Apple just released the much-anticipated iPad 2, and while orders haven't even been fulfilled in their entirety, Apple is requesting users trade in their old iPads to be donated to Teach For America, who will then pass it into the hands of a teacher in a low-income community. Personally, I find it sad that they are calling the first-generation iPads "old" when they debuted less than a year ago, but I guess those who buy gadgets and move on at an Apple pace may be looking for an opportunity just as this. There is no mention of any kind of discount on new iPads when you donate, but it is for a good cause at the very least! [via: MacNN]

All Things Digital has reported that Kno, the maker of the Linux-based, WebKit-powered educational tablet of the same name is considering stopping production of their single- and dual-screen tablets and shifting their focus from hardware to strictly software. They would sell off remaining stock and then focus on development of apps for other platforms such as iOS and Android. The device was originally designed to appeal to students, and the company had struck up deals with many book publishers such as Pierson and McGraw-Hill to name a couple. The device itself was relatively huge, although they cited fitting entire textbook pages on the 14- ...

Apple has long been used in the educational setting. Between subsidized prices on hardware, increased durability, and quality of professional software, Apple has risen to the top and is used in the majority of school districts in the U.S. Typically, school systems use Apple's desktops or notebooks. This is all about to change however, because a New York City school system has bucked that trend by ordering 2,000 or more iPads for their students - an order that will cost them around $1.3 million. They aren't necessarily the only system interested in this either, as several other larger districts around the country have reportedly shown ...

Looking for all things educational? Consider the Canadian-based company Bytes of Learning. The company was founded in 1984 by Art Willer, a consultant who at the time was directing software development for a large school district in Ontario. The purpose of the company has always been to develop informed and effective educational software solutions primarily for schools, but these software solutions can also be utilized by individuals and other training and learning organizations. Bytes of Learning is a unique educational software development company in that the organization creates products from the ground up. “We are constantly ...

Remember that school in Pennsylvania that got sued for creepin' on their students via the students' webcams? Well, as of today, the Lower Merion school district has settled outside of court, and is dishing out $610,000 for the incident. $175,000 dollars will be given to Blake Robbins, who at the time was 15 and originally sued because the school spied on him in his house. Also, $10,000 will be given to the student related to the second lawsuit, Jalil Hassan. Finally, the attorney of the students, Mark Haltzman, will receive the bulk of it, $425,000, for legal fees. The FBI has chosen not to bring any charges against the district, which ...

According to Apple, iTunes U, the educational section of the iTunes Store, has passed the milestone of 300 million downloads. iTunes U was launched on May 30, 2007, and since then has partnered with more than 800 universities who offer around 350,000 files. iTunes U is one of a few ways that Apple has its hand in the educational market. Apple also offers discounts to students and school faculty members, and they annually have a back-to-school program in which a free iPod is offered with the purchase of a qualifying Mac. With recent statistics of the popularity of Macs with students, they have a strong presence. [via: iPodNN]

The Philadelphia school district that was charged with invasion of privacy has avoided the charges pressed against them by the family of the student who was spied on. Originally, the images were captured as a way to recover lost or stolen laptops, but even after the laptops were recovered, more pictures were still being taken. The school district admitted to keeping the images recorded through the webcams that are built into the MacBooks that the school loans to all students. This story is somewhat chilling, especially considering more and more schools are beginning to use programs such as One to One. It will only be a matter of time ...

Apple has rolled out a Volume Purchase Program to allow education institutions to purchase multiple copies of the same app at a discounted rate. This allows app developers to offer discounted prices on purchases of 20 apps or more. In order to purchase in volume, an Authorized Purchaser must first purchase a Volume Voucher at the Apple Store for Education. These are available in amounts of $100, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000. They will be mailed to you within 3 to 5 business days. The individual education institutions can then designate "Program Facilitators" who are authorized to purchase apps using the vouchers. Anyone - a teacher, ...

Livescribe released a new version of their smart pen yesterday that is now known as Livescribe Echo. Livescribe Echo takes much of what we all loved from the first version and adds several new features. The Echo is physically redesigned to be more ergonomic, and, while it is at it, prevents itself from rolling like the previous model did. It also has a new micro-USB connection that is more standard, making connecting it to your computer much easier. Speaking of the USB connection, it now also is capable of being used essentially as a graphics tablet, as it can be connected directly to the computer and send the data straight over into the ...

