For the rest of the article, go to Traditional School vs. Virtual School

A blogger who tracks Apple products called the iBooks 2 license agreement 'Apple at its worst.'

Advocates for open-license textbooks in higher education, while largely unhappy with Apple’s new iBooks 2 platform, say the technology behemoth has done a favor for their movement: Apple’s pricey, limiting approach to digital textbooks is in stark contrast to the textbook model that aims for low-cost or free college texts.

iBooks 2, announced to great fanfare during a flashy Jan. 19 press conference in New York City, offers iBooks Author software that enables instructors and others to create and publish their own interactive digital textbooks in the Apple iBooks Bookstore.

Some campus technology leaders hailed the new iBooks platform as a revolution in digital publishing.

Others took a close look at the iBooks 2 licensing agreement’s fine print and called it “crazy evil,” “mind-bogglingly greedy,” and “deliberate sabotage” of the open, industry-leading standard known as EPUB.

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See how easy it is to install Chief’s all-new WP2 series short throw projector mounts. With flexible adjustment features and a universal interface, WP2 series mounts are compatible with most projectors on the market, and are ready for future equipment upgrades.

(f) I want to find ways to provide top notch programming and services, without charging people fees upon fees upon fees. A parent in our town with three kids in school could easily be paying $3000 in fees alone, between $500+ for buses, $800 for sports, more for activity fees, admission to sports events, music lessons, busses to the speech tourney, etc. I have often felt that this creates an inherent imbalance between those who can afford all the things they want, and those who cannot, and think that fees, quite simply, need to begin to go down, and then vanish, in my opinion – even if that means making harder choices in other areas.

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“They make videos, send them over, pose questions, and talk about different things they like in America,” Mr. Skilling said, referring to the Oxford students.

For the 2012-13 school year, the district will launch a foreign-exchange program in which high school students in Michigan will attend the district’s international school in China full time, at set classroom times, via the Internet. The students will take virtual classes, at the high school building, from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m.

“A lot of American students choose not to do exchange programs because they don’t want to leave their peer group,” Mr. Skilling said. This alternative will allow those students to have an international experience without leaving their families and friends.

For the rest of the article, go to U.S., Chinese Schools Build Virtual Ed. Partnerships

Enter the Lenovo DREAM TO DO CONTEST and help your school win! On behalf of your school, parents and educators can submit drawings created by K-8 students illustrating what they want to DO when they grow up, accompanied by a sentence. Vote once per day on drawing entries from you school, and tell friends and family they can vote, too! By registering you’ll automatically be entered to win a ThinkPad X1303 laptop – built ultra rugged for students. The contest ends April 16, 2012 and is open to all K-8 schools in the U.S. Visit LenovoDreamToDo.com for all the details.

“Cell phones are a problem for obvious reasons,” Armato said.

Superintendent Reed Lindley said the school principal asked for the boot ban “because of the classroom disruptions that are resulting from ringing cell phones.”

Students at the school can avoid going toe-to-toe with school officials by wearing boots that lace up and usually have a snugger fit…

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MIT will develop an online multiplayer game for high school math and biology.

A $3 million Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant will help the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Education Arcade build a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) to help high school students learn math and biology.

Part of the grant’s purpose will be to change the way that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics are traditionally taught in secondary schools. Studies indicate that many students fail to remain engaged and interested in STEM education in high school and college, leading to a need for highly skilled STEM employees in the nation’s workforce.

MIT Associate Professor Eric Klopfer, director of the Education Arcade and the Scheller Teacher Education Program, has researched educational gaming tools for more than 10 years. Klopfer created StarLogo TNG, a platform that helps kids create 3D simulations and games using a graphical programming language, as well as several mobile game platforms—including location-based augmented reality games.

MIT’s Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. Aside from STEM education topics, Education Arcade projects have included history, literacy, and language learning and have been tailored to a wide range of ages. They have been designed for personal computers, handheld devices, and online delivery.

For more news about STEM education, see:

Inquiry-based approach to science a hit with students

Climate change skepticism seeps into classrooms

Meet six of the country’s best STEM schools

In a MMOG, many players’ avatars can interact and cooperate or compete directly in the same virtual world.

“This genre of games is uniquely suited to teaching the nature of science inquiry, because they provide collaborative, self-directed learning situations,” Klopfer said. “Players take on the roles of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to explore and explain a robust virtual world.”

The game will be aligned with the Common Core standards in mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards for high school students. It will use innovative, task-based assessment strategies embedded into the game to let students use and display mastery of the topics and skills necessary to play the game. This task-based assessment strategy also will give teachers targeted data that will enable them to track student progress and provide valuable, just-in-time feedback.

Klopfer’s team will work closely with Filament Games, a Wisconsin-based games production studio, as the project’s primary software developers.