BANISHING BLACKLINE MASTERS: EdSurge friend, Amy Gross of Online Edge, filed these notes from iNACOL's Virtual School Symposium meeting last week, which happened in the very real town of Indianapolis, IN: "Who said nothing in life is free? With budgets looking the way they do these days, it certainly makes sense that many of us at iNACOL's Virtual School Symposium were on the hunt for no cost, high-quality e-learning products to support our blended programs. In the Exhibit Hall we mingled with a mix of new and familiar faces featuring Open Education Resources ranging from cool, interactive science simulations (PhET) to "flexbooks" (CK-12) to student-friendly study guides (from Shmoop) that while not interactive, do support popular books like Hunger Games and Twilight." Message: Free and cheap aren't synonyms. Although educators still have achingly thin budgets, they're prowling for powerful digital tools.
