Stone. Queens College, City University of New York. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from http://resources.rosettastone.com/CDN/us/pdfs/Measuring_the_Effectivenes...