I can drive over a bridge and be in an educationally forward thinking state and hot bed of academic progress, Superior, Wisconsin! I CANT believe this is true. DIY EDU is the future of Higher Ed and MN should be on the leading edge, not some ineffectual backwater. Here's the letter I sent to the Office of Higher Ed. Please explain how this is possible. Are you saying that , in fact, I am subject to some form of legal action if I attempt to better myself through free course offerings as a resident of Minnesota? Please explain the logic in this? Am I in violation of law by pursuing free online knowledge? If this is the case, please put me at the head of the line for legal action! I just took the Coursera MOOC on Gamification, I'm expecting the certification to arrive any day, I dont want a "coursera degree" - they DONT EXSIST! I did well in the course. It was eminently rewarding and I know that I will be able to directly apply the knowledge I gained in the course in the pursuit of my professional goals. If I create taxed income based on the knowledge I gained in the course, will the state of MN want a part of that? I live in Duluth. Should I go to Superior WI and do the coursework? Please contact me asap, I plan on pursuing more MOOC coursework and want to know if I'm breaking the law.

Most of the teams I judged this year, the kids were adamant that the mentors are there to facilitate, not participate. It does happen but, not as much as one might think.

A great point! Part of what the judges look for in FIRST is how the team "markets" itself. Good teams have an entire sub-team devoted to marketing, web design, outreach and getting local sponsors. This gives "non-technical" types a away to be active and really contribute. But you are right, it's a bit illogical to give school money to a sport where very few can make a career out of the skills they develop it it.

I had the honor of being a judge at the Lake Superior REgionals this year. These kids are AWESOME! I heard a great statement, "Sport Robotics is the only sport where everyone can turn pro!" This year, students can letter in robotics in the state or Minnesota! Another fact, in MN there are 156 high school hockey teams and 154 high school robotics teams.

Bachmann isn't from Minnesota, she's from inside Glenn Beck's Love Boat fantasy.

I'm from Duluth, MN and I say GACK! At one point, there was a state legislator who attempted to set into law, open document formats. Black suits showed up and ......bzzzzt! But really, does this mean I have to now own proprietary applications to view public documents? Thanks for so much you've left us Pawlenty.

Oh yes, you'll be seeing Duluth, MN in that list. Minnesota nice is even nicer with fiber-to-home. Does anyone know anything about the specifications of the proposed service?

Hopefully this will drive a push to utilize open source in other aspects of government. Specifically secondary education. School districts across the country are locked in symbiotic dependency to profit driven computing / IT services and systems. Linux offers a robust full service option but gets NO (very little) attention from the department of education. DOE, Please support those of us who are trying to save money with open source in the schools!

Check out http://www.happypenguin.org/. I've got the RSS enabled on the right side of /. If you ever up your video card, http://www.planeshift.it/ is an excellent open source mmorpg.

We utilize linux terminal services to create a 2:1 student:productivity workstation ratio at a fraction of the cost of proprietary solutions. Entrenched vendor relationships cost US education systems millions of needlessly spent dollars.

I just taught a unit on electronics. We used breadboards and the 555 ic to build optical theremins. I have the entire curriculum done. contact me through /.

What is his stance on the open source revolution? Linux/Open Office/Open Source solutions can contribute to massive savings for school districts but it's been beaten down/back by those with financial interests.

Duluth, MN to Mpls/St.Paul will allow our state to participate in the future! It's going to happen. I have tech students using open transport tycoon to model this as a high school IT / Game design project

Linux Terminal Services allows me to provide a 2:1 student:productivity station ratio. It's the only way I could afford to provide the high level of infrastructure. Students LOVE linux!