|
BOSTON - August 1, 2001 - Outside The Classroom, Inc., an online health and life skills education company, announced today the formation of a two-year partnership with Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), an internationally known educational research and development organization. This joint venture signifies Outside The Classroom’s and EDC’s shared mission to advance the state-of-the-art of health education for college and university students.
EDC has operated The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention for the U.S. Department of Education since 1996. “Colleges nationwide rely on the Center’s leadership for guidance on research-based prevention programs to promote student health and safety,” said Brandon Busteed, Outside The Classroom’s founder and CEO. “We are confident that thousands of students will benefit from the new education programs growing out of this partnership with EDC.”
The new partners will first collaborate on Outside The Classroom’s flagship product, AlcoholEdu, a science-based online alcohol education course for college students, and TheHealthSurveyTM, an online assessment tool that provides colleges with data on student alcohol use and other health-related behaviors. Preliminary evaluations of AlcoholEdu have revealed dramatic shifts in students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to alcohol.
“I have said for many years that the future of college health education lies in interactive, online education programs, and Outside The Classroom is clearly the new leader in this field,” said William DeJong, a Boston University professor and director of The Higher Education Center. “My colleagues at EDC and I are very impressed with Outside The Classroom’s commitment to excellence. They invite criticism, and they aren’t afraid to subject their programs to rigorous evaluation.”
Institutions of higher education nationwide are using AlcoholEdu and TheHealthSurvey to collect longitudinal data about student health trends. To serve these clients, Outside The Classroom has asked EDC to work on analyzing and interpreting data, writing research reports, and designing customized surveys. Each college’s data will be kept confidential. “EDC will be able to compile the various surveys to gain valuable insights into national trends, and this will help inform EDC’s work for The Higher Education Center,” explained DeJong.
“Most technology companies lose sight of the importance of people-to-people interaction. In the field of substance abuse prevention, this is critical,” said Busteed. “Outside The Classroom has developed the single most powerful alcohol education course available, but it is just one component of a comprehensive prevention program. Working with EDC will help us integrate AlcoholEdu with hands-on prevention work being conducted on campuses across the country.”
About EDC and The Higher Education Center
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), is an internationally known educational research and development organization located in Newton, Massachusetts. EDC operates The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education. The Center also receives supplemental funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through a grant to EDC.
The Higher Education Center (www.edc.org/hec/) is the nation’s primary resource center for institutions of higher education concerned with reducing alcohol and other drug use. The Center offers training, technical assistance, publications, and other information to assist those who want to take an active part in changing the environment in which students make decisions about alcohol and other drug use.
About Outside The Classroom, Inc.
Outside The Classroom, Inc. (www.outsidetheclassroom.com), a privately-held company based in Newton, Massachusetts, was founded to provide world-class online health and life skills education for individuals and institutions ranging from colleges, corporations, and the armed forces to high schools, middle schools, and parents.
Return to Press Release Listing
|
