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Students and Post-it Notes Help Schools Cut Their Energy Bills

Simple yellow Post-it notes with the message "When not in use, turn off the juice," pointedly left on classroom computers, printers and air-conditioners, have helped New York public schools save $350,000 annually on utility bills. Other ideas have also achieved greater and greater energy savings.

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The Greenest Colleges in America

A U.S. Green Building Council partnership released its third annual report listing the greenest colleges nationwide. The online-only guide, available as a free download, includes brief summaries of sustainability initiatives at each of the top 311 school, as well a dozen or so data points on things like renewable power use, energy efficiency and waste disposal.

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Recycling Heroes Include Parks, Schools, Stadiums and Corporations

Across the nation, an antigarbage strategy known as "zero waste" is moving from the fringes to the mainstream, taking hold in school cafeterias, national parks, restaurants, stadiums and corporations. At Yellowstone National Park, the clear soda cups and white utensils are not your typical cafe-counter garbage. Made of plant-based plastics, they dissolve magically when heated for more than a few minutes.

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Free Online Materials Could Save Schools Billions

Teachers and their students are quietly experimenting with Free-Reading.net, a little website that could one day rock the foundation of how schools do business. It's a reading instruction program that allows teachers to download, copy and share lessons with colleagues.

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Education Succeeds Without Standardized Tests

Imagine a world without standardized tests, one in which teachers would teach less and students would study less — yet score near the top on international tests of math, reading and science. This mythical world of teachers' dreams has a name: Finland.

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17 More Top Universities Offer Free Cyber Courses

More leading universities are offering free online courses through the fast-growing education platform Coursera. The new partners, including Brown, Columbia, Emory, Vanderbilt and Wesleyan universities, as well as Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of British Columbia, University of London, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, boost the number of courses offered free online to 200.

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Free Online Courses From Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Transform Learning Worldwide

A new online education platform founded by Stanford scientists is on a mission to change the world by educating millions of people with free classes from top universities. Coursera offers Math, Science, Business and Humanities courses featuring videos, quizzes and electronic assignments created by 16 top universities from the US, Europe, and Canada. Already, a million students from 190 countries have enrolled.

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Police Clown Units in Mexico Befriend Youth to Prevent Crime

In Tultitlán, Mexico, where the police officers are considered some of the most corrupt in Latin America, children who are victims of domestic violence, susceptible to drug sales and bullying, are being helped by cops with big smiles and red noses.