"Digital literacy is so important," said Julius Genachowski, chairman of the commission, adding that bridging the digital divide now also means "giving parents and students the tools and know-how to use technology for education and job-skills training."
A map of competencies and skills that a group of Mozilla stakeholders (including Doug Belshaw) thought was important for getting better at reading, writing and participating on the web. Organised under three headings: exploring, building, connecting
"The aim of this small project is to create a map of virtual world based scientific research and educational initiatives at UK universities. The map is being created by Birmingham-based virtual world specialists Daden Limited as part of this year's British Science Festival hosted at Aston University in Birmingham.Virtual Worlds such as Second Life, where users can socialise and connect on-line are already being extensively used by UK Universities and other educational and research organisations - but it can be hard to find out what is going on, and where. It can hopefully become a lasting resource for UK Science which can live on beyond the 2010 British Science Festival.The map is, appropriately, presented as virtual map inside of Second Life where visitors will be able to click on map markers to gain further information on each project, and to be directly transported to the science project location.Users without access to Second Life, or running projects in other virtual worlds, are not excluded from the project. All information will be available through this micro-site, which includes a browser based version of the Second Life map, and lists of projects in other worlds."
"TodaysMeet helps you embrace the backchannel and connect with your audience in realtime.
Encourage the room to use the live stream to make comments, ask questions, and use that feedback to tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs."
"fring™ is a mobile internet service & community that enables you to access & interact with your social networks on-the-go, make free calls and live chat with all your fring, Skype®, MSN® Messenger, Google Talk™, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo!™ and AIM®* friends using your handset's internet connection rather than costly cellular airtime minutes."
Over time the learner has been the explorer of knowledge, its accumulator and skilled 'access-or'. In the 21st century challenges and demands are expanding and changing again. Our new society's environment is one of rapid communication, action and change, of intricate social activity and a huge potential for new knowledge.
What are the models of the learner for this brave new world? How can higher education create these models and support the learners who aspire to them? This paper postulates four models of the learner of the future:
* the collaborator: for whom networks of knowledge, skills and ideas are the source of learning
* the free agent: utilising flexible, continuous, open-ended and life-long styles and systems of learning to the full
* the wise analyser: able to gather, scrutinise and use evidence of effective activity and apply conclusions to new problems
* the creative synthesiser: able to connect across themes and disciplines, cross-fertilise ideas, integrate disparate concepts and create new vision and practice.
The paper describes an example of these kinds of learning and considers what they might imply for the development of learning in higher education in the coming century
This guide was written especially for educators, who want to teach 21st century skills, such as collaborating, communicating, and connecting, through digital storytelling. Free.
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