XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Thursday, January 5. Today’s theme is innovation and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — According to In-Stat, handheld online gaming subscribers numbered 3.4 million in 2004, and could exceed 30 million by 2009. Also, this interesting article from Spiked on why some people get so obsessed with online video games.
• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Om Malik had an interesting podcast yesterday about emerging video trends. Among the topics covered here are new ways for amateurs to create and share videos online and Google video hosting.
• Handhelds — Motorola wins an Innovator of the Week award for announcing both its new radio service for cell phones and the new ROKR E2 Also, check out this first sighting of Sony’s e-book reader, and pay close attention to Adobe’s announcement regarding the release of the next version of Flash Lite for mobile devices.
• Social Networks — When it comes to hooking up with other people around the globe, Skype is still making big waves. Yesterday, we got a first look at the new cordless landline that is the result of a Skype and Panasonic partnership. Lots of possibilities here.

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

• From Doug Johnson: Post assessing the progress made with technology in his district since 1991.
• From Alan Levine : Post on bloggers for hire.
• From Anne Davis : Post on measuring the results of student blog usage.
• From George Siemens : Post commenting on a Crash Course in Learning Theory.
• From Flosse Posse : Post on whether or not we need to redefine what a university is.
• From Stephen Downes and Will Richardson: Posts on reinventing ourselves in 2006 and trend toward change sweeping through the academic blogosphere.
• From Graham Attwell: Post on a major UK survey on VLE usage.
• From Ben Vershbow: Post on Wikipedia, lifelines, and the packaging of authority.