XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Tuesday, January 24. Today’s theme is reinvention and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — From a Slashdot post comes this summary of gaming’s growth –
  XFire now has 3 Million subscribers, the 1 Millionth DS handheld has sold in Europe, and Microsoft has listed the top 10 Xbox Live Arcade titles.

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Neville Hobson suggests that mainstream media should follow BBC’s example on podcasting if they ant to stay in the game.

• Handhelds – Ever wonder why the iPod killers haven’t yet killed the iPod? Check out this articlewith quotes from Steve Jobs. Also, a recent study shows more and more Americans rely on cell phones. Nothing new, really, but this statistic jumped out — 12% of users between 18 and 24 have gone completely wireless.
• Social Networks – You don’t have to belong to MySpace.com to be part of an online social network. Check out this study in Science News Online on the use of e-mail among college students to form social networks. PriceWaterhouse Coopers certainly thinks social networks are important. In a study released for Media companies yesterday they recommended investing in social networks in order to traverse successfully what they call the new “Media Lifestyle.” Then again, maybe
  Jack McKenzie, a senior vice president at Frank N. Magid Associates said it best this week: “We think that the single largest differentiator in this generation from previous generations is the social network that is people’s lives, the part of it that technology enables.”

Now, here’s a recap of our favorite posts from the edublogging community from the past 48 hours.

• From Dave Cormier : Post of notes on the Wikibooks project.
• From Jesse Wilbur: Post on fair use of the networked book.
• From Lanny Arvan : Post on the nuts and bolts of teaching without an LMS
• From Albert Ip : Post on Kathy Sierra’s Crash Course on Learning Theory.
• From Will Richardson : Post on WSJ article on cheating in schools and our need to reinvent.
• From Konrad Goglowski : Post on student blog community and example of students dealing with one another through the blogosphere.