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A proposal by the Prince George's County Board of Education to copyright work created by staff and students for school could mean that a picture drawn by a first-grader, a lesson plan developed by a teacher or an app created by a teen would belong to the school system, not the individual. The measure has some worried that by the system claiming ownership to the work of others, creativity could be stifled and there would be little incentive to come up with innovative ways to educate students. Some have questioned the legality of the proposal as it relates to students.

Article looks at three separate studies of the educational benefit of home computers for lower income children. The studies indicate that the educational value of universal broadband access may be minimal, or worse, harmful.

Starting from a study that finds different reading practices for online content and print (or scanning vs. slow reading) the author argues against the trend of increasing technology investment in education. I think the argument would profit from a publisher's perspective, one where it's vital to evaluate how the content fits (or doesn't fit) the format. Like the author, I don't want to read Middlemarch ( my favorite novel) online, nor can I imagine anyone who would or who require it read in that format. Bottom line for me - publishers have much to offer the educational establishment.

Here's the Apple Education event live blog from Engadget.  There's some big news regarding iBooks 2 and Apple's vision of the future for textbooks. Interesting stuff!

Code of best practices for interpreting fair use in education.

Are textbooks history in the digital era? : States across the country are slashing education budgets, forcing schools to cut expenses. One option getting a lot of attention is digital textbooks. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

Established educational publishers are beginning - slowly - to adapt to the future of textbooks and the needs of their readers. Note that open textbook initiatives may overtake the entrenched publishers.

Snagged this from the Diigo homepage. With social media becoming a permanent part of online interaction, seems fitting to have some guidelines for educational purposes.

Possible generation-gap-type issues for digital educational publishing for colleges: "Today, the college assumes all students not only have computer skills but a plethora of high-tech devices and services. The class schedule and registration procedure is entirely online-even if you're in the registrar's office....In the first class, the professor handed out her e-mail address and the URL where the syllabus could be found--instead of her office phone number and a copy of the syllabus. Unfortunately, the college sites are full of graphics and animations and download very slowly on my dial-up connection. (Even if I could afford a broadband connection, my ISP doesn't provide it in my area.)" "At least one exercise in each chapter requires accessing the publisher's textbook Web site. Many of these exercises could just as easily be put on the computer disk also sold-at an increased profit (I used to work for a textbook-preparation company)-with the text....Again, a dial-up connection won't download the videos. The audio files are .mp3; I can't open them, don't have the skill to know what program I need, and have no access to free technical support....So once every chapter I head for either the heavily used public library or the equally heavily used computer lab in the college's suburban learning center (branch campus)--and hope that a computer is available."

Several universities have recently tried a new model for delivering textbooks in hopes of saving students money: requiring purchase of e-textbooks and charging students a materials fee to cover the costs. A recent report on some of those pilot projects, however, shows that many students find the e-textbooks "clumsy" and prefer print.

LRMI effort to establish metadata standards for educational publishers.

Interesting, if a bit unbalanced, about the corruption of university libraries by commercial publishers and the pressure of "good enough" information in a Googlized world

This week, California took a big step forward in open-source education. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a proposal to create a website that will allow students to download popular textbooks for free. The legislation contains two bills: One, a proposal for the state to fund 50 open-source digital textbooks, targeted to lower-division courses, which will be produced by California's universities. The other bill is a proposal to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host those books.

New e-textbooks give educators an unprecedented level of insight into student reading habits, and the results have some students and experts wondering if the product compromises personal privacy.

Interest in the digital future of textbook publishing picks up.

While several colleges across the country are pushing electronic textbooks, touting them as more efficient and less cumbersome than regular textbooks, students are reluctant. E-textbooks still account for only 9% of textbook purchases, says Student Monitor, which researches college student behavior.

The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc. (RLPG) has launched a new Web site to encompass all of its publishing programs: www.rowman.com. The site features the company's ten main imprints: AltaMira Press, Bernan Press, Government Institutes, Ivan R. Dee, Jason Aaronson, Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield Education, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Scarecrow Press, and Taylor Trade Publishing.