XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Wednesday, February 1. Today’s theme is keep trying and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — The speculation continues to grow that Sony will launch a service later this spring aimed at taking on Microsoft’s Xbox Live market. And what about rumors that Cisco might be moving in on Nintendo? Have I said how crazy the world is lately?

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Heck, even Dave Barry is on the bandwagon. As he says in this article, “Newspapers are dead.”

• Handhelds – It seems that European doctors are really embracing the Internet and mobile technology.
  Over 80% use the Internet
  daily, two thirds have electronic medical records and two thirds have
  handheld mobile devices. And, in other international news, a new “point and click” technology is now available for cell phone users in Japan. Mapion Local Search enables consumers to use their cell phones as point and search devices to call up information. Users can simply point their cell phones at 700,000 buildings, retailers, restaurants, banks or historical sites throughout Japan to retrieve information.
• Social Networks – Microsoft has begun the media buzz about its march into the VoIP business and its intent to connect people via voice, IM, and other Web networks. The battle is on between the Redmond company, Yahoo, eBay (owner of Skype) and Google to see who can turn their bundle of services into the largest connected social networking pipeline in the land. And they’re off!

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

• From Doug Johnson : Post on the irrelevance of “school” for tech-rich kids.
• From Elizabeth Elzer et. al.: Wiki presentation on using wikis to empower student learning.
• From Clarence Fisher : Post on telling new stories about education.
• From Bob Stein : Post on Nam June Paik and the future of media.
• From Ulises Mejías: Post on the blog as dissertation literature review.
• From Christian Long: Post on surviving the first year of teaching without sabotaging the future.