XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Tuesday, March 7. Today’s theme is new twists , and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — Of course there’s money in gaming. We always knew that. It’s just not what we thought it was. Popular video games are having a big impact on the authors who write the strategy guides for the games. Currently, “about 25 professional U.S. authors are writing strategy guides for video games — which are big sellers. The guide for the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, has sold 748,000 since it was released in 2004. Author David Hodgson estimates that the 55 strategy guides he has written have sold about 1 million copies, reported the New York Times Sunday.”

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Podcasting is even going with us to the gym. In this latest manifestation, fitness buffs are downloading workout motivation podcasts so that they can have their personal trainers with them whenever they feel the need to workout.

• Handhelds – In a sign of even better things to come,
  href=”http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/06/samsungs-sgh-i310-8gb-windows-mobile-5-0-musicphone/”>Samsung’s is showing off its new SGH-i310 8GB Windows Mobile 5.0 musicphone at CeBIT later this week. From the article: “Samsung has
  also bettered on the OS by (finally) dropping in Windows Mobile 5.0. Not just that kids, this pup also throws down a 2
  megapixel shooter with flash, video recording and playback, TV-out, and microSD slot if you just gotta roll larger than
  8GB. You also get USB 2.0 support for moving those AAC/MP3/WMA files on the quick and Bluetooth with A2DP stereo audio
  support if those built-in dual-speakers just ain’t cuttin’ it. On display starting this week at CeBIT with release (in
  Europe) during the second half of ’06. “
• Social Networks – BusinessWeek has this article about making MySpace safe for kids. In it, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal talks about efforts to protect users of the social-networking site from sex predators. This, along with news that some districts are considering limiting access to blogging sites, points further to the inherent conflict between Web/Learning 2.0 (open) and current educational and societal paradigms (closed). In the end, it may be as simple as a war between views of abundance and scarcity.

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

• From Dave Warlick : Post on the concept of curriculum as a mashup.
• From Clarence Fisher : Post questioning the tendency of blog activity to trail off in the classroom.
• From Rob Wall : Post on Dave Weiner’s definition of an unconference.
• From Wesley Fryer : Post on The Hangman Book Blog by Eric Langhorst’s 8th grade American History students in Liberty, Missouri.
• From Stephen Downes: Post on his hiatus and the turning off the lights (temporarily, we hope) at OL Daily.
• From Will Richardson: Post on the future of blogs in education.