Bon education launches the children’s book series: The Adventures of BB and Sam.

Dubai, UAE, May 6, 2012 – Bon Education has announced the launch of BB and Sam: The Return of the Champion, the first book in its fictional series for elementary school age children, The Adventures of BB and Sam.

BB and Sam have never left the sleepy little town where they were born, but that is about to change! Unexpected adventure awaits them when their journalist parents take them on assignment to Thailand.

Arriving in Bangkok, they meet a prize-winning muay Thai boxer, Kak, who has suddenly lost his fighting spirit. Eager to find out the “real story” behind Kak, BB and Sam go on a quest to unravel the mystery. Their journey leads them to a mysterious bookshop, flooded jungles, an elusive white elephant, remote villages and more. Along the way, BB and Sam discover what it means to have courage and the importance of respecting culture and tradition. The Adventures of BB and Sam is a new classic travel adventure series for early chapter book readers. Ages 8+

The Adventures of BB and Sam series was created for children reading at a 3rd to 5th grade reading level. Packed with multimedia enhancements and supports, the books are designed to enhance reading comprehension, vocabulary and global awareness in a fun and engaging way. The series was created with the following standards in mind: Common Core English Language Arts standards, UNESCO’s “Guidelines on Intercultural Education,” the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme curriculum standards and practices.

“We have also put together a free Parent Pack filled with educational activities families can do together as they make their way through the book,” said Anna Batchelder, producer of the series.

BB and Sam: The Return of the Champion can be found on the Apple iBookstore (click here to download) and will soon be released in Kindle and Nook versions. The accompanying Parent Pack can be downloaded for free at www.bbandsam.com. Future books in the series will feature new adventures around the globe.

Bon Education is an education technology company based in Dubai, UAE with team members in the United States, Middle East and Asia. The company focuses on developing engaging and culturally relevant educational programs and learning products for families and schools around the world.

Contact Information:

Bon Education

www.BBandSam.com

www.boneducation.com

books@boneducation.com

Twitter: @bbandsam

In its third year of continued collaborations with the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi Foundation, Bon Education continues to develop and lead bilingual teacher and principal professional development courses for education stakeholders across the emirate of Ras al Khaimah. This spring Bon Education co-founders Anna and Chris Batchelder are leading on-going courses on teacher mentorship, leading with technology and action research. “Collaborating with the Foundation in Ras al Khaimah has been one of the highlights of my career. We’ve been working with some teachers in RAK for three years now and it is an absolute pleasure to hear their feedback and stories from the classroom as they try new technologies and pedagogical techniques,” says Anna Batchelder.

Image Available Under CC Licensure by tatadbb

CEO and Co-founder of Bon Education, Anna Batchelder, was recently invited to join a roundtable discussion for CISCO’s GETideas.org – an online collaborative that provides education leaders in the 21^st century a place to participate in international dialogue. As a participant in the virtual roundtable, Social Media in Education – What’s Working and What’s Not, Anna joined two other distinguished education leaders to discuss the role of social media and technology in education.

Bon Education has recently been featured in Education Week’s latest article on international initiatives that are fueling open educational resources. The publication looks to focus on educational developments emerging across the board. Their recent piece praises the efforts of Bon Education and other global organizations in their pursuit to provide teacher training in how to access and utilize open education resources throughout emerging markets. Co-founder and CEO Anna Batchelder, also gets the chance to weigh in on OERs, shedding light on the concerns and benefits of such programs.

Doha – The Bon Education team is currently working on an initiative with the Qatar Supreme Education Council and Microsoft Partners in Learning to provide ongoing Arabic-language ICT professional development and coaching to educators working in classrooms with a 1-to-1 set-up. PD focuses on using ICT to promote digital literacy, project based learning, extending learning beyond the walls of the classroom, student motivation and communication between school stakeholders.

Bon Education co-founders, Anna and Chris Batchelder, along with K-12 Handhelds President Karen Fasimpaur, will be keynoting at the Global Education Conference, an online and free conference spanning multiple time zones and languages.  In an effort to engage attendees on the importance of edtech, Anna, Chris and Karen will discuss their recent involvement with P2PU School of Education pilot. The School of Ed provides an open model of community-based learning for those seeking professional development. Topics explored in the fall 2011 pilot included OER, Social Media for Deeper Learning and Differentiated Instruction, Writing and others. Login to the conference on November 17, 8 PM Dubai UAE time for the full session.

In partnership with Microsoft Partners in Learning, Bon Education is leading Arabic and English ICT Institutes for ministries of education and private schools throughout the GCC. The trainings focus on using social media, search, mapping and video to develop creativity and innovation amongst teachers and students. Bon Education developed the bilingual curricula for the Institutes and will be delivering workshops throughout the fall.

The Dubai School of Government and Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research just released the GCES 2011 Proceedings — highlighting recent developments in public and private education in the Gulf. Included in the Proceedings is a white paper by Bon Education CEO Anna Batchelder titled, “Education 2.0: Using Social Networking Tools to Promote Teacher Professional Development in Ras Al Khaimah”. To read a copy of the paper, click here.

Starting this fall, Bon Education will design the educational programming for Shelter Dubai. Mary Ames will be the lead education curator for the space. Shelter Dubai is a space providing a unique office infrastructure aimed at nurturing entrepreneurship within small businesses. Mary will design and oversee programs which will bring together entrepreneurs and industry professionals from all sectors to generate an interactive exchange of ideas and growth.

This fall Bon Education co-founders, Anna and Chris Batchelder, will be working on Peer 2 Peer University’s newest initiative – The School of Education (pilot).  P2PU is an open education project that knocks down the walls of the university and allows students to learn from one another for free. The School of Education looks to bring the model of open, community-based peer learning to professional development for K-12 teachers. Anna and Chris’ course will focus on providing these educators and administrators that wish to utilize web 2.0 and social media tools in the teaching process with the necessary skills and tools to achieve their goals.