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ntroduction The significance of email as a modern medium for communication has grown fast and sustainable. The technical basis, especially the availability of a digital infrastructure enabled the global spread of email as a user friendly, flexible and versatile medium. By now email can be considered as one of the most frequently used applications of the internet. The advantages of email as being low in costs but high in speed and reliability led to its increasing use and significance. Furthermore its quality of being "viral" through easy forwarding and multi-receiver-sending has opened new possibilities for communication. On the one hand the disposability of email has led to these new trends, on the other hand the very same quality can be held responsible for the short-lived and unsustainable attributes of email.1 Since the emergence of the first communication through electronic mail the face of email concerning both quality and quantity has changed significantly. In terms of quality it has changed from a simple substitute for the hand written letter to today's most important tool for collaboration, knowledge-management, online marketing and global business communication. Furthermore it is "now used for multiple purposes: document delivery and archiving, work task delegation; and task tracking. It is also used for storing personal names and addresses, for sending reminders, asking for assistance, scheduling appointments, and for handling technical queries." Electronic mail can be considered as vital precursor for globalization and the modern information society. Its commercial use for offers, contracts, orders etc. created demand for an obliging and explicit legal framework together with new standards regarding electronic signature, identification and data safety. The trend of an increasing quantity of electronic mail is strongly related to its development, standardization and availability of digital infrastructure. The exponentially increasing amount of e

This may be a repost but to a newbie like myself I feel it is a very useful handbook. Shelly Terrell/Teacher ReBoot Camp. I hope to turn the teachers at my school onto this as well. : )

Digital identities Case Studies describe critical incidents of practice, highlighting key design challenges and possible solutions.

"George Siemens posts frequently and with clarity on his blog elearnspace, and often I find myself nodding my head as I read or questioning my assumptions or bouncing around to other web sites as I hunt down reinforcing or contradicting information. Today I challenged a couple claims made in his posting, Explaining leads to information, which examines the past, present, and future roles of universities."

This storytelling framework seeks to assist OER projects in documenting and sharing key developments in the creation, use and reuse of open educational resources. By using the template to tell your story, you can help to build capacity for inquiry and information sharing across projects worldwide, which can in turn help your own as well as other projects to: * Discover unknown potential within projects; * Learn how other OER projects have overcome similar challenges and fulfilled similar needs; * Improve networking so that relevant learnings and opportunities can be identified and leveraged; * Use unique experiences and expertise to help other OER projects and to advance the field at large

My argument then is that the conventional LMS is the wrong metaphor, not just the wrong technology, for engaging with some of the changes we are seeing that we might cluster under the web 2.0 banner. I am in the position of being able to quote myself, so I'll let M Weller sum it up: I would suggest that the reason the centralised LMS is not the answer to the 'web 2.0 problem' for education is because in its software DNA it embodies the wrong metaphor. It seeks to realise the principles of hierarchy, control and centralisation - the traditional classroom made virtual. This approach won't help educators understand the new challenges and opportunities they are now facing.

These essays by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. They approach-from both macro and micro perspectives-the central question of how open education tools, resources, and knowledge can improve the quality of education.

I've been reflecting lately on the claims of Bauerlein in The dumbest generation. Completing his book has come parallel with exposure to some additional materials:

Learning takes place through active engagement rather than passive transmission.

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference will examine the theme of e-learning in a time of change, and will challenge notions of traditional boundaries, learning spaces and roles. We will focus on new practices, new technologies, new environments and new learning. There will be primary, secondary and tertiary education threads. We invite papers on the digital divide, e-learning methods and case studies, mobile and pervasive technologies, digital games, multi-user virtual environments, informal learning, new classroom technologies (PDAs interactive whiteboards, etc), personal learning environments, visual media (videoconference, digital photography), e-portfolios and social software (wikis, blogs, podcasting, etc).

commented and annotated by several people, including me -- Jared Stein's comments particularly helpful

Interesting article on challenges facing media educators.

As internet access becomes ubiquitous, less identification of applications as mobile or web apps will perhaps be the greatest challenge to the developer communities.

A superb logic/thinking puzzle game where players must design a contraption to complete the challenges. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Educational+Games

Learnalot uses high-quality game-based learning resources to engage and challenge its students in maths.

A superb maths game set in a vast magical world, reminiscent of the early Final Fantasy games. Complete the challenges and battle with monsters by answering maths questions. There is a teacher's dashboard so you can set up and track the progress of your students. Questions are age appropriate and adapt to the ability of the child to keep them moving on.