Online Education Now – New Resources – Update Feb 6 2021 Hi folks. Here’s what’s happening. Development This week, we completed testing to make sure that our digital reading program works on cell phones and tablets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We also set up a system that assists Amarok Society to keep control of the number of sets of the reading system that are being distributed. We will provide them all of the copies gifted to them by our donors. Should there be more requests than gifts, we will provide free copies of the program to Amarok Society in whatever quantities are requested. Just after we made the decision to have Michael Summers, Andrew and the Nesda team complete the work on a data collection system, Om, the programmer most responsible, was informed that his student visa was expiring and that he could not work until it was renewed. I mean, really!!! What else can possibly go wrong with this project?? Fortunately, this week his visa has been approved and he is back at Nesda finishing up development work on our behalf. Michael Summers and his Nesda team are being very generous with Om’s time on our behalf. New Features We’re Working On – Multiple Instructors in an Organization, & Displaying Frequency Check Results in Data Charting Marketing    The NOLA charter school program remains on hold at least for one more week. Our lead force, Past Rotary District Governor Brian Hall, has been facing some serious family issues, is trying to stay on top of his business requirements and look after his family and his sanity. Given the closed NOLA charter schools, we have recommended to Brian that he contact us when he gets his feet planted on solid ground, so that we execute this project. Past Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson, the other spark plug in this effort, continues to recover from his fractured hip. When this team is ready, we will successfully imbed this program into a number of New Orlean`s Charter schools. Dr. Will Burrows, retired Director of Special Education in Gray, Maine is offering to subsidize 25 U.S. public school teachers 50% of the cost of our digital reading system. It has been slow to catch on probably because of the current challenges these teachers are facing during this pandemic. We will try a couple of new strategies in the days to come. We are now seeing repeat orders for more sets of lessons from our original purchasers and orders from people who have been referred by our original customers. This is really good news. During the next few months, we have lined up more than 20 webinars with various professional groups and homeschooling groups to present our work. These usually generate significant activity on our website and downloads of the program. Mark Bishop has continued to keep our marketing costs under control, has negotiated some special deals and keeps careful track of our current client. He adds real value to our efforts. Finances Last month, we paid all of our bills. We prepaid a whack of email blasts to homeschooling parents and therapist groups. We still had more than $200.00 left to start paying down our debt. This might just be a flickering light at the end of the tunnel, but we see it as a trend. We are expecting a somewhat more profitable month in February. Keep the faith. Stay Home, wash your hands, and keep your distance. Regards,  Michael
