New Hampshire Sunday News - January 26, 2003 Ivories on the Internet Learning to play the piano on the Internet A jazz pianist from Madison and a Bow software developer join talents to make piano lessons a Web-based family affair. By GARY DENNIS Union Leader Staff TINA CARLSON'S 13-year-old son Casey can't just go out and take piano lessons. And it's not easy for an instructor to come to their home. Casey has intractable epilepsy - a form that can't be controlled by drugs. His seizures come several times a day and throughout the night. Tina, who homeschools Casey in her home in Cypress, Texas, just outside of Houston, wanted badly to include music in the boy's education. From the snow-buried Mount Washington Valley town of Madison, Dan Delaney's fingers now show Casey the way in a series of lessons by Internet. His course along the ivories actually leads the way for thousands of piano players from around the world. And while it could be argued the accomplished jazz pianist isn't leaning over each of his students pointing to sheet music with a pencil, he's doing the next-best thing. "Video on demand," says Bill Chotkowski, chief executive officer for New Media Learning in Bow. "It's the newest . .. it'll be the next big thing on the Internet." 
Chotkowski - the business and marketing mind teamed up with pianist Delaney to start PianoForKids.com. The Internet site offers piano instruction for kids and adults with video feed Delaney created himself. For students such as Carlson in Texas, the Internet lessons are a godsend. "It's just the convenience of it. We simply can't commit to a schedule, even if we had an instructor come into our home," Carlson said. "This is a perfect fit." And what makes the program even better for parents like Carlson is the opportunity to learn along with her son, making the chance of either of them quitting less likely. "I'm so excited about this. . . we'll have the opportunity to learn together as opposed to me being on the couch or reading a book while he's practicing," she said. This isn't Chotkowski's first foray into the high-tech computer world and it certainly isn't the first time Delaney has entered into a distance-learning teaching method with students. Chotkowski, who runs PianoForKids.com out of an in-the-middle-of-the-woods home with a view of one of Bow's many swampy bogs, was an employee of the corporate computer world for years. He worked for the Hastech newspaper pre-press company in Manchester and then helped develop Keyfile - a computer system for document management - with a company out of Nashua. He met Delaney years ago when the two worked together putting out "Learn Piano," a CD ROM-based computer program that teaches piano using a com puter. Delaney has been delivering piano lessons to beginners and professionals for more than 14 years. He plays for hotels and restaurants throughout the White Mountains and has pursued teaching piano through video tapes, multimedia CDs and the Internet. His methods of teaching the in strument from a distance did well enough to allow him to move his family from Braintree, Mass., to the White Mountains. He said his current teaching method - the one he's video. taped and uses for the Internet - came in the form of a book he was writing for his own children. "And you figure if this is the way I teach my own children. . .," he said. The Internet site itself is user friendly. After registering - it's $10 a month to use it as often as you want - the site allows you to run through lessons, each accompanied by a six minute video of Delaney teaching. The Madison pianist has one of those warm personalities that comes through on the video. "Isn't he something?" Chotkowski says. He knows it's his knowledge of the Internet and Delaney's infectious personality that makes the business marriage work. But it's also the ability of parents to work with their children that makes the learning method such a popular system. Each lesson comes with a song melody to practice and a duet. That duet can either be played by a parent or played along with the melody if the student's keyboard can record tracks. "Basically what you need is a kid who wants to do it, Dan and a parent who wants to be involved," Chotkowski said. The music sheet lessons are accompanied by pictures drawn and submitted by students. And the Web site also has quizzes and games to help kids learn musical scales. Business is going well, they say. In the few weeks they've been accepting students, Chotkowski and Delaney have registered hundreds and are on course to sign up about 3,000 students a year. And if each student pays $10 month, the math works out very much in favor of the new company. "We're sitting on something gigantic, here," Delaney says. More important than the propensity to turn major profits is the service the always-accessible program could provide for families such as the Carlsons. "(Casey's) self-esteem has suffered as a result of his condition," Tina Carlson says of her son. "I have high hopes that he will love playing the piano and find it to be very rewarding and a creative outlet for him." |
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New Media Learning Inc. announces PianoInstruction.com, online piano instruction for ages 13 to adult. Course utilizes videos, sheet music, instructions, and personal evaluations to deliver online piano lessons. Bow, NH - January 11, 2003 - New Media Learning Inc, provider of online instructional material, today announced the availability of www.PianoInstruction.com. This site provides online video piano instruction for ages 13 to adult, featuring the well known instructor Dan Delaney. This lesson set, together with PianoForKids.com, now allows New Media Learning to deliver piano instruction to students of all ages. The entire instructional experience, videos, instruction, sheet music, quizzes, games, stories, pictures, and evaluations is delivered to the students via the internet, allowing affordable access to very comprehensive instruction. "We provide piano lessons using the traditional