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Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources and a New York Times Best-selling author. He works with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education? (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was been honored with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN's Principal Voices. In 2003, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts and education. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies.

In recent years there has been an explosion of virtual worlds intended for early childhood populations; however, because the majority of research on games and such worlds has focused on adults and adolescents, we know very little about these spaces. This article attempts to address this gap by providing a qualitative content analysis of the affordances that Webkinz World an online environment that as of March 2010 had over 3 million unique site visitors per month, offers for children's literacy and language development. Analyses suggest that the site provides unique opportunities for immersion in literacy-rich contexts and academically-oriented practices that may enhance those that are readily available in many children's daily lives. However, looking beyond the discrete linguistic and technical aspects of learning in Webkinz World reveals a designed culture with limitations on learning and a constrained set of literacies and social messages that warrant further critical exploration.

In recent years there has been an explosion of virtual worlds intended for early childhood populations; however, because the majority of research on games and such worlds has focused on adults and adolescents, we know very little about these spaces. This article attempts to address this gap by providing a qualitative content analysis of the affordances that Webkinz World an online environment that as of March 2010 had over 3 million unique site visitors per month, offers for children's literacy and language development. Analyses suggest that the site provides unique opportunities for immersion in literacy-rich contexts and academically-oriented practices that may enhance those that are readily available in many children's daily lives. However, looking beyond the discrete linguistic and technical aspects of learning in Webkinz World reveals a designed culture with limitations on learning and a constrained set of literacies and social messages that warrant further critical exploration.

The partnering organisations behind the initiative are: Australian Museum, Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Bradman Foundation, Fizzics Education, Literature Live, Opera Australia, Museum of Human Disease, Powerhouse Museum, Questacon: The National Science and Technology Centre, State Library NSW, Sydney Living Museums, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney Opera House, Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), CAASTRO All-sky Astrophysics University of Sydney, National Film & Sound Archive, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre, Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet), Cisco, Distance and Rural Technologies - NSW Department of Education and Communities, Electroboard and Polycom.

"How is the use of technology changing the way we think about education, and what are some of the new ways we can foster productive and co-operative learning environments through the use of computers? What will the classroom of the future look like? We'll tackle these questions and more in the Tech Stream this week with a special program focusing on education and digital technology. Follow the MP3 link

Interesting Radio Australia show that I am listening to again from ACEC2010. Helen Otway has some good points to make (and writes a great blog).

"Photo laboratory photl.com is the owner and distributor of the largest collection of exclusive free photos (Free Stock Photo Images) of high resolution for commercial purposes. All the photo images are subject to extended license on usage (Extended Royalty Free). They are absolutely free and are intended to be used in commercial activity. All the photo images can be used as a whole and also partially (their fragments). After a simple and quick registration (necessary for a better functioning of the resource) your account will be immediately activated and you will be granted with full access to our images. "

Free images available for commercial and non-commercial use.

"Online fraud and related crime is on the rise, affecting more lives and costing individuals and businesses more money year after year .. In this infographic, created by Sam Franada of Lines & Moodswings for KGBPeople and based on data from Wikipedia, the I.D. Theft Center and other sources, we learn that 10% of Americans have had their identities stolen .. Check out more facts about identity theft - including the best ways to protect your own identity."

A graphic charting online fraud and identity theft in the USA. It would be interesting to get students to look up the figures for Australia.

Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community. Web 2.0 has given us great amounts of intelligent audio and video. It's all free. It's all enriching. But it's also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. Our whole mission is to centralize this content, curate it, and give you access to this high quality content whenever and wherever you want it. Free audio books, free online courses, free movies, free language lessons, free ebooks and other enriching content - it's all here. Open Culture was founded in 2006.

We know how important it is to protect and educate young people on using the Internet and want to provide all of our users with a safe experience. When it comes to family safety, Google aims to Provide parents and teachers with tools to help them choose what content their children see online Offer tips and advice to families about how to stay safe online Work closely with organizations such as charities, others in our industry and government bodies dedicated to protecting young people

"So while I was talking to a client today who has been agonising over the detail of the design, features and colours for their website (for the last 5 months) I was reminded of the principle of "Just Ship It" and how important it is in the new age of digital media and how even more relevant Nikes slogan of "Just Do It" has become."

Some good lessons and rules here for teachers mulling over social networking, when and where to start. Just do it.

Neave.com is my personal interactive playground; a place where I can explore my ideas and try out risky experiments that I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to make anywhere else. I often spend my days pointing and gazing in wonder at the world around me, and Neave.com allows me to turn my daydreams into reality.

This site has possibilities for maths and art, and would be fantastic on an IWB...

Distributed Story Online - Workshop Template More here personalizemedia.com - Being used as part of a course but openly published for general use. Please attribute (draft in further development with other assets). This cross-genre, new format, online story development sheet should be printed A3 and ideas for each area can be sketched in. It helps media creators understand how to develop across multiple online channels and spaces and what fragments of the story can be cross connected. It is suggested that you number each instance with the 'release' date to help aid the campaign thinking. The axes indicate the likely 'maintenance' required - top right most maintenance (rich living environments) and bottom left least maintenance (ad hoc textual updates). NOTE: All the below can be on PC or mobile or console.

Transmedia storytelling template - awesome!

"This paper examines the educational impacts of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative (BWLI), a pilot program that provided 1:1 technology access to all students and teachers across five public and private middle schools in western Massachusetts. Using a pre/post comparative study design, the current study explores a wide range of program impacts over the three years of the project's implementation."

Reading an interesting tertiary summary report of a 1:1 pilot computer progrqam.

"computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks - and less able to sustain attention. "

Interesting article about growing up with disruptive technologies.

On this site you can find a collection of seven math, science and writing games that are great for elementary and middle school students. Not only can you play these interactive games right on your computer, but you can download them and use them on your computer and save them for a later time.

"High-resolution aerial photos taken over Brisbane last week have revealed the scale of devastation across dozens of suburbs and tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The aerial photos of the Brisbane floods were taken in flyovers on January 13 and January 14. Hover over each photo to view the devastation caused by flooding."

Interactive visualisation of before and after images from the QLD floods.

"Within a single generation, digital media and the World Wide Web have transformed virtually every aspect of modern culture, from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we socialize and even conduct war. But is the technology moving faster than we can adapt to it? And is our 24/7 wired world causing us to lose as much as we've gained?"

PBS show about life on the virtual frontier.