New Portland Company Connects Math and Science Teachers with Students in Online Learning Community

Renaissance Education Group today opened its doors to a new subscription-based education learning community for home school math and science students and regularly enrolled students in need of enrichment and tutoring.

PersonalProfessors.com is an online education community where students attend 15 minute lectures, work through the material in moderated discussions, and receive one-on-one live tutoring in math and science. All instruction is given by teachers with Ph.D.s in a variety of specialties within the mathematics and the science fields.

Using unique streaming technology, PersonalProfessors.com faculty are able to teach on the Internet via a live digital whiteboard coupled with voice. Like in a classroom with a chalkboard, the digital whiteboard allows teachers to illustrate examples, work math problems, and give dynamic instruction in real-time.

“We believe that text content and images, while important for learning, are poorly suited to Web-based education systems and are best left to books and CD-ROMs,” said Michael Hosking, president and founder of Renaissance Education Group. “Our unique approach is built on the assumption that the Web is a communication tool, not a publication medium. Coupled with the digital whiteboard technology we use, our system allows students and teachers to directly connect and exchange ideas on the Web. The result is a learning experience that can be even more effective than traditional classrooms.

PersonalProfessors.com was designed specifically to provide direct instruction for the burgeoning home-school market and enrichment services for students in traditional middle schools and high schools. For the past decade and a half, home schooling has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the K-12 education industry, with a growth rate of around 15 percent a year. According to recent national studies, there are 1.5 million children currently being homeschooled, up from just 30,000 in 1980.

PersonalProfessors.com charges a monthly $25 subscription fee that gives students access to the live and archived lessons, moderated discussion groups, the assessment module and record keeping, daily notices from new research, chat with faculty and other students and the site’s extensive resource database. Individual live tutoring sessions are available for an additional fee.

“The benefits of self-paced learning are clear.” said Hosking. “For this reason, we offer no ‘courses’ in the traditional sense of the term. Instead, we offer high level content delivered over time in a logical way that mirrors a standard curriculum, with self assessment tools that students can use to test their knowledge. Instead of mimicking the increasingly obsolete industrial era education paradigm we use the Web to bring high level knowledge content to those who seek a more learner-centered environment.

PersonalProfessors.com is currently accepting registration and delivering instruction and other related services at www.PersonalProfessors.com.

About Renaissance Education Group, Inc.

Renaissance Education Group, Inc. is an educational consulting and content delivery company located in Portland, OR. It was founded by Michael Hosking, Ph.D., a former professor of biology at Davidson College. PersonalProfessors.com is the company’s web-based education system and comprises the company’s advanced learning management system through which they currently deliver science and math educational content.

For more information about Renaissance Education Group or PersonalProfessors.com, call 503-827-4233 or visit their website at www.PersonalProfessors.com.