Alarmed by the ever-growing reports of students placing lower and lower in International Mathematics and Science testing, researchers at the International Academy of Science have turned their technical and creative focus to the great educational needs of the children in America. Drawing from their career-long commitment to effective education and their extensive background in the computer field, a team at the International Academy of Science began the process of developing the powerful Acellus Learning System.

One of the initial challenges in developing the System was to identify America’s outstanding teachers.  The Acellus development team found that a number of organizations had already done much of that research for them – organizations such as the Milken Family Foundation, which had been identifying and rewarding outstanding teachers for years.  The National Science Foundation, the McDonalds/Disney Channel, and the Discovery Channel had also developed programs to recognize great teachers.

The Acellus team contacted a large number of these teachers who had received awards for excellence in teaching and invited them to submit a videotape of themselves teaching a classroom of students.  Receiving an enthusiastic response, the development team turned the tapes over to the curriculum committee, who then went through the tapes one by one and identified those they thought were the best teachers in America. These selected teachers were brought to the Academy where they were filmed teaching entire courses.  After filming was completed, the other elements of the courses were created -- Problems, Hints, Notes, and Exams -- and integrated with the sophisticated, interactive feedback mechanism and teacher monitor interface to make a complete course.

The Acellus development teams, consisting of curriculum specialists, teachers, and students, have now produced math, history, and various commercial training programs.  Academy students who have participated in Acellus development have learned valuable professional skills ranging from camera work, video mixing and editing, computer programming, and graphic arts -- all from their involvement in making the innovative technology of Acellus.