An annual national survey found that there is a wide disparity between the percentages of high school and college educators who believe their students are prepared for college-level work, according to The Washington Post. In 2012, 89 percent of high school teachers believed their students were either "well" or "very well" prepared, while only 26 percent of college professors agreed. This inconsistency follows data from 2009, when the study found that 91 and 26 percent of high school and college educators believed their students were ready for college, respectively. The report recommends that teachers and professors work together to design curricula that prepare students for rigorous college workloads, as well as increase student access to computers.
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology expanded their virtual learning nonprofit, edX, to fifteen additional institutions, The Harvard Crimson reported. Six of the schools are from Asia, five are from the United States, three are from Europe and one is from Australia. Cornell University will be the second Ivy League school to join edX, and other American institutions joining the consortium include the Berklee College of Music, Boston University, Davidson College and the University of Washington. The new additions to edX, which now has participating universities, will begin offering online courses late this year or next year in the sciences, humanities, political science and language.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that former Rutgers University quarterback Ryan Hart may sue Electronic Arts Inc. for creating a digital quarterback made in his likeness in a video game, The Wall Street Journal reported. The original decision by a lower court stated that the depiction of college players in the video game was protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. In the "NCAA Football" video game, the digital Rutgers quarterback shares Hart's number, height, weight, helmet visor and left wristband. While professional sports players may profit from their celebrity status, NCAA players are not allowed to earn money from their popularity. Electronic Arts Inc. licenses school names, team names, uniforms and fight songs in video games.
