XplanaZine

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

• Gaming — Casual games are good, clean, cheap fun — and they’re extremely profitable too. Who said you have to be complex, multi-leveled, and full of the latest special effects to succeed as a game in today’s world?

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Sony Ericsson releases new blogging phones. The phones are dovetailed with Google’s
  free Blogger application. If a user chooses to send a picture via
  “blog”, Google’s servers automatically create a unique address on its blogspot for the handset/SIM card combination in question.

• Handhelds – Now we have news of the first virus that can jump from PCs to mobile devices. Also, China estimates it will export more than 250 million cell phones next year.
• Social Networks – Take a look at this article to see how realtors are using social networking tools to enhance their businesses.

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

• From Stephen Downes : Post commenting on Heather Kanuka’s article on the effect of e-learning on education.
• From Dave Cormier : Post on Skype, Socrates and how learning 2.0 will marginalize the ivory tower and bring back the symposium.
• From Will Richardson : Post recounting a case in which a school district turns off access to a teacher’s classroom blogs.
• From Ben Vershbow : Post of thoughts on blogging and process vs. product.
• From Jay Cross : Post on the importance of personalization in social software.