instructor/student model, except that the instructor is provided by online videos that you can use over and over, any time of the week, in your own home," said Dan Delaney, president of New Media Learning. "Using the internet, I can reach more students more affordably than I have been able to in the past with my Personalized Video Method on VHS tapes. We now satisfy, and even exceed, all of the National Standards for Music Curriculum Guidelines for performing instruments for Kindergarten through grade 12." "Video on Demand is the next wave of home internet access," said Bill Chotkowski, CEO for New Media Learning. "High bandwidth connections allow instructional videos to be accessed any time. Additionally, we have developed a set of video CDs that can be supplied to low bandwidth homes, providing them the same experience as the high bandwidth households. We provide the best of both worlds for piano lessons in the home." PianoInstruction.com offers 3 years of piano lessons, delivered 1 month at a time:
Pricing and availability PianoInstruction.com is available at http://www.pianoinstruction.com on a subscription basis, $10 per month. About New Media Learning New Media Learning Inc provides online instructional web sites, targeting students in performance and studio based music, arts, and crafts. PianoForKids.com and PianoInstruction.com are piano curricula that provide instruction for ages 5 through 12 as well as 13 and above. New Media Learning is a privately held company based in Bow, NH. About the Principals CEO William Chotkowski is a graduate of MIT who has been starting high-tech companies in New Hampshire for the past 15 years. William has specialized in developing leading edge software products, utilizing cutting edge media types, that are used by individuals to create and/or deliver information. President Dan Delaney - Jazz Pianist, well known throughout the Northeast has just relocated to Cave Creek Arizona with his family where he remains active teaching and performing. Dan is on the faculty at Glendale Community College and Paradise Valley Community College where he teaches private Jazz Piano classes. He is a house pianist for the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale Arizona and the RItz Carlton, Phoenix AZ, where he can be heard nightly performing. Dan continues to correspond with his Personalized Video Piano Method with select students each week and remains dedicated and commited to the success of his web instructional delivery. Dan has been in the forefront of utilizing new delivery methods for piano instruction through use of video tape, multimedia CDs and the internet. Press contact:
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New Media Learning Inc. announces PianoForKids.com, online piano instruction for kids ages 5 through 12. Course utilizes videos, sheet music, quizzes, games, pictures, and stories to deliver online piano lessons. Bow, NH - October 11, 2002 - New Media Learning Inc, provider of online instructional material, today announced the availability of www.PianoForKids.com. This site provides online video piano instruction for children, featuring the well known instructor Dan Delaney. The entire instructional experience, videos, instruction, sheet music, quizzes, games, stories, and pictures is delivered to the students via the internet, allowing affordable access to very comprehensive instruction. "We provide piano lessons using the traditional instructor/student model, except that the instructor is provided by online videos that you can use over and over, any time of the week, in your own home," said Dan Delaney, president of New Media Learning. "Using the internet, I can reach more students more affordably than I have been able to in the past with my Personalized Videos on VHS tapes. We round out the offering with tunes, duets, stories, pictures, games, and quizzes, keeping kids interested in their lessons while they are progressing musically." "Video on Demand is the next wave of home internet access," said Bill Chotkowski, CEO for New Media Learning. "High bandwidth connections allow instructional videos to be accessed any time, coupled with paper based material delivered online, and interactive quizzes and games. This fits perfectly into the model of piano lessons in the home." PianoForKids.com offers 3 years of piano lessons, delivered 1 lesson per week:
Pricing and availability PianoForKids.com is available at http://www.pianoforkids.com on a subscription basis, $10 per month. About New Media Learning New Media Learning Inc provides online instructional web sites, targeting students in the studio based music, arts, and crafts. PianoForKids.com and PianoInstruction.com are piano curricula that provide instruction for ages 5 through 12 as well as 13 and above. New Media Learning is a privately held company based in Bow, NH. About the Principals CEO William Chotkowski is a graduate of MIT who has been starting high-tech companies in New Hampshire for the past 15 years. William has specialized in developing leading edge software products, utilizing cutting edge media types, that are used by individuals to create and/or deliver information. President Dan Delaney - Jazz Pianist, well known throughout the Northeast has just relocated to Cave Creek Arizona with his family where he remains active teaching and performing. Dan is on the faculty at Glendale Community College and Paradise Valley Community College where he teaches private Jazz Piano classes. He is a house pianist for the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale Arizona and the RItz Carlton, Phoenix AZ, where he can be heard nightly performing. Dan continues to correspond with his Personalized Video Piano Method with select students each week and remains dedicated and commited to the success of his web instructional delivery. Dan has been in the forefront of utilizing new delivery methods for piano instruction through use of video tape, multimedia CDs and the internet. Press contact:
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