EBook 2nd Edition

Described by Christine Love as "a spiritual sequel of sorts to Digital: A Love Story", Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is a visual novel that puts a huge emphasis on the way technology has led us to talk to one another differently, while also tackling the usual issues that visual novels styled in this way delve into. You are a new literacy teacher at a high school who is plunged into the lives of your pupils - wherever you like it or not. The school sneakily keeps tabs on pupils by allowing teachers to see all the private messages sent via the local Facebook-style service. Hence, while the main story is playing out, messages will constantly ping in the corner of the screen, and you can keep track of everything going on between your students.

This just killed the keyboard, mouse and all the debate about what we need to do with them. OMG. How rich is this guy about to be, when that algorithm goes into commercial development. Is this not kick ass, meaningful research? Stunned.

Edistorm takes the metaphor of sticky notes on a boardroom wall and brings it online allowing anyone - anywhere to brainstorm with only a web browser. Each user picks their favorite ideas and Edistorm brings the best ones forward.

This is great! - interactive and make sure you look closely.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) seeks to produce learners who not only remember the theory, they know how and when to apply it. However, providing a problem to a group of students is not a guarantee that they will be able to solve it. Even more uncertain is whether the solution the students offer and the journey they undertook to arrive at it resulted in them learning the intended underlying concepts and theories. As students become increasingly time poor, they are less inclined towards a learning approach which requires them to be self-directed and motivated. This paper reports on a learning design which seeks to scaffold and accelerate the PBL process by providing a balance of facts and concepts to be remembered and tested via an online quiz, followed by an activity-based tutorial session that focussed on the application of those concepts to new problems in conjunction with the use of resource material and memory aids

This atmospheric machinima from Loki Eliot is the teaser for a murder mystery adventure game set in New Babbage, the steampunk town. Called "Shadow of the 13" (official website here), which nicely integrates a web experience with SL interaction. If...

The MIT Professor describes why games are great learning tools, and how new gaming paradigms can change the educational system.

A great online youth project for photography to get your kids into

This is a list about productivity tools that allow you gain minutes and hours back in your life - if you life requires you to use technology in the education or research context. Things that just might give you an extra friday.