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"The book draws upon a healthy mix of psychological research isolating specific tactics for induce happiness ("happiness hacks") alongside practical examples of those tactics utilized in both traditional and "serious" game design. The net result? A list of 14 "fixes" that can help readers improve their lives through play."

6 secret strategies to take control of studying and improve memory. FLIRT, DRIVE, and RELAX are mnemonic acronyms that help readers tap their multiple intelligences and learning styles to garner the wealth and breadth of information they will encounter throughout their academic and professional careers. Through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and the Internet, students, teachers, and parents can watch videos, post comments, and connect with others struggling with the demands of academic literacy. www.myreadingsecrets.com shares the secrets learned by successful college students, and the reading secrets of successful professionals, authors, and entertainers.

it's no coincidence that the death of Google Reader corresponds with the rise of Google's own social networks. As Wired's Christina Bonnington points out, "No matter what Mountain View says about changing user habits, though, both Now and Plus do one thing: They keep you in Google's world." Of course, this is an industry-wide trend. Not just Google, but Facebook, LinkedIn and the other big networks are all gunning to become become true media properties. Just like traditional media outlets-from TV networks to newspapers - the more users they have and the better they hook those users, the more they can charge for ads.

They zeroed in on the company's Nook e-reader as a sign of failure, demanding payout for "long-suffering" shareholders. Barnes & Noble reported a loss of $87 million in the last quarter, and it attributed about $54.6 million of that to its Nook unit.

"When Google killed its RSS app Google Reader, it appeared to have taken a dislike to the whole concept of RSS feeds, removing them from its Google Alerts service - saved searches whose results are automatically sent to you. With the RSS option gone, the only option remaining was to have alerts emailed instead. Now, with no announcement, the RSS feed option has returned. Google's explanation at the time didn't make much sense to me. It seemed to effectively be arguing that RSS was an out-dated delivery system, but its replacement was … email? No matter, it's back now. Simply sign into Google Alerts and select Feed from the delivery pull-down."

"An all-digital public library is opening today, as officials in Bexar County, Texas, celebrate the opening of the BiblioTech library. The facility offers about 10,000 free e-books for the 1.7 million residents of the county, which includes San Antonio. On its website, the Bexar County BiblioTech library explains how its patrons can access free eBooks and audio books. To read an eBook on their own device, users must have the 3M Cloud Library app, which they can link to their library card. The app includes a countdown of days a reader has to finish a book - starting with 14 days, according to My San Antonio."

""In the world of texting and IMing … the default is to end just by stopping, with no punctuation mark at all," Liberman wrote me. "In that situation, choosing to add a period also adds meaning because the reader(s) need to figure out why you did it. And what they infer, plausibly enough, is something like 'This is final, this is the end of the discussion or at least the end of what I have to contribute to it.'""

"How can you even begin to know whether your audience is receiving your message and understanding your brand + blog, if you don't have a solid grasp on who you're talking to?"

Although faculty and students are the primary learning management system users, administrators and IT experts often select the system. This article stresses the importance of involving all stakeholders in the selection process, offers a step-by-step guide to LMS selection, and enables readers to develop a customized list of LMS features that align with their institution's instructional and learning priorities.

"Hemingway highlights long, complex sentences and common errors; if you see a yellow highlight, shorten the sentence or split it. If you see a red highlight, your sentence is so dense and complicated that your readers will get lost trying to follow its meandering, splitting logic - try editing this sentence to remove the red."

"Using annotation tools that leverage 21st-century technology to bring social reading back to its traditional roots, instructors can help their students develop critical thinking, digital literacy, and collaboration skills."

The question being asked is completely backward. Why aren't the lessons being recorded by the schools and made available online for the students to review later at home when they're working on home work. Or, the students could study for a test by reviewing any lessons they didn't do well on.

"New high-tech standardized tests are coming soon to schools across the country, but will these new tests really revolutionize how we measure whether children are learning? The designers of the new tests, which a majority of states plan to adopt in two years, are allowing a sneak peek at sample questions."

"An estimated 135 million people play video games, spending three billion hours a week glued to a screen. But that's not necessarily bad news. In fact, playing video games may be part of an evolutionary leap forward, according to Howard Rheingold, educator and author of the book Net Smart: How to Thrive Online. Rather than characterizing them as hapless drones wasting time, Rheingold's book contends that this massive population of gamers is part of a growing group of "supercollaborators," as described by Jane McGonigal, director of game research and development at the Institute for the Future, who's interviewed in the book."

This is true for digital natives...my grandson is always on- line playing games with people he has never seen in person. I am not quite there yet! I still like to make eye contact -:)

"I love being a scholar, but one thing that really depresses me about research is that so much of what scholars produce is rendered inaccessible to so many people who might find it valuable, inspiring, or thought-provoking. This is at the root of what drives my commitment to open-access. When Zizi Papacharissi asked Nancy Baym and I if we'd be willing to guest edit the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (JOBEM), we agreed under one condition: the issue had to be open-access (OA). Much to our surprise and delight, Taylor and Francis agreed to "test" that strange and peculiar OA phenomenon by allowing us to make this issue OA. Nancy and I decided to organize the special issue around "socially mediated publicness," both because we find that topic to be of great interest and because we felt like there was something fun about talking about publicness in truly public form. We weren't sure what the response to our call would be, but were overwhelmed with phenomenal submissions and had to reject many interesting articles. "

"it won't be long before they begin modeling mathematical processes, using spreadsheets, creating concept maps and editing one another's work in writer's workshops. Over time, they will film documentaries and work collaboratively with students in another city (and perhaps another country). They'll see the power in expressing their collective voice to a global audience and working with people in another social context."

"When I ask these questions to professional development presenters or district office personnel, I almost never get a straight answer. I've learned not to ask those questions. It's almost always perceived as a challenge to one's expertise or authority. Over the years, people have accused me of not "believing in" research. And they're right."

Learn how cellphones, e-book readers, and tablets are getting kids engaged with learning, focused on working smarter, and ready for the future.