The iTunes Store has been a huge success for Apple, and it does not appear to be showing signs of stopping any time soon. The Loop reports that Apple said that iTunes U, the section of the iTunes Store specifically designed for educational content, has just reached 250 million downloads. The service has been up since 2007, and it has seen many partnerships with schools all over the country, private and public alike. iTunes U is a big leap in the way of e-education, or rather, iEducation, and it has many different possibilities for expansion and success in general. [via: The Loop]

Australia thinks the iPad has a bright future in the classroom. The Australian Taxation Office has announced that the iPad offers the same education benefits of eReaders, tablets and laptops and therefore deserves the 50 percent education tax rebate that laptops already enjoy down under. Technology experts say that the move should help the iPad's already impressive sales push, and, you know, possibly help kids learn good and stuff. "By the ATO classing the tablet under that scheme allows families to choose the right technology that best fits the requirements of their kids' education,'' one tech expert told the Australian Associated Press.

Apple's annual back-to-school promotion is kicking off today. As usual, purchasers of eligible Macs by students or staff will be able to get a $199 iPod credit to either buy or go towards an iPod of their choice. This promotion will run until September 7th, so it may be wise to wait until a little later this summer before you buy a Mac, unless you absolutely need one. Although Summer releases are rare, there is always the possibility of an update. At the very least, I would recommend you wait until WWDC is over. [via: MacRumors]

Today, Adobe announced the release of Captivate 5 and the eLearning Suite 2 The big news (and why you’re reading about it here) is that it marks the debut of the Mac version. Previously, the only way that Mac-based developers could access these best-of-breed tools was through Boot Camp or virtualization and that definitely hampered their viability for a lot of potential users. Adobe Captivate goes far beyond screen recording and editing and allows trainers, developers and designers to create sophisticated engaging, interactive training materials and associated assessment systems (known as “tests” and “quizzes” to those of us on ...

In these heady days of market dominance with its music store, smart phone, iPods and steadily growing sales of laptops, it’s easy to forget that the original source of Apple’s success was the classroom. The Apple II dominated the education market and was the platform of choice for academic software of all kinds. Arguably, it was this success that built up the company’s back account to a point where it could survive the dark years of Jobs’ absence. Apple may now be on the cusp of an equally important breakthrough. In fact, many of the essential technologies are already in Apple’s toolbox. They’ll still need a breakthrough ...

Bitstream integrates with Insider Software, Inc. unveils FontAgent Pro Plus which now combines World’s Smartest Font Manager with 750 Open Type fonts for Macintosh and Windows. The Font Agent Pro 4 Plus is more enhanced with well-defining kerning pairs, full character sets and reliable metadata. In addition to this, there are more than 400 creative fonts and more than 80 script and handwritten fonts that stylize your headlines, ads, signs, title, covers and paragraphs. Not only does it provide fonts of professional elegance but also, has a large bounty of symbol fonts with glyphs for math, foods, religions, travel, zodiac, currencies, e- ...

Star Coloring has released an educational application, Animals Coloring Book, for children between the ages of 4 to 13. The program combines 3D graphics, sounds and music to help provide children with an interactive interface for coloring and creating pictures. It features images of various animals and objects, ranging from donkeys to flowers, while the full background consists of different environments that can also be colored. Animals Coloring Book features 25 pictures to choose from, with groups organized by skill level. Each page provides basic colors, a mixing palette, a water jug, and a paint brush. Children simply dip a virtual ...

To help U.S college and graduate students dealing with heavy educational-based costs, Microsoft's MacBU has announced a special deal for the Office 2008 for Mac, dropping the price by over 70 percent. Office 2008 Business Edition provides a series of different applications to help support all areas of education, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Entourage 2008, and Document Connection for Mac with SharePoint support. iFixit has released 241 repair guides covering all Mac mini’s and most iMacs developed after 2004, providing in-depth disassembly guides, model identification tips, trouble shooting techniques and upgrade information. With ...